Read Online Wanted! Belle Starr! by J.T. Edson - Free Book Online

had!” the
blonde wailed, shuffling her feet in embarrassment. “H—He took it
without anybody else’s knowledge, confident he could repay it long
before it was missed—!”
    “ And now he can’t?” Icke
stated, instead of asked, having heard variations of the story in
the past and having no doubt that he could turn it to his advantage
as was the case on those previous occasions.
    “ N—Not nearly as quickly
as has become necessary!”
    “ I’m sorry, but I don’t
follow you!”
    “ Our family would
willingly have made good the loss, even though the sum is almost
twenty thousand dollars, to save our good name. But—!”
    “ But?”
    “ Unfortunately,”
Darlene-Mae explained, with the air of having come to the crux of
the matter. “The Federal bank examiners are arriving tomorrow
and—!”
    “ Hell’s fires!” Icke
ejaculated, coming to his feet hurriedly.
    “ Is something wrong?”
Darlene-Mae inquired, showing alarm at the change which had come
over her visitor.
    “ Wrong!” Icke snarled, the
words erupting from his mouth as he glared savagely at the
beautiful yet clearly perturbed young woman. Then, when he saw the
consternation his behavior seemed to be arousing, he made a visible
effort to regain control over his churned up emotions. After a
moment, except for his eyes, he contrived to remove the glowering
from his features. Taking a gold watch from the pocket of his vest,
he flicked open its cover and checked the time. With a sensation of
relief, he concluded that he could reach the National Trust Bank
before it was closed for the day. He also considered there might be
a way through which he could capitalize upon the situation where
Darlene-Mae was concerned. Forcing his voice to take on a less
aggressive timbre, he went on soothingly, “No, my dear. There’s
nothing wrong. I—I felt a cramp in my leg and stood up.”
    “ Is it all right?” the
blonde asked, her manner suggesting solicitude.
    “ Yes, it’s going off now,”
Icke replied, having started to rub at his left leg to lend
confirmation to his excuse. “You know, my dear, I’ve been thinking.
There’s a way I might be able to help your
half-brother.”
    “ How, sir?” Darlene-Mae
asked, taking on an appearance of aroused hope mingled with
possible gratitude.
    “ I’m not without influence
in Mulrooney, you know,” Icke commenced, then realized there was
something which might tend to detract from the declaration and
lessen the effect he was seeking to create. “Of course, as you
undoubtedly know, I’m staying here at the hotel under an assumed
name. I have to do it, you understand, to avoid unwanted attentions
being directed my way.”
    “ Why I can just imagine
that a gentleman of your great talent would have to do nothing
else,” the blonde asserted. “In fact, though I recognized you-all
straight away and wanted to do so from the start, that is why I
didn’t make myself known to you before this afternoon.”
    “ And I’d have been
delighted to make an exception in your case, if you had made
yourself known earlier,” Icke stated, barely restraining an impulse
to reach for the blonde’s hand as he realized that to do so
prematurely could spoil his ambitions where she was concerned.
Replacing his watch and adjusting the hang of its chain across his
vest, he continued, “Anyway, I think the best thing I can do is go
to the bank and intercede on behalf of your
half-brother.”
    “ Intercede?”
    “ Banker Cockburn and I are
old friends and I’m sure he will listen to what I have to say, then
act upon it.”
    “ Well, heavens to Betsy,
would you just credit that?” Darlene-Mae gasped. Then she adopted
an attitude which would have won over a man with far more honorable
designs upon her than those of her visitor. “But why would you do
that for Dennis?”
    “ While it will help him,
it’s really you I’m doing it for,” Icke corrected, wanting to avoid
leaving any doubt over the direction in which his