“Let’s head back,” Luke whispered to Caleb. He was unable to shake the ominous feeling. He couldn’t even shake it when they left the woods behind, riding straight home toward his ranch.
On their way back, Luke didn’t discuss his thoughts with Caleb. He was too shaken up. He needed to calm down first,before he might say something stupid. Right now, his emotions were running high, and he needed a level head so the points he’d make would be valid and not just the fearful ramblings of a worried husband.
Surprisingly, Caleb didn’t say much either. He also didn’t mention anything about going to church that night.
Luke almost wanted him to, because his restless state of mind craved some kind of reassurance.
This was yet another new emotion added to the whirlwind of feelings he was overcome by all of a sudden. He surprised himself—wanting to go to church to pray that nothing bad would happen to his new wife and the children.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Stevensville Sheriff’s Office
Five days before Christmas
Luke hadn’t slept a wink last night, so he left his home early to ride to the office in town to go over the papers once again. This time, he wanted to focus on descriptions of possible gang members, as well as trying to link the different crime locations to the abandoned house in the woods. Maybe he’d find a missing link in there somewhere.
It was so early, daylight had barely broken, but he wasn’t surprised when Caleb joined him on his ride halfway.
“Couldn’t sleep, either?” Caleb asked him as he steered his black horse next to Luke’s.
Luke glanced over to his deputy, who looked just as tired as he felt. “No. My brain wouldn’t stop spinning.”
“Same here,” Caleb said with a serious expression. “Last night was a lot!”
Luke nodded. The possible implications were overwhelming, to say the least.
“I didn’t expect to find out that this Phineas would still be looking for Madelaine and the children, while at the same time he could be the leader of a gang, who might be responsible for several murders over the last few years.” Caleb glanced poignantly at Luke, hinting at the very murder case pertaining to Luke’s previous family. “I can’t even wrap my head around that!”
“Did you know that Phineas is Madelaine’s cousin?” Luke said, watching Caleb’s eyes grow as big as saucers.
“What? Wait… What?” Several emotions rushed across Caleb’s face—surprise, shock, bewilderment—until he looked up at Luke with his mouth agape. “So, Phineas is Madelaine’s and the kids’ cousin,andhe could be the murdering gang leader we’ve been looking for?”
Luke nodded, a little apprehensively. Although he had come to the exact same conclusion, it didn’t feel good. He didn’t want to relate his new wife and those children to such a despicable man.
“It took everything in me not to jump out yesterday and arrest that man on the spot,” Luke said. “I couldn’t bear listening to that crook, and to think that Madelaine had to deal with that skunk made me even angrier.”
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t!” Caleb exclaimed. “I’m only one other guy, and how many of them were there? I couldn’teven count them all! I have no idea how we’re supposed to capture them all. We’ll need a whole army to arrest this gang!”
Luke nodded, thinking about what Caleb had just said. “Maybe that is exactly what we should do,” he mused, as he remembered the group of men standing behind him in the saloon that night.
“Do what?” Caleb asked, looking straight at Luke, whose face lit up.
“Get an army together!” Luke said.
His deputy looked slightly perplexed, but then his expression changed to a half-smile as the wheels in his head kept turning. “There were plenty of strong young men at the fairground yesterday.”
“We should get as many people together as we can, maybe we can even get other sheriffs and deputies from surrounding towns involved, if they’re suffering the same problems.”
Both men urged their horses to a faster gait, and they arrived at the office long before the stores opened. Lighting the fireplace, they got right to work.
They agreed that a secret meeting would be the best possible way to inform as many townspeople as they could all at once, since it would also give them a better idea about how manyof these folks would be willing to join them in their fight against the gang.
Caleb suggested the church as a great location, where they could gather as many people as possible, without raising too much suspicion. Luke agreed.
They came up with a list of important townspeople they wanted to involve, and they also included the folks whose families and ranches had been attacked over the last few years.
Even before the town awakened, Caleb went straight to the church to ask the priest for permission to use it for the meeting. Upon his return to the office shortly thereafter, Caleb reported that the clergyman was apparently “all in”. This opened the door to everything else, and Luke felt deep gratitude.
