CHAPTER FIVE

MATT COULDN’T SLEEP.

It had been a lot of years since he’d faced a gun, and he was finding out he wasn’t quite up to it after all that time. Initially, when he had entered his room, he sat down on the bed and couldn’t stop shaking.

Later, when he’d undressed and slipped under the sheets, he still couldn’t stop trembling. He’d had fights in prison, faced makeshift blades and clubs, but no gun for seven and a half years. Did this experience mean he would never be able to hold a gun again?

Washing dishes had just been a way to make some money. He hadn’t given up on ever carrying a gun again. But now . . . he rolled himself up into a ball and closed his eyes, but sleep just didn’t come.


WHEN THE SUN came up Matt rose, washed, and dressed. The trembling had stopped, but he didn’t know if the calm would last the rest of the day.

Normally, he would have simply gone down to the boardinghouse dining room for breakfast, since he wasn’t due at work till the supper rush. But since Detective Evers was going to be at Kate’s café, he decided to head there himself. If Eddie had been involved in shooting and robbing Kate, Matt wanted to be present to hear it.

So he made his way to the café and let himself in with the extra key Kate had given him. Moments later there was a knock at the door.

“Detective,” Matt said, opening it.

“The waiters here yet?” Evers asked.

“No.”

“I’ll leave my men outside, but I’ll come and stay in the kitchen.” He saw the look on Matt’s face. “Is that a problem?”

“The waiters usually eat in the kitchen before we open for business.”

“Okay, then,” Evers said, “I’ll be outside the back door, listening.”

“Good.”

“You gonna start cookin’?” Evers asked.

“I don’t cook,” Matt said. “I just wash dishes.”

“You were a pretty decent lawman in your day, weren’t you?” Detective Evers asked.

“I guess.”

“And now you’re doin’ this?”

“I’m a pretty decent dishwasher,” Matt said.


IT WAS A good half hour before Eddie showed up. Matt had started to worry that maybe Eddie—or both Eddie and Woody—had taken the money and lit out. But here was Eddie, coming through the front door like nothing had happened.

“I d-don’t smell anythin’ c-cookin’,” he said to Matt. “Where’s Kate?”

“She’s dead, Eddie,” Matt said, “but then you know that already.”

Eddie looked confused. “H-how would I kn-know that?”

“Because you killed her,” Matt said.

“Yer crazy!”

“I was there, remember?” Matt asked. “You shot me, too, or your accomplice did. Who was it, Woody? Or somebody else?”

“W-why would I k-kill Kate?” Eddie demanded.

Matt wondered how long the waiter was going to drag this out? And he wondered if the detective could hear them from outside the kitchen door. He decided to take the conversation into the kitchen. As he had hoped, Eddie followed him.

“You killed her for yesterday’s receipts,” Matt said. “Somehow, you knew she’d be carrying that money on her last night. But you probably didn’t know I’d be with her.”

“Yer crazy, Wheeler,” Eddie said. “You c-can’t prove a thing.”

“You stammered last night, Eddie,” Matt told him, “just before you shot us.”

Matt studied the younger man’s face, saw several things pass there before Eddie suddenly pulled a gun from his belt.

“It w-was your fault, damn it!” he swore. “If you hadn’t been there, she woulda gave us the money.”

“Who was the other man? Was it Woody?”

“Woody?” Eddie laughed. “He wouldn’t have any part of it, even though he’s the one who told me she’d be carryin’ the money.”

“Why’d you even come to work today, Eddie? Why not just take the money and run?”

“You’d’ve liked that, wouldn’t ya?” Eddie asked. “Then the police would know I’m the one who killed Kate and took her money.”

“I’m afraid they already know, Eddie,” Matt said, pointing at the kitchen door.

The door opened, and Detective Evers entered, holding his gun.

“I heard it all, Eddie,” he said. “All I need is your partner’s name. And, oh, yeah, the money.”

Eddie’s eyes began bouncing around in his head. He was either going to shoot or run.

“Eddie, if you try to shoot, the detective will kill you,” Matt said. “And if you try to turn and run, he has two more men outside waiting.”

Eddie stared at Matt, who was acutely aware that the gun was still pointing at him—probably the same gun that had shot him and Kate last night.

“Eddie . . .”

“Come on, Eddie,” Detective Evers said.

“I didn’t mean it,” Eddie said. “I didn’t mean to shoot her.” He handed the gun to Matt. “It was an accident.”

Matt turned and handed the gun to Detective Evers.

“You can tell your story in court, Eddie,” the detective said. “Right now you’re under arrest.”

The detective walked Eddie through the dining room at gunpoint. His two uniformed men met them at the door.

“Eddie,” Matt said, “it would mean a lot if you told the detective who your partner was.”

Eddie nodded as he was led away.

Detective Evers put his gun away and turned to face Matt. “Thanks for your help, Mr. Wheeler,” he said. “What will you do now?”

“What can I do?” Matt asked. “I’ll close up the café and look for work somewhere else.”

“Did she have any family to take the place over?” the detective asked.

“I don’t know.”

“What about you?”

“I’m a dishwasher,” Matt said. “I told you that. I wouldn’t know the first thing about cookin’ or running this place.”

“Too bad. I heard the food was good here.”

“It was.”

“I’ll let you know if Eddie gives up his partner,” Evers said.

“Oh, one more thing,” Matt said.

“Yeah?”

“It seems Marshal Holding is after me for some reason,” Matt said.

“Yes, apparently he thinks you’ve sullied the reputation of all lawmen.”

“And you don’t?”

“We’re all individuals,” Evers said. “But if I was you, I’d get out of Yuma as soon as possible, Mr. Wheeler.”

“That’s my plan,” Matt said, “as soon as I have a big enough stake.”