“That’s my guess, too. And that kid probably knows where. I want to watch him for a while. His sister, too.”
“Are you telling me everything?” his cousin demanded. “Has she given you a reason to be suspicious?”
“If the boy’s involved with the McDougals, she may be, too. Does she have a beau?”
“No.” Davis Lee thought for a minute. “In fact, I haven’t seen her show interest in any man around here. She’s always polite, but that’s about it. The Baldwin brothers usually have some luck with the ladies, but I don’t think she’s accepted one of their invitations.”
“I can see why a man would be interested in her. Have you had any luck?” The thought of Davis Lee setting his sights on Catherine Donnelly struck an uneasy chord inside Jericho, but he didn’t know why.
“What makes you think I’ve tried?”
“You always try.”
Davis Lee grinned. “No luck. Yet.”
“And if she’s not interested in you, she must not be interested at all,” Jericho said dryly.
“Well, it does make a man wonder.”
“It makes me wonder if she already has a man.”
“Like a McDougal,” Davis Lee concluded. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think so. Wouldn’t we have heard if one of them had a sweetheart?”
“Probably, unless they found a woman who can keep her mouth shut. And maybe they did.”
“I guess if your commission from the governor is still active, you’re gonna see this through to the end.”
“I’m assuming it’s still active.” Because of the gang’s rampage throughout the state, the governor had issued a special commission for Jericho and Hays to work strictly on catching the outlaws. “But even if it isn’t, I’m going after them.”
“Because of Hays?”
“And the others they’ve murdered.”
Davis Lee stared hard at him. “Are you sure? You’ve wanted nothing but to be a Ranger your whole life, ever since your pa died and left you that old badge he had made out of a Mexican coin.”
“It was criminals like the McDougals who killed him,” Jericho reminded him with some effort. “He wouldn’t have stood by and let some politician tell him he couldn’t pursue outlaws just because of a piece of paper.”
“True enough.”
“So you’ll help me?”
“You can count on it.”
Jericho shook his cousin’s hand to seal the deal. “Before I forget, would you send a wire back East for me, to those nuns?”
“All right.”
“Could you do one other thing for me?” Jericho told him about the tracks he’d followed to the Donnelly house, made by a horse carrying a lightweight rider, and sporting a chipped shoe.
“You want me to check the barn for this horse?” Davis Lee asked.
“Yeah.”
“All right.” He rose from his chair and scooted it against the wall. “I’ll let you know what I find out, and I’ll be back tomorrow to check on you.”
“Could you hand me my gun and gun belt?”
Davis Lee did so and Jericho tucked them under the sheet next to his uninjured leg. “Thanks for coming.”
“You sure you don’t want me to wire your ma and sisters?”
“No. I’ll do it when I’m stronger. No need to worry them.” Jericho didn’t want Jessamine Blue making a trip from Houston to Whirlwind, a journey that would surely aggravate her rheumatism. His ma had already spent herself, single-handedly raising him and his four sisters.
“I’ll check the barn real quick,” Davis Lee said. “Then I’ve got to get over to Haskell’s. Someone broke in there last night.”
“Was anything taken?”
“Some food and maybe bullets. I’m sure Charlie, the owner, will know down to the last nail by the time I get there.”
Jericho’s energy flagged and he felt a quick flare of frustration at his weakness. Just the effort of thinking, trying to determine what Catherine Donnelly knew about her brother’s activities, sapped the little energy he’d had when his cousins had arrived.
“Take it easy, Jericho.” Davis Lee settled his fawn-colored cowboy hat on his head. “I don’t want to see you chasin’ that pretty nurse around.”
“Don’t worry. Wouldn’t be even if I could walk.”
The other man grinned and sauntered out.
A wave of fatigue and pain rolled over Jericho. He closed his eyes, hearing Catherine bid his cousin goodbye. He wished she would come in and wipe his face with a cool rag. Or bring him something to eat. Or plump up his pillow.
He wasn’t asking for her help, dammit. He had all he could handle when she did come in here. For all his denial to his cousin, Davis Lee was right. Jericho was more than aware of the beautiful woman who’d taken him in and cared for him. More aware than he liked.
Her clear blue eyes seemed to see to the depths of his black soul. And as much as he tried, he couldn’t dismiss her soft, lingering scent.
It didn’t matter what she looked like or that his body surged to life when she touched him. What mattered was her involvement with the McDougals.
“Hey.” Davis Lee’s low voice drifted through the window just behind his head.
Jericho craned his neck to see his cousin framed in the open space.
Concern darkened the other man’s eyes. “You were right. Their sorrel wears a chipped shoe on its right back hoof.”
The triumph Jericho had expected didn’t come. Instead, a weary resignation sighed through him. “Thanks.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“Wait to see what you find out from New York City. Watch and listen until I can carry my own weight again.”
Davis Lee nodded soberly. “I’ll be back tomorrow and bring news if I have it.”
“All right.”
As the chirp of birds and the sawing of the wind carried into the room, Jericho felt himself giving out. Would Catherine Donnelly really be helping him if she were in cahoots with the McDougal gang?
His left hand curled around the butt of his revolver and he tried to make a fist with his right hand. He couldn’t even touch his palm with
