Chapter 14

On his way into town the next morning, Jarrod knew he did not want to go near the sheriff's office so long as Sully was jailed, especially if Sully was now represented by Marvin Sanders. Marvin Sanders, Jarrod thought to himself again. Joshua Cunningham might be dead, but his ghost was going to haunt things as long as Sanders was practicing law. Jarrod was still pretty sure Sanders had known Cunningham was going to come after him, but he couldn't prove it, and right now he had enough to be frustrated about. He'd have to let Sanders go, at least for the time being.

Jarrod went to his office in the courthouse first thing and was not there more than half an hour before Sheriff Madden came in. He looked even more tired and worn than he had the day before. Jarrod greeted him, but then waited again for the sheriff to start to speak.

Sheriff Madden heaved a big sigh. "Sanders won't take the case. He talked to Sully for a few minutes and then just left, late yesterday."

"And what's been Sully's reaction?" Jarrod asked.

"Quiet as a mouse. Like he's trying to decide what to do."

"Has he formally waived counsel?"

"Not yet, but I think if we offered him a decent deal, he might do it and plead guilty. He is very nervous, I'd say."

It was Jarrod's turn to sigh as he leaned back in his chair. "Did he do it, Fred?"

"I think so," Sheriff Madden said. "I think he's scared. He knows if we pin this on him, he'll hang, but maybe if we offered a lesser sentence, he might crack."

"Does he still think we have the knife?"

"I haven't told him any different, and so far he hasn't asked to see it. It's like he's trying to stay as far away from it as possible."

Jarrod got up and started to pace. And think. He's been a prosecutor often enough to know what kind of deal he might be able to offer a defendant and get a judge to approve, even in a case like this. But Jarrod really wished they had some physical evidence to pin on Sully. Until they had that, he wasn't really sure he'd be cutting a deal with a guilty man. In the absence of a witness, it was going to take finding some physical evidence to convince Jarrod – and convince a judge – that Sully was the man who had murdered Carl Wheeler.

Jarrod thought and paced in silence for nearly two minutes before he stopped and turned around. "All right. Let's try this."

XXXXXXX

Jarrod waited in his office impatiently, drumming a pencil on his desk, thinking about what the sheriff was saying to Sully right now, thinking about Nick and how he would react if they cut the deal with Sully that the sheriff was presenting to him. Wondering whether he was doing the right thing or not.

Being a prosecutor was the hardest job for an attorney to do. There was always the chance that you were sending an innocent man to jail or, worse yet, the gallows. Jarrod couldn't help but think about Keno Nash right now, a man he'd prosecuted and sent to prison for years before it was proved he was not guilty. Maybe he was able to help Keno build a life after that, but it still tore at his heart. Since then, he had always been extra careful about who he was prosecuting, or defending. He had always wanted to be extra sure he was doing the right thing.

And right now he wasn't extra sure. He hoped and prayed that what he had suggested the sheriff do would do the trick, but now he could only wait and see if it would work. He tried to work on other things, and he tried pacing, but he still couldn't settle down. He checked his watch and saw it was time to be eating some lunch, but he didn't want to leave the office, in case the sheriff came in.

Nick came in instead.

"What are you doing here?" Jarrod asked, trying not to but sounding annoyed.

"Had to do something at the bank," Nick said. "Thought I'd take you to lunch to try to make up for all the trouble I've been."

Jarrod sighed. "Sorry, Nick. I've got a lot on my mind right now."

"Let me feed you at Harry's. You'll feel better."

"Are you feeling better? Got your temper under control?"

Nick looked at the floor. "I admit, I've been even more difficult than usual. I talked to Heath a lot this morning, and he pretty much hit me over the head telling me I have to let you do your job."

"So, you're finally listening? You're not gonna give me the third degree whenever I come in the door?"

"I'm gonna do my best, Jarrod, because you're right. With both our ranch and Carl's, I've got a lot of responsibility to live up to."

Jarrod sighed. "Well, hallelujah. Okay, you can take me to lunch."

Before they could leave, though, the sheriff came in. He looked less worn than he'd been looking, but as soon as he saw Nick, he stopped in his tracks. "Jarrod, I need to talk to you," he said.

"Is this something Nick can hear?" Jarrod asked.

"I'll step outside," Nick said.

"No, it's probably okay you stay for this, Nick," the sheriff said. "It'll be public news, probably before the day is out."

Jarrod felt relief wash over him. "He took the deal."

The sheriff nodded. "He took me to where he'd hidden the money, so we've got the physical evidence we want, and he accepted the deal you offered him. All we have to do is get his arraignment on the docket, he'll plead guilty, it'll all be done."

"What'll be done?" Nick asked.

"I arrested Sully O'Mannion for Carl Wheeler's murder, Nick," the sheriff said. "In exchange for a 30 year sentence instead of a rope, Sully agreed to plead guilty and he took me to where he'd hidden the money he stole from Carl."

"Where was it?" Jarrod asked.

"Rock outcropping, not far out of town," the sheriff said. "He'd spent a little of it, but there was still about a hundred dollars left."

"A hundred dollars?" Nick said, and his anger was flooding into his face again. "He killed Carl Wheeler for a hundred dollars?"

"Yeah, Nick, he did," the sheriff said.

"And you're letting him get off without hanging?" Nick turned on his brother.

"Nick, it's a fair deal," Jarrod said. "We avoid a long trial that we might not get a conviction on, and Sully spends what amounts to the rest of his life in San Quentin."

Nick still glared, and then he turned and left in a huff.

The sheriff went after him, saying, "I'm not letting him near my jail."

Jarrod followed, exasperated with his brother but not really surprised at his reaction. The sheriff caught up with Nick on the street. Jarrod saw him grab Nick by the arm and stop him before he got very far from the courthouse. Jarrod reached them both as Nick was throwing his arms in the air and yelling about Sully being let off without hanging, while the sheriff kept grabbing him again.

Jarrod let the sheriff keep hold of Nick. Without touching him, Jarrod leaned into him and quietly said, "We didn't have anything solid on Sully, Nick. We didn't have the knife. It's long gone. We needed to link Sully with the money, and to do that we had to give him a reason to lead us to it."

"You'd have let him go if he didn't lead you to the money!"

"No, I'd have charged him with what we had – he was in the alley and he ran when he thought we had the knife. But I wasn't sure it was enough, Nick. We needed the money, and giving Sully a deal got us that."

"Jarrod's done a lot with just a little, Nick," the sheriff said. "We got what's important. The man who killed Carl is going to jail for a long, long time."

Nick started to calm down again. Jarrod saw the fire leaving his eyes, but Nick said more quietly, "A hundred dollars. Sully killed Carl for a hundred dollars."

"And he'll pay for it, Nick," Jarrod said. "We'll put it behind us and go on, and you'll do Carl's ranch proud after you own it. That's what matters now, Nick. Doing Carl proud."

Nick sighed and nodded, and then he left, mounting his horse and riding away. Jarrod didn't care that Nick wasn't going to buy him lunch after all. He was just glad to see him ride out of town.

"Can I buy you a sandwich, Jarrod?" the sheriff asked.

"I think I'd rather buy you one, Fred," Jarrod said. "Thanks for helping me rein in my brother. Hopefully, we won't have to do it again, at least not for Carl."

XXXXX

It was the next evening that the Barkley family, all together, went to Carl Wheeler's ranch with flowers to put onto his grave. They all stood silently, looking down, until Jarrod said, "Today we got Sully O'Mannion arraigned, Carl. He pled guilty, and he's already on his way to San Quentin. Maybe you can rest a bit easier now."

Jarrod saw his sister losing a few tears. He went over to where she stood with their mother and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. Nick and Heath both came closer, too.

"I wish – " Audra started, but then she shook her head. She couldn't finish. She knew what she wanted to say, but she wasn't sure she wanted her family to hear it.

"I know, I've been so tied up with getting Carl's killer that I haven't done as much to help you get through this as I should have done," Jarrod said to his sister. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'll do better from here on out."

Audra touched his hand on her shoulder. "Oh, you've done plenty for me, Jarrod. Bedtime stories have helped a lot."

"You've done plenty keeping me on an even keel, too," Nick said. "And I'm sorry I've been such a chore. I'm sorry to you, too, Audra. I've been so wrapped up in myself, I've let you down, too."

"It's not that," Audra said. "Mother and Heath have been here, and I'm all right. It's just – I'm going to miss Carl so much." Audra cried for a moment, but then she stopped and pulled herself together.

Victoria said, "Putting his killer in jail makes everything so final. Carl is really gone, and we have to adjust to that. And we need to help Nick because he's going to have so much more work to do once Carl's will is probated."

"I've given some thought to that," Nick said. "I think once Carl's ranch is put in my name, I ought to keep it separate from the Barkley ranch for now. I want to keep his house here, keep Sam Franklin as foreman and let him live there. I'm gonna count on him to keep things going just the way they have been. I think Carl would be okay with all of that."

"You'll need to spend some time with Franklin, learning how things have been going," Heath said.

"I've been thinking about that, too," Nick said. "And while I get things in hand over here, Heath, I'm hoping you'll take over the main chores in running the Barkley ranch."

Heath smiled. "Consider it done, big brother."

"I think we're doing right by our friend Carl," Victoria said. "We'll miss him, but we won't forget him."

"He was a good man," Jarrod said. "I know you'll do right by him, Nick."

"Just gonna follow my big brother's example," Nick said.

"You know," Victoria said with a smile, "I remember when Carl was born."

"So do I," Jarrod said. "Carl's mother put him into my little arms, and Mother, you said I'd soon have a little brother of my own just like Carl. And I remember thinking, 'Oh, no….'"

Victoria smiled. "And you still spend a lot of time thinking, 'Oh, no.'"

"No," Jarrod said, sincerely, and giving his middle brother a smile. "Not anymore."

Jarrod leaned over and placed the flowers he was holding on Carl's grave, and the rest of his family did the same with their flowers. As she laid her flowers down, Audra said quietly, "Good-bye, Carl. We all love you."

They turned together and went home.

The End