The Coyote Tracker by Larry D. Sweazy Page B

war?” the sheriff asked.
    â€œGood enough,” Josiah answered. “I’ve always had a knack for letters, but it wasn’t my main duty.”
    â€œWhat was?”
    â€œWhatever needed doing.”
    Farnsworth nodded. “Well, while you’re figuring out what that note says, I guess I better get these men out after whoever took Randalls—and go face Matilda Jones to tell her that her husband has left this world for another one. It’ll be a sad dinner for her on this night. The coldhearted bastards shot the man in the back. Not sure I can tell Matilda that.”
    The sheriff walked off then, with Milt the deputy following after him like a puppy, hungry for its milk.
    Josiah stuffed the note in his pocket and turned back toward the jail block. His most important cause for being at the jail in the first place had not yet been satisfied.
    He didn’t know how Scrap Elliot had landed there in the first place, and he wasn’t leaving until he found out. Cipher or no cipher. Jailbreak or no jailbreak.

CHAPTER 10
    Scrap was laying on his cot at the back of the cell, staring at the ceiling. A veil of silence had come over the jail as two deputies patrolled the hall, their weapons brandished firmly in wait for the slightest reason to use them.
    The hole still gaped and would have to be protected until it was closed up. That wasn’t Josiah’s problem. It was Rory Farnsworth’s—along with rounding up the men who had busted Abram Randalls out of jail in the first place.
    What was Josiah’s problem was Scrap and the situation at hand. Most importantly, whether or not the story Farnsworth had told him was true: Did Scrap stab a whore, run away, and did somebody see him do it? The sheriff seemed pretty confident that Scrap was as guilty as guilty can be.
    â€œYou come back with a key?” Scrap asked, hoisting himself up, spinning his legs over the side of the cot.
    Josiah shook his head no. “Looks like you’re stuck for the moment.” He faced Scrap and dropped the volume of his voice to just above a soft whisper.
    â€œI gotta get out of here, Wolfe.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI got places to go, things to do. You know that. Besides, I ain’t no killer, and you know that, too.”
    â€œI’ve seen you kill more than one man.”
    Scrap looked at Josiah like he had been slapped, then looked quickly away to the opposite wall. “Why would you go and say somethin’ like that?”
    â€œBecause it’s true.”
    â€œThey said I killed a woman, Wolfe. You know that can’t be true.”
    Josiah let a moment of silence fall between the two of them. He watched Scrap close, closer than he ever had, searching for a hint of a lie. Thankfully, he didn’t see one.
    â€œSheriff says somebody saw you do it. Said you stabbed the girl in the belly and ran. Did you do that?”
    â€œNo.” Scrap’s voice quavered. “It was dark. I could hardly see in front of me. Ain’t no way anybody saw anything.”
    â€œYou’re sure?”
    â€œI’m absolutely sure, Wolfe. I was there. I was just tryin’ to get a good look at the girl. I had no cause to stab her.”
    â€œShe didn’t turn you down?”
    â€œTurn me down for what?”
    â€œSpurn you? You know, for the business they’re in? Tell you no?”
    â€œI wasn’t lookin’ for entertainment, Wolfe.”
    Josiah breathed in a deep chestful of air. The dust had settled, but his tongue and his insides felt covered with the stuff from the blast.
    â€œI’m not a woman killer,” Scrap insisted. He punched the bed out of frustration.
    â€œI know that,” Josiah said, calmly. “But if you want me to help get you out of here, you’re going to have to tell me everything that happened, exactly how it happened.”
    Scrap exhaled fully and gritted his teeth. “I don’t rightly know what really