Free Trackdown (9781101619384) by James Reasoner

back. She’ll be just fine.”
    He hoped that was true, too.
    “You’re gonna need another few shots of redeye now, Deputy,” Morley said. “I’ve got work to do.”
    “Ain’t that…just like a bartender?” Mordecai said. “Always tryin’ to…pour hooch down a fella’s throat.”
    Bill couldn’t wait any longer. The delay was already chafing at him. He reached down, grasped Mordecai’s good shoulder, and squeezed for a second.
    “I’ll see you when I get back,” he said.
    “Bill.” Mordecai lifted his head. His eyes were bleary from pain and whiskey, but he was dead serious as he said, “You just get Eden. Don’t worry about the town. I’ll look after things around here.”
    “I know you will,” Bill said, even though he wasn’t confident of that at all.
    Redemption might just have to get along without a lawman for a while, because he wasn’t coming back without Eden, no matter how long it took.
    “I need the sharpest knife you can find, and heat it up over a flame until it’s red-hot,” Morley was saying as Bill left the newspaper office.
    When he stepped out onto the porch, the first thing he sawwas a familiar but surprising face. Jesse Overstreet stood there blocking his path.
    It seemed like days since Judge Dunaway had fined the cowboy and Bill had released him from jail, instead of only hours. So much had happened since then, all of it bad.
    “What do you want?” Bill snapped.
    “To go with you,” Overstreet said.
    That brought Bill up short.
    “You want to join the posse?” he asked. “Why?”
    “I heard those outlaws took your wife with them. That ain’t right. Besides, lookin’ back on it now, you treated me halfway decent, Marshal, especially considerin’ that I’m from Texas and you’re a Kansas lawman.”
    “I’m from Texas, too, remember?”
    “Still and all, you’ve could’ve been a lot harder on me. I reckon I owe you somethin’ for that.” Overstreet smiled faintly. “Anyway, you know how it is. When somebody asks a Texan why, he just naturally says why the hell not.”
    Even under these bleak circumstances, Bill couldn’t help but return the young cowboy’s smile for a second. Overstreet still looked a little hungover, but if he could stay in a saddle, that was all that mattered right now.
    “Is your horse ready to ride?”
    “Yes, sir, he sure is,” Overstreet answered with a nod.
    “Then come on. We need to get on the trail.”
    Josiah Hartnett had assembled the posse in front of his livery stable. As Bill walked up, he did a quick head count. Sixteen men, counting him and Overstreet. That wasn’t bad. They would outnumber the bank robbers. Some of the faces were familiar and some weren’t, but they all looked determined, if a mite nervous at the same time. What they were setting out to do could easily be dangerous.
    Bill took the reins of his horse when Hartnett handed them to him. He mounted, then faced the members of the posse.
    “I don’t know how long or how far we’ll have to chase those outlaws, but we’re gonna chase them until we catch up to them,” he said. “And then we’re going to kill them or capture them. If any of you feel like you’re not up to that job, you can fall out now and nobody will think any worse of you.”
    None of the men budged.
    “We’re all bound and determined, Marshal,” Hartnett said. “I’ve got a couple of packhorses loaded down with ammunition and enough supplies to last us at least a week.”
    “Thanks, Josiah. You’ve done a good job getting ready for this.” Bill turned his horse. “Let’s go.”
    A lot of people were still on the street. They stopped talking and turned to look as the posse rode out. Somebody started to let out a cheer, but when nobody else joined in, the voice trailed off.
    This wasn’t a moment for cheering. These men were setting off on a mission of blood and death.
    And there was no way of knowing if any of them would come back alive.

Chapter 13
    It took every bit of