One thing was certain, though. Learning such a startling fact about herself at this late date would hurt Jessica profoundly.
"I think you have to decide for yourself," Devlin said finally. "I do know it would be better coming from you than someone else. If there's any chance of her discovering the truth some other way, then you should tell her now."
Riley nodded thoughtfully as he unlocked the front door.
Devlin frowned. The house was dark, even though a half hour ago he'd left a light burning in the hall. And when Riley had lit a lamp, he could see that Mr. Kwan was not at his appointed place.
Worse, neither was Jess. Her bed was empty.
A quick search of the small house gave no clue to her whereabouts. It was clear, however, that both she and her gear were gone.
Only then did Devlin remember precisely how Jess had couched her promise to him. I won't
give you any arguments. Not "I won't go," or "I'll do as you say."
Venting a choice expletive, Devlin gave her father a look Of utterly frustrated rage. Riley appeared worried and bewildered, but Devlin knew very well what had happened.
"Damn her, she's gone after Purcell!"
She couldn't have had much of a head start. Devlin knew, but Jess's pursuit made his own that much more urgent. Thinking of her alone, at night, in the mountains, against a man of Purcell's stamp, was enough to make Devlin's blood run cold.
When he declared his intention of immediately following her, however, Riley replied that he couldn't ride off half-cocked and insisted that he needed help. It would take an entire posse to bring in Purcell if he had hooked up with an outlaw gang. And they needed someone who knew the mountains. A man could hole up for weeks in the hundreds of peaks and canyons north of Silver Plume and never be found. They were banking on Purcell's heading north, since he'd told Jess he meant to visit friends there before leaving the state—probably to recover his stash of stolen money, they figured. North was also where Zeke McRoy had been hiding out, and the most likely direction for Jess to have ridden.
"I'll going with you," Riley announced tersely. "I can shoot and I know the mountains."
"Now who's acting half-cocked?" Devlin retorted. "You can't ride well enough with your back wound. You'll only slow me down."
"I can keep up—"
"No, dammit! You'd be less than useless to me on a long chase. You'd wind up keeling over in the saddle and I'd have to leave you there on the trail. If you think I'd care to face Jess after that, you can think again."
Riley set his jaw. "She's my daughter and I'm going."
Devlin cursed. He'd had this same discussion twice before with Riley's muleheaded daughter, and he was getting a little tired of it. "I'll bring her back safely, Riley. Now, come on. We're wasting precious time with your foolishness."
They argued a bit longer, but Devlin finally persuaded the older man that he hadn't recovered enough to meet the physical demands of a hard ride. Riley, however, still insisted Devlin had to have help. Jointly they concluded that they needed the marshal after all.
While Riley headed to the livery stable to saddle a mount, Devlin quickly rode over to the boardinghouse, where he found Mr. Kwan. Jessica had dismissed him from guard duty, just as Devlin had surmised.
He met up with Riley at the street corner, and they quickly rode the few blocks to Main Street. After very little searching, they found Marshal Lockwood just down from the jail, concluding his rounds, and cornered him as he was about to step off the boardwalk. As Riley had predicted, however, Lockwood had no interest in leaving his comfortable bed to comb the mountains for Riley's wild daughter.
"It's none o' my business if she's gone gunning for Purcell," the marshal hedged, tipping his head back to look up at the two grim-faced men on horseback.
"It is your business to uphold law and order!" Riley snapped. "Hank Purcell was the one who blew up my mine. And he was partners with Zeke McRoy in those robberies on the Colorado Central."
Lockwood's eyes narrowed. "What proof do you got?"
"He told Jess about it."
"That's all? You expect me to believe that?"
"My daughter doesn't lie!"
"Well, send Miss Jess down to the jail and I'll question her."
"She's not here, dadblamit! I told you, she's gone after Purcell!"
"And I told you, Riley, I'm not gettin' in the middle of any feud between you and Mr. Burke!"