Stay Away From That City . . . They Call It Cheyenne (Code of the West) (21 page)

Baltimore eyed Angelita who was concentrating on every word.

“Anyway I’m not about to haul him out back in the dark with half the town wantin’ to hang him, so I step back into the jail and holler at him to use the bucket. That’s when I see him with a whiskey bottle in his hand. I can’t figure it. Tap, why did Simp smuggle him a bottle?”

“He must have been in on a plan to bust him out.”

“It don’t figure. He could have sent us home and turned ’em loose on Hager.”

“I surmise that Merced wanted it to look like an escape.”

“I storm over to get the bottle, and he throws it on the floor empty. So I turn to leave. I’m thinkin’ that he’ll pass out and sleep the night, and that might be a good thing. Then I notice that the bar’s down on the back door.”

“We’ve had that braced for months,” Tap observed. “Pappy was goin’ to get it bricked up.”

“Then Jerome is a cussin’ and tellin’ me he’ll kill me if I don’t let him out to the privy. But I ignored him and turned to put the brace back in the door. Then I heard an explosion and felt pain in my shoulder. It was like a dull knife jabbed through my backside. My knees were collapsin’. I stumbled, fell. Reckon I hit my head on that iron brace because I was out when I hit the floor.”

“The first shot hit your shoulder?”

“I didn’t come around until this mornin’. I got shot twice. Can’t figure that. Why would a man shoot me again if I was already out?”

“You were by the back door when you went down?”

“Yep. You reckon Hager had a gun or just the lynch mob?”

“I don’t know. But I promise you I’ll find out. There was a pool of blood by the office door. That’s where Carbine found you. Some of them said they caught Hager tryin’ to escape out on the stairs.”

“You don’t say. How’d I get over there?”

“Was that front door locked?”

“Yep. Did they bust it down?”

“No.” Tap jammed his black hat back on his head. “I’ve got to go find Merced. This is more than a mob lynchin’. Someone came real close to doin’ away with both you and Carbine in the same night. Merced’s up to his hips in this thing, and he’ll give me good answers or take lead. I don’t much care which.”

“Before you leave, I got to talk to you . . . alone.”

Angelita set her jaw. “My mama died when I was two. I am not leaving while my father tells you what to do with me if he dies. It’s my life, and I want to know the truth.”

Tap glanced back at Baltimore.

He tried to nod his head.

“The nurse said they can’t take care of a man in my shape. They want to send me down to a sanatorium in Denver right away. Today. They say it’s my only chance of pullin’ out of this. I guess they work with cripples down there. Carbine said he would take me on the train and see that I get set up.”

Baltimore looked again at Angelita.

“She cain’t come with me, Tap. There’s no place for her to live, no money, and no one to look after her there.”

“I can look after myself, and you know it,” Angelita d
eclared.

Tap put his arm on her shoulder. “She can stay with me and Pepper ’til you get on your feet.”

“And if I cain’t ever move again?”

“She can stay with us ’til she’s governor.”

“And if, you know . . .” Baltimore choked back the words. “If I don’t pull through?”

“We’ll raise her like our own. You got my pledge on that, partner.” Tap took a deep breath and rubbed his shirt sleeve across his eyes. “Can’t keep that dust out of my eyes either.”

Angelita pouted. “I refuse to live with such an unrelenting tyrant as Mr. Andrews.”

“Where did she learn words like that, Tap?”

“Not from hangin’ around you and me, Baltimore.” Tap turned to Angelita. “Mrs. Andrews would very much enjoy your company, I’m sure.”

“Poor dear. She is a nice lady. She probably could use some better companionship than you.”

“Thanks for your vote of confidence. I’ve got to find Merced before Cheyenne blows sky high. When do they want to take you to Colorado?”

“On the three o’clock train.”

“Today? You can’t possibly . . .”

“They say they’ll take me down to the depot in a van and load me in a Pullman. I can be in that sanatorium by this evenin’. Doctor says that’s my only chance. I’ve got to try it, Tap.”

Tap searched the room. “Carbine will be here with you, and I’ll check back later. Can’t figure how they can move you across the room—let alone to the depot.” He turned toward Angelita. “What about it, young lady? Can we count on your company for a while?”

“Yes, but tell Mrs. Andrews I won’t be home before noon,” Angelita announced. “Are we going to eat at the hotel every meal, or do you make your wife cook?”

“Are you sure you know what you’re gettin’ into?” Baltimore asked Tap.

“It more than likely won’t be boring.”

Tap left Angelita by her father’s bed and walked back out to Brownie.

I should have asked Pepper first. I can’t decide something like this on my own. What am I thinkin’? But what could I say, Lord? If I wouldn’t have been so stubborn .
 . . I should have busted into that saloon and shot Hager on the spot. Then Baltimore would be eatin’ breakfast at the Drovers'. Angelita wouldn’t have tears on her cheeks. And most folks in Cheyenne would be just as happy.

Yet I just can’t ride that way anymore. I’m not a driftin’ gu
nslinger. Seems I’m not much of a deputy neither. Pepper’s right. I get too mad, too quick to shoot. Somewhere down inside . . . You tryin’ to get me out of this business?

But Angelita .
 . . I sure hope I know what I’m doin’.

It took Tap only a short time to explain the situation about Angelita and Baltimore to Pepper. She stared out the wi
ndow of Suite G. She felt weak. Dizzy. Sick at her stomach. Also scared and disappointed.

Why did he say that? If we have to raise, if we get stuck .
 . . if Baltimore dies. Lord, that’s not my plan, and You know it. We’re going to get that ranch and that big house, and I’m going to have several children, and the boys will help Tap, and then I’ll teach the girls. You know it’s what I always dreamed about. It’s a good dream. It’s not sinful. But it was my dream, not Yours.

“What do you say?” Tap insisted.

Why did he just tell Baltimore? Why didn't he check with me first? I wouldn’t have agreed to it without asking him.

“Darlin’?” he pressed.

She took a big, deep breath and faced him. “Of course, we’ll do it. That’s what friends are for. It’s just that I’ve never had any friends who had children. Be patient with me. It will require a change of thinking. We’ll need a larger place in Pine Bluffs. Could we afford a two-bedroom home? Wouldn’t that be grand? And clothes, does she have many? Will we need to buy some things? I wonder what she likes to eat.”

“Cinnamon rolls.”

“What?”

Tap threw his arms around Pepper. “I’m sure you can fi
gure out all these things. Angelita is very opinionated. She’ll let you know.”

“Seriously, how long do you think she’ll be stayin’ with us?”

“If this sanatorium is any good, and if Baltimore starts regaining use of his arms and legs, I’m sure he’ll want Angelita closer than Wyoming.”

“And what if he doesn’t get better? What if he doesn’t pull through?”

“I guess we got ourselves a half-grown daughter.”

Pepper frowned.

“What is it?”

“I’ve been thinking that maybe this is the Lord’s way of pr
oviding us with a family. Perhaps that doctor in Denver was right. Maybe I really can’t have children and . . .”

The tears rolled. She sniffed them back and began to cough. Then she sat down on the settee and dropped her head into her hands.

“Darlin’, I think you ought to go to the doctor. You’ve been feelin’ puny for a couple weeks.”

“You know perfectly well there’s not one thing he can do for a cold. You told me that yourself last February when you were sick.”

“I don’t have to listen to my own quotes, do I?”

“You most certainly do.” She took a deep breath and stood up. “I’m all right—really. Now let me get things a
rranged for Angelita. Will she be home by noon?”

“Home? This is Savannah’s suite. It’s not even
our
home—let alone Angelita’s.”

“You know perfectly well what I meant, Tapadera A
ndrews. Now don’t you have something better to do than stand around in my way? Tell Mr. Lavelle to send up a cot and some bedding. We’ll put it over by the wall.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He jerked down the brim of his hat and strode out through the doorway.

After finishing his chores, Tap scooted out of the Inter Ocean Hotel and down the boardwalk toward the tracks.

Lord, are You sure I’m ready for this? Last year I’m tossed into prison because Rena shot her own husband. Now I’m a married man lettin’ a ten-year-old huckster that I’ve only known for three months move in with us. My life used to be routine. Planned chaos maybe—but planned. All I had to look out for was me. Now You know I didn’t do a very good job at lookin’ after myself. How in the world can I take care of Pepper and Angelita?

I’m surely goin’ to need Your help.

Tap trudged into Tom Breshnan’s hotel office.

“Andrews! We’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

“I’m lookin’ for Merced. Where’s your marshal, Mayor?”

“You mean acting marshal.”

Tap stomped across the office, and the mayor retreated to the far side of his big, cluttered desk. “I’ve got to talk to Simp Merced. Is he still on the payroll?”

“We haven’t seen him since the lynch mob grabbed Hager. I’m afraid he will have to be released for dereliction of duty. We might have acted hastily in suspending you, and we wanted to know if you were interested in—”

Tap rubbed the back of his neck, took a deep breath, and tried to relax. “Mayor, I’m tryin’ real hard not to get angry here. I’ve no intention of resuming work for you. But it’s mainly b
ecause I figure I’m not the right guy for the job. If I were you, I’d pay good money and hire a seasoned marshal out of Dodge City or Wichita or Silver City.”

“But we need some leadership right now.”

“Then you better find yourself a man in a hurry. I came here to find out if Baltimore Gomez, a deputy marshal critically injured in the line of duty, would get his medical bills paid by the city.”

“Oh, yes. We will do what we can.”

Tap pushed his hat to the back of his head. “I figure Simp Merced knows something about why and how this happened. I intend to find out.”

“We think perhaps he left town.”

“Why would he do that? He obviously wanted Jerome Hager lynched.”

“We don’t know, but we do need adequate law enforc
ement now until some permanent solution can be secured.”

“You’re askin’ the wrong man.”

“You refuse to help us even for a few weeks?”

“I’ve got another job. We’ll be movin’ as soon as I figure out who shot Baltimore.”

“Hager shot him in the escape attempt, of course. What’s there to figure?”

“Now just how do you know that?”

“It said so in the
Daily Leader
.”

“And did it say what happened to Simpson Merced?”

“Eh, no.”

“Then I’m goin’ to keep lookin’.”

“But what will we do if we have another ruckus?”

“Get the governor to call for the troops at Ft. Russell.”

“But the governor’s in Washington pressing for statehood. We can’t admit to being unable to police Cheyenne. What would that look like?”

“Then you better pin the badge on and do the job you
rself.”

The mayor muttered something, but Tap was out the door and into the lobby. He pushed out the tall cut-glass and oak doors and turned toward the Inter Ocean.

Angelita met him at the door of Suite G. “You’re late for dinner, you know.”

“How’s your daddy?”

“He’s sleeping a lot. I guess that’s good. Do you know that Mrs. Andrews and I have had dinner ready for eleven minutes?”

Walking into the tiny cubicle that served as a kitchen in the hotel suite, Tap slipped his arm around Pepper’s waist and kissed her neck.

“If you two are finished with that folderol, we can eat now,” Angelita announced. “I’ve got business in the lobby at half past one.”

“What kind of business?” Tap asked.

“It's private.” Angelita lifted her nose and refused to look at Tap.

Lord, help us.

Tap had just pushed back his chair and was drinking his second cup of coffee when a blast from the other side of town rattled the windows. Angelita jumped and ran to look out.

Tap stood to his feet and began to strap on his gun.

“You’re not a deputy anymore, Mr. Andrews.”

“There’s a building on fire,” Angelita cried.