My Desperado Read Online Free

lighting his face. It was bearded and hard-looking.
    "Did he pay you from the satchel?" he asked again, his voice dropping another notch.
    "Ahh." Katherine glanced over her shoulder at Daisy's paled face. "Ummm..."
    "Not till after," Daisy squawked suddenly.
    "What's that?" asked Ryland.
    "The gents—they pay after."
    Absolute stillness held the street, but suddenly Ryland grasped Katherine by the front of her nightshift, lifting her to her tiptoes. "That's just as well," he growled, "since you'd already taken far more than your share." He shook her lightly, and she felt like an abused rag doll.
    "I didn't," Katherine managed. "I promise you I didn't."
    For a moment she was sure she would die, but his fist loosened as he settled her back to her feet.
    "Ladies," he said quietly. "I don't mean to be unpleasant, but there's a happy dead man lying in the street, a dead man who seems to be short about six thousand dollars."
    "But we didn't take it," Katherine breathed, to which Daisy shook her head in emphatic agreement.
    "Then where might it be?"
    "I wouldn't know," piped Katherine.
    "Listen, ladies. I learned a few things a long time ago. The first is never to draw a gun when the sun's in your eyes. The second is that generally folks are mostly understanding about murder in this sort of town." He shifted his weight slightly and wiggled his gloved fingers near the butt of his holstered gun. "But take their money..." He shook his head slowly. "Take their money and they'll hound you till you're dead and damned. You catch my drift?"
    No answer.
    "Do you?" he snapped.
    Katherine jumped, gasped, and shook her head.
    "I'm saying the good folks of Silver Ridge scraped their money together to pay me to kill Delias," Ryland explained patiently. "Now the money's gone. The mayor's dead and Delias ain't. Who do you think they're going to blame?"
    "You?" Katherine guessed timidly.
    "No." He shook his head again, more slowly yet. "Not me. I've done enough deeds to damn me without taking credit for things I didn't do." He stood quietly for a moment, then dropped the stack of papers into the bag and tossed the thing to the ground. "Good luck, ladies," he said, and turned away.
    "Where're you going?" Katherine gasped.
    He stopped for a moment, looking over his shoulder. "Where does Thomas Grey live?"
    "South side of town. On Aspen Street. Big white house with green shutters," Daisy babbled.
    He turned again.
    "Who's Grey?" Katherine asked.
    Travis didn't answer, for his long strides were already taking him quickly down the darkened street.
    "Thomas Grey," Daisy whispered. "'E's a rich duffer. They say it was 'is idea t' 'ire The Ghost. But I didn't think they'd really dare. Not 'im!" She nodded toward Travis's broad retreating back. "'E's killed more men than the plague." She shivered. "I didn't think they'd get 'im."
    Katherine's mind spun. If there had indeed been more money in the satchel, someone would be accused of theft, and if Ryland convinced Grey he was innocent, she was likely to be accused.
    "We can't let him go," she whispered.
    "What?" breathed Daisy in shocked disbelief.
    "If he tells Grey about this..." Katherine's words quivered to a halt. "Wait!" she called to Travis.
    "Miss Katherine," gasped Daisy, gripping her arms from behind. "Are you off yer crumpet? What're you thinkin'?"
    "We have to convince him we're innocent."
    "Convince The Ghost we're innocent?" Daisy whispered dazedly.
    "Don't you see? If he tells Grey what he saw, it'll seem as if we killed the mayor and took the money. We have to stop him. Wait!" she called a bit louder, stepping forward to follow Ryland, but Daisy now gripped her nightgown in a tenacious hold.
    "No, Miss Katherine! Don't go!" Her bare feet were planted on the outsides of Katherine's as she was dragged along the dirt course. "No! 'E's a mindless killer. Kills just fer fun. Y' make 'im mad, 'e'll croak y' without even blinking."
    "But we're innocent."
    "I know we's innocent, but let's not be dead,"