Read Summer Breeze for Free Online

somewhere in the house, it shouldn't alarm her to hear me coming in. " Joseph flashed his brother a sarcastic grin. "You want to write me a speech so I sugarcoat everything enough to suit you?"
    "I would if I had paper. You're nothing if not plain-spoken, and that's a fact. "
    "Yeah, well, flowery speech has never been one of my strong suits. " Joseph narrowed an eye at his brother. "Come to think of it, maybe you should be the one to stay. You were born with a lump of sugar in your mouth. "
    David threw up his hands. "Oh, no, you don't. Darby asked you to watch after her, not me, and you're the one who gave him your word. "
    Joseph had never gone back on his word in his life, and he didn't plan to start now. That didn't mean he
    couldn't toy with the thought. There were better ways to spend a Friday night than playing nursemaid to a crazy woman.
    David collected his gelding and mounted up. Joseph thought about asking him to stop off at Eden and bring him back a jug of whiskey before he headed home, but he already knew what his brother's answer would be. Now that David wore a badge, he was as puritanical as a preacher about the consumption of spirits—and practically anything else that Joseph thought was fun.
    "Well, " David said in parting. "Good luck. If nothing else, it should be an interesting night. "
    Sleeping on a cold floor with only hardtack and jerky in his belly wasn't Joseph's idea of interesting, but he couldn't see that he had a choice.
    David rubbed his jaw. "I don't have a good feeling about this, big brother. "
    The comment brought them both full circle to that unsettling moment when they had realized Darby's shooting had been no accident. "Me, either, " Joseph confessed. "My theory of a stray bullet was a lot easier to swallow. "
    "Only it wasn't a stray bullet, " David said. "No how, no way could it have been an accident. "
    The words hung between them in the cold air like ice particles. David stared solemnly at the house. "As much as I hate to think it, she truly may be in danger. "
    Joseph hated to think it a whole lot worse than his brother did. He was the one who'd promised to protect the woman. "I'm sorry if my frankness put her in a dither, " he offered by way of apology. "I know you wanted to ask her some questions. "
    David turned his gelding to head out, then settled back in the saddle and didn't go anywhere.
    "Maybe she'll feel more like talking tomorrow. "
    Joseph doubted it. Insanity didn't normally right itself overnight. "Maybe. " Interpreting his brother's reluctance to leave as a sign that he needed to talk, Joseph asked, "In the meantime, what's your gut telling you?"
    "That I'm flummoxed. Darby's so drunk on laudanum he can't tell me much of anything, and she refuses to talk. How can I make sense of this mess with nothing to go on?" David rubbed the back of his neck. "What if the shooting today actually is connected to the murders five years ago? We didn't even live in these parts then, and Estyn Beiler, the marshal at the time, never figured out who did it. "
    "Estyn Beiler was a piss-poor lawman. " Just saying the man's name made Joseph's lip curl. "He was so caught up in his own shady dealings that he never did his job. You're dedicated, David, and you're a hell of a lot smarter than he was. I'm confident that you'll get to the bottom of this. "
    "Without even a suspicion to go on?"
    Joseph reached inside his jacket for his pack of Crosscuts. "Ah, now. For the moment, forget the incident five years ago and start with the obvious question. Who might want Darby McClintoch dead?"
    "Nobody that I can think of. He comes into town for a couple of drinks every now and again, but he never causes any trouble. He doesn't play cards, which
    rules out the possibility that he took someone's money and made an enemy. As far as I know, he never goes upstairs with any of the girls, either, eliminating all likelihood of a jealous lover. He's a quiet, inoffensive man, not given to discussing politics or