High Desert Haven (The Shepherd's Heart) (38 page)

Sheriff Watts rode southeast, his horse running hard. Despite the clear skies and sunshine, the day was cold and his horse’s breath fogged the air with cloudy puffs.

Watts sighed. So it had been William who was helping Roland.

He grimaced. He had carefully pieced together a timeline of Tom Roland’s last few months and had come to the conclusion that he’d had an accomplice in the area. Maybe more than one. May Jeffries had been murdered at a time when Roland definitely was in Portland, so someone else had to have set that fire.

William had said he knew Tom Roland; that he owed him some money. But when Watts had reviewed the loans held by Roland’s bank, there had been no note on William’s place. Still, he’d been reluctant to believe that William could be such a man.

Watts shook his head. Perhaps if he’d followed reason instead of his heart, Nicki Trent wouldn’t have had to go through what she did this morning.

Well, he was headed to the Bar H Slanted now, and William wouldn’t be going anywhere this time.

He pulled up as he crested the rise before him and saw a huge column of black smoke stretching for the sky.

With a muttered oath, he set his heels into his horse’s side once more and set off at a gallop. That fire was no burn pile.

A shot rang out when he was still a three hundred yards off. When he skidded to a halt in the yard of William’s ranch a few moments later, a man was lying on the ground. He snatched his canteen from where it hung on the saddle and rushed to the man’s side. “Roland! What in thunderation happened?”

He surveyed his injuries and with a sinking heart realized he would be witness to the man’s last breath. “Here.” He pressed the canteen to the man’s lips, but Tom pushed him away weakly.

“Listen!” The word was barely audible, a strangled whisper.

Watts bent closer. “I’m here, Roland. Whatever ya need to say, just say it.”

“B-b-bank.” Moisture bubbled at the back of his throat, and Roland swallowed convulsively.

“Yer a banker. Yeah, I know ’bout that.”

Tom grasped his sleeve, clutching at him as he labored to take in a breath. “Stockman’s Association didn’t want s-small timers to ruin our rangeland.”

“So you were tryin’ ta scare ’em all off and make sure the land turned o’er to yer bank when they left or forfeited.”

Roland nodded. “W-W-William.” He gestured weakly at the still smoldering house.

“He the one’s been working with ya an’ causin’ trouble fer the homesteaders?”

Another nod. This time he closed his eyes and seemed to relax a little.

“Did he set fire ta the Jeffries place?”

A short nod.

“Was he in his house?” Watts eyed the ruins of the smoldering building with a shudder.

Tom shook his head, sputtered one last time as though he was trying to say something, and breathed his last.

Watts twisted the end of his mustache with grim realization. William Harpster was still at large. Not only that, but there were several members of The Stockman’s Association to arrest for accessory to multiple charges.

He sighed. It was going to be a long day. He stood to his feet.

A bullet sank into the ground by his foot, and he heard the report as he dove for cover, realizing even as he did that had he remained squatting by Roland for even a second longer he would now be a dead man.

He tucked into a roll and came up on the other side of a still partially smoldering section of log wall that hadn’t burned completely to the ground. His gun nestled snuggly in his palm as he came out of the roll, and he spun to face the barn, cowering behind the wall. But he didn’t fire a return shot yet.

He’d known a man once that shot his wife in the dark as she came back in from the outhouse, and he’d made it a policy ever since not to fire unless he knew who he was firing at.

He twisted his mustache and studied on the situation a bit.

Rocky heard a shot as they galloped toward William’s place, and the column of smoke on the horizon was not a good sign. His jaw hardened. He and Cade pressed their horses to go faster.

Seconds later another shot rang out, and he glanced over at Cade. “We might be too late,” he yelled.

Cade didn’t reply, just kept bent low over the neck of his horse as they raced forward.

They pulled up on the ridge above William’s house to study the layout. All was now quiet. From here, they could see Sheriff Watts ducked down behind a portion of still-smoking wall, his gun drawn, and a body sprawled in front of the house.

He glanced up at them and gestured toward the barn, holding up one finger.

One man in the barn
. Rocky rubbed his face. William Harpster? Or someone else?

The barn, a large building, stood just off to their left. From this angle they could see there was a door in the side as well as in the back.

He turned to Cade. “We need to settle this before Jason gets here. I don’t want him doing something he’ll regret, and he was plenty angry.”

Cade nodded. “Noticed that.” He studied the situation a moment. “Sheriff’s got the front of the barn handled and has pretty good cover. From this direction you can see the back and the right side. I’ll swing around wide and cover the left. If the sheriff keeps his attention on the front and we both move in when I get into place and whistle, we should have this done in no time.”

Rocky nodded and gestured for the sheriff to wait for a minute. Cade turned and rode swiftly for the other side of the barn as Rocky shucked his rifle and swung down from his horse, leaving it ground tethered.

It was only a moment before he heard Cade’s bird-call whistle and gestured for Sheriff Watts to keep William’s attention on the front of the barn.

Rocky lay down and started to belly-crawl toward the barn from one sage to the next.
Lord, keep us all safe and help us to apprehend this guy
.

From the corner of his eye he saw Sheriff Watts remove his hat, place it on the end of his pistol, and then raise the crown above the top of the smoldering wall. The loud crack of a rifle split the air, and he quickly dropped the hat down. A second later the sheriff returned fire, placing the bullet into the ground a good five feet in front of the barn door.

That was good thinking. Then there would be no chance of a bullet piercing a wall and accidentally hitting either Cade or himself.

He was out of sight of the sheriff now, and there was only open ground between him and the side barn door.

A movement to his left caught his eye. It was Cade gesturing that he would go in the back door. There must not be a door on the other side of the building then.

At the front of the barn another shot rang out from the sheriff’s pistol, followed by return fire from the rifle.

Cade held up his fingers, counting up, and on three both men broke cover and raced for their respective doors.

Rocky hoped this would be over in a matter of seconds.

At the soddy, Jason carried Nicki inside and laid her on the bed, leaving her in Brenda’s care. He sent Conner off to find Dr. Rike and then switched his saddle to a fresh horse.

Ron stepped up beside him. He chewed on a piece of hay for a moment and then spat on the ground. “Anger can make a man do some pretty stupid things, sometimes.”

Jason stilled, recognizing the warning in the older man’s tone. His jaw hardened, but he nodded his acknowledgment as he tightened the cinch and swung into the saddle.

He was coming into William’s yard from the west when he saw Rocky break free from crouching behind a juniper bush and rush for the side door of the barn. Off to his right Sheriff Watts had just returned fire to the barn. The house smoldered, a heap of charred rubble.

He calculated the scenario. Rocky would have to pause to open the side door before he could move inside to apprehend William. The sound of the door opening might give him away. There needed to be a vivid distraction to keep William’s attention on the front of the barn. He swallowed. He might have a chance of rushing in from the front, but there was a long space of open area between him and the barn.

Rocky was only five steps from the side door when Jason made his decision and kicked his horse past Sheriff Watts, galloping for the front door of the barn.

“Son!” he heard the sheriff call from behind him.

Rocky glanced up, his eyes going wide, but kept on toward the door, gun in hand.

From the front of the barn Jason heard a shot.

Felt his horse stumble beneath him, then catch itself.

And then he leapt out of the saddle, pistol nestled against his palm, and took the last six steps in a zigzag sprint, energized by sheer anger.

He felt searing heat burn along his jaw as he burst from the sunlight into the darkened interior of the barn. He tucked his head and somersaulted across the floor at an angle to where he presumed Harpster might be. At least as a moving target he would be harder to hit than one standing in blatant contrast to the sunlight outside. A loud crash reverberated in his ears and echoed all around him.
God, I’d like to live through this, please
.

Rocky shouted from somewhere in the shadows toward the back, pulling Harpster’s attention away from Jason.

No!
Jason blinked, his eyes just beginning to adjust to the interior.

Toward the middle of the barn he could see William swinging around toward Rocky.

Jason raised his gun. “Put down the gun, Harpster!”

The man kept moving, ignoring Jason’s command, raising his gun toward Rocky.

Three shots rang out, one echoing on the heels of another. The two men in his vision both collapsed.

“Rocky!” Jason’s heart was in his throat.

“Rocky!” That was Cade’s voice.

Two bodies lay sprawled on the floor—Rocky, near the side-door, and William, in the center of the room. Jason rushed toward Harpster to make sure he would be no more of a threat.

The man sprawled, unconscious, on the floor.

Jason bent and felt for a pulse. It was there, but faint. One bullet had taken the man low and on his right side, and the other had cut a furrow along his scalp that oozed blood. Jason kicked the rifle away from the man and then stooped to pat him down for other weapons.

Sheriff Watts came through the front door just as Jason heard Cade’s exclamation from where he’d squatted near Rocky. “Rocky! You trying to take ten years off my life? Or are you just aiming to get some nice attention from the pretty Victoria Snyder when we get home?”

Stark fear laced Cade’s tone, and Jason’s blood washed cold.

Watts stooped to turn William over on his belly. “I got ’im. Go see ta yer friend.”

Jason stood and started to turn toward Rocky when something caught his attention. An old, worn-at-heel pair of boots was tossed in the corner of one stall. He’d bet his bottom dollar the print they made would be familiar.

“Jason, a little help!” Cade called.

Jason pulled his attention from the boots and rushed to Cade’s side. A puddle of blood was pooling under Rocky’s right shoulder and Cade, stripped to the waist, pressed his shirt to the front of the wound. Jason immediately stripped off his own shirt, noticing that it was already slick with blood across one shoulder. He blinked at it and swiped a hand across his cheek. It came away bloody.

He snorted and swiped the blood onto his pants. Carefully folding the bloody patch to the inside he pressed his wadded up shirt to the spot where the bullet had exited Rocky’s back, then eased Rocky back down to lay on the ground. His weight would keep pressure on the makeshift bandage.

Thankfully the bullet had only gone through the thick muscle along the top of his shoulder. Since there didn’t appear to be any broken bones, it would heal quicker.

Rocky grimaced. “Wouldn’t you know I’d get shot when there wasn’t even a pretty gal around to lessen some of the sting of it. All I’ve got is your ugly mugs to look at.” He took a breath and squeezed his temples with one hand’s fingers and thumb. “Did we get him?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah, Sheriff is cuffing him now. You did good.”

“You saved my life.” He looked hard at Jason, pain glazing his eyes. “He had the drop on me. I was having trouble adjusting to the dim light. He’d stacked a couple bales of hay right inside the door, so it took me a bit to get in. When I heard all those shots, I was sure your next job was gonna be as a sieve, and just came in yelling to get his attention off you.”