Ashes and Memories by Deborah Cox Page B

before he opened his mouth.
    “What kind of question is that?”
    “It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve skimmed a little off the top, now would it?”
    Ryker turned red in the face. “Hey, wait a minute --”
    Reece put his scissors on the wash stand and dried his face, deciding not to press the issue just yet. He had no proof, and knowing a man was lying and getting him to admit it were two entirely different things. The latter required more effort than Reece was willing to exert just now.
    He’d slept fairly well last night, thanks to the laudanum the doctor had given him, but this morning a fierce hangover had prevented him from even going to the hotel for breakfast as was his custom. And the last thing he needed right now was a confrontation with Ryker.
    Besides, he had other matters on his mind, like a headstrong woman who didn’t know when to quit.
    “Your job is to keep the peace and uphold the law, Sheriff Ryker, and I am getting a little tired of reminding you of that fact.”
    Ryker’s jaw clenched, his eyes dark with fury. He turned toward the door, throwing his parting words over his shoulder. “If you won’t take care of this, I guess I’ll --”
    “You’ll what?" Reece didn’t like the protective fire that ignited inside him at the thought of Bill Ryker so much as speaking to Emma Parker. He knew he would kill the man if he laid a hand on her, and the flicker of uncertainty in the other man’s eyes when he turned to face him again told him Ryker knew it, too.
    “I ain’t gonna sit by and let some uppity woman print lies about me,” Ryker said, his words lacking their earlier bluster.
    Reece moved closer to the lawman who stood a good three inches taller than he. He’d hired the man for his intimidating size as much as anything, but the height difference didn’t bother him. There was something missing in Ryker’s eyes, something another man might not notice, but Reece did.
    Ryker had never been tested, never been pushed to his limit, never had to confront the darkness in his own soul. A warrior recognized another warrior, another soul who had been through the fire and emerged something different, and there was nothing of the warrior in Ryker. Some men lived their entire lives without ever being forced to face that test.
    Besides, he’d handled bigger men, and he could handle Ryker. Reece had discovered three great equalizers early on -- money, resolve and nerve. When he’d come west, he’d added a fourth, prowess with a pistol, and he’d perfected all four. Against those weapons, a man’s size meant very little.
    “That is precisely what you are going to do. “Reece spoke softly, knowing the heat in his glare would melt the other man’s determination.
    “But --”
    “I’ll take care of it. Do you understand?" He watched the fury fade from Ryker’s eyes, watched him mentally back down.
    “You’d better,” the sheriff said quietly. “Before you know it she’ll have the whole town up in arms.”
    Reece finished dressing after the sheriff left. Minutes later, he descended the stairs to find Grady sitting in a corner cleaning his gun. Reece took a seat at the table, suppressing a laugh of admiration as he scanned the paper again.
    “This would be amusing if it weren’t so annoying,” Reece said. “As much as I admire her spirit, I cannot allow her to go on defying me.”
    “The newspaper lady?" Grady asked absently.
    “I should just go up on her rent. I wonder what she’d do if I asked for, say, a thousand dollars a month?”
    “I’d be careful if I was you,” Grady said as he reassembled his revolver with practiced skill.
    Reece leaned back in his chair and regarded the man more closely. “What do you mean?”
    “She’s already met most everybody in town. I seen them coming and going from her place. They looked real friendly.”
    “Well, I can’t allow her to challenge me. It sets a bad example, if nothing else.”
    “So what are you gonna do?”
    He’d been