Peter chuckled. “I remember well.”
“He hasn’t changed,” Jake answered with a grin. “I’m pretty much the only one he minds.”
“Probably because you share the same soul,” Jeff put in. “That kid is nothing more than a little Jake—so his name definitely fits him.”
“He’s wonderful,” Randy spoke up. “He’s fearless and brave and bold and full of energy.”
“Does that remind you of anyone?” Peter asked.
She smiled. “Yes, and that’s fine with me. He is also incorrigible and wild and has a bit of a temper…which also reminds me of someone else.”
Jake rubbed her shoulders before rising and walking over to put out the second cigarette. “So, what do you think, Peter? Do I have much of a chance of getting out of Denver without some kind of sentence? I wouldn’t be surprised if some want to hang me.”
“I don’t think that will happen, but there are no guarantees. That prosecutor is required to do his best to make you look bad. That could mean asking questions he knows might get a rise out of you. You can’t let that happen, Jake, understand? Even if he brings up Evie or your past outlaw ways or your…father. And he will bring that up. He will want to show people what a short fuse you have and try to convince the judge that you’re a danger to society because of it.”
Jake stood at the window and watched buggies going back and forth in the street below, as well as a couple of horseless carriages. He thought about the fact that people could talk to each other now from far away just by speaking into a telephone—something they didn’t have on the ranch. If only Randy could have telephoned him the times they were apart.
“Peter, I come from an era when there wasn’t even a Denver yet. People were still recovering from the war and moving west to find new lives—and I was riding with some of the worst men who ever walked, and drinking and gambling and running guns and robbing banks and trains and… Hell, I don’t even remember all of it. I just figured my father was right that I was worthless, so why should I try to be anything better than all of that?” He felt a tug at his heart. “Until a lovely young widow came along and changed it all for me.” He turned and faced Peter. “I have to go home, Peter, with my wife and my son and the rest of my family. If I go back to prison…or worse…it will kill Randy; so you do this for her, just like in Guthrie when you circulated that petition and got my sentence reduced—for her.”
Randy looked at him with tear-filled eyes. “Jake—”
“We all know it’s true.” Jake’s eyes were still on Peter. “I know you’re married, and I’m sure you love her and that she’s a lovely woman, but I know the real reason you’re doing this. If I were you, I’d be doing the same thing…for the finest woman who ever walked. I think you know why this is so important.”
Jeff scribbled notes the whole time.
Peter rose. “I know why.” He turned and closed his briefcase. “I’m doing everything I can, Jake. But my best defense is you not losing your temper in front of the judge, understand? No matter what.” He faced Jake. “And the day of the hearing, wear a suit—and no guns.”
“Do you know how many people are going to be waiting for me to walk out that door without any guns?”
“No guns! Do you want to intimidate that judge or impress him? And guns aren’t allowed in court anyway. It’s most likely the point will come where the judge tells the police to come and take your guns. If they do, you hand them over without putting up a fuss. I promise they won’t be coming to take you away. They have agreed to let you stay with Lloyd until he’s better. And if you want to stay alive and out of jail, you’ve got to convince the judge that most of the time you are a law-abiding family man.”
“Most of the time?”
Peter grinned. “In your case, Jake, no one is going to guarantee you’re a law-abiding man all of the time. The only thing I can guarantee is that you are definitely a very devoted family man. You just get a little too protective of that family sometimes, and those of us in this room know why you so fiercely defend them. Just give me something to work with and do not lose your temper when the prosecutor questions you. I ran into a couple of your men downstairs, and when I asked them a few things, they mentioned what you did to one of your men on the way here.”
“He insulted Randy.”
Peter rubbed at the back of his neck. “Lord God, Jake, this is what I’m talking about. And I heard about you and those rustlers and why you ended up on the bad side of Harley Wicks.”