Chapter Eight

He had expected to get shot by now. And Jess was only in the cave for five breaths.

Slowly turning to get a full view of the man behind the iron, a lone bead of sweat trickled down Jess' cheek, its release to the ground delayed as it caught in the stubble of his chin. Surely now that Davies' gun wasn't zeroed in on his back he would receive what the outlaw thought Jess deserved. But the trigger wasn't pulled.

Jess parted his lips, attempting to speak, but not a word would fall off of his tongue. All he did was taste the air. Bitter. The man across from him hated him so much that the air was tainted with it. Yet his finger wasn't producing the fatal squeeze.

What was he waiting for?

Thoughts back on Daisy and Mike, Jess' lashes softly fluttered against his skin. Maybe it was best to drag his death out. His personal emotions right now didn't matter, especially since they would soon be eliminated with the impending bullet anyway. But it certainly mattered to those below him. If his family heard the blast that took his life, they would be haunted with that memory forever. He wouldn't want them to carry the kind of burden Jess wore. It was true that there wasn't a man, woman or child living in the west's wildest parts that didn't hold some kind of hefty boulder on their backs, but losing a loved one, by hearing, seeing, or both, left permanent damage. Jess knew this. And the man that he was looking at certainly knew that as well, very personally, and very recently.

Hec returned Jess' stare, narrowing his lids into slits. "There a posse out there anywhere?"

Well if that was the man's reason to holding back on the inevitable, then it would quickly reach that place. There shouldn't be a posse within miles of the man's hideout. Although Mort, by now, would have known of the entire Sherman household's absence. If the morning stage was on time, it would've rolled into Laramie within the last hour with the worst kind of news to spread.

He wondered if anyone would be willing to ride out with Mort. The doubt made Jess' hand grow tight against his side. If the townsmen were still on the jittery side, then the posse Hec was worrying about would sit at the lone star. That's how it was with Slim, likely be the same sad, story with Mort.

Jess slowly shook his head. "No posse."

Hec's rifle bobbed at the ground below. "Then you might as well sit down."

"We gonna be here that long?"

"Long enough."

There was a rock there, wide enough to hold his backside and Jess lowered to its surface, stretching out his legs in front of him. While his movements were in action, he never kept his eyes from Hec's iron, sitting at an even point with his chest, but once the seat of his pants was firmly in place, the rifle did a peculiar thing. It lowered its nose to the cave's floor.

"You rethinking what you're gonna do?"

Hec smiled. He knew where Harper was taking this. "Thinking's done. You're gonna die, all right."

"When?"

"Soon enough."

"Soon enough to get yourself caught," Jess said, narrowing his eyes further when Hec shook his head.

"You know what jail's like, Harper. It's hell. I ain't going back."

"Then why'd you go and do all of this? Since you've already gone the outlaw route before, you woulda known that sooner or later you'd get caught."

"Because there's a far greater hell than rows of iron bars, and I ain't talking about the devil's homestead either."

"Then what?"

"Losing your family." Hec's features softened, as did his voice, growing so feathery that an ear had to bend upward to reach it. "That's a hell that there ain't no cure for."

How Jess knew that. So well that the hurt of his youth seized him all over again, tightening his chest so hard that it had no choice but to spread to his belly, creating an ache that only came with grief. It had to hit him that hard, as the newer version, thinking the worst when he and Slim walked in on the bloodied bedding and the image of Daisy that it created was still pressing against his mind.

Jess hoped that those very feelings would be properly conveyed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't give me that!" Hec's gun rose, but not as far as his opposite hand when it thrust a finger in Jess' direction. "This is all your doing! It's your fault they're dead!"

"I ain't the one that pulled the trigger. I woulda protected your family if I woulda been there."

"Oh sure. Talk innocent, but I know you're not. You're the only one in these parts that knew my name. Tell me you didn't spread that."

"I didn't." But he had told Slim and Mort, but that was mere hours before the fatal bullets were fired. Not even an eavesdropper could have caught that news and raced to the Oates' farm before the three lawman traveled across the same trail. But even if Jess had added the rest of the words that were hammering behind his temple, Davies would have never believed one of them.

"Somehow those bounty killers knew."

Jess shook his head, his defense so strong he suddenly stood. "Not from me."

"Back on that rock." The gun's eyes returned to Jess' core. "I don't trust you. More so, I don't believe you. But even if you didn't breathe a word, they're not blind. They could've follow you."

That was possible. Jess' mind walked back that far and remembered the sensation of someone watching him. He had dismissed it. But maybe he should have jumped on it. After all, wasn't he really a lawman that day?

Somehow Hec was able to jump on that same thought. "How many other suspects did you visit, Deputy Harper?"

"None."

Hec's left hand spread wide. "See."

"All right, Hec. I get it. My riding out to your place might not've been the best idea I've ever had, but like I said, I woulda protected your wife and son had I known. Dadgum, I woulda died to keep them safe. So maybe you should stop looking at me with such ugly eyes and start hunting down the men that are really responsible. I'd be glad to go with you."

"They're being taken care of. At least one has, for sure."

"What do you mean?"

"Forget it. Right now all that matters is you."

Jess would have inserted an argumentative word if he wasn't the main subject. There was no point clapping back at the outlaw, although wondering why Hec hadn't pulled the trigger on him yet ground a bit deeper into Jess' brain. He was waiting for something, all right. And the finger-pointing conversation wasn't likely the reason. Sure, their swapping back and forth filled in the time, but it wasn't part of the cause. Something bigger, or in Hec's eyes, better, was still to come for him.

If only Jess knew the when. He would even settle for the why. But there was no question as to the how. He was staring at it in Hec's clasp, the weapon that would be Jess' end.

Hec caught Jess' glance and gave the butt a pat. "You don't look at it as if it scares you."

"Why should I? I ain't gotta fear what's inside. So it takes my life? I hear heaven's a pretty nice place."

"Like a soul like yours is gonna go skyward."

Jess lifted a shoulder. "Where's yours going? You talked about hell before, but no matter how bad this side of life gets, it ain't nothing compared to the real thing."

"Oh, so now among all the other things you claim to be, you're a preacher."

"Nope, just pointing out the facts that any thief and murderer oughta know."

Hec's eyes turned a full shade darker. "Wait a minute. I'll fully own up to toting money away that didn't belong to me, but I haven't killed anyone."

"Then what do you call the stagecoach driver and shotgun that died outta Donahue's?"

"They died, huh?"

"Yeah," Jess said, the reminder making his tongue fire a row of a nails into the ground. "And that makes you a killer."

"I'm telling you the truth, Harper. I haven't killed anyone yet. I've tried with you, more than once. But I don't have permanent blood on my hands."

"But that ain't possible."

"I'll tell you a secret, Harper. You know what I was planning on doing? The reason I took Mrs. Cooper and the kid was to make you suffer like I did. I had every intention of yanking death's agonizing screams right out of your throat. Twice over. I was gonna blow the woman and boy's heads off right in front of you. But I didn't. When you called out your offer to switch places with them, I realized I couldn't go through with it. Now, does that sound like a ruthless killer to you? Wait, don't answer just yet. I don't care what I'll turn into after you're dead, as that, to me, is pure retaliation for my wife and son, but anything before your fall just isn't in me."

If confusion wasn't playing a role inside of his mind, Jess might have gone the weakling's route and fainted. As it was, he knew that he turned completely ashen, for more than his cheeks tingled with ice. The images of Daisy and Mike, brutally bloodied by bullets that marred their precious faces couldn't be purged from his eyes. Perhaps the severity was so real because he had recently seen that very scene in the man that lay at the Oates' farm.

A thought that had been far back in his mind struck him like an actual hand's slap. Since it wasn't Hec, who was that man, and if he hadn't committed suicide, then how had he died?

"Hec, somebody's gotta be a killer here. If it ain't you then who…"

Turning silent, Jess' mouth remained in a circle at the sound of footfalls coming up the slope to the cave. His first thought was that it was Slim. A burst of anger at his partner for disobeying his mission started in his chest, but where it could have flared to his cheeks, it escaped quickly through his parted lips. It wasn't Slim. If it was, then Hec wouldn't be standing there calm with a gun barrel trained in Jess' direction. He would be flush with the wall alongside the cave's opening if he suspected a threatening approach, ready to fire at the incoming intruder.

Looking up to the hint of a smile that was growing by the second into a one-sided dimple, Jess suddenly understood. Hec knew who was coming, had even been anticipating the arrival.

This was the reason for his death's delay.

"Hey Hec, everything all right?" The call wasn't far from the cave's mouth and Jess turned more than his ear in its direction.

"Yeah. Come on in."

Jess saw the black clothing first, clad in the shadows so that even his facial features were of similar shade. Eyes widening as the second man entered, so close to being Hec's double that Jess had to spin his gaze so that he knew he wasn't looking at twins. They weren't, but there was definitely no doubt that they belonged to the same family.

"Harper." Hec's arm gestured wide. "I'd like you to meet my brother, Donovan."