One Went to Denver and the Other Went Wrong (Code of the West) (21 page)

  “Why is it we’re now sittin’ here peaceful-like talkin’ this over? Less than an hour ago we were yellin’ and screamin’ hateful things for the whole town to hear. What made the difference?”

  “You goin’ after Dillard, I guess. Tap, he’s been blackmailin’ me for days, and I couldn’t get away. You’ve got to believe me. I tried. I ran, and they caught me. I prayed and prayed for the Lord to save me. And there you were—backin’ him down. No matter how much you hated me, you’d still back him down.”

  “I don’t hate you.”

  “You will.”

  Tap took a long stick and scratched at the fire. “Tell me what it’s all about.”

  “You’ve got to tell me first,” she insisted.

  “Where do you want me to begin?”

  “How about that jade who was in your hotel room all night?”

  “I wasn’t there. I was sleepin’ at the livery.”

  “She told me you were there.”

  “She lied then.”

  “She didn’t exactly say,” Pepper reflected. “But she didn’t mind me believin’ you was there.”

  “I was busy shootin’ some ambushers. That you can find out easy-like. There’s a kid with a big bump on his head who will tell you what happened.”

  “Maybe you should start from the beginning.”

  “You mean, when I stopped to see Stack at April’s or when I got to Denver?”

  “Start with April’s. Why did you stop to see Selena?”

  “No, I stopped to see Stack.”

  “But must surely have visited with Selena.”

  “Okay.” Tap grinned. “I’ll start at April’s.”

  Actually, he started at the campfire where Dillard and another man named Pardee first pulled off.

  Thirty minutes later they were standing with their backs to the fire when he finished.

  “That’s why we were at the governor’s office. We had some proof about Barranca, and the governor decided to pardon Wade Eagleman.”

  “But why did you need to pretend to be Mr. and Mrs. Andrews?”

  “We didn’t. The governor just assumed that, and he never listened to me try to explain it. Rena’s afraid to go back to Arizona and take the rap, so the only thing I accomplished was gettin’ Wade off the hook. Now . . . some of it sounded strange, I know, but you’ve got to believe me ’cause it’s the truth . . . and ’cause you know that I love you.

  “Pepper, you’ve got to trust me. I don’t go lookin’ for trouble, but all my life it seems as if I’m in one scrape after another.”

  “I believe you, Tap. I believe you because your story is easier to swallow than mine.”

  “Do I get to hear it now?”

  “I’ll tell you as much as I can. Where do you want me to begin?”

  “Begin with explainin’ why this Dillard was blackmailin’ you.”

  “I think,” Pepper turned to sit by the fire, “I’d better start before that.”

  Pepper spent almost the next hour explaining the ordeal of the past several days, describing the trip to Hot Springs, the wagon accident, the governor’s house, the night at the depot, the shock of finding a woman in Tap’s room, the capture by Pardee, the dead girl in the stone house, and the anger in discovering Tap and Rena arm-in-arm at the governor’s.

  Still poking at the fire and looking down, Tap slipped his arm around Pepper’s shoulder.

  “Now you told me everything .
 . . except what it was Dillard had over you,” Tap pressed.

  “I told you I was nearly dead one time, and he paid for nursing me back.”

  “But what were you sick of? I mean, it sure does seem a whole lot deeper than just a generous man helpin’ a sick girl.”

  “I can’t tell you, Tap.” Pepper began to cry. “I want to tell you. I want to believe that it won’t make any difference. I really want you to love me no matter what .
 . . but I can’t tell you. I just can’t,” she sobbed. “I thought I could do it . . . but I can’t . . . I’m just too ashamed . . . Don’t ask me . . . Please, don’t ever ask me.”

  Tap lifted her to her feet. He held her tight with both arms wrapped around her shoulders. “It breaks my heart to see you hurt so much, but I’ll wait. Someday, when it’s the right time, I really want .
 . . I need you to tell me. But I’ll wait.”

  “But it might be a long, long while.”

  “I’ve got time. I’m not goin’ anywhere but home.”

  “Take me back to McCurley’s, Tap. Let’s leave right now.”

  He cinched up Brownie, stomped the fire out, and then swung into the saddle, pulling Pepper up behind him.

  “I’ve got to go back to town. I’ve got to make sure Wade, Stack, and Rena didn’t run into trouble. If Barranca’s runnin’ around lookin’ for me and this Dillard and others are lookin’ for you, who knows who they will shoot. A man’s got to stick by his friends, Pepper.”

  “Even if it means he gets shot?”

  “Yep.”

  “Why? What’s the purpose in that?”

  “It’s a part of the code. It’s also the way I am. You understand, don’t you?”

  “I’ve spent most of my life around people that don’t give a hang about me, let alone stand up for me. You and Stack are just about the only ones.”

  “That’s a good reason. Let’s make sure that long-legged piano player is on his way safely back to April’s.”

  As they rode toward the western outskirts of Denver, an occasional snowflake drifted out of the clouds.

  “What have you been thinkin’ about?” she asked as they slowed Brownie to a walk.

  “Barranca was paid big money to shoot the railroad man Billingsly. But who gained anything by his death? Your friend, Dillard, moved in to try and snag a railroad contract. Is he the one who hired Barranca? Have we been lightin’ the fuse at two ends of the same stick of dynamite?”

  “Maybe that’s why Dillard got all jumpy when the governor revealed he was releasin’ Wade Eagleman. One of them will be huntin’ the other down, don’t you suppose?”

  “If they don’t find us first.” Tap turned back in the saddle. “Are you as cold and hungry as I am?”

  “Yes, but I want to get out of Denver as soon as possible.”

  “That makes two of us. If all went well at the depot, we should catch up with Stack before he makes Longmont. We’ll travel with him as far as April’s.”

  “You did visit with Selena, didn’t you?” Pepper quizzed.

  “I stopped to see Stack, but she wandered downstairs, and I had to say hello.”

  “She wants you, you know.”

  “Selena wants a man who will treat her nice—that’s what she wants.”

  “Don’t we all? But let me tell you somethin’. I’ve been thinkin’. The next time I catch a woman hangin’ on your arm, I’m goin’ to shoot her dead on the spot.”

  “How come I only attract gun-totin’ women?” His laugh was almost a smirk. “That doesn’t sound like the Christian thing to do.”

  Pepper paused. Gave this some thought. "You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that. Next time I find a woman hangin’ on your arm, I’m goin’ to forgive her for her many sins.”

  “That’s better.”

  “Then I’m going to shoot her.”

  Tap pointed several blocks up the street. “Looks like lots of folks waitin’ for the train. We must have gotten back before it pulls out. Maybe Stack will still be here.”

  He looked back at her and winked. “’Course, it just might be some old boy and his girl arguin’ at the top of their lungs. I hear that will draw a crowd in this town.”

  Pepper held him a little tighter. Lord, I got a feelin’ every once in a while me and Tap is goin’ to fight like cats and dogs. It’s the way we are. Now I’m not makin’ excuses, but I just wanted You to know ahead of time so it wouldn’t surprise You none.

  She glanced up the road at the train depot. “If everyone is waitin’ for a train, how come they’re standin’ out in the middle of the street?”

  Tap rode Brownie to the back of the crowd and called down to a bushy-bearded old man with tobacco stains across the front of his coat.

  “Hey, professor. What’s the commotion?”

  “Reckon, I cain’t say, but there was a rumor that Queen Victoria was in town last night.”

  Pepper nudged Tap. “Remind me to tell you about that sometime. Look .
 . . there’s a man, a Spaniard or Indian, waving at you.” She pointed across the crowd to the edge of the wooden sidewalk.

  “That’s Wade Eagleman.”

  Tap slipped down out of the saddle and helped Pepper to the ground. After looping Brownie to a black iron hitching post, they pushed their way toward the arm-waving Eagleman.

  “Wade, you old Comanche. It’s good to see you out on the street,” Tap shouted.

  A pained look broke across Eagleman’s face. “Tap, I don’t know all you had to do, but you did it. I owe you a big one. But, look, things went bad here.”

  “What happened?”

  Wade pulled Tap back against the bakery wall behind the crowd. Pepper stepped back with them.

  “Eh .
 . . Wade, this is Pepper. The girl I’m goin’ to marry.”

  “Pleased to meet you. Tap and Stack told me lots about you.”

  “Is Stack still here?” Pepper asked.

  “Stack and that Miss Rena picked me up at the jail. I rode down here to the depot with them, figurin’ you’d show up here, and I could give you a proper thanks.

  “We had sat here about an hour when guns started poppin’ out on the platform. Near as I can figure, Barranca was out there.”

  “Victor’s here?” Tap asked.

  “I guess Barranca was hoping to slip out of town on a train when four gunmen opened up on him. One of them clipped him in the leg, but he leaded two of them to the ground. Most folks in here pushed back away from the window and waited.

  “Then with guns still blazing, he busted into the lobby and spied Rena. He took aim at her, and she froze. Before I could do anything, Stack tried to grab her and that big, old boy took her bullet.”

  “Stack got shot?” Pepper cried.

  “Yep. He fell. Everyone stampeded for the doors, and I tried to grab Rena. Barranca threw a couple shots back at the two men still chasing him, and then he fired at me. I dove behind a bench. Shoot, Tap, I just got out of jail, and I’m not carrying a gun. When I peeked around the corner, he was dragging Rena up the stairs to the storage room.”

  “What happened to Stack?” Tap asked.

  “I drug him out and laid him inside the bakery here and sent for a doctor.”

  “I’ll go check on him,” Pepper called as she ran to the front door of the bakery.

  “And Barranca?”

  “The deputies showed up and arrested the two that jumped Barranca. But Victor’s up there in the storage room with Rena, demanding that he and her be the only passengers on the next train out. He threatens to kill her if anyone comes up the stairs.”

  “What are the deputies doin’?”

  “Waiting for the marshal to get here, I suppose. Tap, what can we do? I think he really will kill her if anyone gets too close.”

  Lord, I got Rena into this, and I’ve got to get her out. If I can’t take care of my friends, I’m worthless.

  Tap pulled an extra revolver from his bedroll. He tossed the Colt to Eagleman, who checked the chambers and slipped a bullet out of the side of Tap’s bullet belt.

  Most of the crowd stayed halfway across the street from the railroad station. Only a deputy and a man with a black silk tie hunkered down outside the depot door with its recently shattered glass panes.

  “Better get down,” the deputy shouted. “There’s a killer up there.”

  “You boys look like you could use an extra hand. Mind if we help out?”

  “Appreciate it. But I can tell you right now, I don’t like goin’ up against the likes of Barranca, no matter how many men we have.”

  “I’ve gone against him before,” Tap told them.

  “And you’re still alive?”

  “Last time I looked in a mirror.” Tap peeked through the broken glass into the depot. “Is there any other way into the storeroom besides that door up at the top of the stairs?”

  The man with the black silk tie cleared his throat. “Yes, sir. A double swinging door opens out toward the tracks.”

  “Is there a block and tackle at the top?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is the door locked from inside?”

  “I can’t really say . . . normally it’s not locked. I mean, no one can use that door from the outside anyway. But there is an iron bolt on the door. The gunman could have locked it.”

  “But the door opens out—not in?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “What do you aim to do, mister?” the deputy questioned.

  “Why don’t you two divert him while Wade and I try to figure how to get up in that door and flush him out?”

  “Divert him? You mean give him a target to shoot at?”

  “Nope. Just get him talkin’. Promise him somethin’. Keep him busy.”

  “Promise him what?”

  “Eh . . . promise him . . . promise him that you got a train on the way, and it will be ready for him in a half hour.”