Page 87 of More Than Meets the Eye

Heavens, but she wanted to curl up against his chest and let him hold her until her nerves settled and her heart ceased trying to jump out of her rib cage. But she couldn’t. Not when there was so much at stake.

She sat up and yanked the makeshift kerchief from her mouth. “I’m fine. Go after him.” She pushed at his arm. “He shot Earl. If you catch him, we can take him before a judge. I saw it happen.”

Logan glanced in the direction Benson had run, then back at her, clearly torn.

“Go!” She pulled away from him and stood on her own feet. The smoke was lifting, making it easier to see and breathe.

Still, Logan hesitated. “What about Earl?” The fallen man’s moans had grown weaker, but they could still be heard.

“Benson gutshot him.” Evangeline started walking toward Christie’s stepfather. “I’ll do what I can for him, but I don’t think he’ll last much longer.” She nodded in the direction the schoolmaster had scurried. “Go, Logan. Bring Benson to justice.”

He held her gaze for a moment longer, then pivoted and sprinted after the fleeing man.

Evangeline hurried to Earl’s side and dropped to her knees. Blood was everywhere. It pooled beneath him, oozing over his hands where he’d tried to plug up the holes. Unfortunately, Benson’s buckshot had left too many for him to stopper.

He turned his face toward her, his eyes already glassy. “Take it,” he rasped.

“What?” Evangeline looked around for an object of some kind, but saw nothing.

Nothing but blood. Dear Lord. She had to try to help him. Grabbing her skirt, she found a relatively clean spot and pressed it against a place at his side that seemed to be oozing more than the others, though there was so much blood, it was nearly impossible to tell where the actual wounds were located. Dizziness assailed her, but she shook it off. She had to focus. Had to help him.

He must be in so much pain. Tears dribbled from the corners of her eyes. Bright red blood stained her fingers. She stared at the color on her hands, and her stomach lurched. She’d known he would be bad off, but she hadn’t been prepared for . . . this.

“Quit . . . fussin’, girl.” He lifted a hand and swatted weakly at hers. “Too late . . . for me. Take it,” he said again. “Take it . . . to Christie.”

Evangeline frowned. “Take what?”

Slowly, with a tight grimace and a low moan, Earl lifted a hand to his chest and grabbed onto something inside his shirt. “Key.”

He yanked downward, but it wouldn’t come free. He was too weak to break the leather thong tied around his neck. His eyes slid closed in defeat.

Evangeline barely knew this man and liked him even less, thanks to his treatment of Christie, yet even so, her heart went out to him. He was dying. She couldn’t just ignore his struggles. Clasping his hand, she eased the key from his grip. She slipped the thong off his neck, and when she laid his head gently back onto the ground, the lines around his eyes softened.

“Tell her . . . she was right.” Earl captured Evangeline’s gaze. “Her ma deserved better. She deserved better.” His breathing started to gurgle slightly. “Archie’s in Longview . . . with my sister. Took him in . . . for the money. Won’t want him . . . if the payments . . . stop.” A cough interrupted him, a choking cough full of blood-colored spittle.

Evangeline set the key aside and lifted his head, turning it so he wouldn’t choke. When he calmed, his eyes found hers again.

“There’s letters . . . in the lockbox. Ledgers, too. Benson’s not as smart . . . as he thinks . . . he is. Take him . . . down.”

Evangeline gave a sniff, and dipped her chin to rub her eye against her shoulder. “We will,” she promised. “He’ll not hurt Christie or anyone else ever again.”

Earl’s eyes slid closed. “Good,” he murmured, the word slurred and hard to understand. “Needs to pay . . . for blowing up . . . my still.”

His body went slack. His breathing stopped. Evangeline bent over him and wept for a life cut short by violence. Wept for her best friend, who’d just lost another family member, even if he was a despicable creature who seemed to care more about his still than his stepdaughter.

However, he wasn’t entirely heartless. He’d given Evangeline the key that could lead Christie to her baby brother. Maybe there’d been some good in him all along, hiding deep beneath the scurrilous surface.

You know the truth of his heart, Lord. Evangeline touched a hand to his shoulder. Have mercy on his soul.

She collected the key Earl had given her with his dying breath and stood. After wiping the blood off her hands with the neckerchief she no longer needed, she dropped the soiled scrap of petticoat next to the dead man and stared in the direction Logan had gone.

Keep him safe, Lord. One fatality was enough for today.

She tucked the key into her pocket and started walking back to Earl’s cabin, praying all the way that the Lord would see justice done.

36

Logan jogged through the woods, ears tuned for footsteps and heavy breathing. The occasional cough fell like a breadcrumb, creating an audible path for him to follow, yet the farther they removed themselves from the smoke, the fewer coughs sounded.