Heather Graham - Nightwalker

Nevada, 1876

S moke from a dozen cigars and cigarillos filled the saloon, creating a gray mist that hung over the patrons heads. George Turner, a man with a curious mix of races running through his blood, was playing the piano. Milly Taylor, a soprano who survived by prostitution in this godforsaken hellhole, was singing about being in a gilded cage. The desert dust, which never seemed to really settle, joined with the miasma of smoke, and it was only the fact that the fiery red ball of the sun was finally settling that made it bearable to sit at the poker table.

John Wolf was holding a flush, aces high. He leaned back easily in his chair. There was a fair amount of money on the table, but if he appeared casual, it wasnt just his customary stoicism that made him so.

He didnt give a damn about the money at stake. Hed just returned from a trip that could change the lives of everyone around him. Now he was waiting for Mariah.

Ill see your dollar, breed, Mark Davison said.

John didnt bat an eye. He knew Davison was trying to rile him with the remark. The man should have known better. If there was anything John had learned from being raised between two worlds in this lawless sandpit, it was to control any outward display of emotion.

Ill raise you two, Davison continued.

Davison was an ass, a would-be gunslinger.

Hed come from the East, with family money and an attitude. Whether he won or lost, he tipped the bartenders and the girls, so that, at least, was good. But hed taken up with Frank Varny and his crowd, and that was bad.

Two bucks, Davison repeated. There was color in his cheeks.

Two bucks, John said, smoothly sliding the sum onto the pile.

He could tell by Davisons expression that the other man had expected him to fold.

This is a friendly poker game, fellows, Grant Percy, the so-called sheriff said, fidgeting uneasily in his seat and folding his cards. He might wear a badge, but the truth was, Frank Varny owned the town.

He had muscled his way in, and he had kept his power in the usual way: by intimidation. You joined himor you went out into the desert with your mule and pickax, and only the mule and pickax came back.

But today, John Wolf knew, things were going to change. Mariah would come, and whatever happened to him after that wouldnt matter. She was the one good, honest human being hed come across in his life, and he was going to give her the information she needed to ensure that the people herenot just the tribe but all the people in this town whod suffered for too long under Varnys corrupt rulefound life worth living again.

Im out, so lay down your cards, Ringo Murphy, the fourth and last man at the table, said. Murphy was a wild card himself. Hed been an opinionated rancher down in Missouri, so the story went. Just a kid when his world had gone to hell. Hed become a sharpshooter during the War Between the States, and now that it was over, he was chasing a dream of wealth and comfort. He was gaunt but well toned, a fellow with a devil-may-care attitude, and he wasnt quick to bend to any mans brutal tactics. He leaned back in his chair with his guns visible, nestled into the shoulder holsters he wore. Names were etched on the barrels: Lola and Lilly. Come on, Davison, Ringo said impatiently. Id like to get back into this game.

Davison was a lean man, as skinny as a string beanletting his muscle come from the two Colts he wore holstered on his hips.

John was armed himself. Always. He, too, carried Colts. Six-shooters, each one double-barreled, providing him with an extra shot per gun. He also carried two knives, sheathed at his ankles. It wasnt out of meanness. Out here, it meant survival.

Call, Davison said gruffly. John laid his cards on the table.

That was when the swinging doors to the saloon burst open. The sun was setting, painting the sky a deep red hue. Against it, a man was silhouetted in the doorway.

Frank Varny had come, just as John had known he would. But the timing was bad; Varny shouldnt have made it in from his office in the hills until nightfall.

Wolf! he said, the single word sounding like a roar.

John didnt twitch. He cursed silently and didnt acknowledge the newcomer. Hed had it all planned down to a crossed T, but someone had betrayed him. Varny shouldnt have known he was back. Not until Mariah had come.

The smoke in the air began to dissipate as most of the crowd scattered hurriedly, like dry leaves caught in a high wind, heading out the backdoor.

Even the bartender disappeared. Milly Taylor croaked out one last note, then froze, as her accompanist scrambled up the stairs.

Only John paid no attention to the other mans arrival.

Frank Varny didnt like being ignored. He strode across the room, so accustomed to being a law unto himself that he didnt see the flicker of annoyance in Ringo Murphys black eyes.

Davison looked up nervously, though, barely noticing anything as he set his cards down by reflex alone.

John had won. My flush beats your straight, he said, and scooped in the gold dollars piled on the table.

Good. Now the rest of us can get back into the game, Ringo Murphy muttered.

The game is over, Frank Varny announced. By then, four of his henchmen had followed him into the saloon. They were all resting their hands on the guns holstered at their hips.

Deal, John told Grant Percy.

Now, now, Sheriff Percy said, licking his lips nervously. Seems like Mr. Varny needs to have a word with you first, John Wolf.

John looked toward the swinging doors and saw a tumbleweed dance by in the breeze that had suddenly lifted. He looked upward, not at Varny, but at the red sky that was darkening to crimson, deep as a dead mans blood. From the corner of his eye, he judged where Varnys men were standing.