“Hi Daddy, I’m up here. What’s going on?” She slowly stood, motioning me to her bed.

  I had a quick decision to make, but I had already decided I wasn’t going to shoot her unless I had to. Her father? Happily. I didn’t like being the target of his trap, and escape didn’t look too good right then. Biting back a curse, I jumped in the bed and threw the covers over my body. I white-knuckled my pistol, ready to use it if I was found out.

  Sheriff Rickens trudged up the stairs, each step a sullen, deliberate thunk and creak until I could feel him just a handful of feet away from me. I held my breath, although there was no way he’d be able to hear it over his own labored breathing. It was a good reminder that he was getting up there in age, and how physically unimpressive he was.

  If it wasn’t for the trap that had nearly gotten us and still might, I would’ve been willing to write him off entirely as a threat, and probably just finished him. Instead, my curiosity got the better of me. I had to see what happened next.

  “Are you okay, Pumpkin?” Rickens asked, a completely different person around his daughter.

  “Ugh, I told you not to call me that,” Verity grumbled. “I’m fine. What’s going on? What’s with the noise?”

  “We’ve got her! This time for sure, we’ve got that wretched bitch!”

  “Which one?” Verity sighed. “You talk about a million people you want to get.”

  “The one! We had the Scales Gang pinned in at the bank, but they got away…for now. We’ve got the town surrounded and are going to search every nook and cranny, question any and everybody that eyes us funny. That Jesse Jane is finally going to hang!” His excitement would’ve been infectious, if it didn’t unnerve me.

  “You’ve said that before,” she said flatly. “What makes this time any different?”

  He laughed, a full bellied guffaw. It was dark, and with the blanket over me, I couldn’t see a damned thing. There was every possibility Verity would sell me out, and if she did with even just pointing at the bed while pretending to be chipper, there was nothing I could do about it. But something told me I wasn’t in any real danger.

  “We’ve got the manpower and we’ve got the people working and looking. This is an all hands on deck situation sweetie. I popped in to let you know that I might not be around much for the next couple of days, depending on how things go. We’ve already caught one of their most important members, so it’s only a matter of time before we get the rest, and anyone helping them!”

  My heart stopped. I didn’t know which one, but it didn’t matter. Either of them would be too great a loss. He sounded too genuinely happy for it to be a lie. My heart broke into a million jagged pieces, and temptation seized me. It would be so easy to jump out of the bed and put my gun against his head and demand their release, or, barring that, look the bastard in the eye before I accepted our mutual destruction. That would be acceptable.

  Joey had always said I had a problem with impulse control. I could see and hear his exasperation and affection. Swallowing hard, I took my finger off the trigger and forced myself to stay quiet and listen.

  “Uh-huh. So, that’s it? You want me to stay inside and not make a fuss? What if I want to go out and get some food? You know I don’t like staying inside, daddy. I don’t want to be a prisoner again. Not after the last time you locked the town down and --”

  “Easy, easy,” Rickens said with a groan. “It’s not like that. There’ll be a guard posted across the street to look out for you, and if you want to go somewhere, Deputy Jones will accompany you. That’s much better, isn’t it?”

  Verity let out a miserable sigh. “Fine. You go have fun. I’ll stay here and wither, like a flower denied the sun.”

  “Oh honey, it’s not like that,” he started, but she wasn’t having it.

  “I wish you cared about me as much as you cared about the criminals you hunt. I think you’d be a lot happier if you just quit. Let that Jesse Jane be someone elses’ problem. You’ve worked too hard for too long to obsess like this.”

  There was a pause, and then a slow, wheezy sigh. “Soon, Pumpkin. After I get her, I’ll retire and we can spend more time together.”

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  Okay, now I started to panic. I chanced pulling down the top of the blanket, exposing the top of my head, down to my eyes. It was dark, but my eyes adjusted. Sheriff Rickens stood in front of the stairs. I wouldn’t even have to fire a shot, if I could let gravity do the job for me. I was ready to risk it all at the first sign of discovery or betrayal.

  Verity sighed. “Alright. Whatever you say. Go catch her and then come home.”

  “I love you.”

  The words sounded weird coming out of the zealous lawman’s mouth. Like he couldn’t believe what he was saying, or hoping someone wouldn’t see past an obvious lie. The silence that followed made it worse with each agonizing second Verity didn’t respond. When Sheriff Rickens turned and walked down the stairs, even I felt bad for the bastard.

  Mostly though? I was incredibly grateful the beautiful and gracious daughter of my worst enemy had daddy issues and was willing to let me go to spite him. The front door opened and closed once more, and I let out a relieved breath.

  I slipped out of bed and holstered my gun. “Thanks for not ratting me out. I’m sorry to be the cause of the headache, both long and short term. Which would, I’m pretty sure, be an extra reason to turn me in. And yet you didn’t.”

  “I would’ve told him,” she said. “If he’d asked. But he didn’t ask. He didn’t even think to ask if I’d seen anything. As far as he’s concerned, I’m still eight years old, and mom hasn’t died, she’s just visiting family. I’m not a real person to him.”

  Fully relaxed now, I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. She was a few inches shorter than me, and only four years younger than me. In another life, we could’ve been best friends. Maybe there was still time for that. “Do you want to talk about it? You heard the man, no one will be around for the next while.”

  Verity bit her lip. “Are you hungry? We could trade stories about my father. I bet I’ve got more humiliating ones than you do.”

  I took a deep breath and let out an appreciative sigh. “Verity, this is the start of something good, I promise you.”

  She laughed, and before long we lost ourselves in each other’s company, trading stories and gentle touches until -- “

  ****

  “Now hold up,” Sheriff Rickens barked, “that’s not what happened.” His face was turning a delightful shade of purple at the implication.

  “Isn’t it?” Jesse Jane challenged with a raised eyebrow.

  “No, it isn’t. You’re just saying that to get under my skin, and it’s not going to work.” Just the same, Rickens’ hands twitched murderously around an imaginary neck. “There’s no way you were hiding at my house. You’re full of it.”

  Billy looked between the two of them, too terrified to know how to respond. Jesse just smiled and relaxed on the cot. “I know you don’t like hearing it, Sheriff, but you came so close to catching me, and would have, if you were a better father. Instead, I ate your food, slept in your bed, and even…well, you’re not going to believe me, so no point in saying it, huh?”

  “You’re full of shit,” Rickens repeated. “We tore apart Koda Junction. Hell, we did get Joey the Red, and he died for it.”

  The smile disappeared from her face. “Yes, you did. Fucking your daughter for a couple of days was nothing compared to losing a friend, but you take your joy where you can find it. It’s a small comfort to know that while you tried to use Joey against us and killed him, I was in your house, and I could’ve killed you at any time. Instead, Verity helped distract your man Mendez and gave me the chance to get out. After I took some of your money, and stole one last kiss from her.

  “Samson found our people, who hid him well, and was fine. Joey and a new guy, James, they didn’t make it. It was the last time I was going to let you hurt me or my people.”

  The Sheriff snorted and poured himself another whiskey. “Funny how that turned out, isn’t it? Let’s say you were in my home, and defiling it. I’m still going to get the last laugh. I figure I’ll give your buddy Samson just enough time to relax before I go after him, amnesty be damned.”

  Jesse stood up and put her hands on the bars of the cell. “And after that you’ll finally retire and be a better father. This time for sure!”

  Rickens stared up at the clock. Midnight now, just six hours until dawn. Give or take. He smiled and motioned for Jesse to sit back down. “You’ve been such a wonderful guest, weaving these stories together. But I’ve got a request, if you’re taking them.”

  “Well, with an invitation like that, how can I resist?” Jesse returned with a wan smile. “What do you want to hear?”

  With a sip of whiskey, Rickens said, “I wanna hear all about how Samson betrayed you. You’ve had your fun, and it’s come to an end. I gotta know what you did to inspire your best friend to sell you out.”

  Jesse pretended to think about it. “I don’t know, Sheriff. What’s in it for me? Reliving my worst memory before dying doesn’t sound especially fun.”

  Sheriff Rickens shrugged. “It’ll go a long way towards stoking my desire to get Samson as well. He can join you in hell, and you can laugh in his face afterwards.”

  She would’ve told him the story anyway, but she had to put on a show. Billy came to the rescue, as the teen cleared his throat. “I’d love to hear the story if you don’t mind. I want to know how you got here.”

  Perfect.

  “Well, since you asked nicely,” said Jesse. “I guess I have time for one or two more stories before dawn. Samson’s Betrayal…okay.” She sat up straight and cleared her throat. “Here we go.