We’d been laying low for a while, trying to stay out of sight and out of trouble. Every day brought something new to worry about, but somehow the law hadn’t caught up to us yet, and the O’Driscolls were still nowhere near and that was a relief for us.
One afternoon at camp, Bill called me over. Lenny and Karen were with him, both looking like they had a plan they were proud of. That usually meant bad news. Bill told me they’d been sitting on an idea since Horseshoe Overlook. Before I made a mess of things in Valentine, they’d planned to rob the bank there. He said it felt like unfinished business.
I told him what happened back then wasn’t my fault, but he just grinned and said how funny it was that when I messed up it was “one of those things,” but when he did, he was an idiot. Lenny and Karen both laughed. I asked what they wanted from me. Karen smiled and said she wanted me in on the job.
I wasn’t thrilled about going back to Valentine, but they were sure it’d be easy money. Quick in, quick out. Karen said there’d be law if we stayed too long, but nothing very serious. Bill said it would be worth it. I thought it over and agreed to take a look. Karen went to change into something for her “performance,” as she called it.
Before we left, Strauss stopped me. He said Thomas Downes was dead and his wife and kid would take on the debt. I told him I’d handle it when I could and rode out with the others. Karen was all smiles when she came back, dressed up and ready to go.
We reached Valentine early the next morning. Bill went over the plan again. Karen would go in first, cause a scene, and once she had everyone distracted, we’d move in and take the vault. She joked about whether to play a lost girl or a drunken harlot. I told her to go with the lost girl. She laughed, said I must have a soft spot after all.
