Billy thought of what he was about to ask Mary Thornhill. It was like asking her to turn against her own brother. And yet—there were innocent people in danger. Thad and his wife and the others. All there, probably, in the house, with Jase Thornhill and Ackerman and four whisky-crazy cowhands.
He swallowed hard and looked down at her. “I’ll ask you,” he said slowly, “and then I’ll let you make up your own mind, Mary. What I want you to do won’t be easy. But I’m not askin’ for myself—I want you to know that. If it was just me, I’d ride out of here and let Jase come find me in his own good time. But it’s the folks in there with him. There’s no telling...”
“What do you want me to do?”
He sensed a sudden wariness in her voice, a note of restraint that let him wonder if he had any right to as
