The Circuit Rider by Dani Amore

expensive than Tower cared for, but it was the
only one with rooms available.
    Bird
poured whiskey into a glass that was sitting on the table next to a washbasin. She
curled her fingers around the glass and looked at Tower.
    “What
in the good goddamned hell was that all about?” she said, then drank from the
glass.
    Tower
stood, walked to the mirror hanging above the washbasin, and wiped at the
scratches on his face. Bird thought he looked uncomfortable with the question
and found it interesting that he was avoiding the answer.
    “I
don’t know,” he finally said.
    “Well,
do you know the woman?” she said.
    “I
don’t believe so.”
    “Then
you need to practice making a better first impression on people,” Bird said.
“What did you do, skip ahead of her in line at the store?”
    Tower
hung the whiskey-soaked towel on a peg next to the table with the
washbasin. Before he could answer Bird’s question, there was a knock on the
door.
    “Maybe
she’s back to finish the job,” Bird said. She polished off the rest of the
whiskey in her glass, set it back on the table, and went to the door. She put
her right hand on the butt of her gun and opened the door with her left.
    “Afternoon,
ma’am,” a man said. He was older, with white hair and a neatly trimmed white
beard. Bright-blue eyes glanced at Bird, then found Tower.
    Bird
noticed the gold star pinned to the man’s brown leather vest.
    “Afternoon,
Sheriff,” Bird said. She looked over the man’s shoulder and saw no one else. She
opened the door wider and gestured for the man to come in. “Want a drink?” she
said.
    “Howdy,”
the man said to both Bird and Tower. “I don’t believe I’ll take you up on that
drink, ma’am. My name’s Wayne. Wayne Ectors. I’m the sheriff of Prosperity.”
    “And
you’re doin’ a damn fine job,” Bird said, refilling her glass. “Except for the
crazy woman at the general store. Hope you’ve got her under lock and key by
now.”
    “Bird,”
Tower said. “She was just mistaken about who I am.”
    “Yeah,
about that incident — it’s the reason for my visit here,” Ectors said. “Seems what
happened has got some of the menfolk in town a bit riled up.”
    “As
I understand it,” Bird said, “she attacked him, not the other way around. Why
aren’t the men upset with her?”
    Ectors
took off his hat and nervously fiddled with it.
    “Well,
she claims the preacher here raped her,” Ectors said. His blue eyes studied
Tower for a reaction.
    “That
is the most ridiculous goddamn thing I’ve ever heard,” Bird said. “We just got
into town an hour ago. How could he possibly have done this to her? Doesn’t
that seem a bit ridiculous?”
    The
sheriff put his hat back on, as if he needed something to do. “Well, Ms. Arliss
claims it didn’t happen today. More like a couple of years ago.”
    Tower
stood, walked to the window, and looked out over the town’s main street.
    “She’s
not telling the truth, Sheriff,” Tower said. “I’ve never seen her before in my
life.”
    “Where
did she say this happened?” Bird interjected.
    “Down
in Texas.”
    Tower
shook his head. “Impossible.”
    “So
are you here to arrest Mr. Tower, or are you just being sociable?” Bird said.
    The
sheriff shook his head. “No, no. Not at all. Just wanted to let you know that
some of the men in town are a bit upset over this news. They don’t think the
woman has any reason to make up this whole story, so they’re not sure what to
do. They wanted me to come and arrest you, but I can’t do that without any more
evidence.”
    Bird
swirled the whiskey in her glass. She had a fairly good idea what the answer
would be, but she decided to ask the question anyway.
    “So
you want us to leave town?”
    Ectors
was clearly uncomfortable with what he was going to say next. Bird almost
enjoyed watching him struggle with it.
    “No,
truth is, I’d like you to stay in town until I can get some more information
from Ms. Arliss,