Bloody Sunday Read Online Free Page B

here. Elston just wants to make enough of a nuisance of himself that I’ll give up and sell out to him.”
    Starting out, Luke hadn’t been sure why he was questioning Glory MacCrae about what was going on around here. He didn’t care about the ranch’s troubles. He was just here to make sure she was the fugitive he was after and then figure out a way to get her behind bars.
    She had said some things that intrigued him, though, and his interest grew even stronger when he recalled how one of the ranch hands had referred to her as “the boss” when he spotted Glory approaching.
    â€œMrs. MacCrae,” he said, “how does your husband feel about all this?”
    Glory’s horse broke stride a little, and Luke knew his question had caused her to jerk the reins. She looked over at him and said, “My husband is dead, Mr. Jensen. The MC Ranch is mine now.”
    Well, thought Luke, given this woman’s history, that wasn’t really much of a surprise.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know.”
    She shrugged and said, “Since you’re a stranger in these parts, there’s no reason you should have.”
    That storekeeper back in Bracken’s Crossing could have told him, he thought. Of course, it was possible the man hadn’t known about Sam MacCrae’s death, especially if it had occurred recently.
    â€œYou have my condolences,” Luke said. “If you don’t mind my asking, how long ago . . . ?”
    â€œThree months.” Glory glanced down at the riding clothes she wore and went on: “I know, these aren’t exactly widow’s weeds, are they? But I don’t have time to sit around in a dark room with a veil over my face, weeping and wailing. There’s a ranch that has to be run. The last thing in the world Sam would have wanted was for me to let things go to hell around here.”
    She was good, Luke thought. Every word out of her mouth sounded genuine and sincere, but he knew she was lying through her teeth. The most likely explanation was that she had killed Sam MacCrae, gotten away with it somehow without being suspected, and now intended to strip her late husband’s ranch of every penny she could before she disappeared again.
    â€œI did my mourning for a few days,” Glory was saying as those thoughts ran through Luke’s brain. “Gabe and the other men kept things going. But then it was time to move forward again instead of looking back. I had my time with Sam. It was too short, but other than that it . . . it was everything a woman could ask for.”
    That little catch in her voice was perfect. Anybody else hearing it would believe that deep down she was still devastated by the loss of her husband.
    â€œHow long were you married?” Luke asked.
    â€œThree months. Like I said, not nearly long enough.”
    But long enough for Sam MacCrae to have changed his will, Luke was willing to bet. Wasn’t anybody around here suspicious of this woman? Had she managed to fool them all just because she was beautiful?
    They came to a place where the bluff had caved in, a long time in the past. An easy trail led to the top. As they rode up it, Luke glanced back and saw Pendleton and the other MC hands strung out behind them. One of the cowboys was leading a horse with the dead man draped over the saddle.
    â€œHow far is it to your headquarters?”
    â€œAbout five miles,” Glory said. “It’s over there at the edge of those foothills to the west.”
    A couple of ranges of small mountains, not much more than hills themselves, bordered the valley on the northeast and southwest. The settlement of Painted Post was ten or twelve miles back to the southeast. This whole area between the mountain ranges was known as Sabado Valley—Sabbath Valley, in English—and it all belonged to Glory MacCrae now. Some of the landscape Luke could see was brown and arid, but a large