back. It wasn’t hard to see why he got along so well with Adam. Men!
Chapter Five
All the next morning and into the afternoon, Riley tried to shake thoughts of Susannah, but they clung like a cobweb. Until yesterday, he’d managed to stay away from her for three days. He’d agreed to mind his own business. Maybe being left alone was the only way she’d realize she didn’t belong here. Maddie had been determined, too. And she’d paid a steep price for it. Riley would hate to see that happen to Susannah.
He glanced down at the still-red scratch across the knuckles of his right hand. The memory of her touch on his skin, her scent drifting around him, had his body going tight. She was a fine piece of woman and he didn’t have any business thinking about her.
He stepped up on the stall slat he’d just replaced. Even though it held his weight, he cussed. His concentration was shot clean to hell and supper was still two hours away. Joe and Cody Tillman, the father and son who worked as Riley’s ranch hands, were stringing fence in the south pasture, and would probably stay out there again tonight. He might as well go to town and check on that pump part he’d ordered.
An hour later, Mr. Haskell looked at him as if he’d asked to try on a bonnet. “That pump part won’t be here for at least a month, Riley. It’s coming from back East. Didn’t I tell you that the other day when you ordered it?”
“Did you?” He thumbed back his hat, trying to recall. “Is there anything else I can do for you? Need any supplies?”
“No, I’m all set.” He glanced over his shoulder and out the large plate glass window, turning slightly when he caught sight of Cora rushing past the store. “Maybe some peppermint. A quarter pound. Thanks.”
Mr. Haskell measured out the sweets, wrapping them in brown paper. “Here ya go. That’ll be a nickel.”
Riley handed him the coin and took his candy as he moved away from the counter.
Cora was alone and covering ground fast. Holding her hat onto her head, she rushed as if she were being chased, into the sheriff’s office.
Something had happened. The McDougal gang? Susannah?
Riley strode over to the jail, stepping inside in time to hear Cora say “… should’ve been back by now.”
“I agree,” Davis Lee said, rising from his chair behind the desk. “Abilene is a trip that can easily be made in one day.”
“What’s happened?” Riley shut the door, noting the frantic look on Cora’s slightly lined features.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” his brother said. “Susannah headed out to Abilene this morning and she hasn’t returned.”
“Why did she go to Abilene?” Riley and Davis Lee asked in unison.
Riley’s brother shot him a look, but he ignored it and kept his gaze on Cora.
“She said she had business there.”
“Maybe she boarded the train,” he said. “And headed back to St. Louis.” Where she belonged.
“No,” Cora said. “That girl intends to stay. Besides, she took only her reticule. All her things are still at my house.” He leaned against the door. “What kind of business would she have there?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.” Davis Lee came around his desk and took a seat on the corner in front of Cora. “Do you know?”
The older woman frowned. “She didn’t say.” Riley recalled her declaration to find a job. Surely she wasn’t looking in Abilene. “Why would she do a fool thing like take off alone for Abilene? She knows about the McDougal gang.”
“Oh, she wasn’t alone,” Cora said. Of course she wasn’t. One or more of the Baldwins had probably swooped in and carted her over. “Miguel Santos went with her.”
“Miguel?” Riley straightened. “He’s just a boy.”
“He knows how to drive a rig,” Davis Lee reminded him.
Cora added, “They took his uncle Tony’s old mare.”
“Oh, well.” Davis Lee shrugged. “She’s as easy to handle as a pup.”
“But if something happened …” Cora’s concerned gaze swung from Riley to his brother.
Davis Lee patted her shoulder consolingly. “The boy has been to Abilene plenty and he has experience.”
“With outlaws?” Riley fought the urge to hightail it out of town and start searching for the pair.
Davis Lee heaved a sigh. “Brother, you’re not really helping.”
Unease pinched between Riley’s shoulder blades. “What time did she leave?”
“She showed up here at the jail a little before eight,” Davis Lee said.
“Why would she come to see you?” Riley swallowed a bark of impatience. And since you saw her, why did you let her go?
Davis Lee leaned over his desk and opened a top drawer, taking out his revolver. “She asked me about the McDougals, wanted to know if I thought they were still in the area.”
“I’m sure you told her they were nearby.”
“They’re not. I got a wire last evening telling me the McDougals robbed a train yesterday between Dodge City and Wichita.”
“Thank goodness, they’re gone!” Cora put a hand to her chest.
Riley crossed his arms and said in a low voice, “Maybe they’re not all up in Kansas. They could’ve split up.”
“They never have before,” Davis Lee said evenly. “All four of them were spotted at the holdup.”
“Someone could’ve made a mistake.” Urgency coiled through Riley. Just because Davis Lee was so all-fired certain the McDougals were gone didn’t mean they were. “People do it all the time.”
Davis Lee buckled on his gunbelt. “I’ll ride that way and see if I can find Susannah and Miguel.”
“Oh, thank you, son.” Cora pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders.
He moved to the wooden gun cabinet behind his desk, unlocked it and pulled out a rifle. Glancing over his shoulder, he held it toward Riley. “Do you want one?”
“I’m sure you can find her.”
Davis Lee laughed. “You might as well come along. You’re about to crawl out of your skin just standing there.”
“She’s a grown woman—” Riley began. “I’ll feel better if you go, too.” Cora squeezed his arm.
Why couldn’t he just mind his own business where Susannah Phelps was concerned? Like yesterday, when he’d piped up with that
