Free Nest of Vipers (9781101613283) by Jory Sherman

some of the men who are probably doing Killdeer’s dirty work for him. I’m going to write them down on this paper before I forget them.”
    Brad pulled out a pencil and began to write down the names.
    Claude walked over to them.
    â€œSee any you like?” he asked Brad.
    â€œI was wondering if you know where this Killdeer has his headquarters. I might want to talk to him.”
    â€œOh, he’s from up in Cheyenne,” Claude said. “I think he has a ranch up there and a saloon and gambling hall of some sort, and maybe owns a hotel.”
    â€œThanks, Claude. I just might look in on Killdeer and look at some of his stock.”
    â€œYou want horses for hunting?” Claude asked.
    â€œI’m thinking of opening a guide operation to take hunters up here for deer and elk in the fall,” Brad lied.
    â€œWell, Jordan’s got all kinds of horses. You just might find what you’re lookin’ for.”
    Claude drew smoke through the pipe stem and blew a cloud from his mouth. He snapped one of his suspenders and smiled with satisfaction.
    â€œSo long, Claude,” Brad said. “Thanks for talking with me.”
    â€œAlways glad to be of help to a stranger,” he said.
    They waved good-bye to Claude and rode out of the logging camp. They climbed ever higher, crossed a ridge, and went down another slope.
    â€œNow what?” Joe asked.
    â€œNow, we ride to Wild Horse Valley. We may not find anything there, but at least we know more than we did this morning when we woke up.”
    â€œWill we make it there today?” Joe asked.
    Brad shook his head.
    â€œJust look at all those hills and those mountain peaks, Joe,” he said. “There’s no end to them. We’ve got a ride ahead of us that’s more than a stretch of the legs.”
    Joe sighed. “It burns me that we found some of the stolen horses and can’t do a damned thing about it. Claude probably bought them in good faith and has no idea where they came from.”
    â€œI’m sure you’re right, Joe. No, we can’t do anything about those horses we just saw, but we just might find the thieves, and we can sure as hell go after Jordan Killdeer.”
    â€œWhen?” Joe asked.
    â€œWhen the time comes,” Brad said.
    He looked out over the vast expanse of hills and mountains. The land seemed to roll on and on like some mighty ocean, all green and shining in the golden blaze of the sun. It was enough to fill up a man and make him never want to leave such a grand place.
    For as far as he could see, the country seemed like a hidden and untouched Eden.
    Virgin timber everywhere he looked, and if a man wasn’t real careful, the land could swallow him up and none other would ever find him.

TWELVE
    As he rode, Brad felt as if Felicity were riding with him. He could almost feel her arms around his waist and her breasts pressing against his back. He sensed her presence in the very air of the mountains, and he was gripped by a deep sadness that his feelings were just empty illusions.
    He could even smell Felicity’s perfume. The scent of lilacs was in the air.
    Felicity’s favorite perfume.
    They stopped at a small spring-fed stream that coursed through a narrow valley, to water their horses and fill their canteens. As they let their horses drink and blow, Joe stepped up to Brad with a worried look on his face.
    â€œYou know, Brad,” he said, “I been thinkin’ that maybe we could have wrapped up this case this mornin’.”
    â€œOh? How so?” Brad asked.
    â€œWell, we could have hauled Claude Miller back down to Denver and had him testify in front of a judge about the whole shebang. The judge would’ve issued search and arrest warrants, sent U.S. marshals up to Cheyenne, arrested Jordan Killdeer, and maybe gone after his hired men.”
    â€œYou think that would have wrapped up this case, Joe?” Brad said.
    â€œYeah, I do,