going.”
Samms started pulling his pants on.
“We got enough water to wash?” Leslie asked, pointing to the pitcher on the dresser.
“Never mind,” Samms said. “There’ll be plenty of time to wash later. Just get dressed and let’s get going.”
When Cotton arrived at the jail, Dan, Thomas, and James Shaye were all there and awake, as was Thad. There’d been enough food on the tray to feed the prisoners and the deputies, including Shaye.
“You fellas all look well-fed,” Cotton said.
“There might be somethin’ left on the tray for you,” James offered.
“That’s okay,” Cotton said. “I had something before I left home. Belinda was gone when I left.”
“She’s in the cafe with Jeb Collier,” Shaye said. “James and I saw them a little while ago.”
“What about the rest?”
“No sign.”
“Thad,” Cotton said, “Why don’t you and James take a turn around town, see if you spot them?”
“Yes, sir,” Thad said.
James put down his empty coffee cup and followed Thad out the door.
Samms and Leslie sat on chairs in front of the saloon, waiting.
“Where’s everybody else?” Leslie wondered.
“Overslept,” Leslie said. “Relax, they’ll be here.”
Leslie put his head back, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
It didn’t take long for Thad and James to spot the two men seated in front of the saloon.
“I’ll watch them,” James said, “you go back and tell the sheriff about it.”
“Think they’re waitin’ for the others?”
“Looks like it,” James said. “Go ahead.”
Thad nodded and headed back to the office.
Jeb and Belinda enjoyed a leisurely breakfast—at least, Jeb did. Belinda picked at her bacon and eggs until Jeb started eating from her plate. Picking at her bacon with his fingers.
“Nervous?”
“Yes.”
“But this is what we’ve waited for,” he said. “This is what you wrote to me in Yuma about, taking this bank.”
Belinda was a contradiction, even to herself. Yes, she’d written to him about the bank in Pearl River Junction, but she’d also written to Dan Shaye, to try to convince him to come to town and protect her—and Alvin Simon, for that matter. Once she met him, she thought his money was her way out and didn’t want Jeb to kill him. As for Jeb himself, she really wasn’t sure what he would do when he got there. It wasn’t until he came to the house to see her and her son that she knew he wasn’t going to kill her. That’s when she decided to throw in her lot with him.
“We’re gonna take that bank,” he’d told her, “and then I’m takin’ you and the boy away from here.”
“Do we have to take the child?” she’d asked.
“He’s mine, ain’t he?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’re takin’ him.”
Now she watched Jeb put the last piece of her bacon into his mouth and said, “Do we really have to take Little Matt—”
“Don’t call him that!” he snapped, slamming his first down on the table, startling her into silence. “You only named him that to try to convince Shaye he was his grandson, right? Because you wanted protection against me?”
“I didn’t know…”
“Yes,” Jeb said, reaching out and taking her hand, “you didn’t know what I’d do when I got here. You thought I might kill you and take the boy. But you’re the one who knows where all the guards are in the bank, honey. You’re the one who can get in there with your new boyfriend.”
“Jeb,” she said, “you aren’t going to kill…”
“Kill?” he asked. “Kill who? If I can help it, I’m not gonna kill anyone.”
She seemed relieved by that, but of course he meant that he wasn’t going to do the killing, Vic Delay was. That’s what he was there for.
Jeb took his watch from his pocket and checked the time.
“The bank should be openin’ soon, darlin’,” he said. “Time for you to go.”
“Yes,” she said.
“I’ll pay the bill here and be along.”
She nodded, stood, and left the cafe. Connie came out and cautiously approached Jeb with the check.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” Jeb took the bill, looked at the price, and paid the waitress, tipping her well. “Now, is there a back door out of here?”
71
Walking back to the sheriff’s office, Thad noticed Alvin Simon, who owned the hardware store, standing in front of the bank. He also saw Belinda Davis rushing up the street and, eventually, joining Simon in front of the bank. It looked like the two of them were waiting for it to open. He turned his attention away from them and kept on to the sheriff’s office.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” Simon said to Belinda.
“Of course I was coming, Alvin,” she said. “This is important to me. I know you think I’m horrible to want to actually see your money, but—”
“I’ll do whatever I have to do to get you to marry me, Belinda,” Simon said. “To prove that I love you.”
Belinda was about to reply when they heard the lock on the door of the bank
“Ah,” the older woman said, “good morning, Mr. Simon. Early for you today, isn’t it?”
“I—that is, we—have business with Mr. Brown, Miss Hastings.”
“Well, he’s in his office. Come in, come in.”
As Simon and Belinda entered, the younger woman noticed the older woman giving her a look of distaste. It was the way most of the women in town regarded her and this morning it steeled her resolve to do what she had to do.
Jeb Collier had gone out the back door of the cafe, finding himself in an alley that ran the length of the street. He was able to use that back alley to get down the street without passing in front of the sheriff’s office to the bank. Beyond the bank, he knew, was the Wagon Wheel Saloon. With any luck, Samms and Leslie were attracting some attention from the law. When he reached the bank, he used another alley to work his way around behind it, where he found Vic Delay and Lou Tanner waiting for him. Also there was Ben, holding the reins of five horses, one for each of them and another for Belinda.
“About time,” Delay said. “You sure this is gonna work?”
“I told you,” Jeb said. “She’s the one who planned it. She said she knew that if I didn’t kill her on sight, we’d be able to take this bank.”
“Well, she better do her part.”
“She’ll do it,” Jeb said.
“I don’t like it that there’s no guards behind the bank,” Delay said. “I mean, if there’s so much money in there—”
“Belinda says they keep most of the guards inside the bank, near the vault, and there’s always one on the roof, but he’s always watching the street.”
“I don’t like it,” Delay said, “counting on a woman—”
“Just be ready, Vic,” Jeb said. “If we have to take the guards out, we’re gonna have to move fast to grab as
