Chapter Five

Excerpt From Chapter Four

Jarrod and Heath sat under the makeshift lean-to they'd thrown together when an unexpected storm had hit; it had made it so they'd been stopped in their tracks. The rain was still coming down only not near as hard as it had been. They had been searching for almost two weeks. Both were growing tired, and frustrated. Heath, who had been studying Jarrod-who was looking at nothing in particular, recalled the question he'd asked when Jarrod first arrived home. *"What is it, Jarrod? Do you know something?" "What is it, Jarrod? What do you think you might know?" Heath broke the silence, wanting an answer. No, needing an answer. "I'd like to know before we reach Triton." Triton was the next, and only other town, the two brothers could see Nick stopping in.

As Heath and Jarrod rode into town, they kept an eye out for the sheriff's office. After all, they figured – if Nick had been in town- the lawman might know it. It didn't take long to locate the office. "Best put our horses in the livery stable." Heath nodded towards the end of town. Jarrod didn't argue. It wasn't long before the horses were stabled, and the two brothers were opening the door to the office.

Once inside they looked around. The room was just large enough to hold a desk, some shelves that had been secured to the wall and a board where posters were hung. There was also a door that led to what the two brothers assumed were the jail cells. There was a gentleman near the board on the wall. They hoped he was the sheriff; he was.

The sheriff- a giant of man at six feet seven- turned away from the board on the wall he'd been taking posters off-or putting them on when he heard the door open. The gentleman was pushing fifty, and streaks of white were starting to appear throughout his hair. The lawman walked back to his desk and sat down, hoping his visitors weren't bringing trouble with them. He'd had a busy morning and really wanted a break. "May I help you?"

The two brothers took turns introducing themselves, and then Jarrod told the lawman who they were looking for-and what Nick looked like. By the time Jarrod finished speaking, both Heath and he knew without a shadow of a doubt Sheriff Beldon knew exactly where Nick was. If he didn't, why had he stiffened as Jarrod talked. Still, Heath spoke up. "You've seen him?" Though, the question sounded closer to a statement than anything.

"I have." The sheriff took a deep breath and told them the story of Nick being attacked as he walked out of the store he'd been in. "I have the party responsible for the assault sitting in one of my jail cells." He gestured towards a door that stood to his left. "He won't be getting out any time soon - as he also attempted to shoot me."

"Who is he?" Jarrod, still thinking about the man he was prosecuting, looked towards the door then back at the sheriff.

"Jack Aaron Winters; a man-when drinking to any degree-is a thorn in my side." The sheriff answered, disgust could be heard in his voice.

A thunder bold might as well have hit Jarrod as quickly as he sat up even straighter than he had before. Naturally, it was a reaction that got an immediate reaction from both his blonde haired brother and the sheriff. "You know him?" Heath and Sheriff Beldon both asked at the same time.

"What does he look like?" Jarrod kept his eyes on the sheriff.

"He's; maybe, five feet ten inches and has long brown stringy looking hair. I doubt he brushes it much, mostly just pulls it back in a pony tail." Sheriff Beldon again if Jarrod knew the man.

"Never talked to him, but yes, that sounds like the man who visited Mr. Tydell at the jailhouse. Mr. Tydell spoke his name once, and said it rather sharply and loud-which is why I was able to hear it even if I was in the outer office with our sheriff. Of course, he quickly lowered his voice." Jarrod went on to tell the sheriff who Mr. Tydell was and why Jarrod knew him. He also stated what he suspected.

The sheriff didn't say anything for a few minutes; his thoughts turned back to the day he'd had to shoot back at Mr. Winters. He then shocked the two brothers by telling him he wouldn't be surprised as 'the incident has been bothering me for some time.'

"Why do you say that?" Heath leaned slightly forward.

"He reacted too fast when I startled him. I mean, he had to much control over his gun for someone who was supposed to be so drunk. Though," he looked at Jarrod. "If he mistook your brother for you, and this Mr. Tydell wanted you out of the picture, why wouldn't Jack simply shoot the man he believed to be you from afar? Why throw some type of acid onto 'your' face instead?"

Jarrod thought about Mr. Tydell's personality, his known quirks and the myriad of charges against him. "If I'm right, I dare say it was because Mr. Tydell wanted me out of my profession-but not dead. Crazy, maybe. Only, from what I've learned about the man? He has some warped thinking." He then asked about Nick.

The sheriff leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "Cassie has been taking care of him at her place. Don't ask me the results of the incident. I've only had an opportunity to go check on things once- and that was shortly after he was moved to her place…and I don't listen to the guesses flying around town." He was just a little shocked when surprise leapt into Heath and Jarrod's face, and when they asked who that was. With how protective and, from his point of view, faithfully she'd stood by him, along with the things the few people who had been doing what they could to help were saying-the sheriff had thought for sure there was a relationship between the two.

"One of our local saloon waitresses, a good hard working, honest woman." Sheriff Beldon replied as he started writing on a piece of paper. "I don't know why she's waiting tables in a saloon instead of doing something else. She's too good for that line of work. If anything, I'd think she could get work in a café." He then handed the paper to Jarrod.

Jarrod looked at the paper to find instructions on how to get to Cassie's place. He felt as if he was being torn in two directions. He wanted to go interrogate the sheriff's prisoner; only, he wanted to go see Nick first. After all, Nick was far more important to him than the man behind bars.

Heath could easily see the struggle Jarrod was having. He didn't have to ask. However, before he could make any suggestions, the door to the sheriff's office was once again opening and Dr. Thomas was stepping inside.