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“That they've got, but don’t expect company of the female persuasion. The town is still rustic and even soiled doves have standards."

“Whiskey and my bedroll will do me just fine,”he assured him.

Ike grunted again. “I likea soft bedat my age, but beggars can’t be choosers.”

“We’re hardly beggars.”Seth reached back and patted his saddlebag. It bulged, too, although not nearly as much as Ike’s.

His uncle’s jaw dropped. “Well, I’ll be damned. If your father sent youupthe bluffwithpart of the loot, he must be slipping. How many bags of cash you got in there?”

“Two, and neither is skimpy. There’s enough to indulge in a night or two at a hotel, and no one will notice it’s missing.”

“That would be nice if there were any within riding distance,”Ike pointed out.

“Soon. Cheyenne is growing every day.”

“Soon don’t help my sacroiliac,”he complained, stretching, but he rubbed his left hip, where he’d taken the bullet, not his lower back.

They rode hard, losing daylight as the sun dipped low behind the Medicine Bow in the distance.

Their banter was over. Ike was worried, and for good reason.

His pa wasn’t slipping. He’d sent himupthe bluffwiththe cash because he knew trouble was coming, and he didn’t want his youngest son and brother in the crossfire.

***

Despite Ike’s warning, Laramie was worse than he imagined—dirty, smelly, and primitive.

Still, the whiskey in the tent saloon was strong and burned as intended as it went down.

They didn’t stay in town, which wasn’t much of one, more like a few rustic cabins built by the settlers and a collection of tents for the men working on the new railroad.

They stayed for thirty-six hours, not enough time for things to cool down, but it was all he or Ike could stand before heading to Cheyenne to check on the rest of the men, especially Bill.

When they rode up to the cabin, secluded deep in the dense forest several miles north of town, Rafe and Argyll, standing guard outside, greeted them with grim expressions.

“What’s wrong?”Seth asked as he slidfrom his saddle.

Argyll shot him an inscrutable look before he shook his head and stalked off.

Rafe, who was only two years Judd’s senior but acted like he was twice his age, clapped him hard on the shoulder. “You’re gonna have to be strong for your pa, boy. Bill has been hanging on for something, and I believe that something is you.”

Ike emitted a strangled gasp as though he’d taken a punch to the gut. Seth breathed, “Pa,”then sprinted inside and into the only bedroom.

When the door careened into the wall with a bang, Judd shot him a scowl and exclaimed, “Quiet. Ain’t you got no fucking sense?”

“It’s fine,”his father croaked weakly, his hand shaking as he reached for him. “Come here, Seth.”

On leaden legs and with a heart filled with dread, he made his way to the bed.

The coarse texture of the sheets scraped against his numb fingers as he sat opposite his brother.

The figure resting on the straw mattress between them was barely recognizable.

Despite his usual tanned complexion from hours of riding, his skin now had a grayish hue.

Fatigue had etched deep lines on his face, and his eyes seemed dull, reflecting the pain evident in his near-constant grimace.

Seth fought tears as he gripped his father’s icy hand. “What happened?”

His brother answered for him. “We split up. The posse followed one half.The others roderight into an ambush. Pa was the only survivor.”

“You make sure you get Lem and Earl’s share to their widows,”their father ordered hoarsely.

“I will. Just like we all agreed.”

Hearing Judd’s reassurance,Billclosed hiseyesand said with a ragged sigh, “Even though they were outlaws, at their core, they were good men.”

When his pa’s rough, raspy breathing was the only sound in the room, Seth thought he slept. “Do you think there’s a traitor among us?” he asked his brother.

His father answered in a surprisingly strong voice.

“These men are like family, boy. Saved my ass more times than I can count. But in our business, somethin’ like this was bound to happen.

” He cracked an eye and looked at his older son.

“Now that we’re weak in numbers, you’ll need to be more vigilant. ”

“I will, Pa. I swear,” his eldest declared resolutely.

“No one ever had more than a scratch,”Bill rasped, struggling to speak through parched lips. “It figures, when the bullets found their mark, one was in me.”

“In ten years, we were damn lucky.”

Judd’s voice was scratchy, too, as if he held back tears. In all his twenty years, Seth had never seen him cry. It confirmed what he suspected; this was a deathbed conversation. The moment weighed on him, heavy and final.

“I should have rejoined you instead of riding on,”Seth said, guilt and regret bitter on his tongue.

“That’s bullshit, boy,”his father said more forcefully, but it wasn’t even at half strength, and the effort made him wheeze and cough. “You followed orders. If you hadn’t, you might be lying dead in Colorado or close to it, bleeding out in this bed next to me.”

Coughing again, this time blood droplets appeared on his lips. When the spell passed, he’d grown weaker, every breath laborious.

Seth glanced at his brother, who confirmed with a shake of his head what he already knew. Their father wasn’t long for this world. Beside him, Uncle Ike was sobbing silently, tears running down his ruddy cheeks.

Judd, stoic as ever, wrapped his arm around the older man, lending his support.

“Son?”

His gaze immediately shifted to his father. “Yeah, Pa?”

“Get out. This ain’t the life for you.”

“What?”

“Find a pretty girl and settle down. Give her lots of babies. An outlaw’s life isn’t your destiny.”

“I’m not living in Texas, and my general isn’t falling. You’ll pull through—”

“No. Judd will be your leader after today.”

“Don’t say that,”Seth said brokenly, gripping his father’s hand tighter as if he could physically keep him from slipping away.

He found the strength to grab Judd’s hand, a son on either side. “Love both my boys. Never said it enough.”

Despite his unsavory vocation and all the stories, some exaggerated and many true, the notorious outlaw Deadeye Bill, at heart, was still a devoted father and family man.

Tears overflowed and ran freely down Seth’s cheeks, and he didn’t give a fuck how it looked.

Bill’s gaze moved to Ike next. “Love you too, Brother.”

“You saved me after—”His uncle’s voice broke into a sob. “Every day I wake up since then, I owe to you,and I hatelike hell to see you go.”

“And I hateto go.”He laughed, choking and coughing. “TheHartigan ganghada good run, didn’t we, boys?”

“Damn straight we did,”his brother answered. “And we’ll carry on, in your honor.”

“You could retire. You’re set for life with this bank haul.”Pa and Judd looked at one another then grinned identically. “But where’s the fun in that?”they said in unison.

When Seth exchanged a tearful glance with his uncle, they both shook their heads. Bill and Judd were undeniably father and son, cut from the same ornery cloth.

Another coughing jag erupted that wore him out. “Gonna sleep now,”Pa said, his voice fading, thenheclosed hiseyesfor the last time.