The Man Who Hated Ned O'Leary (Dig Two Graves 2)

Ned pushed Cole’s hand away as if the fight had been just a game. Dog’s ears perked up and he too spun toward the door

“I think someone tried to get in,” Ned said with a frown. “Ghosts?” he whispered to Dog, and Cole could have sworn the beast nodded.

“You won’t make me stay by pretending you’ve gone mad,” Cole said, stretching his back while Ned and his pet stared at the entrance.

But his hairs bristled when he picked up a faint whinny coming from the front of the house.

“I’m not—” Ned started, but a voice outside made both of them stiffen.

“I know you’re in there, lovebirds!”

They both recognized that voice.

Chapter 15

Over the years, Cole hadn’t thought of Zeb much. He’d heard of him breaking out of prison at some point but could have sworn the press had reported his recapture. He hadn’t bothered to seek out the man or attend his execution, because the time apart made him think back to all the things Zeb had done, to the excessive use of violence toward people who would have submitted without much fight. Most of all though, Zeb was convinced Cole had been in on Ned’s scheme and would have crushed his skull without giving Cole the chance to explain himself.

Zeb was a closed chapter. Or so it seemed before Cole heard him shouting outside—deep in the mountains, on this faraway patch of forested land.

His gaze gravitated to Ned, who rushed to the only window left with the shutters open, and closed them with a latch.

“I couldn’t believe it when I read the news that you two rats were being hung together. Almost felt sorry that I didn’t get to slit your throats myself!” Zeb yelled. “But lo and behold, Cole Flores and Ned O’Leary escape the law again. News of this feat that left five, including the sheriff, dead, reached me all the way in the Montana Territory.”

“We’ve got no quarrel with you anymore!” Ned yelled, putting on his boots, but this wouldn’t do. The way Zeb saw it, no punishment would be enough for what Ned had done, but he’d still skin them alive and watch as crows picked at their exposed insides.

“Dress warm,” Cole whispered, backing away to quickly pick up his gun belt and buckle it. The revolvers were loaded, but who the fuck could guess whether Zeb was here alone. For all they knew, he could have taken his time and recruited a bunch of surviving gang members, who also believed Cole had been complicit in Tom’s death.

They were surrounded and unable to see the scale of the threat, because darkness would hide all of Zeb’s companions.

Dog stilled and laid on the floor the moment Ned put a finger to his lips and shook his head. Sometimes, Cole had been annoyed by how much time Ned spent with the beast, but he was now glad for its training.

Cole tried to think of his options, but every possibility he considered inevitably ended with confrontation. His blood boiled, and cold shivers trailed down his back, keeping him in a strange limbo where his mind achieved complete focus while his body trembled with rage and worry. He didn’t want to kill Zeb, as bad of a man as he was, but there was no other way.

Cole faced the door and spoke, “You got it all wrong, Zeb. I was loyal to the very end.”

“That why you’re holed up together, all cozy?” Zeb roared, and the door rattled as if he’d thrown his weight against it. “I’ve been looking two months for you. Even considered giving up a few times, but I kept going. Tom himself must have led me here, you bastards. If you were loyal, you would have shot that lying fucker long ago.”

Perhaps he would have, but Cole wasn’t sure where his loyalties lay anymore. He looked back at Ned, trying to think as his brain cooked with unease. How many guns were they up against? Zeb could just starve them out.

Ned had dressed and was in the process of loading a shotgun when Cole nodded at him and stood to the left of the door, in case Zeb chose to shoot through it.

His heart beat faster, but this wasn’t the first time he’d been trapped, and far from the worst. “I chased him down, Zeb. Wanted to choke the life out of him like all of us, but do you remember this cabin as well as I?” he shouted, placing his hand on one of his guns. The air smelled funny, almost too rich, but with the odor of burnt leather still potent in the air, he wasn’t sure what the scent was, so he focused on on the intruder’s voice instead.

Zeb stayed silent for a while. “I might recall it. What about it?”

“Ned’s their son. He remained hidden and saw everything you, Tom, and Scotch did. Now, I loved Tom like my own blood, but killin’ Ned for taking revenge won’t bring him back. So I made a judgment, Zeb,” Cole hollered, waiting for Zeb’s reaction to assess what the bastard’s plan was.