25

News of the train robbery raced through town like wildfire. It reached Brett as he was having supper at the boardinghouse where he was staying.

One of the other boarders had burst into the house yelling, “The train has been robbed.”

The words were hardly out of the man’s mouth before Brett was on his feet. He shot up with such force that his chair went flying across the floor.

Not wanting to take the time to saddle his horse, he ran the half mile to the train station.

He had been so certain—so absolutely certain—that his trap would work. He and Sheriff Keeler had stayed hidden in the underground cavern nearly all afternoon waiting for the Ghost Riders, but they’d failed to show.

Instead, Sweeney arrived by his lonesome with the unwelcomed news that the stage had reached town unmolested.

Now more bad news. Something had gone terribly wrong. Was Kate all right? Why had he talked Foster into taking her to Austin? It had never occurred to him that the trip would place her right in the heart of danger. That his carefully laid plans would go astray.

He reached the train station out of breath. Others had raced to the station upon hearing the news, and mass confusion reigned. The sheriff and his deputy had already arrived, and everyone was talking at once.

“Plumb stole my watch,” a male passenger yelled.

Not to be outdone, a woman shouted, “That’s nothing. They stole my purse.”

Brett almost bumped into Lucky Lou. For once, he didn’t have his dog. “Have you seen Kate?” Brett asked.

“No, can’t say that I have. Was she on the train?”

“Yes, yes, she was.” Or at least she would have been had Foster played his cards right.

With growing anxiety, Brett moved through the crowd. At last, he spotted Kate, and relief washed over him like a tidal wave. At that moment, it seemed that no one else existed. Elbowing his way to her side, he unthinkingly took her by the arm.

“Are you all right?”

She whirled about, startled. “Oh, Brett, it’s you. Yes, yes, I’m fine. We both are.”

Drawing a blank, he released her, and only then did his brain begin to function. “Oh, you mean Foster. What happened?”

She gazed at him with quivering lips, her blue traveling suit emphasizing the color of her eyes. “Oh, Brett, I was so afraid. A man held a gun to Frank’s head.” Her voice wavered as she spoke, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. As she recounted the chain of events, her expression reflected horror and disbelief.

Taking her hands in both of his, Brett squeezed them tight. “You’re safe now,” he said. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

He heard her intake of air. “Frank too,” she said, beseeching him. “Please, don’t let anyone hurt him either.”

“I…I won’t.”

“Had something happened to him…” She shook her head. “I can’t bear to think about it.”

Brett watched her intently as she spoke. If he hadn’t known it before, he knew it now. Kate’s feelings for Foster ran deep. He could see it in her eyes, her face, hear it in the tremble of her voice.

Not wanting to dwell on how he felt about that, he got down to business. “Was it the Ghost Riders? Were they the ones who robbed the train?” He already suspected the answer, but he needed confirmation.

“Looked like it,” she said. Her forehead creased. “There were three men, and they wore flour sacks over their heads. And one of them was shot.”

“Shot?”

She nodded. “Somehow they got the train to stop before reaching town. As they were making their escape, a passenger pulled out a gun and fired out the window. I saw one of the bandits grab his shoulder and fall to his knees.”

That was encouraging news. In a town this size, it shouldn’t be that hard to find an injured man. “What happened then?”

“I don’t know. The train took off.”

With a jolt, Brett realized he was still holding her hands. That’s because he had suddenly noticed her ringless finger. Releasing her, he glanced around at the still-milling crowd.

“Where’s Foster?”

“He’s talking to the sheriff.” Kate’s gaze softened, and she touched his arm. “I don’t understand, Brett. Why would they hold up the train?”

He grimaced. He’d told her some of the plan, but not all. “Somehow they must have found out that the gold was not on the stage. We made a last-minute switch to the train.”

Her eyes softened in sympathy. “That means your plan didn’t work.”

He drew in his breath. The feel of her hand threatened to burn a hole through his sleeve. Her touch was pure torture, and the only way he could think straight was to pull his arm away.

Through the crowd, Brett spotted the sheriff talking to Lucky Lou and Hoot Owl Pete while Deputy Sweeney questioned a woman holding an infant.

He’d previously discounted the idea that the sheriff or his deputy was involved, but now he had second thoughts. Only the three of them had known that the shipment of gold had been sent on a circuitous route to Haywire by train. That certainly pointed the finger of suspicion at the two lawmen. One or even both of them could very well be a Ghost Rider. But how was that possible?

The sheriff had been with him all day, and the deputy’s whereabouts were accounted for. How could Keeler and Sweeney be in two places at once?

But if it wasn’t them, who else knew of the switch?

Dear God, who else?