“We’re gonna take that bank,” he’d told her, “and then I’m takin’ you and the boy away from here.”
“Do we have to take the child?” she’d asked.
“He’s mine, ain’t he?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’re takin’ him.”
Now she watched Jeb put the last piece of her bacon into his mouth and said, “Do we really have to take Little Matt—”
“Don’t call him that!” he snapped, slamming his first down on the table, startling her into silence. “You only named him that to try to convince Shaye he was his grandson, right? Because you wanted protection against me?”
“I didn’t know…”
“Yes,” Jeb said, reaching out and taking her hand, “you didn’t know what I’d do when I got here. You thought I might kill you and take the boy. But you’re the one who knows where all the guards are in the bank, honey. You’re the one who can get in there with your new boyfriend.”
“Jeb,” she said, “you aren’t going to kill…”
“Kill?” he asked. “Kill who? If I can help it, I’m not gonna kill anyone.”
She seemed relieved by that, but of course he meant that he wasn’t going to do the killing, Vic Delay was. That’s what he was there for.
Jeb took his watch from his pocket and checked the time.
“The bank should be openin’ soon, darlin’,” he said. “Time for you to go.”
“Yes,” she said.
“I’ll pay the bill here and be along.”
She nodded, stood, and left the café. Connie came out and cautiously approached Jeb with the check.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” Jeb took the bill, looked at the price, and paid the waitress, tipping her well. “Now, is there a back door out of here?”
71
Walking back to the sheriff’s office, Thad noticed Alvin Simon, who owned the hardware store, standing in front of the bank. He also saw Belinda Davis rushing up the street and, eventually, joining Simon in front of the bank. It looked like the two of them were waiting for it to open. He turned his attention away from them and kept on to the sheriff’s office.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” Simon said to Belinda.
“Of course I was coming, Alvin,” she said. “This is important to me. I know you think I’m horrible to want to actually see your money, but—”
“I’ll do whatever I have to do to get you to marry me, Belinda,” Simon said. “To prove that I love you.”
Belinda was about to reply when they heard the lock on the door of the bank click. Then one of the employees opened the door.
“Ah,” the older woman said, “good morning, Mr. Simon. Early for you today, isn’t it?”
“I—that is, we—have business with Mr. Brown, Miss Hastings.”
“Well, he’s in his office. Come in, come in.”
As Simon and Belinda entered, the younger woman noticed the older woman giving her a look of distaste. It was the way most of the women in town regarded her and this morning it steeled her resolve to do what she had to do.
Jeb Collier had gone out the back door of the café, finding himself in an alley that ran the length of the street. He was able to use that back alley to get down the street without passing in front of the sheriff’s office to the bank. Beyond the bank, he knew, was the Wagon Wheel Saloon. With any luck, Samms and Leslie were attracting some attention from the law. When he reached the bank, he used another alley to work his way around behind it, where he found Vic Delay and Lou Tanner waiting for him. Also there was Ben, holding the reins of five horses, one for each of them and another for Belinda.
“About time,” Delay said. “You sure this is gonna work?”
“I told you,” Jeb said. “She’s the one who planned it. She said she knew that if I didn’t kill her on sight, we’d be able to take this bank.”
“Well, she better do her part.”
“She’ll do it,” Jeb said.
“I don’t like it that there’s no guards behind the bank,” Delay said. “I mean, if there’s so much money in there—”
“Belinda says they keep most of the guards inside the bank, near the vault, and there’s always one on the roof, but he’s always watching the street.”
“I don’t like it,” Delay said, “counting on a woman—”
“Just be ready, Vic,” Jeb said. “If we have to take the guards out, we’re gonna have to move fast to grab as much cash as we can.”
“Don’t worry,” Delay said. He was wearing a leather vest today and he pulled it back to show two knives on each side. “I can take them out quietly.”
“So they’re just waiting in front of the saloon?” Cotton asked.
“That’s right,” Thad said.
“How many?” Shaye asked.
“Two.”
“Where are the other four?” Thomas asked.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Shaye said.
“James is watchin’ them?” Thomas asked.
“Yeah, he sent me back.”
“Pa, if they’re waitin’ for the others, I better go and stay with James.”
“All right, son. Watch your back.”
“I’ll watch James’s back,” Thomas said, “and he’ll watch mine, Pa.”
Thomas left the office, leaving only Cotton, Thad, and Shaye.
“Thad,” Cotton said, “you’re gonna have to stay with the prisoners. If we leave the office empty, they might come and break them out.”
“Okay, Sheriff.”
“Take a shotgun from the rack and stay behind that desk until we get back,” Cotton instructed.
“Yes, sir,” Thad said, “but where are you goin’?”
“I don’t know,” Cotton said, looking at Shaye. “Where are we going?”
“Let’s go back to the café,” Shaye said. “That’s where we left Belinda and Jeb. Maybe he’s still there.”
From behind the desk, loading the shotgun, Thad said, “He might be there, but she ain’t.”
“What do you mean?” Shaye asked.
Thad looked at him and said, “I just saw Belinda in front of the bank.”
“What was she doing there?”
“She was with Alvin Simon,” Thad said. “They looked like they’re waitin’ for the bank to open.”
“What?”
“Alvin must have some business there,” Cotton said.
“Riley, we better get over there. I think this may be it.”
“May be what?”
“Collier and his men need a way into the bank. This is it!”
“You saying Alvin Simon is in on this?” Cotton asked. “That’s just crazy, Dan. I can’t see—”
“Riley, it’s Belinda,” Shaye said. “She’s using Simon and Collier is using her! Thad, toss me that shotgun and get yourself another.”
“Should I come—”
“No,” Shaye said, catching the shotgun in both hands. “Stay here!”
Shaye ran for the front door. Cotton stopped long enough to grab a rifle from the rack and then followed.
72
“Good morning, good morning, Mr. Simon,” the bank manager, Edmund Brown, greeted. “What can I do for you this morning?”
“I’d like to talk in your office, Mr. Brown,” Simon said, “if you don’t mind.”
“Of course,” Brown said. “This way.” Since Alvin Simon was one of the larger depositors in the bank, the manager was willing to go out of his way for him. However, when he saw that Belinda was to accompany them, he stopped short. “Ah, is this charming young woman part of our business?”