Peter looked helplessly at Randy.
“He said—” Her eyes teared. “It should have been me.”
Jake wiped at his eyes while his back was to the rest of them, and Randy put her head in her hands. Jake cleared his throat before continuing. “The man deserved to die!”
“Of course he did,” Peter answered. “But you’re no longer a U.S. Marshal, Jake, and even if you were, that wouldn’t give you the right to hold the man down and blow his head off. That’s just a fact that I know is hard for a man like you to live with.”
Jake turned, the “outlaw” back in his eyes. “I didn’t kill Holt the other night just because he’d shot Lloyd. I killed the man who blindfolded my beautiful, angelic, Christian daughter and raped her! No man who does what he did should exist!” He took another deep breath. “And then there lay my son…my life! Lloyd and Evie are the only good things I’ve ever contributed to this world. If I didn’t know Randy like I do, I’d swear they came from someone else’s seed, but they’re mine—something I did right! So, yes, I shot the bastard who didn’t hurt just one of my children. He hurt both of them! If Evie hadn’t asked me to spare their lives, I would have killed every last man back there at Dune Hollow, and this thing wouldn’t have happened, because Holt would already have been dead.”
Jake’s wrath permeated the air to the point where the room began to feel much too small.
“Jake, when we go before a judge you can’t be in the kind of mood you just showed me,” Peter told him. “You can tell the judge what you just told me because it’s very touching and helps people understand, but you can’t say it with that dark, menacing way you have about you when you’re upset. And you shouldn’t mention that you would have killed the rest of the men left alive back at Dune Hollow if it weren’t for Evie. That just makes you look more ruthless.” He shook his head. “Not that you aren’t ruthless at times.”
“A judge? Do you know something I don’t?”
“Jake, we’ve already talked to a prosecutor and a judge about this,” Jeff told him.
Jake straightened in a defensive mode. “I hope the prosecutor you talked to wasn’t Harley Wicks,” he said with obvious anger. “This is partly his fault.”
Peter always felt nervous around an angry Jake Harkner wearing six-guns. He ran a hand through his hair. “Jake, you are less intimidating when you sit, so please do me that favor. I can tell you’re getting worked up again, and you need to learn to control that for what I have planned. If you will sit back down I’ll explain. And no, it wasn’t Wicks.”
With a deep sigh, Jake walked back to the bed and sat down next to Randy.
Peter met his gaze sternly. “Have you forgotten I’m actually good at what I do? And I know you all too well, Jake. Jeff got the scoop on what happened and what Wicks had to do with it, so I talked to a different prosecutor. With the help of a young attorney here in Denver named Hawk Monroe, I got this whole thing removed from Wicks’s control. And Mr. Monroe helped me gain permission to practice here in Colorado so I can represent you.”
Randy let out a little gasp. “Thank you, Peter!”
“I’ve heard of Hawk Monroe,” Jake told him.
“There is a book about the Monroe family here in Colorado. It’s called Savage Destiny. The Monroe name is well known here. The father, Zeke, was half Cheyenne and very involved with the Indian problems here years ago. He once owned quite a big ranch in southern Colorado. Hawk Monroe is his grandson. He had to go out of town, or I would have brought him with me to meet you. Be that as it may, I can represent you if that’s what you want, Jake.”
Their gazes held in mutual understanding. “You helped me get out of that job from hell in Oklahoma so Randy and I could find some peace in Colorado, Peter, but peace doesn’t seem to last long wherever I go. And I do know you’re good at what you do, so yes, your help is welcome. Like you said, you know me better than most men, so maybe you know a way to keep this from looking as bad as it really is.”
“Peter, Harley Wicks’s sister let Mike Holt into the dance that night,” Randy explained, “hoping to cause a ruckus and get Jake kicked out or in trouble for fighting. She said she didn’t know Holt had a gun. I don’t know if that’s true or not.”
“I heard,” Peter told her. “That’s how I got Wicks off the case.” He turned his attention to Jake. “I told Wicks that if he backed off of this, you and Lloyd won’t press charges against his sister for letting that man into the ballroom.”
Jake nodded, suddenly rising and wiping at tears. “I’m sorry, Peter. The last four days have been a nightmare. Seeing Lloyd lying near death just about put me in my own grave.”
“I understand completely, believe me. It would be the same for Lloyd if it had happened to you. I saw him after you were shot in Guthrie, and he was devastated. I know how close you two are. The bond is admirable, and it might help you in this.”
Peter shuffled through some handwritten notes while Jake stood at a window and lit yet another cigarette.
Jeff got up and poured more coffee for everyone.
“Like I said, I spoke with a prosecutor named Randall Prescott,” Peter continued, “and I consulted with a judge. Both agreed to hold a hearing, not a trial. The public can be there, but there won’t be a jury. The judge will decide whether or not to actually bring charges against you. He said he can’t just let you off without some kind of chance for others to have their say and without some kind of public explanation. It wouldn’t look right, and judges are voted in, so he obviously wants to please the citizens of Denver. And until the hearing, you can stay right here with Lloyd, as long as you promise not to try to leave Denver.”
Jake drew on the cigarette, staring absently out the window. “I’m not going anywhere, especially if Lloyd is still in that bed.” He turned to Peter. “Things might get ugly at that hearing.”
“I know that, but it will get uglier if you go off on one of your rants and show the darker side of Jake Harkner. The judge has to think it was a crime of passion, one most people can easily understand. But you can’t give the impression it could happen again. You’re supposed to be a reformed outlaw, not just one biding his time until he kills again.”
“It won’t happen again, because when this is over, I’ll be going back to the J&L where I can enjoy some peace well away from people who want me dead.” He walked back to the bed and sat down wearily beside Randy again.
Peter set his papers aside and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He studied Randy lovingly, thinking how beautiful and poised she was in spite of being married to a man like Jake for thirty years. He glanced at Jake then and realized Jake had caught him looking at Randy. Peter held his gaze firmly. He’d never denied his love for Randy Harkner, although she’d never returned his affections. The woman was blind to her own beauty and how other men looked at her.
“Jake, let me explain something, and I hope you’ll understand this.” He sighed before continuing. “You feel you did nothing wrong, and God knows you probably did similar things when you were a marshal in Oklahoma. But you were a lawman then. Now you’re just another citizen, and one with a unique reputation you’ll never live down. Maybe you think nothing of blowing a man’s brains out, but for the common person who has never seen anything worse than a dead raccoon or a deer they’ve shot, or maybe an aging parent dying, something like what you did is an incredible shock. It’s hard for them to accept, and the fact remains you apparently had Mike Holt on the floor and could have held him there until he was arrested. Instead, you chose to put a gun to his forehead and pull the trigger. Plus, you had a gun on you, which was against the rules in the first place.”
Jake kept the cigarette between his lips. “When practically anyone you meet could be out to make a name for himself, you arm yourself at all times.”
Peter rubbed at the back of his neck, then stopped to drink some coffee. “Well, we have to rely
mostly on that judge understanding your relationship with Lloyd and how hard that was for you. Obviously Mike Holt committed murder and would have hung anyway. You were just a bit out of order when you took care of things the way you did.” He shook his head. “You are one complicated man, Jake. I still find it amazing what a good family man you are. We will point that out. It will work in your favor.”
Jake grasped Randy’s hand. “Do we have a date for this hearing?”
“Two weeks, unless Lloyd’s condition is still questionable. The judge wants this over with as soon as possible, because it’s causing a lot of contention and disagreements in town and more publicity than Denver cares to have.”
“You sure they aren’t going to try to arrest me?”
“I’m sure.”
“How did you manage that?”
“I told the judge and the prosecutor about that petition I circulated in Guthrie and that over three hundred people signed it, agreeing you deserved to have your sentence reduced. I told him what an excellent job you did as a U.S. Marshal—you and Lloyd both—and all the dangers you faced bringing in the worst of them and having to go into No Man’s Land to do it. And after what happened to Evie, you damn well deserved to get out of that life and out of Oklahoma.”
“Your rather questionable fame from that book I wrote will probably help,” Jeff added. “For every person who thinks you should pay for this, there are twenty who are rooting for you.”
Jake rubbed at his eyes. “Jesus,” he muttered. He met Peter’s gaze. “You didn’t need to do this. God knows that even though you’re married now, you’re doing this for Randy, but I’m grateful anyway. I’ll be forever indebted to you, which probably pleases you greatly.”
Peter smiled sadly. “It doesn’t please me at all. What pleases me is being able to help—at least I hope I’m helping. That’s yet to be seen. In spite of our differences and the hard feelings over certain things, I like you a great deal, Jake. And I respect you even more than I like you. You’re one of a kind and becoming a bit of a legend. Jeff, of course, thinks you’re the greatest human being who ever walked. I just see you as a man who was dealt a really bad hand early in life, and I admire your strength in overcoming some of that.”
“Yeah, well, most of that is thanks to Randy.” Jake moved an arm around her again. “Like the wife here said, if this works out, that invitation to come to the J&L is always open. You won’t regret the visit, and you might even want to stay in Colorado. It’s beautiful, beautiful country.” He squeezed Randy closer. “Living out here has been everything we hoped it would be. Since we left Guthrie, we’ve been blessed with two new little granddaughters who crawl all over me with hugs and kisses, and now two more grandchildren are on the way. Evie, of course, is hoping she doesn’t give birth to another boy who turns out like Little Jake. He’s quite a handful.”
Peter chuckled. “I remember well.”
“He hasn’t changed,” Jake answered with a grin. “I’m pretty much the only one he minds.”
“Probably because you share the same soul,” Jeff put in. “That kid is nothing more than a little Jake—so his name definitely fits him.”
“He’s wonderful,” Randy spoke up. “He’s fearless and brave and bold and full of energy.”
“Does that remind you of anyone?” Peter asked.
She smiled. “Yes, and that’s fine with me. He is also incorrigible and wild and has a bit of a temper…which also reminds me of someone else.”
Jake rubbed her shoulders before rising and walking over to put out the second cigarette. “So, what do you think, Peter? Do I have much of a chance of getting out of Denver without some kind of sentence? I wouldn’t be surprised if some want to hang me.”
“I don’t think that will happen, but there are no guarantees. That prosecutor is required to do his best to make you look bad. That could mean asking questions he knows might get a rise out of you. You can’t let that happen, Jake, understand? Even if he brings up Evie or your past outlaw ways or your…father. And he will bring that up. He will want to show people what a short fuse you have and try to convince the judge that you’re a danger to society because of it.”
Jake stood at the window and watched buggies going back and forth in the street below, as well as a couple of horseless carriages. He thought about the fact that people could talk to each other now from far away just by speaking into a telephone—something they didn’t have on the ranch. If only Randy could have telephoned him the times they were apart.
“Peter, I come from an era when there wasn’t even a Denver yet. People were still recovering from the war and moving west to find new lives—and I was riding with some of the worst men who ever walked, and drinking and gambling and running guns and robbing banks and trains and… Hell, I don’t even remember all of it. I just figured my father was right that I was worthless, so why should I try to be anything better than all of that?” He felt a tug at his heart. “Until a lovely young widow came along and changed it all for me.” He turned and faced Peter. “I have to go home, Peter, with my wife and my son and the rest of my family. If I go back to prison…or worse…it will kill Randy; so you do this for her, just like in Guthrie when you circulated that petition and got my sentence reduced—for her.”
Randy looked at him with tear-filled eyes. “Jake—”
“We all know it’s true.” Jake’s eyes were still on Peter. “I know you’re married, and I’m sure you love her and that she’s a lovely woman, but I know the real reason you’re doing this. If I were you, I’d be doing the same thing…for the finest woman who ever walked. I think you know why this is so important.”
Jeff scribbled notes the whole time.
Peter rose. “I know why.” He turned and closed his briefcase. “I’m doing everything I can, Jake. But my best defense is you not losing your temper in front of the judge, understand? No matter what.” He faced Jake. “And the day of the hearing, wear a suit—and no guns.”
“Do you know how many people are going to be waiting for me to walk out that door without any guns?”
“No guns! Do you want to intimidate that judge or impress him? And guns aren’t allowed in court anyway. It’s most likely the point will come where the judge tells the police to come and take your guns. If they do, you hand them over without putting up a fuss. I promise they won’t be coming to take you away. They have agreed to let you stay with Lloyd until he’s better. And if you want to stay alive and out of jail, you’ve got to convince the judge that most of the time you are a law-abiding family man.”
“Most of the time?”
Peter grinned. “In your case, Jake, no one is going to guarantee you’re a law-abiding man all of the time. The only thing I can guarantee is that you are definitely a very devoted family man. You just get a little too protective of that family sometimes, and those of us in this room know why you so fiercely defend them. Just give me something to work with and do not lose your temper when the prosecutor questions you. I ran into a couple of your men downstairs, and when I asked them a few things, they mentioned what you did to one of your men on the way here.”
“He insulted Randy.”
Peter rubbed at the back of his neck. “Lord God, Jake, this is what I’m talking about. And I heard about you and those rustlers and why you ended up on the bad side of Harley Wicks.”
Jake shrugged. “They were stealing my cattle and threatened to come for Randy. Was I supposed to let them do both?”
“Have you ever heard of shooting to wound rather than kill?”
“I don’t pay much attention. I just shoot to stop them from shooting back.”
Peter looked at Jeff. “Maybe I should just go home.”
Jeff grinned. “The man doesn’t bend easily.”
Peter faced Jake. “You’re going to have to bend on this one, Jake. You’re the one who said Randy can’t lose you, so you’re going to have to
do what I ask if you don’t want that to happen. Now, let’s go see Lloyd. Maybe he’ll heal faster, knowing his father has some help in getting out of this and going home. Jeff is anxious to see him, too.”
“Randy and I were heading for his room when you two showed up. I’d like to go see him first and make sure he wants visitors,” Jake told him.
Peter nodded. “All right. We’ll wait here.”
With a sigh, Jake walked up to Randy, leaning down to kiss her. “Just give me a few minutes. Have some more coffee and try to relax.”
“Jake, I’m so anxious to see him.”
“I know.” Jake turned to Peter and Jeff. “I appreciate what both of you are doing. I never expected you two to show up—especially you, Peter.”
Peter shrugged. “I went to all that work to get your sentence reduced. I couldn’t let this one go and risk you being sent right back to prison.”
“Yeah, well, some people expect the worst from me, and I guess they got it the other night.” Jake lit another cigarette and turned to Jeff. “Come with me, Jeff. You can help with Lloyd. He won’t mind, and he’ll be thrilled to see you again.” He turned to look from Peter to Randy. “I’m sure you two wouldn’t mind a couple of minutes alone.”
“Jake—” Randy started to protest as she rose.
“It’s okay. I’ll come back in a few minutes.” He opened the door, taking a good look around before going next door into Lloyd’s room.
Randy met Peter’s gaze. “He’s been doing almost everything for Lloyd. He bathes him and changes the dressing on his wound and cleans his teeth and shaves him and even takes care of more personal things. The contrast between the Jake who put a gun to Mike Holt’s head and the Jake who’s been nursing Lloyd is stark. People need to know what kind of a father he is, Peter.”
Peter nodded. “I’ll do my best to make sure they see that. Maybe if Lloyd is healed enough by then, he can testify himself and make an impression on the judge as far as his father’s devotion to his family.” He walked closer. “And you look like you need to sit back down.”
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