Chapter Six

"Mr. Barkley!" Ten year old Lisa, Andrew's daughter, was simply beaming as she stepped out of one rooms she'd been helping her mother clean and saw Heath. Out of all her father's customers who came often, Heath was one of her favorites. "Hi, Miss Mason. How are you?"

"I'm fine." Carlotta smiled when Heath excused himself and left her to visit with the more than talkative child. She' have to thank him for that later, though she didn't really mind. She'd always liked Lisa anyway.

Heath, who had intended to simply go to his room, get the check and go to the bank, stopped in front of his door. As his eyebrows turned downwards, he bent over to pick up a small object up. Upon picking the lone item up, Heath found himself sucking in his breath. It was simply a lone piece of rawhide, but that alone was enough to bring back a flood of memories…along with the words Jarrod had spoken to him just before Heath had left to travel to Modesto.

"I can make the trip if you want me to." Jarrod, who still felt badly when it came to how Heath had been treated by the family, stood in front of the barn as Heath lead Charger out of the building.

Heath, who appreciated the fact that Jarrod was worrying how Heath would be affected by his first trip to Modesto without Nick, simply thanked Jarrod and told him not to worry. "I'll be fine."

Rolling the rawhide up, Heath slid it into his pocket and opened the door to his room. The moment he stepped into the room, his heart skipped a beat. The room was full of light-as the curtains were wide open, only the chair in the corner could only be partially seen. Not wishing to scare any of the other patrons, Heath shut the door and took a chance. "If you're going to keep following me and-apparently keeping an eye on me-why not show yourself?" The moment the words were out of his mouth, Heath just knew who it was that had been prodding him to hurry to Modesto, who had been in the room when he first arrived, who had been in the barn loft and who had made trouble for Mr. Miller in the alley. Sure enough, Nick appeared in the chair with a grin a mile wide on his face.

"Wondered how long it would take before you called me out," Nick laughed as Heath dropped onto the foot of the bed.

Heath might have wondered why he hadn't felt the truth of the matter when he first arrived only he didn't have too. He hadn't ever had an experience like this before and, when Nick had passed away from the wolf bite, Heath had never thought of this possibility. Then again, remembering back to when the family apologized to him and what he'd heard Nick say, he should have known. He could also pretty well guess what brought Nick to his side now. "You know about Michael Tagan; that is, you know of my past history with the man and his son?"

Nick nodded as he crossed his legs and, resting his elbows on the arms of the chair while bending his arms and clasping his hands together. "Yes, the man's set on taking his revenge."

"Not surprised to hear that," Heath kept his eyes on Nick. "You the one who kept pushing me to get here?"

Nick nodded as he told his blonde hair brother where Mr. Conner and his 'friend' had been. "I told you I'd have your back. Only problem now is, I sort of crossed lines when I dealt with the man's helpers. Can't do that again; I mean, I can give you information and warn you if I learn anything, but I won't be able to cause anyone havoc by physically making contact with them. Well, not without permission I couldn't. If I did…well, let's say I don't wish to be visiting Mr. Teagan's son anytime soon."

Heath wasn't surprised to hear that Mr. Conner and Mr. Miller were working with Michael Teagan. The statement about the man's son came as no surprise either. He could tell Nick was worried about him being alone. "Carlotta Mason is waiting for me down stairs. She's going to show me the other bank. Afterwards, I'm going to go see Benjamin." Heath explained what Jarrod wanted and why. "I'm sure Benjamin will be more than willing to help me where he can."

"Carlotta's a looker," Nick grinned, and then laughed as Heath looked at him to say 'you really feel a need to tell me this, why?'

Thinking back to what Andrew had said, Heath just had to take the opportunity to question Nick about the night before. "Just why did you bother the gentleman who had rented this room prior to my coming here?"

"I didn't bother him, never said a word." Nick denied the charge in a flat tone of voice only to break out in an even wider grin as he added, "All I was doing was sitting in this chair when he came in. He's the one who went crazy on me." Okay so; maybe, the fact the man had lunged at Nick after Nick had refused to talk to him only to find Nick standing near the window had something to do with it, but that was a small technicality in Nick's eyes.

Heath rolled his eyes. There was no need for him to ask for the missing details…as he could imagine how the former customer had felt upon having any sort of experience with someone from the other side. He then looked towards he door. He knew he need to get going or Carlotta would grow concerned. Besides, he was also worried either Conners or Miller would make trouble for her since she was aiding him. At the same time, it felt great to talk to his departed brother again…even if he wasn't going to tell anyone he had. He had no desire to wear any straight jacket. As if he read Heath's mind, Nick nodded towards the door. "Get out of here; she's waiting for you. As I just said, I'll let you know what, if anything I find out." Nick stood up and chuckled. "Who knows, you might even find Jarrod riding into Modesto later."

Heath went to ask his brother why he would say that only to have Nick disappear. Muttering, Heath shook his head. "You seldom got the last word in while you were on the top side of the grass, guess you figure you're owed a few of them. Last words that is," Heath opened his saddle bag which sat on the top of the dresser, retrieved the small bank note and headed out of the room. Moments later, he and Carlotta were walking out of the boarding house and heading towards the new bank.