B.J. Daniels - Renegade's Pride

“It’s just me,” came a voice from the darkness.

He relaxed but still held the rifle until his friend topped the rise. It was going to be a dark night, clouds hiding the stars and moon. There was just enough light to make out his friend Johnny Burrows’s silhouette as he walked toward the fire. He carried a heavy bag over his shoulder, which he laid down with a grunt.

“I forgot how far it was back in here on foot. I’m not as young as I used to be,” Johnny said. “I brought you groceries.”

“You’re sure you weren’t followed?”

“No one knows you’re back in town, right? So no one has any reason to tail me, but I took the usual precautions.”

When they were boys, they often took off for the mountains rather than go to school. Looking back, Trask knew that it was his fault that Johnny was in trouble with his father a lot of the time. He was the one who talked his friend into skipping school. Johnny was always afraid he would get caught—and often did.

It was only one of the reasons Johnny’s father, John Thomas “J.T.” Burrows, didn’t like Trask and didn’t want his son associating with him.

But Johnny had remained a good friend all these years despite some problems nine years ago.

Johnny stepped to the fire to warm his hands. “You sure this is a good idea?”

“The fire?”

“Coming back here like this.” Johnny had stayed in town after graduating from college and ended up working with his father in the construction company where he’d worked in high school. Gordon Quinn had been one of the original partners, along with J.T. and Skip Fairchild.

Thanks to Johnny, Trask had been able to keep in touch and had known what had been going on in Gilt Edge—and especially with Lillie.

“You have a better suggestion?” Trask asked, now surprised Johnny hadn’t been happy to hear that he’d come back to clear his name.

“Maybe you should go to the sheriff and turn yourself in.”

“Turn myself in to Flint Cahill? The hanging sheriff? Right. Just throw myself on his mercy. I don’t think so. Especially since we all knew how he felt about me dating his sister.”

“It was more serious than that with Lillie, wasn’t it?”

Trask said nothing for a few minutes as he picked up a stick and poked at the fire. “I’ve never been able to forget her. It’s the main reason I came back.” When his friend didn’t comment, he looked up at him. “What?”

Still Johnny hesitated.

“You aren’t going to tell me that she’s now seeing someone.”

“No, but Junior Wainwright has been trying to get her to go out with him for the past few years.”

A fist closed on his heart. “But she hasn’t gone.”

“No. She’s dated a little, not much, just like I’ve told you.”

Trask’s first thought was to find Wainwright and set him straight. But that was the old Trask. “She can date anyone she wants.”

Johnny laughed. “When you told me that you’d changed, I didn’t believe it.” His friend eyed him. “Maybe you have changed. The old Trask—”

“Would have gone after him,” Trask said “I know. That’s one reason that the sheriff thinks I killed Gordon.”

“I had to put up with him at the construction company, so I can understand why you got into it with him.” Trask had been working for Gordon on his ranch when he’d caught him beating a horse with a two-by-four. He’d pulled the man off, taken the board away from him and warned him if he ever saw him treating an animal like that again, he’d kill him.

It had been a stupid threat, but he’d been so angry, so horrified by what Gordon was doing. Unfortunately, several of the other workers had overheard his threat to kill the man. Worse, when Gordon told him to mind his own business and fired him, Trask had told him what he could do with his job. Gordon called him a few names and Trask slugged the man and knocked him down.

He’d regretted it at once, but it was too late. Gordon threatened to have him arrested for assault and things went downhill from there.

“I would think things are better at the construction company with Gordon gone,” he said now. Johnny’s father had insisted his son learn the business from the ground up after college.

Johnny looked past the fire for a moment. “You know I never thought you killed him.”

“I appreciate that. Unfortunately, you were one of the few.”

“It was just bad timing. If you hadn’t gotten into it with him that day...”

“And run,” Trask said with a groan. “At the time, it seemed the only thing to do. Lillie had told me that Flint was looking for me. Even though I swore I didn’t do it, I didn’t even think she believed me. I was afraid I would get railroaded. Flint would have loved nothing better than to see me locked up in Deer Lodge. Anywhere away from his sister.”

“I just don’t understand what you hope to find out after all these years. If there was any evidence of someone else killing him...”

They’d had this discussion before over the years. But then it had just been talk. He realized now that Johnny hadn’t expected him to ever come back to try to find the real killer.

“I have to find out who killed Gordon. I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t stand Gordon or to have a motive for wanting him dead.”

“But enough to kill him?”

He knew what Johnny was saying. “Obviously, someone did hate him enough. I figure once I start digging into it, the killer is going to get nervous and then...”

“And then you’re going to get yourself killed. Trask, I really wish you weren’t doing this. If you left again, maybe—”

“I’m not leaving. I can’t keep running from this.”

Johnny looked worried. “I heard the sheriff has an eyewitness who swore they saw you leaving the stables that night right before Gordon’s body was found.”

“Since it wasn’t me, someone is either mistaken or lying. I’m going to look into Gordon’s friends, family, associates. Someone killed him and let me take the blame.” Gordon had been one of the original partners in Pyramid Peak Construction Company along with being a local rancher. “You were working at the construction company back when Gordon was killed. You would know if there were problems between the partners.”

Johnny shook his head. “Remember, I was just a grunt helping build the houses. I was hardly ever in the office.”

Trask nodded, knowing that this was a touchy subject given that Johnny was now one of the partners along with his father and Skip.

“When I got your call today, I was shocked. I wish you’d told me you were planning to come back.”

“So you could try to talk me out of it?”

His friend met his gaze over the glow of the campfire. “I guess I don’t have to tell you how dangerous this is. I don’t want to see you get yourself killed.”

Trask was touched. He hoped that was the reason Johnny was upset about his return. He and Johnny had had their problems nine years ago, but they’d been best friends for too many years to let one incident change that. “I have no choice. I have to clear my name. It’s the only way to get Lillie back. And right now it doesn’t look good.”

“You’ve seen her!” Johnny guessed, sounding both shocked and worried. “What makes you think she didn’t call the sheriff on you?”

“My charm?”

“Good luck with that. You are taking a hell of a chance. What if she’s already notified her brother?”

“She wouldn’t do that.”

“I don’t know, Trask. If I were you, I’d either get out of town or turn myself in. Better than Flint finding out you’re back and coming after you.”

“I just need a little time to follow a couple of leads.” He saw Johnny look at his watch. “You should get back to your fiancée. I’m looking forward to meeting her one day.”