Redemption FinalWPF6 7 by L. E. Harner Read Free Book Online Page B

exhaustion. Bloody, bruised, scraped, scratched, and sprained probably
covered it. Unless he was concussed from the blow to the head.
    ****
    Uriah turned his head so he could see Diane, then followed
the direction of her gaze as she watched Gabe move along the base of the cliff
wall. Her face seemed to have aged since this morning. Despite the oven-like daytime
temperatures, she was pale, causing the smudges under her eyes to stand out. A
little frown line had appeared between her brows that hadn’t been there
yesterday. All of this on top of her grief. He should have taken better care of
her, but how was he to know someone would take a pot shot at them?
    The gunman was probably just some stupid punk off the
reservation. He hoped that’s what it was; wanted to believe it was completely
random. Because the alternative was someone took a shoot at them on purpose.
There was no way to tell if the shot was aimed at him or at Diane, but he
couldn’t imagine a reason to shoot at either of them. Gabe wouldn’t find
anything. Especially if Gabe was behind the attack.
    “I know what you’re thinking Uriah,” Diane said. She brushed
the hair from his face. He moved his head back from her hand with a little
whistle breath of pain.
    “I need to follow him,” he said. He kept his voice calm,
knowing it was the best way to get her to see things his way. “We don’t really
know anything about him. He shows up on the trail, manages to make friends with
you, the next thing you know, he’s got us jumping through hoops. Just exactly
how do we know that he’s who he says he is? Pete was involved with somebody
here at the canyon. Somebody who was going to help him steal some money. What’s
to say it wasn’t Gabe?”
    Diane’s face crumpled in on itself. She squeezed her eyes
closed and pressed her lips tight together as if to keep from crying. Then she
took a deep, shuddering breath, blinked rapidly and met his gaze. Her mouth
still quivered, but her spine straightened. For a long moment, she said
nothing. Then with a quick nod of her head, she acknowledged his remarks.
    “I don’t want to think it’s him. My gut says it isn’t. He is a doctor, Uriah. He wasn’t lying about that. We know it from the rangers. I
know it from the way he just took care of you.” She brushed her fingers against
his lips.
    “Now, hush. You’re not going to go after him. It doesn’t
make any difference at the moment if he was the one Pete was working with here
or not. You have to stay still and make sure you’re recovered enough to move
later. We’ve hiked twenty miles, you’ve been shot at, and we have your
brother’s ashes to spread. I think that’s enough to worry about for one day.”
    He knew she was right, he wouldn’t have made it very far.
His head felt like it had been cleaved in two, and only the little white
butterfly bandage was holding him together. But he also knew he had to tell her
the worst of what he suspected.
    “Dee?” he said, then realized he’d used Gabe’s pet name for
her. “Diane…he had a gun.”
    “I know, Uriah. But if he runs into the person who tried to
shoot at you…” she trailed off. Her eyes narrowed and he knew she’d figured it
out. “You think he might be working with the gunman? That this is just for
show?”
    “It’s a pretty good way to get us to trust him, don’t you
think?” Uriah answered.

 
    Chapter Six
    So many miles from all civilization, the Milky Way dominated
the night sky and starlight blanketed the bottom of the canyon. From where Gabe
lay on his back, he had a perfect view of the stoic profile of Uriah Wadsworth.
In the dim glow of light, Uriah looked like an ancient warrior. His long black
hair was pulled back, his angular features chiseled by shadows, his profile
strong and proud. The man stared into the darkness, as if searching for answers
to questions no one dared ask.
    Last night had proved to be uncomfortable, and not just
because he was sleeping on the ground. Gabe