Chapter 24
Nick stood stoically staring at the back of his blonde brother. His gut hurt deep inside when he thought of what the young man was doing for his family. A family bent on keeping him out was getting this young man's total loyalty.
"Don't just stand there. Say what it is ya got to say." Heath's calm voice startled Nick from his thoughts.
"I can't see you hang." Nick said what was foremost in his mind.
"I killed a man. Gotta hang for it." Heath rolled over then sat up as he spoke. His shoulders slumped due to his exhausted state.
"I saw what happened, Heath." Nick pulled up a chair, that the sheriff had sitting on the outside of the jail cell. He sat down cautiously.
Heath quirked his eyebrow as he stared ominously at Nick. "Would ya be willing to let fancy talker hang instead?"
Heath allowed his head to drop back down knowing the answer. No use denying the truth of it. He'd feel the same if he were in Nick's boots. A no account gunslinging brother for a fancy talking , do good lawyer brother wasn't too hard to trade.
"Fancy talker?" Nick snorted lightly. "Yeah, that fits Jarrod." Nick shook his head no. "Can't see that happenin' either. He has a little girl that needs her Pappy as much as the family does."
Heath's head snapped up to once again to stare at his older brother. "His daughter is alive? Jarrod thinks she's dead."
"What!" Nick practically jumped from the chair. The chair clattered against the cement floor outside of Heath's cell. "Little Tori Beth is doing great. Dr. Merar said she has a real good chance now. Why would Jarrod think his daughter is dead?"
"Can't rightly say. To be honest. I just know that was one of his reasons for wanting Cass Hyatt dead. He didn't feel he had much to live for with his daughter gone and his wife." Heath drew in a deep shattered breath. "I don't want no child growin' up without a pa. Bad enough that the little girl has no mama. But no pa on top of that…." Heath shook his head. "I ain't changin' what I told the sheriff if that is what you're fearing happening. I will stick to me shootin' Cass Hyatt. Your older brother is safe."
"I'm worried about my younger brother too." Nick stared deeply at Heath. "I made a mistake months ago, Heath. You've proven your family. You've proven you're a Barkley and my brother."
"That's just it, Nick." Heath laid down and then rolled until his back was facing Nick once more. "I am a Barkley. I shouldn't had to prove that to anyone. Once you got that report on me it proved it enough. I'm sure that Pinkerton agent did a good job. What I'm sayin' is that my actions shouldn't matter on the subject. Good or bad. I am Tom Barkley's son. Your brother. I didn't ask you to prove you're a Barkley or my brother. I just know just as I know what I am. Yeah, you were born with the name. Don't make your blood more Barkley than mine."
Nick leaned his forehead against the cold steel of the bars. He closed his eyes warring with himself. His heart ached so deeply it felt as if it were not only mental anguish but physically pain. "I don't want to see you die. It hurts knowing what could have been."
"Don't do this." Nick heard Heath's words and felt the younger man's hands touch his briefly. Nick hadn't even heard the young man get up from his cot no less approach him.
Hazel eyes met blue in a deep stare. The connection caused both their breaths to hitch in their lungs. Nick felt his knees weaken. Heath wanted to deny the instant connection.
"You're my brother. I made a mistake. Let me get to know my little brother." Nick's voice came out in a pleading tone catching both Barkleys by surprise.
"Like I said don't do this. Ya can't get to know me, Nick. It is too late for that." Heath went back to the cell bed. "It won't make it any easier for you or me if we get to know one another now. Jarrod has a daughter. He has a family."
"You have a family too." Nick squeezed the bars tightly. His knuckles whitened under the pressure. He couldn't fathom Jarrod hanging but he didn't want this brother dying either.
"I buried my family." Heath's words had a duplicity to them. Nick understood. On one hand, Heath had buried the three women that had been his family his whole life. On the other hand, Heath had buried all feelings for the Barkleys the day they turned him away.
"I'm going to think of something." Nick told himself as he turned to go. He had no idea what that something was but he needed to save this brother. He needed to know this brother.
Back at the hotel, Eugene was dealing with his older brother. Jarrod seemed to be lost in one nightmare after another. The man would wake up screaming about killing in cold blood. Eugene would talk him into calming by reminding him that Heath Thomson killed Cass Hyatt. It went on and on until Eugene finally slipped Jarrod some more of the powders to make him sleep.
Walking into the hotel room, Nick noticed Eugene's weary countenance. "You look tuckered out, Gene."
"Jarrod has been having nightmares. Seeing things that aren't real in his dreams." Eugene allowed his body to drop on the bed beside Jarrod's bed. "Where have you been? I could've used your help with him."
Nick closed his eyes as he slumped down into the soft cushions of a large chair beside the window. "Visiting with another brother."
"Heath?" Eugene watched as his question was answered with a nod from Nick. "How is he doing?"
Nick blew out air then stood to pace. "That's just it, Gene. That boy is ready to nail his coffin shut without a care in the world. Heath knows he's going to hang and has resigned himself to do so."
"You mean there is no fight in him." Eugene twisted a rag around in his hands. The rag had been used to wipe down Jarrod after his nightmares.
Nick's jaw muscle twitched as he stared silently out the window. The fact was that there was plenty of fight left in the blonde brother. The Barkley stubbornness was ten fold in that one. The fact that Heath was resigned himself to hang for Jarrod was proof of that. Heath was fighting alright. He was fighting to save a brother with his own life. Heath said he had no family. If that wasn't family, Nick didn't know what was.