Sara had hoped her comment about Jack Parker would help Jake’s mood. He’d been mostly silent after talking to the men in the chow house. She had stayed at his side when they went to the office and he paid Mister Redmond’s bill. Even then, he had barely spoken. She mistakenly believed that seeing his father buried had inspired a greater sense of guilt for not being at the Elk to stop Dave Forrest. The reason for Jake’s silence wasn’t guilt. It was that he was thinking about what he would do if the law didn’t find Dave.
Jake looked into her dark blue eyes, then smiled before saying, “I’m sorry, Sara. I’ve been so distracted that you probably think I’m turning into a sullen hermit.”
“I was getting worried about you. What has you so distracted? And don’t tell me it’s because of me.”
Jake laughed lightly before saying, “You are the best distraction possible, Sara. But I suppose that I should tell you what’s on my mind. I was going to wait for a week or so, but I don’t want you to worry.”
“I won’t worry if you tell me.”
Jake explained his concerns about the probable lack of interest in finding Dave Forrest outside of Choteau County and that with each passing day, the likelihood of locating him would decrease.
When he finished, she asked, “Do you want to start your own search?”
“Not yet. I want to give them a week, but if we haven’t heard anything, I’ll probably go after him. I’ll ask Arv Zendt to deputize me to make it legal. But if you want me to stay, I will.”
“No, I won’t ask you to stay. You’ll always regret not doing what you can. But if you do go, I have one request.”
Jake expected her to ask him to show her how to shoot so she could come along. He’d have to refuse her offer and that might make her change her mind and then ask him to stay.
He asked, “What is it?”
“Take a couple of men with you. Jack can run the ranch while you’re gone, and he should still have enough manpower to keep everything shipshape.”
Jake laughed and hugged her before saying, “I thought you were going to ask me to show you how to shoot a Winchester so you could come along.”
Sara shook her head then said, “You can show me how to shoot one of your Winchesters one of these days, but I’m not about to ride a horse hundreds of miles. My behind is just getting adjusted to riding around the Elk.”
Jake slid his hand across her damp behind and asked, “Would you like a massage?”
CHAPTER 11
Friday morning on the Elk began as a routine weekday. As the ranch hands ate Charlie’s filling breakfast, Jack assigned them their duties. By the time Jake and Sara were having their breakfast, Big Tom was already in his smithy and Bill Jackson was preparing to swap some of the remuda horses out of the corral.
Things were still quiet in Helena, but that would soon change because Dave Forrest hadn’t taken the simple precaution of using a false name when he’d registered at the Flanagan Arms Hotel. He didn’t believe he had any reason to hide because he expected that Jake wouldn’t have returned to the ranch yet. Even if he had, the confession letter would ensure that Jake wouldn’t have Sheriff Zendt charge him with theft of the seven hundred dollars. He never even gave a thought that someone would have already discovered Chet Elliott’s body already.
He was leaving the hotel restaurant and planned to buy some new clothes at Bromfield’s Mercantile which was the largest store he’d ever seen.
As he crossed the lobby, he noticed a young deputy sheriff standing at the desk and heard just two critical words, ‘murders’, and his surname. A sharp chill raced down his back, but he avoided panic and continued to the doorway. He was doubly lucky because the man at the desk wasn’t the same one who had checked him in, and he had his money-stuffed saddlebags over his shoulder. But he knew his luck would run out quickly, so once outside he hurried to M&M Livery. His supplies were low, but they were enough to get him to another town. But it was his Winchester and the Martini-Henry that were more important now.
He soon entered the barn and when he spotted the liveryman, he grinned and calmly said, “I’ll be heading out shortly. Can you saddle my packhorse? I’ll handle my gray gelding.”
“Sure ‘nuff.”
Dave didn’t look behind him as he saddled his horse because he didn’t want to waste the time or see a lawman with a shotgun.
Just five minutes after leaving the hotel, Dave Forrest walked his gelding out of the livery trailing his packhorse. He turned right because the jail was in the other direction. Once he was on the street, he nudged his horse into a medium trot. He was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
But his decision to avoid passing the sheriff’s office sent him past his hotel. After finding Dave’s name on the register, the deputy had gone to his room and found it empty. He then checked the restaurant and asked the waitresses if they had seen a man matching Dave’s description. But Dave had no distinguishing features, so neither of the waitresses provided him with any help. He was leaving the hotel to go to the M&M Livery when he noticed Jake riding past. While he didn’t identify him, it was the gray gelding and the packhorse that convinced Deputy Sheriff Mike Henderson that he’d just spotted the man wanted for two murders in Choteau County.
He pulled his pistol but didn’t cock the hammer. The rider was already well
