“He told them not to hurt you but then he put you on a wanted poster?”
“Because he thinks I was involved with Jake and Elliot and the others getting killed. And I was, but he doesn’t realize you saved me. He wasn’t there to see—”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Her eyes lift back to mine. “Cora,I’ve thought about this every which way and the only time all three of us were together was the night we took you. And for him to put all three of us on that poster… Cypress and I were never seen together, and I didn’t speak to another soul while we were in town.”
“You spoke to me.”
“That’s different,” I tell her, and a hint of a smile tugs at her mouth. “Apart from when it came to you, we were careful. Not to mention that so many people come and go through that town that unless someone saw me at the stable that night, I doubt they would have known I was even a person of interest. Let alone that I was with you and Cy. Someone else had to have been there that I missed…” I confess, trying again to rethink through every detail. I’d been so sure that no one had come after I’d killed them, but if someone had already been there…had hidden as I killed the others... “I didn’t think to look for anyone else besides the four at the stable. Cypress only saw the four of them, too, but Zeke was with them at the saloon that night.”
“He could have seen you leave together?”
“No. As I said we were careful. After Cy won, he took off out of town like always, but I stayed. Zeke and the others remained, too, talking for a little. Zeke stayed in his seat with a drink when the others took off, but they didn’t get too far. Stood out front arguing for a bit until Jake and one of the others left in the same direction as Cypress. I followed them but then they turned around. I figured they were heading back to the saloon or home. Never thought any of ‘em would go to the stable.”
“But they did. And you think Zeke did, too?”
“Knowing now that you heard them say he talked to them about you, knowing he told you to leave town… What did you say to him when he told you to go?”
“I said I wasn’t.”
“Thought as much.” I find myself smiling, in spite ofeverything. “And how did he take that?”
“He said there was a coach leaving in the morning, and I needed to be on it. I told him I wouldn’t be, and he said he really hoped I would change my mind—” She presses a hand to her temple. “Oh, God, he did threaten me. How did I not see that?”
Sadness steps alongside my anger for her, knowing she’d been that alone, and in need of help, that even a threat had seemed like a kindness. “You wanted to believe he was on your side. You needed to.”
“But he—” Her breathing is starting to pick up as she buries her face in her hands. “If he was there, then hedoesknow what happened. Heknowswhy you killed them.”
“Depends on how much he saw, but…no matter. He would know you weren’t involved in the way he depicts on that poster. And he still did it.”
“But why? If he wanted me gone, then why would he try to hunt me down now?”
“Because he thinks it will help him get his money back. You read that ransom note same as I did.Bring the money.Zeke lost a fair amount that night.”
“But the money’s gone now…” Her hands drop from her face, only to clench over her stomach. “And if he has Cypress...” Her gaze meets mine again. “You should have told me sooner that you thought Zeke was involved.”
“I didn’t know for sure. Iwantedto be sure. And I didn’t want to make you relive it if—”
“I’m reliving it now,” she interrupts. “Cypresscould be reliving it now.”
I wince, not only because of what she’s saying but because she doesn’t even realize how true it is when it comes to Cypress.
“You can’t protect us from everything, Aiden. You can’t keep taking everything on yourself,” she continues, her next words an echo of the last conversation I’d had with Cypress. “You don’thave to when there’s the three of us to work through things. You should have told me sooner.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I sigh. “Cy told you. About my family.”
She nods. “That day we got to the cabin.”
“Then you know that I know what it is to want revenge. I know what it is to think it’ll be the thing that will bring you peace, but it doesn’t. Because even if the one who did it is gone, you’re still alone.”
She’s silent for a few moments before she asks, “Did you kill him? The man who killed your parents?”
“I did. He…he wasn’t much to speak of by then, practically an old man. I thought it would make me feel like I could breathe again, but it didn’t. Only made me feel like I lost more of myself. It won’t bring you peace.”
“I don’t need it to.” She comes closer, resting her forehead against my chest before wrapping her arms around me. “How do we get him back?”
I exhale, running my fingers through her hair and feeling some of my tension release the tighter she holds on. “I know Under’s Hollow. It’s about a day’s ride away. If they’re planning on bringing him there then that means they have him stashed somewhere already. Near enough to the meeting place that they aren’t going to be out in the open with a captive for too long. They’ll have the advantage once they’re in the hollow, though. Only one way in and out.”
“So we need to find him before then…” She turns her head so that her cheek is resting over my heartbeat. “No more runnin’andno more secrets, okay?”