Free Diablo by Patricia; Potter Page A

Davy had been his savior when he was a child, smuggling food to him and ointments for the bruises and cuts from frequent beatings. Davy had even taught him to read, since Kane’s father considered it a waste of time and money to send him to school. Later, when the Carson family took Kane in after his father’s death, Davy had helped him catch up on other studies so he wouldn’t be so far behind in school. He owed Davy everything, including his life.
    He remembered his friend’s face when they’d been condemned together. Davy’s face was anguished as he’d turned toward his wife and child. Kane would never forget that look. And he would never stop blaming himself for the incident that forced both of them into the life of outlaws.…
    Kane had just arrived home from the war after traveling three months across half a continent without horse or money. He’d never had many dreams before the war, but after three years of war and a year in a prison camp, he dreamed of a ranch of his own, of a family like Davy’s. He’d stopped at Davy’s ranch to see him, his wife, and his boy, Alex, before joining a trail drive north. He’d hoped to earn enough money to buy a small ranch.
    Alex, at twelve, had hungered after stories of war, and Kane had reluctantly told several, trying to keep them free from the actual horror. Kane grew cold thinking about it. He’d always felt it had been those stories that prompted young Alex to aim a rifle at land-grabbing government officials hours after the telling.…
    A knock came at the door, jolting Kane out of the past and back to the present. He opened the door to find Mitch Evers standing there, an uncomfortable look on his face.
    â€œNat wants you to come to dinner tonight,” Evers said. “Seven.”
    Surprised and wary, Kane asked, “Why?”
    Evers shrugged. “I don’t usually ask him why he does anything.”
    Kane pondered the invitation almost insolently. He was damnably tired of being pushed and manipulated.
    â€œHe would like an answer,” Mitch said.
    â€œDo I have a choice?” Kane said.
    â€œDepends on whether you want to live,” Evers said.
    â€œThat’s a real gracious invitation.”
    Mitch Evers smiled. “Nat might have put it better. Besides you’ll enjoy it. Nicky’s a good cook.”
    â€œAm I supposed to enjoy it?” Kane asked suspiciously. “I thought I was to stay away from her and the kid.”
    â€œI think Nat just wants to thank you for yesterday,” Evers said, not answering the implied question.
    Kane wiped the soap from his face. “I’ll be there, but I don’t like summonses, not when I’m paying a king’s ransom to be left alone.”
    â€œAn invitation,” Evers insisted.
    Kane was in no mood to argue semantics. He didn’t know what Nat Thompson wanted, but he suspected it wasn’t the joy of his company. He nodded curtly.
    â€œSeven,” Mitch Evers reached for the doorknob, got halfway out and turned back. “Don’t be late.”
    Kane swore at the closing door.
    John Yancy rubbed his sore wrists. They were bloody from the tight ropes. He’d awakened in an alley with an aching head, an empty stomach, and a fierce hatred. An hour later he sat in a crowded bar in a godforsaken border town nursing his third shot of whiskey and an enormous grudge.
    He’d kept trying to make sense of the series of events that brought him here. Back in Sanctuary, two men with guns had escorted him to Thompson’s office after he’d just seen Diablo ride in with that brat Robin. He’d been told his brother tried to rape the Thompson girl and was dead. He was told he was damn lucky to leave Sanctuary alive. It had taken him a few minutes to understand, and then he’d thrown himself at Thompson. The two hired hands had subdued him, tied and blindfolded him, and thrown him on a horse.
    Cobb was the