* * *
Jasper wasn’t surprised when Emma Jane informed him of Daisy’s passing. The woman’s labored breathing had told him she didn’t have much time left. He’d tried telling himself otherwise, but he’d known.
What good had his mission to save her done?
He’d failed Mel. The woman had died, taking a bullet for him, and all she’d wanted, her whole reason for living, had been to give Daisy a good life.
And now her sister was dead.
He didn’t even know what illness had befallen Daisy, but surely, had he gotten to her sooner, maybe she wouldn’t have needed to die. If only he’d been able to get her to a doctor.
Jasper looked over at Emma Jane, who sat in the rocking chair, quietly reading her Bible to the baby. She’d pulled the blanket over Daisy’s face, but having a dead woman in the room with them still felt wrong.
Frustration knotted his gut.
All of it was wrong. Daisy dying. Being locked in this old cabin. A baby who’d started wailing again. Emma Jane, trying to console the poor child.
The door opened, and Ace Perry, Ben’s older brother, walked in. Now the pieces of the puzzle fit together.
“I thought you said that milk you got would shut the brat up.”
Mack, who’d followed him in, shrugged. “Maybe babies don’t like goat milk. Was the best I could do, getting a goat from that farm. Don’t reckon I’ve seen any cows around.”
Emma Jane started to approach them, and Jasper bit back a groan. Was she ever going to learn? Why didn’t she trust him to take care of things?
“I’m afraid I have bad news for you,” she said quietly. “Daisy has passed away.”
The mournful tone to his wife’s voice almost made him want to cry. How could she be so tenderhearted toward a stranger she’d never really met? She truly sounded grieved over the loss.
“Well, that’s one less problem we have to deal with.” Ace grinned, then clapped Mack on the back. “See, now you won’t have to worry about taking care of her.”
“She was Ben’s girl,” Mack said, with an air of reverence that Jasper couldn’t help but understand why Emma Jane liked him.
If you’d asked him why bandits were bad, he’d have just said because they were bad. But Mack had a sense of humanness, of gentility, that made Jasper wonder if there wasn’t more to his original assumptions than he’d thought.
“And Ben’s gone. Hanged by a bunch of vigilantes because he got sloppy.”
There was no sadness in the other man’s voice over the loss of his brother. Merely disgust at having been caught.
“Daisy was still a good woman, you know that.” Mack walked over to the body. “We gotta do right by her.”
Then Mack turned his attention to Emma Jane. “And the boy. He’s your blood, Ace, you’ve got to...”
“I don’t got to do anything. There’s no proof, other than Daisy’s word, that the brat was Ben’s. Even Ben had his doubts.”
“I’m going to take care of him,” Emma Jane piped up. “I promised Daisy I’d love him like my own.”
Ace grinned, his gold-capped teeth gleaming in the sunlight. “See there. It’s already been settled.”
Settled? Jasper shot a glance at Emma Jane, who stood proudly holding the baby. When had they discussed her taking care of the baby? Yes, while here in the cabin, it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. But moving forward? She hadn’t even asked his opinion.
“If you’ve no objection, I’m calling him Moses.” Again, Emma Jane looked at Ace for confirmation, completely ignoring Jasper. A baby wasn’t like a stray puppy you could just bring home on a whim.
Ace snorted. “You can call him whatever you want. Like I said, not my problem.”
Mack, though, turned to Emma Jane. “That sounds like a mighty nice name. The baby was born a couple of weeks before Ben was arrested, and Daisy wanted to wait until he could have a say in things before naming him. Now that the boy’s daddy is gone, well...”
Ace walked over to Mack and smacked him on the side of the head. “What’d I say about being too free in your talk? Ben’s big mouth and need to prove a point to that stupid lawman is what derailed our plans in the first place. We were this close to getting off to Mexico, and I’m not going to have it ruined a second time.”
Jasper forced himself not to laugh at Ace’s mistake. In chastising Mack, Ace confirmed what Emma Jane had already told him. They were planning something big, and then they were all headed to Mexico.
The question was, what was he plotting?
“Ain’t no harm in being nice. This miss, here, she’s been nothing but good to us,” Mack said.
The door opened wider, and Ray and Jimmy strode in. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell Ray,” Jimmy said. “She has no part in any of this, and with as much blood’s on our hands, the last thing I want to do is take an innocent life.”
Ray pulled out his gun and examined it. “I ain’t got no problem with that.” Then he pointed the gun at Jimmy. “I ain’t got no problem with killing yellow-bellied cowards, either.”
Jimmy slapped the gun away. “I’m not a coward, and you know it. Just ask Rex.”
“Enough!” Ace’s shout rang through the cabin. “No one is killing anyone.”
Somehow, Jasper didn’t find that comforting. He looked over at Emma Jane, who also didn’t appear to be comforted by the bandit’s words.
“Now.” Ace turned his attention on Jimmy and Ray. “Did you or did you not go into town and deliver the letter, following my directions exactly?”
“Yes, sir,” both men answered in unison.
“Good.” Ace grinned at Jasper. “Your family has been informed of your status, as well as my demands. While it would be easier on my men to take care of business now, we may need to keep you around for a while, just in
