Free Death Rides Alone by William W. Johnstone Page B

change.
    Anyway, justice was a powerful lure as well, and Judd Tyler deserved to swing for what he’d done.
    Luke kept moving, riding out of Bent Creek as the eastern skies turned red and gold with the approach of dawn.
    * * *
    Tyler didn’t say anything as they traveled north with the sun rising on their right. Luke glanced back at the prisoner from time to time and saw that Tyler was riding with his head drooped forward. The brim of the young man’s hat shielded his face.
    Luke didn’t think Tyler was actually sleeping. After a while, his curiosity got the better of him, so he let the gray drop back a little until he and Tyler were riding almost side by side.
    â€œYou were so eager to convince me of your innocence,” Luke said. “What happened to that, Tyler?”
    â€œFigured I’d be wasting my time,” Tyler replied without looking over at Luke. “Your mind’s made up. Anyway, the only thing you’re really interested in is that reward money.”
    â€œThat’s not strictly true. Naturally, I’d like to be paid for my efforts in apprehending you, but I want to see justice done as well.”
    â€œNeither one of those things is going to happen if you take me to White Fork.” For the first time in a while, Tyler’s head lifted and he looked at Luke. “But if there’s any chance that money might make a difference . . . I told you I rustled cattle and held up some stagecoaches. I’ve still got most of the loot from those jobs. I cached it somewhere nobody’ll ever find it. Let me go and I’ll tell you where to find it. It adds up to more than the bounty on my head.”
    Luke laughed.
    â€œOf course it does,” he said. “And if I take your word for it and let you go, when I get to the place where the money’s supposed to be, I’ll find an empty hole in the ground . . . if that much.” He shook his head. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Tyler. Don’t insult me by taking me for a fool.”
    A look of anger flashed across Tyler’s face. He said, “I can’t take you to where the money is hidden, or I would. But it’s too close to White Fork. There’s too much of a chance we’d be spotted. Axtell and his deputies will already be setting out to ambush us.”
    â€œThat’s the second time you’ve made it sound like Sheriff Axtell and his men are outlaws.”
    Tyler snorted in contempt.
    â€œThey might as well be. They’re not honest lawmen, that’s for damn sure. Gus Axtell may wear a sheriff’s badge, but everybody around White Fork knows that he really works for Manfred Douglas.”
    Luke shook his head and said, “I don’t know who that is.”
    â€œDouglas is the big he-wolf in those parts. Owns the Circle M ranch, the biggest, richest spread in that part of the territory. He owns at least half of White Fork, too. Nobody dares cross him.”
    â€œExcept you,” Luke guessed.
    Tyler shrugged and said, “I rustled more Circle M stock than from any of the other ranches around there, I reckon, but that’s because Douglas’s herd is way bigger than anybody else’s. Besides, I figured he’d miss it less. I didn’t really want to hurt any of those little greasy sack outfits.”
    â€œCharitable of you,” Luke said.
    Tyler glared at him and said, “Just because I drove off some cows that didn’t belong to me doesn’t make me a terrible hombre .”
    â€œJust a dishonest one.”
    â€œWell, I never claimed different, did I?”
    â€œGo on with your story,” Luke told him. “This Manfred Douglas has Sheriff Axtell in his pocket, you said.”
    â€œHe damn sure does. And Axtell keeps the peace, I reckon you’ve got to give him credit for that. But that’s because everybody’s afraid of him and his gunslingin’ deputies. Enough people have disappeared after giving