Free The Bride Wore Blue by Mona Hodgson Page B

wouldn’t have a problemhanging the guy. More than anything, he wanted to keep the peace and protect the innocent.
    He’d lost his father to a cold-blooded killer, and now Mac’s three children in Missouri had too. Carter pushed his hat back onto his head.
    He cupped his hand under Liberty’s jaw and led his bay stallion down the dirt path beside the livery barn. “Got more business to tend to, boy. I’ll pay to have you brushed down.”
    Still talking to his horse. At least Liberty didn’t go out of his way to avoid Carter and then offer excuses full of holes. Had it really been just this afternoon that he’d seen Vivian Sinclair on the street in Victor?
    Jesse met him at the gate with a glowing lantern in one hand and a full pitchfork of hay in the other. “I recognized Liberty’s nicker. Figured you’d be late gettin’ him in the corral tonight.” Jesse was about as tall as Pickett’s six foot two description but had a lot more meat on his bones. A frown creased his chin. “Heard about Mac.”
    Carter nodded and removed the folder from the saddlebag. He didn’t have to ask how Jesse already knew about this afternoon’s tragedy. Cripple Creek was growing faster than the prairie grasses, but its strong word-of-mouth communication still gave it a small town feel.
    “You find out who did it?” Jesse asked.
    “Boney saw two men fleeing Mac’s cabin. One of them could be Pickett.”
    “I remember seein’ the poster. Tree tall. Skinny as a branch.”
    “He was bent over on a dapple gray. Mac may have shot him.”
    Jesse hooked his thumbs on the bib of his greasy overalls. “A dapple gray?”
    “Yeah. Jon and I found one with a lead slug in its head while searching for the killers. Looked like it went lame.”
    “Three white socks and a dark hind leg?”
    Carter straightened. “You know the horse?”
    “Sounds like one I bought from a miner awhile back. Sold it about five months ago.”
    “To anyone I might know?”
    “Pearl DeVere.” Jesse whispered her name as if to avoid embarrassing Liberty or the horses in the surrounding corrals. Pearl was one of the most wealthy and renowned other women in town. “He pulled her buggy alongside her chestnut for a while. Haven’t seen him for a couple weeks. Maybe a month.”
    “Thanks. I’ll look into it. Could you have Archie pull the saddle and brush Liberty down for me? Gotta go.”
    “Will do.”
    Carter walked down the hill behind the corrals. How many times had his dad told him he had to think like criminals if he expected to catch them? Well, if he was a thief who’d been shot and needed immediate attention, he’d avoid the hospital and any doctors who could be considered longtimers. Dr. Cutshaw would likely question the injury. Instead, he’d go see the new woman doctor who’d only been in town for a week.
    At the edge of Poverty Gulch, Carter cut toward the creek until he had a good view of the doctor’s cabin. Enough light shone through the windows for him to see that no horses stood at the hitching rail. If Pickett and his pal had come here, they’d probably fled town after the doctor patched him up, but a man couldn’t be too cautious. Carter had told his mother he wouldn’t repeat his father’s mistake, and it was a promise he intended to keep. Satisfied that nothing looked out of place, he walked down the rocky path to the doctor’s log cabin.
    A wooden box with a red cross on the lid hung on one side of thedoor. A dog barked inside, and the door swung open. The young woman who stood at the threshold, staring at him, stuck a pencil into the bun at the nape of her neck.
    “Ma’am.” Carter removed his hat. “I’m Deputy Carter Alwyn. I apologize for the late hour.”
    She snapped her fingers at the small, white fluff ball that yapped and bounced at her heels. “Quiet down, Pooch.”
    “Dr. Susan Anderson?”
    “Folks call me Doc Susie.”
    Carter glanced down at the closed Bible she held in her hand. “Reading to a