Prather.
Finally, the man had emerged from the house—and he’d come all the way to town. The last thing Levi would do was let him get away. He was certain the townsfolk stared at him as he sprinted past them. He was so close now, and Prather was none the wiser.
“What’s the hurry?” an irritated man shouted as he stumbled backward.
His voice was loud enough that Prather turned around. The man’s eyes locked onto Levi’s. He wouldn’t recognize him; he’d never seen Levi before in his life. But it was clear Levi was after him.
Prather didn’t hesitate. He withdrew a pistol from his side, raised it, and fired a shot directly at Levi.
Chapter Nine
LEVI THREW HIMSELFsideways, screams and shouts echoing around him, just as the bullet flew. He landed on his side against a building. He looked up quickly, pistol already in his hand—but Prather was gone.
He scrambled up, searching, but a crowd had formed around him. He craned his neck to see past them, but there was no sign of the outlaw. Sighing, he shoved his revolver back into its holster.
“Is everyone all right?” he asked the people around him.
“We ought to be asking you that question,” a portly man in too-short trousers said. “What did that fellow do?”
“Stole some money from me,” Levi lied. It was a half-truth, really. Prather had stolen plenty, just not directly from Levi.
“He near about took your life too,” a younger man said. “You were lucky.”
He was, but he wished he’d been able to get his hands on Prather.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to see after my family.” Levi nodded at the people, who began to disperse. He brushed off his coat and started back toward the depot, intending to retrieve the wagon, only to find a man about his age with a metal star gleaming from the vest beneath his open coat.
“You the one who was shot at?” the man asked as Levi came to a stop in front of him.
Levi suppressed a deep sigh. Involving the local marshal was the last thing he wanted to do. But here he was, and there was no avoiding it now.
“Looks like he missed. Caius Hunt.” The marshal stuck out his hand, and Levi shook it.
“Levi Whiteside.”
“Don’t think I’ve seen you around. Have you been in town long?” The man was sizing him up, trying to figure out if Levi deserved the bullet that had been aimed at him.
“I came out here last summer. I have a farm south of town that I ran with my brother.” He grimaced at his own choice of words. He’d never get used to talking about Edward in the past tense.
Marshal Hunt nodded. “Any idea who was shooting at you and why?”
Maybe it would help to let Hunt know who was lurking about his town—and why Levi was here. Mind made up, he lowered his voice and said, “Do you have an office we could go to?”
