“Is it all right with you that I stay here? At least, until I find another place to stay, that is.”

  “I dunno. Is it decent?”

  “Of course, it is; we’re kin.”

  “You can cook?”

  Betsy nodded. “We’ll need more supplies, though, if you want a really good, cooked meal.”

  Suddenly, Betsy remembered that she'd forgotten to remove her wedding ring, and she tried to keep her left hand hidden from him.

  “I’ll get us a chicken or something. I don’t live here full-time, though,” he told her.

  “Yes, I know. Your father told me you're in and out.”

  “I stay with friends.”

  “If you bring home a chicken, I’d be happy to roast it for dinner. You can stay for that, can’t you?”

  He nodded.

  “Bring me some potatoes and a fresh vegetable, too.”

  Cody moved to the front door. “Be right back.”

  Betsy heard him ride away, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She hated to remove her wedding ring as it had been on her finger since Noah had placed it there. Betsy slipped it reluctantly off and put it in her reticule.

  The first part of her plan had worked.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cody returned and gave her the food she’d asked for.

  “Did our father say where he hid his money? I’m running short. He must'a changed his hiding place for it.”

  Betsy cringed at seeing the chicken, still wearing its feathers. “If you pluck the chicken, I’ll hunt around for you.”

  Cody nodded.

  Betsy went through Ben’s room, searching through drawers and under his mattress. She opened his armoire and went through all the pockets in his coat. She found a few coins but no stash of money. Ben had two pairs of boots sitting by the window. She tipped them upside down but nothing fell out but a pebble. She sighed. It had to be in his room. The only other room besides the kitchen and sitting room was Cody’s small bedroom, and Ben certainly wouldn’t hide money there.

  There weren’t many hiding places in the sitting room, but she looked under cushions and furniture. Next, she went into the kitchen. Cody was busy with the chicken, so she opened cupboards and searched under plates and inside bowls and pots, but she had no luck. Then, it dawned on her: the root cellar!

  She grabbed a lamp and went down the dark stairs. She could see all around the small room by moving the lamp around. There were canned goods on a shelf. Beneath the shelf was a table holding various cheeses. Under the table was a metal box. She couldn’t reach it without kneeling on the dirt floor, but she could see it. Betsy went back upstairs to the kitchen.

  “Any luck?” Cody asked, handing her the chicken.

  “None. I’ll look better when I clean tomorrow.” Betsy took the chicken and made preparations for their dinner while Cody went to his room. She ran her plan through in her head. She’d talk to him and try to get him to admit he was a criminal. Then, she would urge him to turn himself in. She’d go into the benefits, like how he wouldn’t hang, but he’d get a lighter sentence. Cody was young and would get out of jail in plenty of time to still live a good life.

  She didn’t have to call Cody for dinner; his nose seemed to draw him to the kitchen.

  “Is it ready, yet?”

  “Almost. I just have to make the gravy.”

  Cody sat at the table. “I ain’t had a home-cooked meal in years.”

  Betsy smiled at him. “I hope you like it. I used to help in the kitchen at the orphan home.”

  Cody nodded. “You must be just a few years older than me.”

  “I’m twenty.”

  “I just turned eighteen,” he said. “If my father hadn’t taken you to that home, we’d a grown up together.”

  “I would have loved a brother or any family, for that matter.”

  Despite his reputation, Cody seemed like a caring young man. Betsy wondered how he ever got caught up in a life of crime. Since his father had been a thief for years, it figured that he’d follow suit, but she didn’t think Ben had killed anyone. Had Cody? She knew Les had been shot as well as Wade, but she didn’t know who killed them. Was it Cody or one of his friends?

  Betsy put the food on the table, and Cody served himself a helping as soon as she put a serving utensil in the dish. She sat opposite him and filled her plate.

  “What do you do for a living, Cody?”

  He stopped shoveling the food into his mouth for a moment and said, “This and that.”

  Betsy hadn’t expected the conversation to end so soon. He sure was enjoying his dinner, though he could use some table manners.

  “The livery had a sign out front. They’re hiring.”

  “I get my own jobs,” he said between bites of food.

  He wasn’t making this easy.

  “What kind of jobs do you do?”

  Cody seemed annoyed by her constant questioning and snapped, “Farm work and stuff.”

  He looked older than eighteen. He could also use a shave as he had stubble on his face. He looked like his father, but thinner. His dark eyes darted around constantly, as if expecting something to happen around him. His foot tapped beneath the table as he ate. He wasn’t handsome as his nose was long and pointed, but he was passably good looking. His dark hair was straight and long. Not only did he need a shave, he also needed a haircut. Cody was a slim, young man who wasn’t at all muscular for someone who supposedly farmed.

  Betsy decided on her alternate plan. “After dinner, we could have a Bible study, if you’d like. That’s what we did at the home after dinner.” At the shocked look on his face, she added, “You do believe in God, don’t you?”

  He shrugged. “I never gave it a thought, but I’ll pass. I have to meet my friends. I’ll come back tomorrow if you cook me another meal.”

  Betsy was disappointed, but she tried not to show it. “I’ll have enough leftover chicken to make a pot pie.”

  “I’ll be here,” he said. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and walked to the door. “Later,” he said and was gone.

  She would have to remember to look for napkins so Cody wouldn’t have to use his sleeve.

  Betsy knew Noah and Tim would be watching the house, ready to pounce on Cody. She didn’t have much time. Ministering to Cody would take too long. She had to get him to admit he was stealing and not working here and there. She’d have to come right out and ask him if he was getting the money by unlawful means. There wasn’t time to do anything else.

  After another restless night on the settee, Betsy grabbed a piece of toasted bread and a cup of tea. When she’d finished, she took a broom and went down to the root cellar. She poked around under the table and slid the metal box to where she could grab it.

  Betsy brought it up to the kitchen and sighed. It was locked. Now, she had to hunt for a key. She started the search in Ben’s room. Betsy searched under the bed, mattress, and dresser, before heading for the closet, where she searched through every pocket. She felt like a house burglar. She hoped he hadn't taken the key with him to prison.

  Betsy sat down on the bed and looked around. What was she missing? She went to the two pairs of boots on the floor beneath the window and searched inside them, but she found nothing. Betsy went to the bedside table and searched the drawer. She lifted the doily on the table to find a small key. Success. She ran to the kitchen and put the key in the lock.

  The box was full of coins. No wonder it was so heavy. Now, what should she do? She grabbed the box of coins and hid it in Ben’s closet.

  After putting the chicken pie into the oven, she cleaned up her mess. As she was washing some dishes, she heard someone enter the house. Cody already?

  In walked Cody, but he’d brought three of his friends with him.

  “Hope you don’t mind, Betsy. When I told my friends about yesterday’s dinner, they all wanted to come. Is there enough?”

  Betsy’s reaction to the three men was about the same as their reaction to her.

  Cody pointed to the men. “This here’s Jake, Leo, and Sam.”

  “Hey! That’s the woman from the doctor’s clinic!” the one called Sam exclaimed, pointing at her.

  “Sure is,” Leo said.

  “That’s my sister,” Cody told them.

  “Somethin’ don’t smell right, Wheeler,” Sam said. “I was listenin' at the door when she was talkin' to the doctor. I wanted to hear how you was, and I heard her say she thought you shot Noah. Sounds to me like she knows him pretty good.”

  Betsy backed up against the sink. They were moving toward her.

  “Is this true, Betsy?” Cody asked.

  “I worked for the doctor, yes,” she said. “I know Noah.”

  “Why is Noah so important to you?” he asked, moving closer. “Are you trying to trap me?”

  “Of course, I know him.” She chuckled nervously. “He’s Wilma Bancroft’s son. I work for her, too. I came here to beg you not to kill him. His grandmother sent me.”

  She was about to confess to Cody that she wasn’t really his sister when Leo reached out and rubbed her arm wearing a wicked grin on his face.

  “Stop it, Leo!” Cody warned, pushing him away from Betsy.

  “I jest wanna have a bit of fun with her,” Leo said.

  Cody swore. “She’s my sister. You can’t touch her that way.”

  “This smells like a trap to me,” Sam said.

  “Quiet, Sam. I’ll get to the bottom of this,” Cody said.

  Cody turned to her. “You came here to beg me not to kill Noah Sommers. His grandmother sent you. Is that what you’re saying?”

  Betsy nodded.

  “So, you and this Noah aren’t sweet on each other?”

  “I can barely stand him,” Betsy said.

  Cody turned to his friends. “You guys sit down at the table. We’re going to think about his while we chow down.”

  After they were seated, Betsy got up the nerve to ask, “You shot Noah?”

  “Maybe,” Cody said. “Where’s the dinner?”

  Betsy moved to the stove. “It’s not quite done.”

  “Don’t pretend you didn’t know that all along,” Jake said. “We was there at that clinic.”

  Cody gave her a questioning look.

  “Like I said, I came here to beg my brother to stop this life of crime and turn himself in. As long as he didn’t kill anyone, he could get a light sentence and still live a good life when he gets out.” She looked directly at Cody. “I care about you.”

  Cody scratched his head. “I don’t know what to do with you, Betsy.”

  Betsy took the pie out of the oven and placed it in the center of the table. She put a knife and plates beside it. “Enjoy,” she said. She left the kitchen for the sitting room and listened to them eating and arguing about what to do with her.

  “Ya gotta keep her here while we go after them two sheriffs.”

  “She’s trouble, Cody.”

  “She’ll warn them if you let her go. I’d lock her up until we get the job done.”

  “It’s my neck on the line, so you better silence her.”

  Betsy shivered. Her first impulse was to run, but they’d only run after her and it might go worse for her. Sam had a face like a bulldog with eyes that snarled. Leo, had a scar on his face that made him look fierce, but Cody and Jake looked like average, young ruffians. She guessed Leo and Sam were older from their appearance.

  Cody yelled, “Shut up and let me think!”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Betsy prepared herself for whatever Cody and his friends had in mind. She hoped Cody would at least protect her from intimacy with the brutes. She silently thanked God for giving her the prescience to tell him they were related.

  Was there any hope for Cody? There was, no doubt, something about him. She could see him robbing, but she couldn’t picture him killing. Of course, she wouldn’t bet her life on it. She prayed for God to soften Cody’s heart toward her.

  The four men stood by the front door.

  “You guys go back to the cave. I’ll meet you there later,” Cody said to them.

  Sam pointed his finger at Cody. “You better shut her up, or I will.”

  “You won’t lay a finger on her, Sam,” Cody said.

  Betsy felt a glimmer of hope when she heard those words.

  Sam got into Cody’s face. “Yeah, but it’s my neck on the line. I’m the one who killed both sheriffs, so it’s me who’ll hang. I’m holding you responsible for keeping her quiet. If you don’t, I’ll shut both of you up.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Cody said.

  “I’ll be back in a half hour. I want proof you took care of it, Wheeler.” Sam stormed out with Leo and Jake behind him.

  Cody took a key from the hook on the wall and locked the front door. He hung the key back on the hook and turned to her. “I want the truth.”

  “I’ve told you everything,” Betsy said.

  Cody paced the floor for several moments. “I have to do something or Sam will—you heard him.”

  “Are you going to kill me?” Betsy murmured between trembling lips.

  “That’s what Sam expects, but I ain’t never killed before. Honest. I didn’t shoot Noah Sommers, either. Leo did, although I took a shot at him and missed. We ambushed him, but it all happened so fast. He was quick with his gun, and I got hit just as I fired. My shot went wild, but his hit me, and Leo then got him. The two with me that day were Leo and Jake. Sam wasn’t there.”

  “What are you going to do?” she asked. Betsy had stopped trembling. She no longer feared Cody. He was just a kid trying to be like his friends.

  “I suppose we both have to get out of here.”

  “Where will we go?”

  Cody frowned. “Let’s just get away from here before Sam comes back.”

  “You could let him kill me and you’d be off the hook,” she said, thinking to test him. Could she trust him?

  “No, let’s get out of here.”

  Betsy stood and moved with him to the front door, waiting for him to unlock it.

  ~~~**~~~

  Noah sat by the front window of the house across from 450 Oak Street. Blanche had gotten permission from her friend for him and Tim to stay there to watch the house across the street. They’d arrived right after the owner had finished with her hairdressing for the day. He wished they could have access to the room earlier in the day, but they’d have to make do with what they had.

  He watched the four men enter the house. It was the time to act, but Tim still hadn’t returned from the eatery with their food. Noah pulled out his pocket watch. It was five o’clock. Tim should be back any minute now. Noah kept his eyes glued to the window, hoping Tim would return before the outlaws left the house.

  What was keeping Tim? If he didn’t return soon, Noah would have to go into the house by himself. He paced the floor, still watching the house.

  “Dagnabbit!” Noah said aloud. Three of them were leaving. Where in blazes was Tim?

  He watched the men ride away and sighed.

  Not three minutes later, Tim appeared, carrying a bag of sandwiches.

  “Sorry for taking so long, but a fight broke out in front of Sal’s Saloon and I had to break it up.”

  “We missed our big chance. All four of them were inside the house.”

  Tim set the bag of food down. “Aw, don’t tell me that. Seriously?”

  “Yep. Three just left.”

  Noah resumed his seat and peered out the window. “Maybe they’ll come back. Cody’s still…” He jumped up from his chair. “Dear God in Heaven!”

  “What now?” Tim asked, moving to the window.

  “Cody’s got Betsy!”

  ~~~**~~~

  Cody pulled Betsy out the door. “I’ll put you on the back of my horse.”

  Betsy let him pull her to the rear of the house where Cody mounted his horse. He held out his hand to boost her up to sit behind him. She was trying to get comfortable when she heard, “Don’t move! Hands in the air.”

  Cody dropped the reins and put his hands up.

  Betsy recognized the voice, and she turned toward it with relief. “Noah!”

  Noah put his arms out for her while Tim kept a gun aimed at Cody. His hands spanned her waist as he pulled her from the horse and to his side. “Go inside the house,” he ordered after kissing her forehead.

  “Don’t hurt Cody,” Betsy cried. “He didn’t kill anyone. The others are coming back, and we were trying to get away from them. They want to silence me—permanently.”

  “Then we’ll all go inside the house,” Noah said. Tim frisked Cody, nodded at Noah, and they all moved inside.

  “Who wants to silence you?” Noah asked Betsy.

  “Sam. He’s the one who shot both sheriffs. It was Leo who shot you.”

  Noah turned to Cody who was sitting with his hands covering his face. “Did you have anything to do with the killings?”

  Cody shook his head. “No. The four of us rode up to visit my father in jail. My father and Sam’s father were close friends. Sam vowed to my father that he’d take care of Les and you for having him arrested. When they killed Les, I was at the barbershop getting an abscessed tooth pulled. Sam ambushed the sheriff from Muddy Creek so he could free me, Leo, and Jake.”

  “I’ll have to arrest you for your part in all this, Cody, and for your robberies, but you’ll probably only do five to ten years in jail. You'll still have a future. If you decide to go straight, that is,” Tim said. “You’ll also have to testify against Leo and Sam in court. Can you do that? If you do, it will shorten your sentence.”

  Cody looked at Betsy who nodded and smiled at him. “I can do it.”

  “Good,” Noah told Cody. “We have to prepare for your friends. I want you to stay here, in the sitting room, and greet them when they return. We’ll be in the next room. Try to get your friends to sit down and relax, and we’ll do the rest.”

  “What about me?” Betsy asked.

  Noah put his arm around her. “You’re coming into the bedroom with us. You'll explain to me later what you were doing here, in St. Joe, but for the time being, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

 

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