Might be a lead
1335 Words
*Blaise*
Why indeed?
I sit on the back steps of Chase's house, staring at the moon. I roll my shoulders, grimacing at the pain the movement causes. After leaving the saloon, I stopped at the doctor's house, but he hadn't been there.
By the time I arrived home, the bleeding had stopped, so I simply changed shirts. No need to alarm my family. They have had enough worry the past five years. Besides, I have survived worse in prison.
I hear the door open and the echo of soft footfalls. Looking over my shoulder, I watch Callie sit beside me on the step.
"You were right. You told me five years was an eternity when a person has no freedom," I say into the stillness of the evening.
Using her fingers, she brushes the strands of hair off my brow. "Not all prisons come with walls. Chase was the key that unlocked mine."
I shift my gaze to the canopy of stars, allowing a companionable silence to ease in around us.
"What's their son's name?" I mumble.
Callie i stantly know I mean Olivia and Riley, "Andrew. We call him Drew," she says quietly.
"I hit his father this evening." I admit.
"I'm not altogether certain Riley didn't deserve that." She places her hand over mine. "But I know how much he loves Olivia. I think he may have loved her before you went to prison."
"That doesn't make what he did right." I mumble.
She sighs. "I know this is difficult for you, but Chase forgave Wade for taking Briony from him. Maybe in time, you can forgive Riley."
"My situation is completely different from Chase's. All he gave Briony was a train ticket. I gave Olivia my heart and five years of my life." I say.
"Olivia offered to testify that she was with you the night Rowan was killed, but you wouldn't allow it. You can't blame her now for the years you spent in prison. That's not fair." She tells me.
"Life is never fair, Callie. Having Wade and Chase for brothers should have taught me that a long time ago, but I had to learn it on my own." I look toward the distance. "So much has changed. Everything is different from what I expected it to be."
She gives me a small smile, "Not everything. Your violin is the same. I kept it for you just like you asked. I was hoping you would play something for me tonight."
I glance at the silhouette of the instrument resting in her lap. "I don't hear the music anymore, Callie. While I was in prison, it just shriveled up and died."
I shove myself to my feet and walk to the barn. I need to ride, to feel the wind rushing against my face. I have finished saddling Black Thunder when I hear a thump and grunt come from the back of the barn. I stride to the back room and peer inside. Cooper struggles to move a box. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" I ask.
Cooper spins around, his face burning bright red. "I wanted to get this room cleaned first. Gotta earn my keep."
I lean against the door frame. "Cooper, you always worked harder than I ever did, and Chase never kicked me out."
"You're blood, I ain't." Cooper walks to the worktable and begins to put away tools someone else had left out.
"That doesn't matter to Chase." I tell him.
"Matters to me." He says.
I study the boy as he straightens the room. "Is that why you didn't take Chase's name when he adopted you?"
Cooper stills. "I just figured it was best is all." He peers at me. "I have always wondered... What did you do to get a town named after you?"
I smile. "I don't have a town named after me."
"Sure you do. I went through a town named Blaise once, it’s small, but it is there, right outside Austin." He says.
"It's the other way around. I'm named after it. Our pa was out of names that rhymed, went with the town we just left." My mind reels with possibilities. "Sweet Goddess."
"What?" Cooper asks.
"I gotta go." I race through the barn, mount Black Thunder, and gallop into the night.
An hour later, I pound on the door of the second floor landing over the general store. When it opens, my voice lodges in my throat. Why hadn't I considered that I might see Olivia if I came here? Why does the pain have to slice through my heart, ripping open the fresh wound?
Goddess Almighty, I wish I could hate her. I want to shake her. I want to yell at her. But most of all, I want to hold her, her body flush against mine, her warmth thawing the chill that permeates my soul.
"I need to talk to Riley," I croak.
The shock reflected in her blue eyes quickly gives way to anger. Olivia plants her hands firmly on my chest and shoves hard, causing me to stumble backward. "Well, he doesn't need to talk to you. How dare you hit..."
"Olivia!"
She pivots around. Riley stands in the doorway, one eye discolored and swollen. "Drew's calling you. I'll take care of this."
I watch her jaw tighten before she gives me a scathing glare and shoulders her way past Riley to go inside.
"Do you want to come in?" Riley asks.
I shake my head, wondering why I have come to the man who betrayed me. I walk to the railing and stare at the town, light from the lanterns fighting the darkness. Riley's quiet, hesitant footsteps as he comes to stand beside me bring back memories of confidences shared.
"All these years I thought Ryan had shot Rowan and arranged the evidence to put the blame on me." I glance sideways at the friend from my youth, suddenly realizing that losing Riley's friendship hurts almost as much as losing Olivia's love. "But our paths crossed this evening and I realized I was wrong. Cooper said something, though, that got me to thinking. What if Rowan didn't write my name in the dirt?"
"He did. Sheriff Larkin took me to the place where he found Rowan. He had written your name in the dirt as plain as day." He looks apologetic.
I shake my head, "What if he didn't mean me, but meant the town? What if he didn't know the name of the man who killed him, but he knew that he came from Blaise?"
"That's grasping at straws, isn't it?" Riley says.
"That's all I have got," I say. "People avoid me like I have tick fever or something worse. I knew the men on the jury had voted guilty because of the evidence, but I never thought they actually believed deep down that I murdered Rowan. I have got to prove I'm innocent, and I can only do that if I figure out who killed him. Did he have any business in Blaise?"
"Rowan never confided in me. Sometimes he would leave for a few days, but he never divulged where he went." He says. “But he went to Austin, so he Could have come through Blaise.”
I take a few steps back. "Reckon it won't hurt to ride into Blaise and see if I can find out anything."
"Guess I would do the same if I were in your boots, but watch your back. If the man who killed Rowan is in Blaise, I don't imagine he's going to welcome the prospect of being found." Riley says.
I turn for the stairs, halt, and glance over my shoulder. "If I ever hear that Olivia isn't happy, I will finish what I started out back this evening."
Riley holds my gaze. "Fair enough."
I hurry down the remaining steps. Some bastard has stolen five years of my life. I intend to make damn sure he pays dearly for every moment.
- Writer
