Outlaw Hearts(167)

“Arrested him! What the hell for?”

Will watched his dark eyes. “For a lot of things. They had an old wanted poster with them showin’ your pa was an outlaw back in Missouri during and after the war. On the poster he was wanted for bank robbery and murder, and rape.”

The man watched the blood drain from Lloyd’s face. He suddenly grasped Will’s shirt and shoved him against the gate. “You’re lying!”

Will grasped his wrist. “Don’t be pushin’ me around, boy! I’m tellin’ you the truth! I liked your pa. Why would I lie about it?”

Lloyd glared at him, then released him and stepped back. “My pa would never murder and rob and rape!” he growled.

“Maybe not, but there’s a lot of people back in Missouri who seem to feel otherwise, so much so that the wanted poster was still good on him after pretty near twenty years. It was that Lieutenant Gentry who arrested him. He knew your pa from the war, bought stolen rifles from him, found out he was still wanted.”

Lloyd stared at the man, dumbfounded. His father, a wanted man? An outlaw?

“Word is he rode with a real bad bunch led by a man called Bill Kennedy,” Will continued. “Kennedy raided settlers during and after the war, robbed trains, banks, you name it, took women hostages. Apparently Kennedy and your pa had some kind of fallin’ out, had a big shoot-out out in California a few years back. It was after that your pa went to work for Mr. Parker, then sent for you and your ma and your sister. He’s been hidin’ here on the ranch under a different name.”

A sick feeling engulfed Lloyd. Beth! Did she know? Did she hate him now because of this? He struggled against a growing panic. “A different name?”

“His real name is Jake—Jackson Lloyd Harkner.”

“My…mother knew?”

“I reckon so. She decided to stay by your father’s side through his trial and all—wrote that letter for you and left it with me. She knew you’d likely stop here first thing when you got back from Pueblo. Your pa is probably on his way to St. Louis by now. I ain’t sure if they hang men anymore in Missouri, but—” The man halted midsentence when he saw the look of horror in the boy’s eyes. “Sorry about that. You just ought to know things don’t look good for your pa. I’m sorry you have to come back to all of this, but I figured I might as well get it out right away, seein’ as how you were headed for the house. Parker done took Beth away somewhere. Most likely it was to keep her away from you and all the scandal. He wouldn’t want a daughter of his seen with the son of an outlaw. Mind you, now, I don’t think any the less of you for it, but some people will.”

Lloyd looked toward the house, then back at Will, tears of anger and frustration forming in his eyes. “Where did he take her?” He stepped closer and shouted. “Where?”

Will shook his head. “He wouldn’t say. I reckon that was his way of keepin’ you from findin’ out so you couldn’t go after her.”

Beth! He had to find her! They had sworn that nothing would keep them apart. He headed toward the house again.

“I wouldn’t bother, boy. Ain’t none of the servants inside know where they’ve gone. You’d best read your ma’s letter. It’s your own family who’ll be needin’ you right now.”

Lloyd looked down at the folded letter in his hand. Was this some kind of joke? Some kind of nightmare? What the hell was going on? How could his father do this to him, hide such a lawless, sinful past? All his life Jake had taught him about honesty and truthfulness. He had preached to him about doing the right thing, wouldn’t even let him touch a gun until he was fourteen, and even then only because he had practically begged for it.

The sick truth began to sink in, bringing literal pain to every nerve in his body. He felt betrayed, humiliated. Suddenly it was difficult to remember what time of day it was, where he was. Nothing around him seemed real. He was supposed to come home and see Beth, then go home to a cozy house and a happy family, talk to his father about his trip to Pueblo, eat one of his mother’s good meals, joke with Evie. He was supposed to clean up, put on the new clothes he had bought in Pueblo and visit Beth tomorrow down by Fisher’s Creek, hold her again, make love to her.

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you,” Will was saying. His voice sounded far away. “Me and some of the boys, we was told to stay out of it, but we rode out to catch up with Gentry and his men to see if it was true they was arrestin’ your pa. By then they already had Jake in a prison wagon. That’s when Gentry told us what all he done, showed us the poster. Your pa was in a pretty bad way. Looked like them soldiers had beat up on him pretty good. I reckon’ your ma got in on it too, on account of when we rode out to your place, she had a pretty nasty bruise by her eye. Jess was there by then. Bein’ your pa’s best friend and all, he’s lookin’ out for your ma and your sister, stayin’ with them through the trial.”