Larry choked on the drink and coughed up more blood than liquor. “You’re all right, O’Sullivan. To tell you the truth, I’m glad it’s over. I’m going to sleep good tonight.” Then Larry laid his cheek against the dirty marble and closed his eyes.
Braddock turned to Corey. “You’ve got some explaining to do, kid, and you’re giving back your share of the gold.” Corey’s eyes widened. “I didn’t get a share. I ran. I don’t know what Mulcahy’s telling them.”
Braddock shook his head. “If that’s true, if Mulcahy’s using you to cut the rest out, you’re a dead man. I can’t protect you.”
Lorelei suddenly loomed over them. “The other one’s dead, too. Archie says there are more coming and we should get out of here.”
Braddock reholstered his gun. Larry curled in on himself as he clutched his midsection. Whether he was dead or not, they couldn’t wait around.
“Let’s go.”
Corey set the bottle of whiskey within Larry’s reach before he got to his feet. Braddock couldn’t help but notice that the kid looked to be on the verge of tears himself. He gave Corey a shove and wished someone had beaten him at an early age.
Lorelei blocked their path to the door. “We have to take Archie with us.”
Braddock strode toward the door, dragging her with him, pretending he didn’t hear.
She yanked from his grasp with a surprising amount of strength. “He helped us, and they’ll kill him when they find out. He’s already been beaten up.”
“No one’s going to tell who killed who.”
“We have to take him. He saved my life.”
“He can’t ride. He’s too drunk.”
“He can ride with me,” Corey spoke up.
Braddock ground his teeth. Corey Sullivan, do-gooder by day, stagecoach robber and card cheat by night. Not a good combination. “No.”
“He has his own horse,” argued Corey.
“Where?” Braddock could use this information. He wanted Lorelei on a better mount.
Lorelei spoke up. “There’s a stable behind the saloon. You get the horses, and I’ll get Archie.”
Braddock opened his mouth to argue, but decided not to waste his breath. “Corey, gather up our horses and meet me in the stable.”
He strode toward the door, then stopped, turned back to Corey. “Don’t try to run. Mulcahy’s men are near, and you can’t cover your tracks worth a damn.”
“He won’t run,” said Lorelei. “Just hurry.”
Corey’s sick pallor convinced him, rather than Lorelei’s pledge. One thing the kid had said was true. He didn’t like bloodshed.
Braddock sprinted to the stables, wondering how such a solitary man had gotten stuck with such a needy group of misfits.
CHAPTER TEN
The sun dipped behind the rock strewn horizon. Soon darkness would overwhelm them, but Lorelei had no desire for rest. She couldn’t put enough distance between her and Coyote Pass. Gentle splashing as they waded against a shallow stream covered the desperate huffs of the horses, but did little to sooth her jangled nerves. Her heart still thudded to the beat of hooves as they rode for their lives.
She shifted, but like the borrowed gelding she rode, the saddle was several sizes too big. Every jar of the horse seared up her spine. At least her attempts to focus on the bouncing red landscape that rushed by saved her from recalling the vivid horror that had taken place at Coyote Pass. But there was one thing she refused to forget.
Corey hadn’t been telling her the truth. His story about innocently being sucked into the outlaws’ scheme fell away in shreds. Coyote Pass wasn’t a place you stumbled upon, and those awful men knew her brother.
Shoving Corey to distract the man with the rifle had been too easy. Fury had floated over Lorelei like a red, gauzy veil. She hoped Corey had believed she meant it when she told Larry to shoot him.
But she had known Larry couldn’t shoot Corey. She had seen his arm shake with his effort to hold the gun on her. Moving the heavy weapon in Corey’s direction would have taken the last of his strength. She could have retrieved her weapon and fired before Larry had a chance to aim accurately at Corey. But none of her efforts had been necessary.
Lorelei stiffened her back, ignoring the pain in every muscle of her body. None of the horror at Coyote Pass had needed to occur.
Corey would finally tell her the truth if it was the last thing he did.
They left the stream without Lorelei’s notice. The taste of dust alerted her to the change in terrain. Smoky blue twilight draped around her like a cool silk cloak. In the distance, the silhouette of trees guarded the top of the mesa. Luckily the horse she rode picked his way up the rock incline, guiding her to their destination without assistance.