Chapter 5

Neither Dr. Merar nor his wife had come to church, and Jarrod was a little concerned that something might have happened with Archer, but when he reached the doctor's office, he was barely in the door when the sheriff came in. Jarrod hadn't realized Sheriff Madden hadn't come to church either until then. Jarrod immediately felt a bad itch.

"What's happened?" he asked even before saying hello.

"Joe Tiebolt," Sheriff Madden said. "Somebody found him about sunup, near his house. Doc – how is he?"

"He's alive," Dr. Merar said quickly, "but not conscious. A bullet wound to the chest, like Mr. Archer and Mr. Kemper."

Tiebolt was another lawyer who lived in town, in a flat not far from the courthouse. Jarrod almost moaned. "Is he going to be all right?"

"It's still too early to tell," Dr. Merar said.

"It looks like the same thing, shoot and run, sometime overnight," the sheriff said.

"But no one heard a shot?" Jarrod asked.

"It looks like it might have happened while the saloons were in full swing," Dr. Merar said. "Too much noise, or people who heard it just didn't get upset over a gunshot on a Saturday night."

"You know, we're starting to see a pattern here," Sheriff Madden said. "Three lawyers, all unmarried and living alone in or close to town. The shooter hits and runs and doesn't even check to be sure he killed his victim."

"What kind of bullet?" Jarrod asked.

"Forty-four," Dr. Merar said. "All three of them."

Jarrod gave a heavy sigh. "I came to see if I could take Phil Archer home with me."

Dr. Merar shook his head. "You can ask, but he seems determined to go home to his own place."

"And you two aren't the best of friends," Sheriff Madden said. "I doubt he'd want to go with you."

"It can't hurt to ask, can it?" Jarrod said.

Dr. Merar shrugged. "Go ahead."

"Does he know about Tiebolt?" Jarrod asked as he headed for the room where Archer had been since being shot.

"No," Dr. Merar said. "Tell him if you want to. He might be more amenable to going home with you if he hears about Tiebolt."

Jarrod nodded and kept on going toward Archer's room. He knocked softly at the door and heard Archer telling him to come in, so he entered. Archer was sitting up in bed, reading a book. As usual, he had no smile for Jarrod and no greeting. He didn't even close his book.

"How are you, Phil?" Jarrod asked.

"Better," Archer said.

"The minister in church said the doctor was trying to find somebody to take you in while you recover," Jarrod said.

"I don't need anyone," Archer said. "As soon as Dr. Merar lets me go, I plan to go to my own home."

"We thought you'd say that. There's something you should know, though. Joe Tiebolt is in the room next to you."

Archer looked surprised. "Tiebolt?"

"Found this morning, shot in the chest, just like you and Kemper."

Archer swallowed. "Did he see who did it?"

"He's not conscious yet. Look, Phil, I know you have no love for the Barkleys, but we want you to come out to the ranch and recuperate there, at least until we find out who's trying to kill lawyers. You're in danger if you go home alone."

"And you're walking around alone like you're not," Archer said.

"Every shooting's been in the dark so far. It's daytime."

Archer hesitated, looking around. Jarrod figured he was weighing his options – go home with a family he loathed for reasons of his own, or stay here in the closest thing Stockton had for a hospital except for the state insane asylum.

Jarrod decided to push things. "It's up to you, Phil," he said and started to leave. "The offer's open. Just let us know if you decide to take us up on it."

Jarrod half expected Archer wouldn't let him get out the door, but Archer said nothing as Jarrod went out and closed the door behind him. Wondering again why Archer hated him and his family so much, Jarrod went back out to the waiting room, where Dr. Merar and the sheriff were still talking. They stopped and looked up at him. Jarrod just shook his head.

"Let us know if he changes his mind, Doc," Jarrod said.

"Tom!" Mrs. Merar's voice suddenly came from the other recovery room.

Dr. Merar hurried to that room, while Jarrod and Sheriff Madden stood looking at each other. They were afraid of what was going on in there, even more afraid of saying anything about it. They stood silently for several minutes before Dr. Merar came back out.

The doctor looked very tired. "Mr. Tiebolt just died," he said.

The sheriff sighed. "I'll send the undertaker over."

Jarrod turned and went back to Archer's room, entering without even knocking. Archer looked up at him again. Jarrod leveled a hard gaze at him. "Joe Tiebolt just died," Jarrod said.

Archer squirmed.

Jarrod said, "Do you want to change your mind?"

XXXXXXXX

Jarrod took Archer to the Barkley home in a rented buggy, trailing his own horse behind. There were no incidents on the way, except that the bumping around gave Archer some discomfort, but he was all right when Jarrod pulled up to the house. Having heard him arrive, Nick and Heath came to the door. Somewhat surprised to see that Archer had accepted their invitation, they helped Jarrod get Archer out of the buggy.

"Get someone to take this buggy back to town, Ciego," Jarrod said to the stableman as Ciego took charge of the buggy and Jarrod's horse.

Nick and Heath helped Archer inside the house, where Victoria, Audra and Silas met them in the foyer. "I'm glad you decided to come, Mr. Archer," Victoria said.

"Phil, please," Archer said. He was looking a bit green and a lot uncomfortable.

"Let's get you upstairs and settled," Heath said.

Nick and Heath helped Archer up the stairs, and Victoria, Audra and Silas followed along. Jarrod stayed in the foyer and watched them go. When they were out of sight, he went to the refreshment table in the living room and poured himself a drink before he settled into a chair by the fireplace.

He began to think – about Archer, about Tiebolt and Kemper, about what was going on in town and what he could do about it. He thought about the pattern the sheriff had seen – single men living alone, lawyers, shot in the chest after dark by someone who didn't even stay long enough to be sure they were dead. Tiebolt and Kemper were dead. Archer was the only survivor so far – the only witness, but he didn't see anyone. Jarrod wondered if the shooter knew that.

Jarrod tried to think beyond the facts that were known. Having been in San Francisco so long, he was having trouble. There were probably a lot of men new to Stockton that Jarrod had never seen, much less met. Because this was happening so suddenly and so fast, Jarrod figured it was either someone new in town, or someone new to legal problems, who was behind this. He decided that when he went to take over Archer's cases the next morning, the first thing he would do is review them with the thought in mind that the shooter was in there somewhere.

He didn't know how long it was before he heard his mother and sister come back down the stairs. He heard Audra say something about getting Archer something to eat and realized he hadn't eaten either. Before he could get up, his mother was beside him, rubbing his shoulder, asking, "Have you eaten?"

Jarrod stood up, putting his glass on the coffee table in front of him. "No, I didn't think of it."

Victoria took him by the arm and began to lead him to the kitchen. "Come."

"Wait just a moment, Mother," Jarrod said, and she stopped. "There's been another killing. Joe Tiebolt."

Victoria slumped, saying, "Oh – "

"That's the only reason Archer agreed to come here," Jarrod said. "Don't expect an easy-going patient out of him."

"I wouldn't be easy-going either, under the circumstances," Victoria said. "Were there any witnesses this time?"

Jarrod shook his head. "Same pattern. They found Joe alone, near his house. He was alive when they found him but he died while I was at the doctor's office, without regaining consciousness. This makes three attorneys, single men living alone, shot in the chest after dark with no witnesses."

"And you're still going into town in the morning to take over Archer's cases."

Jarrod nodded. "I need to more than ever. The killer might be in one of those files."

Victoria looked uncomfortably at him.

He read her mind. "I still don't want a bodyguard. I'll be very careful, and I'll be home before dark. Besides, I don't fit the profile. I don't live alone."

Victoria smiled and squeezed his arm. She wasn't entirely sure that the shooter would stick to shooting the same kinds of men, but she knew arguing with Jarrod with pointless today. "Come eat something," she said, and he went with her into the kitchen.