as ice during the questioning, the emotional display surprised them.
"Are you ever going to catch those horrible men? Do you have any leads
at all? The sheriff told me you didn't, but I was hoping he was
wrong.
" Ryan's shoulders slumped. "No, we don't have any leads now, but that
could change."
"One thing's certain, " Cole interjected. "We will catch ihem. It's
only a matter of time. You can count on it."
"Yes, of course you'll catch them, " she said. "If you think of any
other questions, I'll be here." Once she was inside, Cole muttered an
imprecation. "I don't like being a marshal. It's depressing."
"You know what's really bothering you? You feel sorry for all three of
the women, don't you? " "Yeah, I do. Thanks to Sloan's incompetence,
those ladies have been thrown into the middle of a boiling pot. They
shouldn't have to be afraid. Besides, it's pretty certain none of them
was in the bank during the robbery, but now everyone in town thinks one
of them was. Folks around here don't think things through, do they? I
guess I hated seeing Rebecca so scared."
"I can't blame her for being afraid, " Ryan said. "She knows what the
Blackwater gang can do."
"Do you think any of them will come back to Rockford Falls? Would they
go to such an extreme because of a rumor?
" "People believe what they read in the paper. It would be a lucky
break for us if they did come back. Stop glaring at me, Cole. I'm
only being honest. It would be a break, and God knows we're due for
one. We can protect the women.
Come on, let's go talk to Jessica Summers and Grace Winthrop."
"It seems kind of pointless, " Cole said. "They didn't see anything.
" "We have to go through the motions, " Ryan stubbornly insisted. "And
by the way, you're supposed to take notes during the interviews. "
"You take them. I hate paperwork. Besides, I can remember what
everyone said."
"Maybe now you can, but later, after one or two more robberies, all the
names and dates start blending together."
"Then I guess we better catch the bastards before they rob again."
Hungry and weary, he grudgingly followed Ryan down the steps. "Rebecca
told us that Jessica and Grace were exhausted. Remember? Maybe we
ought to wait until tomorrow to talk to them."
"No, I want to talk to them now." Cole gave up trying to argue with
him. He found the job of marshal incredibly frustrating thus far. He
wanted to act. Sorting through the mire of paperwork and talking to
potential witnesses was like putting an intricate puzzle together. One
had to be patient, and Cole hadn't quite learned how to accomplish that
feat.
The days dividing lover and lover, The light that loses, the night that
wij illy MacGuire's boardinghouse was at the end of Elm Street, a
winding road lined with hundred-year-old trees. The front door of the
hotel where Rebecca was staying actually faced the front door of the
house, but because of the meandering road and the trees, it wasn't