Wild Is the Night by Colleen Quinn Read Free Book Online Page B

made his way to Amanda. He barely glanced at the floor peppered with lead. “Sam Haskwell is nobody’s baby. You clearing out of here soon? I don’t need that kind of trouble.”
    “I…had planned to leave today. I was going to take the train.”
    “Forget that,” Luke interrupted. “It’ll be too easy for them to trace you, let alone kill you. We’ve seen that already. Your best bet at this point is to join up with a wagon train. You could take the Chisholm trail to Texas from here. Cost you about the same, too.”
    “Would be mighty surprised if they would want you,” the sheriff continued as he spat into a brass spittoon. “No one needs the attention of the Haskwells, and on a wagon train, it could be deadly. You’d be looking behind you for days.”
    Amanda glanced outside. The railroad platform looked conspicuously empty. The frontier families, who were so obvious an hour ago as they assembled and loaded up with supplies, were now gone.
    “My advice to you would be to head back east,” the sheriff said. “Whatever’s waiting for you in Texas will still be there a few months from now. Maybe by then the heat will die down.”
    “You mean she’ll take the trouble with her and you won’t have to deal with it.” Luke said. “The Haskwells would have no problem locating her there. She’d be a sitting duck.”
    The sheriff shrugged. “I’ve got two deputies; one can’t shoot and the other’s sick from licker. I have enough trouble trying to keep this town under control. And you want me to fight them?”
    “I think the lady gets your meaning,” Luke said in disgust.
    The sheriff nodded. “I wish I could be of more help, but I can’t. You’ll be out of town today?” Amanda nodded, her eyes stricken. “Good. I’ll consider this matter finished, then.” Pulling his hat down over his face, the sheriff walked out of the restaurant without looking back.
    Amanda got to her feet. Luke was right; to go home might make things worse. She shuddered at the thought of the gunmen, terrorizing her home town and frightening Mrs. Pincus into a panic. Forcing herself to think clearly, she weighed her alternatives.
    She didn’t have a choice. There was no sense to go backward; she would have to continue forward. Yet, she couldn’t do it alone….Amanda’s eyes returned to Luke.
    He was talking quietly with the townspeople, assuaging their fears, assuring them that Amanda was indeed leaving. There was a cold authority about him that made the people listen, coupled with their memory of how quickly he had drawn when the gunfire started. Leaning against the wall, his black Stetson removed, his dark hair curling crisply in the heat, he looked devilishly handsome and completely in control. Amanda was amazed at the contrast between the gunman and the townspeople. All of them were afraid of the Haskwells—except him.
    She needed him. It was as simple as that. She’d think of a way to convince him to help her, to escort her to Texas and protect her from the Haskwells. A guilty flush stained her face as she recalled that night in the Harvey house, then she immediately dismissed the thought. No, she wanted Luke to perform a job for her, just like any other hire. Anything more than that was impossible.
    As if hearing her thoughts, he glanced over at her, their eyes meeting. Excusing himself from the townspeople, he returned to her side. “We’d best get you out of here. A mob isn’t a pretty sight at any time. They seem calm enough now, but if the shooting starts again, who knows?” Luke picked up her bag and bird cage, and eased Amanda through the door.
    Outside, he stopped short of the train platform. Shading his eyes against the sun, he noticed how damned vulnerable she looked, with those odd glasses and her tangled hair. She seemed lost in a world where she didn’t belong, for all of her startling intelligence. Luke shrugged. It wasn’t his business—and complications like Amanda, he didn’t need.
    “You