Wildfire in His Arms Read Online Free Page B

hadn’t been able to confirm his identity either, which was why Mosley was still wanted by the law. It made Degan wonder how many others on John’s list of twenty names might already be dead. Men who broke the law couldn’t count on growing old.
    Baby-faced Max Dawson wasn’t dead and would be an easy find, considering Degan had seen him at the brothel this morning. Kid Cade, another on the list, Degan had also crossed paths with in Wyoming. In his late thirties, the kid was no kid any longer and had steered clear of him, so Degan didn’t figure him to be a gunfighter, just a thief. John’s notes mentioned Cade had tried claim jumping unsuccessfully, stage robbing successfully, and a bank robbery that nearly got him killed when he tried to pull it off alone. He’d avoided getting caught for that, as well as numerous other robberies in which he’d been identified as the thief. He had last been seen in the area of Butte, to the southwest, a few months ago.
    Degan didn’t need to read any further. He had intentionally avoided Butte and ridden north to Helena thanks to the miners in Butte who had let it be known that Degan was in the area. He wasn’t partial to backtracking, but Cade and Dawson were likely the two wanted men John had said were in the area, and the two Degan could apprehend most quickly. He might just be back on his way to California in a week or two.
    But then another poster caught his eye, the only other one besides Max Dawson’s that offered a $1,000 reward. John’s notes explained why. Charles Bixford, alias Red Charley, was known to have killed three women, two children, and fifteen men when he blew up a town hall in Nebraska because his wife was in it. She was one of the women he’d killed, and the two children had been his. But that was only the start of his killing spree, which continued across Nebraska, into Colorado, and ended in Utah, where he’d last been seen. Bixford wasn’t known to be crazy, yet he’d murdered innocents for no apparent reason. He’d also killed a US marshal along the way who’d tried to apprehend him and had wounded the next one who’d tried.
    And John needed to catch this killer? John, who was married with kids of his own? What sort of favor would Degan be doing for John if he only captured the less dangerous outlaws on the list? He decided to grab the two who were nearby and throw in Bixford as a bonus before going on to California.
    *  *  *
    Degan was putting the wanted posters back in John’s satchel when there was a knock at the door. He opened it, and a young man in a white apron nervously handed him a platter of fancy sandwiches and hurried away. It was more food than he needed and he only ate half of it. Then he made use of the bathing room at the end of the hall after the male attendant stationed there assured him it was cleaned after every use and handed him a fresh towel. A smaller tub was behind a screen in Degan’s room, but it wasn’t connected to plumbing and he didn’t want to wait for water to be delivered.
    An hour later he was saddling his horse in the nearby stable, which was where Helena’s sheriff caught up with him. A tall man, the sheriff appeared confident with a rifle cradled in his arms. And brave, to have come without any of his deputies to back him up.
    â€œWe don’t want any trouble here, mister, so I hope saddling your horse means you’re leaving our fair town.”
    Degan didn’t feel like standing there explaining himself, so he merely said, “I’m a friend of Marshal Hayes. I believe you know him?”
    â€œI do.”
    â€œThe marshal asked me to help him with his agenda, so if I bring you an outlaw or two to lock up, I assume you’ll have room for them?”
    â€œCertainly. That sort of help is always appreciated.”
    Degan mounted up, tipped his hat, and rode out of the stable before the sheriff