Reaper's Fee Read Online Free Page B

nodded. “And that was without any bargaining on my part. I probably could have gotten a higher offer.”
    “Maybe, but collecting it would have been another matter.”
    “Just the fact that he offered that much with a straight face told me a lot. Or do you think it was all just a load of dung?”
    Nick rubbed his chin and felt the fresh whiskers that had taken up residence there. Even through the beard, he could feel the scars and lines as if they were tracks left in freshly blown sand. “Itwasn’t dung,” he muttered. “At least, not all of it. Even if he figured on killing you, he wouldn’t have parted with that amount of money so easily. Not unless he was certain he could miss it if push came to shove.”
    Knowing better than to question Nick’s instincts on the matter, Catherine told him, “He wanted to know where you were.”
    “What did you tell him?”
    “To try back tomorrow. It was the best I could do with you coming up on us so fast like that. Do you think he could have been an outlaw?”
    Nick chuckled coldly as he lowered his hand. “No man on the right side of the law bolts from a badge like that.”
    “Did he look familiar?” Catherine asked.
    “Nope. I don’t even know how the hell he found me.”
    Catherine closed her eyes for just a bit longer than it would take her to blink. A change drifted over her face like a stray cloud passing across the moon. “I think I may know how he found you.”
    “You do?”
    “Back when you and Joseph Van Meter were riding together, someone came here looking for me. Well…I guess they were looking for me so they could get to you.”
    Nick nodded solemnly. “And they almost found you. If Sheriff Stilson hadn’t covered our tracks, things might have turned out a whole lot worse.”
    “Well, it’s my guess that whoever came looking sent a telegram about what he found…or didn’t find. Someone at that telegraph office remembered you being mentioned, and that got around to someone else.”
    “Jesus Christ,” Nick grumbled. “I wonder why anyone even bothers with newspapers and such when there’s so many goddamn gossips in this world. Are you sure that’s the man who sent the message?”
    “No, but he’s the only one to come around after you since you put on that badge.”
    Nick took some of the edge from his voice when he asked, “What else did he say?”
    “Not much more than that. All he kept asking was where to find you.”
    Backing away from the bar, Nick placed his hand upon the gnarled grip of his pistol and said, “Then I suppose I shouldn’t disappoint him.”
    Catherine turned to face him, but didn’t move any closer. “Or you could just let him go. He didn’t even recognize you when he saw you, so he’ll probably just leave if I don’t give him anything else better to do.”
    “Or he might not leave,” Nick said. “Or…I might want to hear what he’s got to say.”
    “Why in the hell would you want to hear what he’s got to say? You just told me that he’s probably on the wrong side of the law. That’s not the life you lead anymore. You promised me that.”
    “What I promised was to take care of you the best way I know how. I’ve had a badge pinned to me for a little while, but I was earning money another way for most of my life before that and I’ll remind you that the money back then was a whole lot more than any deputy’s salary.”
    “No good can come from this, Nick!” Catherine said as she pounded the bar with her fist. “Everything’s been going so well since you decided to stay here with me. The Tin Pan’s prosperous. You’re a respected man in your own field and now folks even respect you as a lawman even though all you do is make the rounds every so often. You’re a part of this town, Nick.”
    “I’m a part of you,” he said as he stepped up to her and held both of her hands in his. “But that might not be such a good thing.”
    Catherine recoiled as if she’d been slapped in the face. “How