Free Train From Marietta by Dorothy Garlock

parts.”
    “I thought he was long gone from here,” Tate answered.
    “So did I, but something brought him back.”
    “Nothing good, I reckon.”
    “I’d reckon the same. We’ll talk tonight.”
    Tate watched as Lyle walked on, rounded a corner, and was out of sight. He opened the pickup door and set Emily down on the seat. He slid behind the wheel and started the truck but didn’t put it into gear. Lyle had put too many thoughts into his head.
    A tug on his arm pulled him back to the present. He looked down to see Emily clutching the peppermint stick. “Can I eat my candy now?” she asked.
    “Let’s wait till we get the groceries,” he said. “Then it’s all yours.”
    “Yay!” Emily shouted.
    The entire way back to the ranch, Tate rolled Lyle’s request around in his head. He thought back to the day, not long before, when Lyle had saved his life. The debt that he owed could never truly be repaid. But his allegiance to Lyle was far more than a debt. The Texas Ranger was a good man; the kind of man that he was proud to call a friend. It would be hard to refuse Lyle, but for Emily’s sake, he would. As the ranch came into sight, one final thought stabbed into Tate’s mind.
    Hayden is back.

Chapter 7
    Y ELENA, EXPECTING THE TEXAS RANGER AT THE TABLE, had out done herself. There was venison from the smokehouse, biscuits and gravy, and a delicious cake for dessert. Emily’s happy voice and laughter filled the ranch house kitchen.
    After Yelena had washed the dishes and put Emily to bed, Lyle and Tate went to the front porch. The moon hung low and amber on the horizon. The only sounds came from the horses and a lone coyote howling.
    Lyle sank down in the bentwood chair with a groan. He stretched out his legs and patted his bulging stomach. “If I ate like that every night, there wouldn’t be a horse in Texas that could carry me. That woman makes the best damn biscuits I ever ate. If I thought I could, I’d steal her away from you.”
    “Well, get that idea out of your head, because you’d have to take Jorge too. He can be a bit of a handful when he gets his back up.” Tate chuckled.
    “It might be worth it for those biscuits.”
    As if on cue, Jorge ambled out onto the porch and sat down on the steps. Tate lit a cigarette, took a drag, and blew his smoke into the night air. “You don’t need to worry about holding your tongue, Lyle. You can talk freely in front of Jorge. What I know, Jorge knows. I trust him with my daughter’s life.”
    The three men sat in silence for a moment. Lyle shifted his weight in the chair and cleared his throat. “Your word’s good with me, Tate, but what I’ve got to say needs to be kept among the three of us for a while.”
    “Done,” Tate answered, and Jorge nodded his head.
    “I need your help to find a missing woman,” Lyle continued. “Her father thinks she was taken from the New Orleans-Texas train after it passed through Simon.”
    “Anyone I know?” Tate asked.
    “No. The woman’s name is Katherine Tyler. Her father’s an old friend of mine who lives in New York City. The last he knew, Katherine was on the train that left Marietta. He knows that she got that far because she sent him a wire. The next wire was to come from Marathon. It didn’t come. Yesterday he got a note asking for money and warning him not to call in the authorities or his daughter would be killed.”
    Lyle paused, stretched his legs, and continued. “I did some checking around but didn’t get much information. After talking to the depot agent at Simon, where she got off to check her baggage, she boarded the train from Marietta. I kept heading up the line to see if anyone had seen her, but she hasn’t been seen. I’ve never met her, but she’s the type that most folks around here wouldn’t forget. From what I hear, she’s a beautiful girl. Tall and blond.”
    “Did you say she got off the train at Simon?”
    “That’s what the depot agent told me. ’Bout the only other