After the Ashes(88)

All three men stared at him without expression. Finally a gasp escaped Mulcahy’s throat. Braddock feared Mulcahy had drawn his last breath. But before Braddock could move toward him, a burst of laughter ripped from deep in Mulcahy’s belly, halting Braddock’s rescue attempt. Even the fit of coughing that followed, staining his lips with pink-tinged spittle, couldn’t wipe away his smile.

“Corey tell you that?”

“Well…” Braddock was lost for the right answer. “Yeah.” This time even Ricochet grinned.

“You took care of the marshal for him, and then he sent you up here—wrong entrance, mind you—for your big reward?”

Braddock genuinely frowned. He didn’t like the sound of this one bit. “Something like that.”

Mulcahy shook his head. “Son, I guess you’re right where you’re supposed to be. Up here with the fools. What did I tell you about a fool and his money, Cole?”

“Soon parted.” The boyish grin that tugged at the young man’s lips showed he was still firmly in his teens.

Braddock didn’t get the joke, but he was starting to figure out it was on him. “What are you trying to tell me?”

Mulcahy’s grin faded into a defeated slump of his shoulders. “Sullivan’s got the gold from the robbery. All of it.”

***



With only the stars to guide him, Braddock wended his way down the dark canyon with more ease than when he had arrived. A singular thought lit his way. Find Corey Sullivan.

The night was moonless but clear, allowing the stars to blaze like a thousand white suns. He didn’t have to worry about guards this time. Ricochet’s stare burned into his back as he watched Braddock go, but they thought him more fool than threat. Braddock had to agree. After they had dropped their little mortar about Sullivan having the gold, Braddock swore a blue streak that gave even Ricochet a few new words for his vocabulary. Of course, they all enjoyed his rage, laughing even harder. When Braddock vowed to find the little bastard, they believed him. He’d meant it, too. Never meant anything more in his life.

If Corey had pulled the wool over the eyes of Mulcahy and his gang, he had put a blindfold on Braddock and spun him around in a circle. Had he planned the whole thing, all the way down to Braddock getting Langston off his trail, then finding him a safe haven? Hell, Braddock had gone so far as to promise to convince the law Corey was dead so he could escape completely. Son of a bitch. All the while, the boy had had the gold. Braddock had made it so damn easy for him. And so Corey could sleep better at night, he’d rushed up Specter Canyon to get himself killed.

Braddock hugged the wall at the canyon’s next turn, unconcerned with the pebbles that bounced off the smooth cliff, then fell soundlessly into the depths of the divide. Corey never would have gotten away with tricking Braddock if it weren’t for Lorelei. Braddock sucked in his breath through his teeth. He didn’t want to believe she was involved, but her intention from the first night she’d come to his hotel room had been clear.

All he had to do was see the look on her face when he returned alive, and he would know the truth. God, he must be a fool, because he wanted to believe her innocent. His sweet Lorelei wouldn’t betray him. But he had seen people do worse for less, and Corey had a lot of gold on the line.

Why for a moment did Braddock think he could be like Jay?

The reins slipped in Braddock’s hand when Lucky tossed his head, sensing his rider’s unease. The sky had lightened to purple, and Braddock had to blink to orient himself. He couldn’t recall getting down the canyon or even saddling Lucky. By the lay of the land and the position of the chain of mountains at his back, he had traveled a couple of miles from the canyon’s entrance. He was heading back toward Jay’s house, moving in the right direction on instinct alone. Instinct served him better than his common sense. He longed for the time when his mind would go numb and that would be all he operated on. There were no messy feelings or moral dilemmas. He rode, ate, slept, and fornicated, all at his body’s urging. Nothing else was involved. His life was about survival, pure and simple.

Braddock picked up Lucky’s pace, following that rule of thumb. He wasn’t sure when he had last slept, but resting was the farthest thing from his mind. His body tensed as if he were getting ready to ride into battle. And that was just what it would be if he found Corey at Jay’s.

He realized he wouldn’t. Corey would be long gone. Braddock started scanning the desert floor for tracks. But who did he want to see more, Corey or Lorelei? Braddock didn’t like the answer. He wanted to see Lorelei. Something in him still believed in her. Some part of him that hung on like the needles of a cactus still believed she loved him—more than Corey, more than gold.