Page 5 of The Banker's Bride

Sheriff Clark shook his head. “One got away. But I’ll go over the Wanted posters to see if I can find him.”

Dallas stepped harder on the man’s shoulder as he screamed in pain. “I have a better idea.”

The sheriff tapped Dallas on the stomach twice with the back of his hand. “Let him up. We’ll find out what we need to know when we get him to the jail.” He pulled the criminal to his feet. “Okay, buddy. Time to go.”

“When my brothers hear about this, they’ll shoot you down!” he yelled as Daxton tied his hands and shoved him across the saddle. “Oh, come on! At least let me sit in the saddle!”

Colton laughed. “For what? To let you ride off and warn your ‘brothers’?”

“You just wait!” He squirmed, trying to free his hands behind his back. “Mark my words! My brothers will come for you, and they’ll kill everyone in this town!”

“And we’ll be waiting.” Dallas punched him in the jaw, knocking him out, and then straightened his gray morning coat. “I was getting sick of hearing him anyway.”

Sheriff Clark’s eyes opened wide. “Good for you!”

Colton smirked. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

Dallas’s head snapped up, frowning as he slid onto his horse and took the reins. “Just because I own a bank doesn’t mean I can’t handle my own affairs.”

Colton suppressed a smile.

Dallas shook his head, knowing why Colton had smiled at the mention of affairs. Colton had fallen in love with Dallas’s former fiancée, Ella Raines, when she had come to town as Dallas’s mail-order bride. But now she and Colton were happily married with twins.

But Dallas had no hard feelings toward either of them. After all, everything had seemed to work out, except that he still didn’thave a wife. And in society, important men always had lovely wives.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it, then.” Dallas mounted his horse. “I need to get back to the bank and check on everyone.”

Sheriff Clark mounted his horse, and so did Colton. “I’ll come by later to check on things.”

Dallas nodded. “Thanks, sheriff.”

Colton arched an eyebrow, his expression serious. “How many were killed?”

Dallas let out a deep breath as they all headed back toward town. “Three. Two were criminals and the other was one of my men.”

Sheriff Clark nodded sympathetically as Colton turned somber, listening. “Who?”

Dallas sighed. “Virgil.”

“What about Butch, Milo, and Jake?”

“They’re still standing, so they’re fine.”

“And the tellers?”

Dallas laughed without humor. “Probably scared out of their wits, but I’m sure they’re okay. I think they were hiding behind the counter.”

Sheriff Clark grinned.

Yes, Russell Reyna and Alonzo Slater were good tellers, but they weren’t fighters. Dallas smiled, remembering the look on Russell’s face when the outlaw pulled the gun on him. His blood boiled at the thought.

On the way back to the bank they picked up the other criminal, who had been shot in the leg. He took one look at his brother, lying limply across the horse, and yelled, “Brock! What have you done to him? You killed him! You killed my brother!”

Dallas slapped him hard across the face with the back of his hand. “No, he’s alive, you idiot. He just has a glass jaw.”

“And if you don’t shut up, you’re going to join him.” Colton bound his wrists and pulled him to his feet.

“Hey! Watch it!” the man yelled.

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