Free The Iron Horseman by Kelli Ann Morgan Page A

“Ma’am. I’m sorry to have
interrupted your supper.”
    Levi
stepped forward and placed a hand on the sheriff’s shoulder. “Let us know if
there is anything else you need.”
    “Your
little lady here has been a lot of help. You should keep her around,” he said,
tipping his hat before mounting his horse.
    Not
him too.
    Once
the sheriff and his deputy left, they headed back into the house.
    “Why
would somebody from the train want to start a fire in a new bank in this newly
sprouted town?” Her curiosity was getting the better of her. She couldn’t help
it. She wanted to know what had happened.
    “That’s
exactly what I intend to find out.” Levi glanced at Cadence.
    Was
that admiration she saw in his eyes?
    Her
heart flipped over in her chest.
    This
might be a problem.
     

     
    “I’ll
be right in,” Levi told the others. He wanted to sit out in the fresh cool air
and think.
    Cadence
stopped at the door before heading back into the house. When she caught his
gaze, their eyes locked for a few unspoken moments, then she disappeared
inside.
    Miss
Walker was as smart as a whip. With the tidbit of information she’d been given,
she’d made a solid assumption. When the sheriff had asked about the townsfolk,
Levi had gone over each of their interviews in his head. Not one would be
capable of doing such a thing. He thought of all the new people he’d met over
the last week, including the green deputy. People had been moving in from back
East since the day Flat Plains built their first permanent structure after the railroad
had moved on.
    Levi
sighed heavily as he ran his fingers through his hair. Union Pacific officials
had received some threats over the last couple of months, but had deemed them
harmless. Now, given the incidents over the past few weeks, it seemed the
rumors were true. Someone was out to sabotage the railroad and he needed to be
prepared. There were plenty of Pinkertons on their payroll. He suspected Eamon
would be first in line to get to the bottom of the trouble, but his friend was
in Bryan.
    Levi
leaned against the fence and glanced out across the flat prairie. The waning
sun splashed bright pinks and orange hues across the cloud-filled sky.
Detective or not, something bothered him about the whole situation, he just
couldn’t put his finger on it.
    Why
the bank?
    They
were lucky no one had been seriously injured or killed.
    “Levi,”
Tag practically yelled.
    Levi
had been so caught up in his thoughts he hadn’t heard his brother calling.
“Sorry. Were you speaking to me?”
    “Miss
Walker has a room in town. We believed seeing her home safely would be the
correct thing to do, but didn’t think it appropriate to have you escort her
without a chaperone.”
    Eamon
would kill him if anything happened to his daughter on his watch.
    “And
you two are the chaperones?” Levi asked with an air of disbelief.
    “I
told your brothers there was no need, but they are insisting on escorting me
back. It’s only a couple of miles. Really, I will be fine.”
    “Miss
Walker, if you think for one moment that our mama raised a bunch of hooligans,
well...”
    “You’d
be right,” Tag chimed in with a chuckle. “But, she taught us manners too.
You’ll have an escort back to town one way or another.”
    “Well, gentlemen ,” she emphasized, “I would be happy for the company. Thank
you.”
    Levi
and his brothers headed to the stable to retrieve their horses.
    “I
guess there is some adventure in what you do, big brother,” Cole acknowledged
as he opened Mav’s gate. “But I still don’t know how you can travel from town
to town without a place of your own to hang your hat.”
    “Maybe
you should join me at the marriage of the rails in Utah.” Levi finished
hitching the horses to the front of the wagon.
    “There
is so much I could say about that statement.” Tag led his mount out into the
yard.
    “One
ride on the train with me, kid brother, and I’ll have you