Cougar's Prey (9781101544846) Read Online Free PDF Page B

that’s when the trouble with Feders started?”
    Josiah nodded. “Pete told me, himself, that he stepped into the vacuum left by Langdon, protecting the gang and its chief operator, Liam O’Reilly. Pete directed the company of Rangers away from the crimes O’Reilly, eventually known to the world as the Badger, committed. It was a smart cover for Pete. I thought Liam O’Reilly was the worst outlaw on the loose, set on taking his place as one of Texas’s most notorious, but I was mistaken once again. O’Reilly was only the brawn. Pete was the brain of the outfit.”
    â€œThat’s a tall accusation, Wolfe,” McNelly said. “Accusing a captain of the Texas Rangers of being a traitor. A murderer, no less, especially when he is not alive to defend himself. You killed the man you’re accusing, Wolfe, don’t you think that’s suspect?”
    â€œI shot him straight on because I had no other choice.”
    Steele had settled back to let McNelly join the interrogation.
    â€œIt’s only your word, Ranger, and I’m not convinced enough of the caliber of your character to know that you’re telling me the truth,” McNelly said.
    â€œRanger Elliot can back up my claim, Captain McNelly,” Josiah said. “He heard Pete admit to it, too. I would also suggest that there’s a bank account somewhere close in Pete Feders’s name that contains a large sum of money. Money that came from the bank robbery in Comanche, along with others. That account will have more money than a captain of the Rangers would be able to accumulate on a simple salary that the man has carried over the years.”
    â€œHave no fear, we will look into all of Captain Feders’s affairs. We will also be speaking to Ranger Elliot as soon as this meeting with you is concluded,” Steele said.
    Jones jumped into the fray next. “This makes no sense, Wolfe. Why on earth would Peter Feders join up with an outlaw gang when he had achieved one of the highest, most honorable positions that a man of his stature could hope for? He was a Texas Ranger captain. The respect of the rank in itself was of a great value.”
    Josiah drew in a deep breath. “It was not enough, as you well know, Major Jones, for Pete. The prize Pete Feders was after was a grand gem. It is very expensive to even be in her presence. It is Pearl Fikes I speak of. Rank and position seem of little value to her.”
    â€œAh, a fine beauty, that woman,” Jones said.
    â€œExactly,” Josiah said. “A beauty that rebuffed Pete’s advances more than once.”
    â€œI, myself, have felt that sting,” Jones admitted out loud.
    â€œI may be speaking out of turn,” Josiah said. “But, my life is at stake here. After the death of Captain Fikes, the financial status of his wife, the Widow Fikes, changed dramatically. I don’t know the particulars, it may well be a result of poor investments, like many people suffered in the Panic of ’73, but her need for money is said to be great. Very simply, Pete Feders was accumulating money and connections to be able to buy Pearl’s presence and love from her mother. Robbing banks and rustling cattle was the quickest, easiest way for that to occur. Pete was running out of time, and he knew it.”
    â€œWhy is that?” Steele asked.
    â€œBecause Pearl was becoming defiant. She rebuffed him publicly, embarrassing him and her mother. The papers carried it. You know of it.”
    â€œWhy did that happen, Wolfe?” Major Jones asked in a tone that suggested that he knew the answer to his own question.
    â€œBecause Pearl didn’t love Pete Feders, and she swore she would never let him touch her, regardless of her mother’s intentions to marry her off. I don’t know if she is aware of her mother’s dire straits, her need to save the estate with the money Pete professed to possess and willingly infuse into