Epilogue Two
Luke slipped out of the wedding right after Jessie and Gray said their vows. He should have felt happy for them, but stone-cold hatred filled his heart, knowing who sat just a few blocks away in a jail cell. A wedding was the perfect distraction for him to slip away and get to Casey.
Sheriff Williams had attended the wedding with the others, leaving a deputy behind to watch over the inmates. Deputy Mather met him when he arrived, his deputy badge slightly askew on his uniform, and his brown hair and mustache unkempt. Luke nodded to Mather and pulled out a few bills, handing them over to the deputy without a word. Mather didn’t have the highest of morals and was always willing to look the other way for a bit of money.
Mather took the money and jerked his head toward the back of the jail. He allowed Luke to pass him and head to where the jail cells were. “You got five minutes,” he said matter-of-factly.
Luke nodded and stalked silently toward the cells. With each step he took, anger mounted heavier in his heart. Casey knew something about the death of his parents, and although Gray wasn’t taking it seriously, he was.
Gray had moved on quickly from the death of their parents, but Luke would never forgive the person who had killed them. He would stop at nothing to get his revenge.
Stepping into the hallway that contained the rows of cells, he scanned the rows and quickly spotted Casey mixed in with a few other prisoners. They didn’t bat an eye at Luke’s presence, probably because Mather had allowed others to do this before.
Casey stood at one of the cell doors, his arms dangling loosely outside the bars as he leaned against the steel rods, waiting for him.
Luke walked over to him, stopping just outside of his reach. His eyes met Casey’s cold and aloof stare, and they assessed each other.
“Your freedom for the information,” Luke reminded him, speaking carefully and deliberately. They had made a deal on the ride to Bozeman that Luke would get Casey out of jail and lie to his brother. Betraying Gray was a small price to pay for vengeance.
Casey nodded wordlessly—a confirmation that he had agreed to the bargain. It was his only chance of freedom from the hangman’s noose at this point.
Without another word, Luke expertly picked the lock to the cell and the door swung open in seconds. Casey stepped outside the cell, and a flash of humor crossed his face.
“My freedom for information.”
They walked to back to the main entrance of the sheriff’s station, and when Deputy Mather saw them, he scrambled up out of his chair to cut them off.
“Hey!” he protested, blocking them with his arms splayed wide. “I didn’t say you could—”
Not letting him finish, Luke drew his weapon and fired off one shot, straight to Mather’s heart. His eyes widened and he dropped to the floor, dead.
Casey whistled low. “Damn, son. You sure you’re on the right side of the law here?”
Luke cocked a brow at him and nodded toward the door.
Nodding, Casey eased around Luke and walked out of the jail, giving Luke a quick glance as he passed.
Determination filled Luke’s heart, and he stepped over the dead body of Deputy Mather, the blood pooling around his body on the floor. Nothing would stop him from figuring out who killed his parents. Nothing would stop him from getting vengeance.
Nothing.