Cardwell went down to the lobby, hoping to see one of the deputies there. He was disappointed. Now he wasn’t sure which plan to go with, which distressed him, but he was sure of one thing.
The Vengeance Creek bank was getting robbed today.
Shaye woke to the smell of bacon. When he got down to the kitchen, he found his youngest son making breakfast.
“James?”
“Eggs and bacon, Pa,” James said. “I remember watchin’ Ma make it.”
Shaye also smelled something burning, and wrinkled his nose at it. He looked over at the oven, where smoke was apparently in the process of dissipating.
James saw where his father was looking and said, “I guess I didn’t watch so carefully when it came to biscuits.”
“What’s that smell?” Thomas asked, coming into the room.
“Your brother made breakfast.”
“Made it,” Thomas asked, “or burned it?”
“Sit down, shut up, and eat,” Shaye said, taking a seat at the table.
James served out three plates of scrambled eggs and bacon, and then placed a platter of burnt biscuits on the table. He finished by putting out three cups of coffee, then sitting down himself.
“You came in late last night, Pa,” Thomas said.
“I was at the office.”
“Workin’?”
Shaye shrugged. “Thinkin’, mostly.”
“About what, Pa?” James asked, which drew a look from his older brother.
“About us, mostly,” Shaye said, not noticing the exchange. “What we’re gonna do, where we’re gonna go, that sort of thing.”
“Not thinkin’ about those two strangers?” James asked.
“Can’t suspect every stranger who comes to town, James,” Shaye said. “What’d they do last night, by the way?”
“One of them turned in early,” Thomas said, “the other one went to the Road House Saloon. We left him there and came home.”
“Just as well,” Shaye said. “There have probably been some other strangers who came into town while you boys were occupied with them and I was…well, distracted.”
“Maybe we should check into that today,” Thomas said. “Me and James can check the hotels and rooming houses, maybe even stop in at the saloons.”
“That sounds good,” Shaye said. “Why don’t you boys do that?”
“And what are you gonna do, Pa?” Thomas asked.
“Me?” Shaye asked. “I’m gonna work on gettin’ my head on straight.”
17
Cardwell and Davis stepped out of the hotel and looked around.
“Maybe they are watchin’ us,” Davis said, “only we can’t see them.”
Cardwell lifted his head, as if smelling the air. “No,” he said. “I’d know if I was bein’ watched.”
“Then why did they stop?”
“Maybe we convinced them we’re harmless.”
Davis smiled. “Well, they’re gonna learn that’s wrong, ain’t they, Ben?”
“A lot of people are gonna learn somethin’ new today.”
Thomas and James left the house before their father, stopping just outside to discuss their options.
“Let’s split up,” Thomas said. “We’ll cover more ground.”
“We can cover each other’s backs if we stay together,” James argued.
“Cover each other from what?” Thomas asked. “You heard what Pa said. We can’t suspect every stranger. All we got to do today is identify them.”
“Okay,” James said with a shrug. “You’re the big brother.”
“Hey,” Thomas said, “we’re equal as deputies, aren’t we?”
“We are?” James asked, looking after his brother as Thomas walked off.
Simon Jacks had the luxury of getting himself a hotel room, while the other five men just had to find a place to lay their heads for the night—as long as it wasn’t someplace where they had to write their names down, like a hotel. They could have used phony names, but Jacks didn’t even want anyone to be able to count the bodies.
Jacks’s hotel was a small, run-down building on a side street, because all he needed was a bed. When he came out and found Cardwell waiting for him, he was surprised.
“What the hell?” he said.
“They’re gone,” Cardwell said.
“Where?”
“Who knows?” Cardwell said. “All I know is they ain’t watchin’ us right now, so it’s time to go.”
“Where’s Davis?”
“He’ll be there. The others?”
“They’ll be ready.”
“Then let’s go.”
Nancy Timmerman entered the bank and exchanged good-mornings with the other employees.
“Nancy?”
She turned and saw the manager, Fred Baxter, standing in the doorway of his office.
“Yes, Mr. Baxter?”
“Would you come inside for a moment, please?”
He turned and went into the office, and Nancy shuddered. He wasn’t as old as her father, but he was close, and she hated the way he looked at her. He’d given her the job because of her father, and so far all he’d done was look at her. Maybe today was the day he crossed the line, and she’d have to give up the job because of it—or ask her father to fire the man, since he owned the bank. So far she hadn’t been brave enough to talk to her father about it, because he wanted her to learn the banking business. She thought that if she were a son—which her father always wanted and had never gotten—he probably would have installed her as assistant manager instead of as a lowly teller.
She steeled herself, then marched into the manager’s office to see what he wanted.
Cardwell and Jacks approached the bank slowly, eyeing their men, who were scattered about the area of the bank.
“Where’s Davis?” Jacks asked.
“He’s bringin’ the horses.”
“Why’d you give him that job?” Jacks asked. “He didn’t complain about that?”
“Originally I was gonna take him into the bank with us, but I decided not to. Since you and me are the only ones who are gonna get full shares, it might as well be just us.”
Jacks checked his pocket watch. “Bank’ll open in five minutes.”
“And we’ll make our withdrawal one minute after that,” Cardwell said.
Jacks looked around. “I still can’t believe those deputies aren’t somewhere around here,” he said.
“If they do show up,” Ben Cardwell said, “we’ll make them sorry they did.”
18
Thomas Shaye was checking hotels at one end of town, while James was checking rooming houses at the
