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furnished room where the air reeked of sex and liquor. Ben glanced at the unmade bed and stained
sheets, his eyes expressionless. The girl sat on the comer of the bed and began to unbutton the front of
her dress.
"Wait," Ben said, and she paused, her eyes cold as they rested on him.
"You want it with my dress on?"
"I just want to talk."
Jennie swore under her breath and stood up, point-ing to the door. "Get out."
He pulled out a few bills, holding them between his first two fingers. "I intend to pay for your time."
Leisurely she walked over to the small table by the bed and lit a cigarette, regarding him through a haze
of smoke. She didn't ask who he was. It didn't matter as long as his money was green.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked.
"Your brother."
She hesitated, then gave a short nod. "Yeah?"
"You seen him lately? Talked to him?"
"Maybe."
"Has he come into any money lately? Maybe even asked you to keep it for him?"
She looked at him silently, lifting the cigarette to her lips and taking a long drag. She had something
worthwhile to tell.
"I have great respect for family loyalty," Ben con-tinued, looking at her intently. "But it has been known
to come with a price tag." He made a move to reach for his wallet again, then paused, waiting for her
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an-swer.
"Don't everything?" And she watched with an ap-praising gleam in her blue eyes as he tossed a wad of
bills onto the bed.
* * *
Addie curled up in the comer of the slickly upholstered parlor sofa, feet tucked underneath her. The
house was hushed as the family slumbered upstairs, the only sound the methodical ticking of the clock.
An unread book was spread open in her lap. Occasionally she would tum a page, her hands compelled
to do something. She looked up as she heard quiet feet on the stairs, and saw Cade enter the room,
dressed in his cotton nightshirt and a pair of worn-out breeches. He looked tired and grumpy, his feet
dragging as he walked over to the sofa and flopped down at the other end.
"What're you waitin' up for?" he asked, smoth-ering a yawn. "He said he wouldn't be back till mornin'."
"I don't feel like sleeping. Why aren't you in bed?"
"I keep wakin' up, thinkin' I heard a noise." He closed his eyes, resting his head on the back of the sofa.
"Cade?"
"Hmm?" he grunted, his eyes still closed.
"I'm glad you're not going to North Carolina with the others. It's nice having you around."
His mouth turned down at the comers in a surly expression, as was his habit whenever confronted by
sentiment. "I'm not gonna stay here forever."
Addie smiled slightly. "I know, Cade."
She closed her eyes too, lulled by the quiet and the boy's presence, and gradually the book slid from her
lap onto the sofa as she let her head drop, too heavy to support any longer. "Watts," she murmured to
her-self, her forehead aching as she pondered the name and tried to remember, and slowly she was
drifting, drifting, her heartbeat slowing.
She was cuddled close to Jeff, caught up against the side of his body, her slender fingers combing
through the mahogany hair on the back of his neck. Her mouth brushed close against the comer of his as
she leaned closer. "Help me with the name," he had urged.
Softly she whispered, her lips at his ear. "Try George Watts. He'll do anything for money, anything.
I'm sure of it.
"And you're sure about the rest of it too?"
"Of course I am. We don't really have a choice, do we?"She kissed him sweetly, with a silent promise.
Addie moaned in her sleep, turning her head rest-lessly.
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After leaving the saloon, Ben rode back to Sunrise, every coherent thought gone from his mind.
Bloodlust burned in his stomach, dug into his sides like claws, driving him to push the horse to its limits.
The ground raced beneath them, but the ride seemed too slow, sickeningly slow.
The wooden line shack was the only shape that broke the horizon, that and the ruins of the fence.
Through the cracks between the boards came the light of a lamp turned low. Ben flung himself from the
horse almost before it stopped. In a few steps he reached the door, bursting it open with the heel of his
boot. A chair crashed to the floor as Watts snapped to his feet.. a Colt .45 appearing in his hand. He
started to lower it as he saw it was Ben, then instinctively checked the motion.
Ben was aware of the gun trained on him, but in his rage he hardly cared. "Why?" he demanded,
breath-ing hard, his pulse drumming. "Was it just for the money? Did you bargain with them or take the
first price they named? You bastard. Tell me why you did it! "
Watts met his eyes calmly. "Because they offered enough."
"And what other reason?"
"No other reason."
Although it was what Ben had expected to hear, the confession was still a shock, a white-hot arrow [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]