Cade ground his teeth and dug his boot into the ground. She was smiling, his beautiful Rose was walking around town with friends, smiling and talking. Was she not affected even the slightest bit by their separation?
She looked happier, too: Her shoulders didn’t sag and her step was lighter even while pushing a pram. A familiar surge of guilt swam through his veins when he saw Rose stop and pick up a beautiful baby to rock her. Even from a distance he could tell the child was exceptionally lovely with warm skin and large eyes. Rose kissed the baby and gave her a tight squeeze before settling her back in the pram.
He felt a flicker of pride in his chest. That was his wife: proud, kind, facing adversity with the grace of a queen. She would make sure this child was treated right, that she was loved and cared for. She would do what Cade should have been man enough to do.
What would have happened had Cade agreed to the child? Would she still be with him in Denver instead of walking through Tall Pine with a glow to surpass that of a mountain sunrise? Cade jutted out his jaw. It did no good to think of such things. He was not fit to have a child anyway; that was why she had left his bed and shoved him out of her heart. She knew he was not fit and went to great lengths to prevent him from failing as a father as he had a husband.
Cade felt the twitch in his hand. The need. The insatiable hunger. He tried to shut it down, but it roared to life like a frenzied lion needing to be fed. As he entertained the thought to gamble it was like injecting soothing calm into his veins. His mind cleared, his body relaxed. Yes, he needed to gamble, needed to feel the cards in his hands, the burn of whiskey on his throat, and the sting of smoke in his eyes.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Cade looked over to see two young men nodding to the door he was now blocking.
“You going in?” they asked. Cade looked up to see his was standing in front of a saloon. He had been so focused on Rose, he hadn’t noticed where his damaged instincts had led him. “Or you too old to handle whiskey and cards?” one laughed.
Cade cocked an eyebrow and jerked his head to the saloon. “You boys should put your money where your mouth is.”
The taller of the two threw back his shoulders. “You’re brave to say that to the finest card players in Tall Pine. Jim and Theodore Coble will take whatever you got when it comes to poker.” He flicked a thumb at him and his brother.
Cade chuckled. A high stakes card game was just what he needed. “Alright boys, let’s see what you got.”
As luck would have it, Jim and Theodore had a lot to place on the table. Not only were they exceptional at the game, but the stakes were getting higher and higher. The brothers delivered as they placed cash after cash on the table. Cade’s whole body shook with both the excitement that made him feel powerful and the self-disgust that begged him to leave even while knowing he couldn’t escape.
“I think you’re all out.” Theodore smirked and licked his teeth. “I can tell when a man ain’t being truthful. You ain’t got nothing to bet.”
Cade leaned back and lifted his chin. “And I bet you boys are loaded,” he said mordantly. “With your cracked teeth and beer stained shirt, you expect me to believe you have endless cash in those torn pockets of yours?”
The others at the table laughed and Jim’s eyes darkened. “Listen here, pretty fella, my brother and I got more cash flowing in than you could believe!”
Theodore punched Jim in the shoulder and his brother let out an angered yelp. “Shut your pie hole, Jim,” Theodore snarled. “That’s the whiskey talking. We ain’t nothing but two cowboys working the Hugh’s cattle ranch.”
Cade lifted his brows. “The Hugh’s ranch? I didn’t think a family as distinguished as the Hughs would hire two ignorant fools like yourselves,” Cade laughed. He did not know why he was trying to start a fight, but he kept at it. The anger at himself always snuck out and attacked those nearest. Too many times it had been Rose bitten by his anger, beautiful Rose.
Theodore snorted. “You any better? Coming to Tall Pine with a shirt that smells like you ain’t washed it for days and staring at that Miss Rose like a starving man? She’s married to some rich fella in Denver, so you ain’t got a chance.”
A big gutted man at the table barked a laugh. “That ain’t what I heard. She left him after she got pregnant with some colored man’s baby. Take a look if you can. That baby she be kissing and showing off without shame is a dark one.”
Cade clutched his cards creasing them in the middle. “Rose isn’t guilty of infidelity.”
The big guy scowled. “How would you know? Besides, I saw the baby myself across the street. Beautiful child with big green eyes—” He grinned wickedly. “Spent some time in the South myself you know. Virginia. Them dark women with light eyes are a treat when you find them.”
Cade exploded. He may not have wanted the baby, but that child was now Rose’s, and no one would slander her in his presence. Tossing down the cards he shoved the table away from him and stood up. “I sure wish you had not said that.”
/
Sheriff Ben rubbed his eyes as he walked down the main street of Tall Pine. The entrails of twelve cattle had been found in the mountains early that morning, and he was just returning from examining them. The Silent Owls drove their cattle and stole mostly from the western ranges so they could be easily hidden in box canyons. Taking the beef and hide was what rustlers did for a quick job. One hide had been left behind, and Ben saw where the brand had been altered by what he guessed was a running iron, a straight rod with a curve at the heated end. It was a perfect instrument for altering brands and had been outlawed in some areas.
The Silent Owls were experts at altering brands, which was why they would drive so many cattle that passed inspections without suspicion. This work was sloppy and dirty. The worst had been the mutilated calves. It was unbelievable someone would sink that low.Ben let out an audible groan. He had not dealt with rustling since his youth and felt overwhelmed and inexperienced. Not only that, but in tracking down cattle he was now falling behind in petty theft cases, feuds between neighbors, and general brawls.
Shouts of excitement and fear shook Ben back into focus. Nick’s Saloon had a huge crowd all pushing their way to look into the windows, which was a mistake because one of them burst into shards of glass as a huge body rolled out into the street. Jumping through the window was a familiar looking man: tall and lean with a week’s worth of scruff on his face. He was followed by two cowboys Ben knew as Jim and Theodore. Instantly the sheriff ran over.
The big guy who had rolled out first stood up and began throwing punches at the tall man who’d rushed after him. Both men began knocking each other’s faces in, until Jim and Theodore jumped on the tall man who shook them off by landing a few elbows in their guts and kicks to their thighs.
The big gutted man, after missing a swing, growled and pulled out a gun from his belt. Several women screamed and Sheriff Ben pulled out his pistol aiming it at the attacker he recognized now as Big Roy.
“Put the gun down, Roy,” Ben said sharply.
The tall man laughed and flipped back his coat revealing silver metal resting in a leather holster. “Don’t you think it is a bit early for a dual?” he laughed.
“Gentlemen, let’s be civilized,” Ben said slowly, grateful that onlookers had moved to the other side of the street. If a bullet flew, he sure did not want an innocent bystander taking the hit.
Big Roy curled his lips over yellow teeth. “This man needs to know his place, even if it’s beneath the ground.”
“If either of you shoot, I will take you down.” Ben cocked his gun at Big Roy, but was looking at the tall man wondering where he had seen him before.
“Listen to the good Sheriff, Big Roy.” The stranger chuckled. “Bedsides, trying to shoot me won’t work. I’m too fast.”
Roy glared. “I already got my hand on the trigger. You’d have to be Billy the Kid to put a bullet in me.”
“I’ve hit my target at a moving train while on horseback, I might add,” he winked. “Lower the gun before I shame you in front of the entire town.”
“You the one gonna be shamed you stupid big—”
A shot rang out and Roy yelped, dropping his gun and then clutching his hand. Ben gasped and almost froze in surprise. He was an experienced sheriff and had barely seen this stranger’s hand fly to his gun and shoot Roy’s own weapon out of his hand.
“You are a lucky man, Roy,” he spun his pistol around his finger and placed it back in its holster. “Had you been aiming correctly with your arm center at your shoulder, that bullet would be lodged in you.”
Ben furrowed his eyebrows. The cocky laugh, the loose way he held his body. He knew this man. Only, the last time he had seen him, the scoundrel was waiting at the end of a church aisle.
“Cade Walker,” Ben said, ignoring the howls of Big Roy.
Cade looked over and gave a nonchalant shrug. “You got me, Sheriff.”
There were two cells in the jail. Big Roy was placed in the one occupied with a sleeping man who had too much pomade in his hair.
“From Colorado Springs,” Ben explained when Big Roy eyed the nice clothing. “Came here to fish and got too friendly with the postman’s daughter. He’s in here for his own protection.”
Big Roy shrugged and went into the cell, stretching his massive body on the cot. “I need a doctor to look at my hand,” he reminded Sheriff Ben who shoved Cade into the other cell. “I have already sent for him, Roy.” He slammed the door and locked it. “Bedsides, you’ll live.” He began to turn away but stopped and looked hard at Cade who had lowered himself to the floor and was resting his back on the wall.
“Where did you learn to draw that quickly? I know you worked as a detective along the railroads, but you would’ve had to be trained to be that quick.”
Cade chuckled. “I knew from the time I saw my father put on pristine leather gloves that I wanted my hands calloused and skilled. I practiced my whole life—with a slingshot at first.”
“And the fighting? That was not just instinct.”
Cade cocked an eyebrow. “Champion designated hitter and boxer at Stanford. I loved baseball, but was better skilled in boxing. I even thought about going to the Olympics, but changed my mind, though I still keep up on my skills.”
“And the quick draw?”
Cade gave a lazy smile, “Pure talent.”
Ben removed his hat. “What are you doing in Tall Pine?”
Cade sighed. “I don’t really know.”
“You here to cause trouble for Rose?”
Cade laughed wryly and once again rolled his head to look at the sheriff. “I think I have done enough of that, Sheriff Ben. Don’t you?”
Ben was silent as Cade looked away and closed his eyes. A thought entered his head, one that he squelched right away. He needed some coffee. Fatigue must be putting terrible ideas into his head. Cade Walker would be a terrible deputy.