closed his notepad and looked at Cole. 'Do you? ' 'Just one, ' Cole
answered. 'How long will you be staying in town? ' 'Until the day
after tomorrow when the coach comes through again.' Ryan offered
Rebecca his hand to help her stand. She looked startled by the
gentlemanly gesture and hesitantly took hold of him.
'You aren't going to bother Jessica and Grace tonight, are you? It's
already well after eight, ' she said. 'They were both so weary this
afternoon. Neither one of them is feeling well, ' she added. 'You
should let them get a good night's sleep before you hound them with
questions.
Good night, gentlemen.' They watched her walk away. Each was lost in
his own thoughts until she paused in the doorway and looked at them
again. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Because she had been as cool
as ice during the questioning, the emotional display surprised them.
'Are you ever going to catch those horrible men? Do you have any leads
at all? The sheriff told me you didn't, but I was hoping he was
wrong.
' Ryan's shoulders slumped. 'No, we don't have any leads now, but that
could change.'
'One thing's certain, ' Cole interjected. 'We will catch ihem. It's
only a matter of time. You can count on it.'
'Yes, of course you'll catch them, ' she said. 'If you think of any
other questions, I'll be here.' Once she was inside, Cole muttered an
imprecation. 'I don't like being a marshal. It's depressing.'
'You know what's really bothering you? You feel sorry for all three of
the women, don't you? ' 'Yeah, I do. Thanks to Sloan's incompetence,
those ladies have been thrown into the middle of a boiling pot. They
shouldn't have to be afraid. Besides, it's pretty certain none of them
was in the bank during the robbery, but now everyone in town thinks one
of them was. Folks around here don't think things through, do they? I
guess I hated seeing Rebecca so scared.'
'I can't blame her for being afraid, ' Ryan said. 'She knows what the
Blackwater gang can do.'
'Do you think any of them will come back to Rockford Falls? Would they
go to such an extreme because of a rumor?
' 'People believe what they read in the paper. It would be a lucky
break for us if they did come back. Stop glaring at me, Cole. I'm
only being honest. It would be a break, and God knows we're due for
one. We can protect the women.
