The Last Outlaw(15)

“You deserved it,” a man answered.

Voices. Voices all around. Crying. Gasps of shock. “Six dead,” someone mentioned.

Was Jake in trouble again? Would her Jake go to prison?

“Never seen anything like it!”

“What a shoot-out! Goddamn I wish we had pictures of it! This will make the news all over the country! Jake Harkner, of all people, stopping a bank robbery! And shooting those bastards while they stood there, hostages right in front of them! This is the most goddamn exciting thing that’s ever happened here! Boulder will be even more famous for this! It will help our fund-raiser!”

“Hey, if Harkner lives, maybe he could be our new sheriff. Ain’t nobody gonna mess with our town if Jake Harkner is in charge!”

Randy couldn’t tell one voice from another. People swarmed around, talking among themselves as though she didn’t exist. She was alone! Alone! Who would protect her? She needed to go to Jake, but she couldn’t find the strength to get up. She’d been through this too many times to count and wasn’t sure she could ever go through it again. Several people followed those who carried Jake and disappeared into the doctor’s office, but Randy remained on her knees, staring at the blood on her skirt. Others continued to swarm around the dead bodies of the men, and a woman rushed inside the bank, where she screamed and began weeping.

Must be the teller’s wife, Randy thought absently. Yes, those awful men had shot a teller. And they’d shot Jake! Would she be weeping uncontrollably herself before this day was over?

“Ma’am, do you need help up?”

Randy looked up at an elderly man. Susan stood beside him. She leaned closer, and both she and the man put out their hands.

“Ma’am, you need a doctor, too,” Susan told Randy. “Your cheek is bruised pretty bad.”

Randy just stared at her. “I…I need to go to my husband, but I don’t seem to be able to get up.”

Susan and her husband reached down, one on each side, and helped Randy to her feet.

“I’m James Bird,” the old man told her. “You already know my wife here, although it’s sad how you met.”

“Thank you for your help.” Randy wanted to scream for Jake. She’d never been afraid of everything and everyone like this. She hated the constant panic, hated confining Jake the way she’d been doing, wanting him constantly with her. The only place she felt safe was in his arms. What if that could no longer be? Her whole life wrapped around Jake Harkner. No other man knew her like Jake did—physically, mentally, emotionally, intimately. No man loved her or ever would love her like Jake did. They were like one person. If she lost him, she, too, would be lost. She stood there a moment, trying to think straight, trying to get her bearings.

“Someone…please send a runner to the J&L. I need my son,” she told James Bird. “As soon as we get to Jake, please go get a messenger—someone who can ride hard and fast and get Lloyd here in five days instead of six. I mean…” Think! She felt so confused. “I mean, it will take someone two or three days to get to the ranch and another two or three to get back here.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll send someone.” James and Susan helped her walk to the doctor’s office.

Yes, it would help having Lloyd here. Her loyal, loving son would know what to do. He would at least be someone to lean on. He’d helped her, too…last winter…when those men…

Lloyd was so much like his father…strong and dependable. And having her daddy here would help little Tricia not be afraid. Maybe Lloyd would bring Evie, who loved her father beyond measure. She would want to be with Jake. Evie was such a faithful Christian woman. Her prayers were strong. She could pray for her father. She’d helped Jake through the awful ordeal back in Denver last summer, sitting with Lloyd when they thought he was dying. It was Evie who’d help bring Jake out of that awful darkness.

“I’ve never seen shooting like that,” James told her. “Never in all my born years.”

“I don’t know how he could be so accurate and fast when he was already wounded,” Susan added. “I saw blood at his side when he stepped out from behind that wagon.” She shook her head. “I saw those guns, and I thought my life was over. I felt that bullet whiz right over my head. It nearly parted my scalp!” She squeezed Randy’s arm. “He’s one heck of a man, Mrs. Harkner.”

Randy wanted to smile but couldn’t. “Yes, he is. He’s more wonderful than anybody knows. Most only think about the bad. Few see the good.”