“Blue,” said Brewer. “He hated Buford.”
Aware that Remington Frost had fixed his dark gaze on him, Manypenny shifted his attention. He resisted the urge to take a handkerchief from his pocket and wipe his brow. His stomach clenched under the deputy’s implacable stare. “What is it?”
“I’m thinking you might have some idea,” said Remington. “The connection you made between Jackson and Blue is telling.”
“I read theRockysame as a lot of folks. It just came to my mind.”
“Uh-huh.”
Jackson removed his hat and set it on the table. He raked his mostly graying hair with his fingers, slouched casually in his chair, and then folded his arms across his chest. “Seems to me you might be coming around to the notion that we’re here because my deputy is not. Miss Carolina, too, is likewise gone. Murdered. You read that.”
Manypenny did not deny it.
Remington said, “Tell us about the ring you gave her.”
He couldn’t help himself. He stuttered. “The r-ring?” He saw Remington’s eyes dart to the suitcase at his feet. He tried to push it under the table, but the deputy pushed his foot forward and stopped him. He inhaled and the breath whistled softly through his teeth. “What do you want to know about it?”
“A good place to begin is where you got it.”
“Do you know the Sweet Clementine Saloon?”
Remington shook his head, but Jackson nodded and said, “Harmony, right?”
“Yes. Harmony’s on my regular route, but usually I’m there early in the day and I move on. It’s rare that I spend the night. I took a lot of orders that day and I missed a train in the morning and another in the afternoon. That’s how I ended up staying at the Harmony House. Sweet Clementine has nicer rooms, but it was full up, so after I made my sales there, I went over to the Harmony House and settled in.” He stopped abruptly, seized his glass, and took a deep swallow of the sarsaparilla.
“And?” asked Remington.
“And I had dinner in the restaurant. I sat alone and ate and observed. I do that frequently. Observe.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “It passes the time.”
Jackson said, “Go on. If you tell us what you had to eat, I swear I’ll start drinking out of your case myself.”
Manypenny decided it was better to ignore the threat. “I observed money and goods exchanging hands and my curiosity got me noticed. I was approached, much as the twoof you approached me. Only one question, though. Was I interested in buying a bauble or two? I thought of Caroline so I said I was. I looked over earbobs, hair combs, stickpins, brooches, and rings.”
Remington asked, “What did you think you were seeing? Did it occur to you the items might be stolen?”
“Stolen? No. As a matter of fact, that never occurred to me. I figured the gems for paste and the rest for cheap metals. I had no reason to think otherwise, not for the asking price. Are you telling me different?” When neither the sheriff nor his deputy answered, he went on. “I fancied the ring. Pear shape cut. Thought I could see a hint of blue in the facets, like smoke. It was probably a trick of the lamplight and the smoke in the restaurant, but I wasn’t really thinking about that. I knew I wanted it. I paid fourteen dollars.” His mouth was dry. He took another large swallow of his drink. “That’s it.”
Remington shook his head. “Not quite. Not even close. Who sold it to you?”
“Oh, I should have supposed you’d want to know that. Afraid I can’t help you there. We didn’t exchange names.”
“You said you’re good with faces,” said Remington. He removed a small notepad and pencil from his vest pocket. “Prove it.”
• • •
Phoebe saw him coming when he was still more than a mile away. It was the height advantage at the top of Boxer’s Ridge that gave her the splendid view, not only of the verdant expanse of Twin Star Ranch, but also of Remington’s rapid approach. It looked as if horse and rider were flying, and she thought it suited them, all speed and power unleashed like great mythic creatures of another time. Perseus, perhaps, and Pegasus coming to the mountaintop.
Boxer’s Ridge was not nearly a mountaintop, and Bullet and Remington were hardly mythic creatures, but all the same, Phoebe soared above the ground on a flight of fancy that made her laugh aloud. She hoped her voice carrieddown the ridge and over the sound of Bullet’s pounding hooves. She hoped Remington heard it above the beating of his heart because it was in his heart that she wanted her laughter to live.
Phoebe moved side to side, ducked and weaved, trying not to lose sight of him as he began to climb. It was not possible to follow his route. Fir trees and limber pine, rocky outcroppings and hairpin curves, thwarted her again and again. She grabbed Mrs. McCauley’s bridle and urged the mare to a flat patch of grass where she could be tethered to a scrub pine so she wouldn’t wander off. “He’s coming, girl,” she told the mare. “Your friend, too. They’re coming back to us.”
• • •
Remington did not so much dismount as throw himself from the saddle. He let Bullet find his own way to Mrs. McCauley; he wanted Phoebe and made no apologies for it.
He caught her by the waist, pulled her close, and kissed her hard, kissed her breathless, kissed her quiet. What movements she made were those meant to keep him locked in the embrace. At first, surprise kept her arms loose and limp at her sides, but then she raised them, folded her hands behind his neck, and rose against him instead of leaning away. Her breasts flattened against his chest. Her fingers flicked his hair where it lay against his nape. It was when she removed his hat and flung it sideways that she realized he had already done the same to hers. His fist was wrapped around the rope of her braid. He controlled the lift of her head by tugging on it. She controlled the slant of his mouth by cupping his face in her hands.
He opened her vest and his fingers scrabbled to pull the tails of her shirt out of her trousers. She relieved him of his jacket and vest and then went for his fly. His sudden whoop of laughter startled her and she paused, raising her head to look at him. She followed the line of his gaze and saw he was looking at the blanket she had unfolded on the grass.
