Angel Eyes found Emma in the sitting room in her rocking chair doing some mending as he came in from the barn. Lee was on the rug at her feet, playing with some toys.
He'd taken the time to rub down his horse, Thunder, and give him some feed and water before coming inside.
"Daddy!" Lee had looked sleepy until he saw his father come through the door. He stood and held his arms out to be picked up. Angel Eyes obligingly hoisted him into his arms. "Shouldn't you already be in bed, little man?"
"I was busy playing," the boy informed him. "Besides I wanted to wait for you to come tuck me in."
"All right," he said, carrying his son to his bed. "Go to sleep now and I'll see you in the morning."
Returning to Emma after Lee was settled, he said, "I'm hungry. Are there any leftovers from supper?"
"I'll fix you something," she said. "There's plenty of stew left, and some of the bread I baked this morning."
"That'll do," he replied as sat in a kitchen chair and lit his pipe. Leaning back, he contentedly watched her assemble the meal.
She sat down and ate with him, but neither had much to say during the meal. After smoking his pipe again, he stood and stretched. "Think I'll hit the sack early," he said, yawning. "You sure you don't want to join me?"
"I'd better not," she said ruefully. "Good night, Angel Eyes. Sleep well."
The next morning, Emma set out early once again, going to the mercantile to have breakfast with her mother. She left Lee home with his father, with both still asleep as she went out the door.
Just as she arrived at her old home, her brother Tom was leaving with a plate of food to take to their grandfather. They all took turns bringing food to the old man, as he'd become a semi invalid since returning home from the war.
Tom Baker yawned as he reached his grandfather's small house. He hoped the old codger wouldn't be crabby today, as he often was. Tom had a slight headache and didn't need anything to make him feel worse.
Entering the house by the back door, he frowned as he saw nobody was in the kitchen. Usually, his grandfather would be having his morning coffee at the kitchen table when his breakfast plate arrived.
Moving into the sitting room, he found it similarly empty. The old man must have overslept. Grumbling, he went to climb the steps to go wake him, making no effort to be quiet.
"Grandpa!" he called out when he reached the doorway to the bedroom. There was no movement under the covers, and Tom was alarmed for the first time since entering the house.
He moved closer and saw the pillow covering the old man's face, with a huge bullet hole in the middle. He didn't want to lift the pillow, but knew he had to.
"Oh, my God," he gasped, dropping the pillow when he saw what was left of his grandfather's face. If Tom hadn't known who it was, he wouldn't have recognized him .
Turning away, Tom threw up, emptying his stomach onto the floor. He'd never before seen anything so horrible and hoped he never would again.
He knew he had to get out of there, but slid on his own vomit in his haste to leave. Finally, he made it to his horse and headed home at a gallop.
Emma and her mother were lingering over tea when Tom stumbled in, still in a daze. Lavinia knew something was terribly wrong when she saw the stricken expression on her son's face.
"What's wrong, Tom?" she asked. "Is your grandfather all right?"
"He's d-dead!" the young man announced. "Somebody killed him! I found him in bed with a pillow over his face. When I took it off him, there was nothing left of his face!"
Lavinia was in shock and didn't know what to say at first. "Who would want to kill an old man who mostly kept to himself," she finally said, perplexed.
Emma felt sick in the pit of her stomach. She instinctively knew that Angel Eyes had done this. But, similar to her mother, she wondered who in the world had hired him to do it.
Standing, she told them, "I'm feeling most unwell. I have to get home to Lee." Patting her mother awkwardly on the back, she said, "I'll be back later. I just need some time to myself."
Turning to Tom, she said, "Go see the undertaker to have him pick up the body and get it ready for the funeral."
Emma was glad her father was away on a buying trip because she knew the first thing he would have done was go to the Sheriff. But as disgusted with Angel Eyes as she was right now, she still didn't want him to be caught. It would be humiliating for the family and would be heartbreaking for Lee. It would also cause him to have trouble in school, if his father was to be arrested for such a brutal murder.
When she arrived home, she found Angel Eyes still in bed, snoring away without a care in the world. At some point, Lee had crawled into bed with his father and was now cuddled up to him.
She put her hand on his shoulder and shook him awake. This turned out to be a mistake, as he instinctively reached for the gun he had within easy reach and pointed it at her.
"Emma!" he exclaimed. "You should know better than to wake me that way! I almost shot you!"
"I need to talk to you," she said, thinking this moment underlined just what he was.
She was sick at heart that she'd ever got involved with him. But it was her own fault; it was precisely the aura of danger radiating from him that had attracted her. Even after he'd told her what he did for a living, it had all been abstract to her, easy to ignore. It took her grandfather's grisly murder to bring the harsh reality of what sort of person Angel Eyes was into sharp focus.
Lee awakened as his father sat up and swung his legs to the side of the bed. Emma looked at him fondly, knowing he was the best thing to come out of her ill-advised liaison with this hired killer. And despite being what he was, Angel Eyes was also a loving father. She sighed; it was all so complicated.
"Lee, there's some leftover biscuits in the kitchen," she told him. "Why don't you take a couple of those and go out to play in the yard while your father and I have a little talk. I promise I'll make you a proper breakfast in a little while.
"All right, Mama," the boy said agreeably, going back to his own room to get dressed. Five minutes later, the adults heard the side door open and close.
Emma turned to Angel Eyes, barely able to control her emotions.
"How could you?" she began.
"How could I what?" He stood and put his pants on.
"You killed my grandfather last night," she accused. "And Tom was the one who found him. He'll probably be scarred for life by what he saw."
"Your…grandfather?" he said, not bothering to deny he'd done the job. "I didn't know. If I had, I wouldn't have taken the job."
He was lying; for two hundred grand, he'd have killed his own grandfather. But there was no need for Emma to know that.
"My grandpa kept to himself and never bothered anyone," she continued. "Who hired you and why?"
"I've never discussed my work with you and I'm not about to start now," he told her, now a bit put out. He also wasn't going to tell her that Ezra Baker had hired him first, so he wasn't exactly the harmless old man she believed him to be. The details of his jobs were none of her business.
Tears now flowing, she demanded, "Tom described to my mother and me what was left of him." After gulping sobs, she spat out, "How can you do this to people? What is wrong with you? You must have something missing inside."
"You've known what I do for a living for several years now," he pointed out, sneering. "You've never had a problem sharing my bed, bearing my child, and letting me support you, even though I kill people for money. Why so squeamish now?" Pausing to light his pipe, he continued, "And you have to admit I've been good to you."
"I know, it's confusing to me," she said. "It was easy for me to overlook before, because it didn't seem quite real to me. But having a family member killed for money makes it undeniable, so I can't sweep it under the rug any longer."
"You mean you didn't care until it happened to one of your loved ones," he retorted, rolling his eyes. "You ask how can I do this. I'll tell you. I'm very good at what I do; the best as a matter of fact. I fill a need - I do what my clients can't or won't do and I make good money doing it. Instead of toiling away like an ant for very little money for bosses who would treat me like a slave, I am independent and my own boss. I have nothing to be ashamed of."
Emma felt sick at heart; he truly could not see that what he did was wrong. But God help her, she was still attracted to Angel Eyes, despite also being disgusted by him.
She wasn't disgusted enough to move back into her parents' cramped quarters above the mercantile, however. She loved the comfortable home he provided more than her own morality. Emma was more disgusted with herself than she was by him. She knew she wasn't any better than he was and a lot less honest.
Looking up at him with tears in her eyes, she asked, "Why did you have to shoot more than once and make a mess of his face? Is that why you put a pillow over his head, so you'd not have to see it?"
"No, that was to keep the blood from spattering on me," he told her in a matter of fact way. "And after doing this for fifteen years, I've gotten used to it. I'll admit it did bother me some when I first started out."
"Not enough to make you stop, though," she said bitterly.
"I don't expect you to understand what I do," he said. "That's why I spare you the details and don't talk about my jobs with you."
"I don't think I ever could understand," she said.
"So, what do you plan to do now," he demanded. "Contact the sheriff and turn me in? Are you stalling me to give him a chance to get here?" After taking a long draw on his pipe, he warned her, "That wouldn't turn out well…for the sheriff. I'd really hate to do that, as I find it more advantageous to avoid adverse relations with lawmen. They leave me alone and I leave them alone. But I will do what's necessary if I'm backed against the wall."
"You're Lee's father, so I'd never do that," she assured him. "Whatever else you may be, you're a good father and he needs you." Looking up at him, she continued, "I should hate you, but I just can't, despite the appalling thing you've done."
Angel Eyes took Emma into his arms and gave her a long kiss. She did not resist and just let it happen. No wonder she'd been blind to what he was all this time and why she'd chosen him in the first place.
After the kiss ended and he took a step back, she said, "Even though I won't tell the sheriff, and my family won't think to suspect you, it's probably a good idea for you to make yourself scarce in Cactus Flats for a good while. Let everything die down and wait for the town to move on to something else."
"I was planning on moving on today, anyway," he told her. "I haven't seen my wife and my other boy in quite awhile."
Angel Eyes didn't mention that he'd begin the hunt for her grandfather's gold after a visit with his other family. It was none of her business.
He ate lunch with Emma and Lee, then packed his saddlebags and other trail supplies for the trip. After saddling his horse, he picked up Lee and held him close in his arms.
"Be good for your Mama while I'm away, Lee," he told the boy. "I love you, little man."
"Aww, I wish you would stay here with me. I hate when you're gone," Lee said, clearly disappointed.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise." Angel Eyes hugged him once more, then reluctantly put him down.
Giving Emma a brief kiss, he told her gruffly, "Take care of Lee….and yourself. Everything will be alright."
With no more delay, the hired gun mounted his horse, then cantered down the road.
Emma and Lee never saw Angel Eyes again.