families of these men to see . . . ' Sloan couldn't go on. He gagged,
spun around, and clawed at the doorknob. Ryan had to turn it for
him.
The sheriff ran outside, doubled over in front of the crowd that had
gathered, and threw up in the street.
Returning to his inspection, Ryan squatted down next to one of the
bodies to get a closer look at a bullet he'd spotted half buried in the
floorboard. He could still hear Sloan's retching outside when the door
opened again, letting in another blessed whiff of fresh air. Cole came
striding inside. Ryan turned to him and waited for a reaction.
Cole wasn't prepared for what he saw. As though he'd just run headlong
into a stone wall, he staggered back and whispered, 'Ah . . . Lord. '
'Are you going to run, or are you going to stay? ' Ryan demanded.
Cole didn't answer. Ryan's eyes were blazing with fury now. 'Take a
good look, Cole. Any of these men could have been one of your
brothers.
Tell me, how often do they go into a bank? Or your mother? Or your
sister? ' he taunted in a voice that lashed out like a whip.
Cole shook his head and continued to stare at the two corpses on their
knees leaning into one another. He couldn't look away.
'Don't you dare tell me this isn't your problem, ' Ryan said. 'I've
made it your problem by getting you appointed marshal.
YO Like it or not, you aren't walking away from this. You're going to
help me catch the bastards.' Cole didn't say a word. He was fighting
the urge to join the sheriff outside, yet at the same time he could eel
his anger fueling to a rage.
No one should have to die like this. No one.
He wouldn't allow himself to be sick. If he turned his back on these
men and ran outside, he would be committing a blasphemy. He couldn't
reason his reaction. He just knew it would be wrong for him to be
repulsed by them.
He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, then slowly moved away
from the door and walked around the circle of dead. Ryan watched him
closely.
Another minute passed in silence, and then Cole said, 'I don't know how
many of them were in here, but I'm pretty sure several men did the
shooting.'
