Black Ransom by Stone Wallace Read Free Book Online Page A

killin’, gettin’ blood on your hands. The war was good for yuh, Ehron Lee, wasn’t it? ’Cause it made yuh what you really are: a killer and a criminal.”
    Her body trembled in a barely repressed fury. Ehron Lee just stood there, stunned into silence, unable to respond, scarcely believing any of what he was hearing. It was as if Abigail had become another person, someone hostile and vindictive.
    Her thinking was not rational, and as she continued to rant, it was clear that she held Ehron Lee responsible for what had happened to Winston, her emotionally charged accusations doing nothing to assist Ehron Lee’s claim of innocence in the eyes of the sheriff, who had rushed back into the office upon hearing her outburst.
    Buck Leighton urged Abigail from the office, though she continued to shout her accusations until she was outside on the boardwalk. Buck attempted to quiet her, then when she calmed after a few moments, he came back inside, closing and locking the office door behind him.
    â€œI didn’t see your wife outside, Burrows,” he said. “Don’t think she heard any of what was goin’ on.”
    â€œShe—she don’t know what she’s sayin’, Sheriff,” Ehron Lee said numbly. “She’s still upset by what happened to Winston.”
    â€œCan you blame her?” Buck said flatly.
    Ehron Lee’s eyes sparked defensively.
    â€œI ain’t guilty of no wrongdoin’, Sheriff,” he protested. “Those men that
are
responsible are still out there.”
    â€œYou claim you saw those men, Burrows, yet you never gave me much to work with, other than they were both big men, one dressed in buckskins, and that the other fella’s name was Tom or Todd or who knows what,” Buck reminded. “’Round these parts, don’t exactly make either stand out.”
    â€œIt was dark, and their faces were pretty much covered,” Ehron Lee replied wearily, repeating what he’d said countless times before. “Can’t tell yuh more than what I saw or what I heard.”
    Buck said nothing. He just observed Ehron Lee with a narrow-eyed, considering expression.
    Buck Leighton and Ehron Lee were roughly the same age, though the sheriff looked considerably older. His skin was lined, and traces of gray had begun to appear in his curly black hair as well as in his eyebrows. Though it wasn’t his place to make character judgments of his prisoners, Buck thought Ehron Lee to be a decent sort, and the few times they did speak, the exchanges were pleasant, if brief. Not that he could be called upon to give an honest assessment of his character. It was also known to Buck that Ehron Lee had fought in the war, and the sheriff had seen enough through his job to understand how the stress and carnage of battle could change a man—and not for the better. Many of those he’d had to arrest, as a lawman in various counties, for both minor and more serious offenses were men who, before the war, had been peaceful, honest citizens. But their wartime experiences had released some dark side of their nature that never before had been given rein. So with that in mind, he couldn’t take lightly those accusations thrown at Ehron Lee by his sister-in-law, though he, too, had to admit she was somewhat of a queer, unsettled sort.
    Buck felt definite compassion for Ehron Lee’s wife, though. Although he was unmarried, he understood how difficult it must be for her, how she would defend her man, even under such damning circumstances. That aside, as each day passed, he began to disapprove of Melinda Burrows coming around the jailhouse so often, given her delicate condition and how upset she got during each visit. In truth, he simply wanted the trial over, so that, for her sake, some conclusion would be reached.
    * * *
    The morning of the trial, Buck brought Ehron Lee some breakfast. Ehron Lee moved wearily off his bunk and stepped just as