Outlaw's Reckoning by J. R. Roberts Page B

could say to that. It seemed that Matt already had a good enough handle on the situation and had followed through on trying to make up for it.
    â€œWhat do you mean you got that man killed?” Clint asked.
    â€œJed rode with me plenty of times and I coaxed him to come along again. When we got chased off of that job, Jed fell behind and I left him there to save my own skin. That money I gave to his widow was every bit of what we stole on that job. Every last cent.”
    â€œSo what’s your plan?” Clint asked. “Are you going to ride around handing out money?”
    â€œI only got so much money, but that’s not what all folks need.”
    â€œSounds like you’ve got an awful lot of people you need to visit. Do you even know where to find them all?”
    Matt thought that over and shook his head. “Nope.”
    â€œThen who gets help and who doesn’t?”
    â€œYou seem to help a lot of folks, Adams. How do you decide who the lucky ones are?”
    This time, Clint took a moment to think. “You know something? I don’t know. I just lend a hand wherever I can.”
    â€œI got a little more direction than that, but we seem to be on the same page.”
    â€œHow much longer do you have to go before this job of yours is done?”
    â€œIt may never get done, but I’ll do my best. That’s all I got left to do.”

NINETEEN
    Matt seemed to know where the posse was going before they did. While riding alongside the other man, Clint watched behind him to see if he could spot the lawmen riding in the dark. They were easy enough to pick out simply because a few of them were carrying torches to light their way through some of the trees that Clint had sent them into with his directions to the sheriff. Even without those torches, however, any man with a set of ears could have heard the commotion coming from the posse.
    By midnight, Matt had steered around to the west and eventually to the southwest. When Clint spotted the flickering lights of a few windows in the distance, he raced in front of Matt and signaled for him to stop.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Matt asked.
    Clint had a tired edge in his voice as he said, “We’re going in circles. Do you even have a notion of where you’re headed?”
    â€œHey, you’re the one who wanted to draw all the attention. I wanted to go in and do the fake robbery quick enough to be done before the law showed their faces.”
    â€œAnd you didn’t think the law would be after you?” Clint asked.
    â€œThey’d be after us sooner or later after a few shots were fired.”
    It was hard for Clint to argue with that one, so he just waved the argument off. “Do you have any idea where you’re going?”
    â€œOf course. The town’s name is Lohrens.”
    Clint squinted as that name rang a few bells in his head. Finally, he looked down at a sign that Eclipse was standing near and read the letters painted on it. There were only seven letters on that sign and they spelled Lohrens.
    â€œI suppose you had this planned?” Clint asked sarcastically.
    Matt nodded. “Every outlaw worth his name has a plan.”
    â€œMost known outlaws get hung.”
    â€œOnly if the posse can find them,” Matt replied while pointing a finger at Clint for emphasis. “Ain’t it great how things work out?”
    It was obvious that Matt was waking up more and more as the night dragged on. Clint, on the other hand, was about to slump in his saddle from being so tired. Since all he wanted at that moment was a bed under him, Clint snapped Eclipse’s reins and rode into town.
    Matt came along with him, grinning smugly the entire way.
    They stopped at the first hotel they could find, rented two rooms and put the horses up in a stable across the street. Once Clint saw his bed, he didn’t much care if he ever saw Matt Fraley again.
    A woman knocked on Clint’s door to bring up a