Kid was exhausted and his throat was hoarse from trying to talk over the music and laughter and generally boisterous crowds. The idea was a sound one, but what Kid hadn't counted on was there being more than one saloon. He should have figured, since St. Joe was a bigger city than any other place he'd been.

As he climbed the stairs to the Diamond Saloon, he felt defeat settling in. It had been two hours and still he was no closer to finding Lou. There had been shop owners in each of the previous saloons he'd searched, and many recognized Lou from the wedding photo as the woman who'd bought out half their goods or haggled with them for an appallingly low price, but none could recall seeing her after sundown or seeing anything unusual about her while she shopped. Most just wanted to buy him a drink to celebrate his marriage and after politely declining each offer he retreated to the next saloon.

Kid was almost tempted to skip the last establishment, but knew he could leave no stone unturned. With any luck, Lou was safely back at the hotel and sound asleep. He'd left a note with the desk clerk for her in case they missed one another and he was positive that she was going to be hopping mad at him for being so overprotective and worrying about her. He'd gladly take her wrath if it meant knowing she was okay.

Pushing through the swinging doors, Kid headed straight for the bar. Early on he'd established a routine of speaking first with the bartender and then asking for the proprietor. The proprietor would know his regular clients and who among them was a shop owner, therefore making it easier for him to work his way through the crowd. Kid knew there was no point in wasting precious time talking with ranch hands or drifters.

The large and surly bartender pointed Kid towards the figure of a tall man seated at the end of the bar. His head was down and he was looking straight into his drink. Unusual, thought Kid. Most of the saloon owners he knew, and every one of the men he'd met earlier in the night, never drank when they were working, preferring to count their money and their girls instead. Sliding into place beside the well-dressed man, Kid tapped him on the shoulder. When he got no response, Kid tapped again.

"You'd best have a good reason for poking at me, young man," Ethan Wicks said without looking up. He was quietly celebrating Louise's return and wasn't interested in being interrupted.

Seeing he wasn't going to get the man's full attention, Kid started right in. "Mr. Wicks, I'm sorry for disturbing you, but mind if I ask you a few questions?" Kid had asked the bartender the owner's name. He'd found out earlier in the night that respect got him further than anything else.

"I'd prefer to be left alone, but I can tell you won't go away unless I say yes. You the law? I run a clean business here." Wicks still hadn't bothered to look over at the intruder.

"No, sir. I'm lookin' for my wife."

Wicks' interest level shot through the roof. So here is Louise's husband. Feeling his excitement cause the heat to rise in his cheeks, he knew he couldn't turn his head. Keeping his smirk masked with clenched lips he asked, "You think you'll find her here? I don't hire married women."

"No.No it's.it's nothing like that," Kid stammered, appalled that the man thought Lou might be one of his working girls. Taking a deep breath, Kid gathered his wits about him. "She'd never do that. She went missing this afternoon when she was shoppin'. I was hoping you could tell me which of your customers owned the shops. I was hopin' to show them her picture and see if they remembered her or anything that might help me find her. I'm worried somethin's happened to her."

Wicks' was finding great amusement in the young man's distress. Discreetly grinning he thought, if this boy only knew that his darling wife was just two floors above him, tied to a bed - my bed. "You got a picture to show around, you say?"

Kid stuck the wedding photograph of him and Lou into the man's line of sight and even allowed him to take it from his trembling hand.

Wicks looked down at the photograph, startled to see just how happy and lovely Louise had looked on her wedding day. She had grown into a beautiful woman, that was for sure. Yet, there was something about the man beside her that struck him. Wicks couldn't place it, but it was something in the eyes. For some reason, even though it was a black and white photograph, he knew they were brilliant blue in color. Even more familiar was the young man's smile. He'd seen it somewhere before. Closing his eyes, Wicks tried to block out all the noise around him.

It came to him in a sudden flash. There was another picture. One with an image similar to the photograph he now held, but instead he was the smiling young man and the bride next to him was his Sarah Jane. Louise's husband had Sarah Jane's smile. He could see his own wedding clear as day. It was one of the last times Sarah Jane had truly smiled. "Junior?" Wicks asked in an inaudible whisper.

"Did you say something?" Kid's hand was outstretched, waiting for his picture. At that moment, it was all he had to hold on to. When the saloon owner wouldn't release his grip on the picture, Kid grew concerned. "Do you recognize her, Mr. Wicks?"

At the sound of his name, Ethan Wicks turned to look at the young man for the first time. He was not disappointed.

Kid's gasp was so loud it made the men playing cards at the nearest tables turn and look at him. Stumbling backwards, Kid felt himself reaching for his gun. Recognition had been instantaneous for him. You don't forget the face of the devil.

"Now, I don't think the gun will be necessary, Junior. Is that any way to greet your father?"

"What in the hell?" was the only reply Kid could get out past the lump now blocking his throat.

Wicks got off his stool and started towards the Kid. "You might want to think about sittin' down there, son. You're lookin' a bit wobbly."

"Don't! Don't even come closer to me! How dare you call me son, after all you put us through!" Kid's shock and anger consumed him and for a brief moment he forgot about Lou's disappearance.

"I can understand your shock. I about fell off my stool when I looked down and saw your mother's smile staring back at me from that photograph. How is Sarah Jane?"

"Dead."

"Oh. Jedidiah?"

"Also dead." There was a steel calmness that now seeped from Kid. He felt his legs growing stronger. He would not let this man rile him up. He stuck his hand back out for the photograph. "I'll be going. I'll just see the Marshal and get his help."

"Marshal Weston is out of town 'til tomorrow. He's a friend of mine; I can introduce you then. Why don't you come to my office with me, we can talk there?" Wicks wasn't sure how the sudden appearance of his son made him feel after twelve years, but he knew it would make things with Louise a lot more interesting.

"Talk about what? Old times? I've gotta get back to the hotel, my wife is probably there."

Wicks could see the doubt in Kid's eyes, but decided to play along. "You're probably right. Why don't I walk with you? If she's not there, we can talk for a while and then tomorrow I'll help you look. I know everyone here in town." He hoped his false charm wasn't too evident to Kid, but Wicks did note his bartender shot him a surprised look over his newly found congeniality.

The emotions running through Kid were uncontrollable. Images and thoughts collided as they competed for space in his mind. Feeling like he wanted to rip his hair out, Kid nodded to Wicks that he could accompany him to the hotel. First Lou disappears and then I meet my father for the first time in a dozen years! It was more than one man should have to handle and Kid wasn't at all sure he could do it.

No words were spoken as Wicks led Kid from the saloon. Ironic, Kid thought. Of all the days to see him again, it has to be on the worst evening of my life. Kid had no feelings for the man walking beside him. He'd been a drunk, an abuser, a worthless father and finally an abandoner, and Kid would have preferred to meet him when all was in order, to let him see that he had survived without him.

Walking along the main street, Wicks watched his son looking wistfully at the closed shops. He knew the young man was looking for any sign of Louise in the darkened windows. This new situation would do nothing to deter him from his course of having Louise as his own, but it did make him rethink his original plan for her husband. He would have to find an alternate way of removing Kid from the situation. The paternal stirrings were unfamiliar to Ethan Wicks, but he could tell he no longer had murder in him.

Seeing nothing but shadows of merchandise waiting to be sold in each storefront, Kid knew he wouldn't find Lou still inside any of them. How easy it would have made everything if he could spot her innocently chatting with a kindly older merchant. He'd gather her close and together they would ride out of St. Joe as quickly as possible. He wanted to be away from this man now calling himself Ethan Wicks as soon as possible.

After a block more the silence, and his own doubts and fears, was more than the Kid could bear. "You changed your name."

"Had to." Wicks imagined the manhunt by the state of Virginia had died out years ago, but he was established now and he'd never thought to go back to his old name. "I guess you don't have to be called Junior anymore if we ain't got the same name now." Wicks laughed nervously. It was taking great effort to keep an easy conversation.

Kid didn't take to the laughter in light of his situation. "I stopped usin' your name the day you left," he spat vehemently.

"Oh." Wicks had never given any thought to what his leaving had done to his family. "What do you call yourself now?"

"Folks used to just call me Kid. Now I go by Kid McCloud. We use Lou's family name."

"Lou?"

"My wife. Her name's Louise, but I call her Lou and so does our family. What's it to you anyway?"

Wicks shrugged. "Just thought I should know what to call you now. Kid and Louise McCloud."

Kid didn't bother with a reply and focused on the hotel up ahead. He really didn't care what Wicks called him, as long as it wasn't son. He'd lost that privilege a long time ago and about the only person Kid let call him that now was Teaspoon. Teaspoon. Suddenly, his call for help was right in front of his eyes. Seeing no light coming from their window on the second floor, Kid decided that if Lou wasn't back by daybreak he would wire for Teaspoon and whomever was around the station. Surely they would all come to help him find Lou.

Entering the lobby, Kid made Wicks wait in the parlor while he spoke with the desk clerk and then checked the room to be certain.

Seating himself with his eyes to the door, Wicks was relieved to see that it was Banning's night off. He knew the old clerk would remember his asking about the McClouds and he didn't want to risk raising Kid's suspicions. Glancing down at his pocket watch he knew he'd have to get back to Louise soon, she'd been tied to the bed for over five hours and the breakdown of her will was likely near. If it wasn't, it wouldn't take much longer once he mentioned their mutual 'friend'.

Feeling defeated and emotionally exhausted, Kid returned to the lobby. He had nothing to say to the man who'd left him, his older brother Jed, and his mother to freeze in a little cabin, with no money to survive on, after having beaten his mother nearly to death. Sarah Jane never fully recovered. Vulnerable, it didn't take long for the influenza to take what was left of her life. Left as orphans, Kid and Jed were given to separate families and by the time Kid was fifteen, he left to be on his own. He would forever blame the man who'd helped create him for destroying his childhood. He would never think of him as a father, preferring the comforting - and more honorable - image of Teaspoon and even Sam Cain.

Yet, at the same time, Kid knew he needed Wicks if he had any hopes of finding Lou. Wicks was an established businessman, even if it was a disreputable business that he ran, and he'd said he was a friend of the Marshal. Dropping into the chair across from him, Kid stared at his hands not feeling the desire for eye contact.

"No luck?"

"She wasn't upstairs. I just don't understand what could have happened. She went shopping all day, we're moving back to Sweetwater, and then we were gonna meet for supper at five. When I got here." Kid stopped mid-sentence. He'd already shared more than he'd planned, but he desperately needed an ear to bend. "Has there been trouble here recently? Could someone have taken her?"

"I'd say we have a pretty decent little town here, Kid. I can't recall anything like this happening before, but we'll check with Marshal Weston tomorrow. He's due back by lunchtime and maybe he'll have some ideas." At the same time, Wicks had an idea of his own. If he were to be successful in throwing Kid off his trail and sending him from St. Joe, he would have to plant some doubt about his beloved bride. "You say she was shopping? All day?"

"Yeah. We need stuff for our new house and her sister and brother are coming to live with us and they need new stuff too. She had whole lists." Kid continued to stare at his hands as his thoughts turned to his new boots. If he'd only gone with her like she'd asked, this wouldn't be happening.

"Sounds like she was spendin' a lot of money. You go and get rich on me, boy?" Wicks tried a smile, but he was suddenly intrigued by the fact that maybe he would be able to get some money from Louise as well as his other favorite pleasure.

Kid eyed Wicks suspiciously, and then thought better of it. He was probably just trying to make jokes and cheer him up. It wasn't working. "Not hardly. The pay's good as a Pony Express rider, but when the runs dried up, so did the pay."

"Express Rider?" Wicks nodded his head with some newfound respect. "Still, it sounds like your wife had some money to spend."

Kid hesitated before answering. Something didn't feel right about sharing the information about their inheritance, but maybe it was important. Maybe there had been some foul play and Lou had been kidnapped.

"We got an inheritance, if you could call it that. Sort of a wedding gift. Lou had an old friend come to town with money she'd inherited from an old widow she and Lou took care of some years ago. Apparently the woman thought of them like daughters. Charlotte gave us our half as a weddin' gift. It's what's makin' it possible to move back to Sweetwater, start our ranch there. You think someone saw her shopping and took her? Maybe thought she came from money?" Kid was desperate for answers and as unlikely as it sounded he almost hoped it was true. He knew that with Teaspoon and the boys' help they'd have a fair chance at getting her back.

It took Ethan Wicks several seconds to register what Kid had said. Charlotte Rowan was a thieving, whoring bitch! First she'd helped Louise escape, then she'd escaped herself with thousands of dollars of his money and then, she'd gone and run right to Louise! It physically pained him to think that if the posse hadn't lost her trail, he'd have had Louise back by his side sooner. Yet somehow, Wicks thought, this could work to his advantage.

"So you came into a tidy sum, huh? Have you given any pause to the idea that she may have just run off? You know, taken the money and gone to make herself a better life?"

The words stung like a slap and Kid's head whipped up to meet Wicks'. "Not Lou. Never. She's my wife and we're happy together. We were going to start a new life." He couldn't believe the audacity of this man to even suggest that Lou would run off and leave him.

"Maybe she decided to start that new life without you. Or maybe with someone else?" Wicks was enjoying shattering Kid's image of his perfect little wife. He could see the tiniest crack, a mere whisper of doubt, beginning to creep in.

"I'm sayin' she wouldn't do that! Why would she have gone shopping all day if she was trying to run off? She had packages delivered here. The shopkeepers said there's more stuff to pick up. You're just bein' ridiculous and I've heard enough!" Kid rose from the chair and started out of the room.

Standing as well, Wicks called to him. "Just think about it, Kid, that's all. How well do you really know her anyway? I'll come for you about nine tomorrow, we'll have ourselves a look around before seeing Marshal Weston."

Kid had no reply - the notion deserved no reply. Lou would not leave him like that. Opening the door to the empty room, Kid climbed directly into bed without bothering to undress. He knew he would not sleep. Thoughts and images tumbled in his mind and his head ached from the strain. What made it worse was that Wicks' words kept playing over and over in his mind. Maybe she decided to start that new life without you. Or maybe with someone else?

Lou had been acting strange lately, he thought. Her moods were swinging wildly. And then he remembered all the self-doubt of the last few days. Stop it! He shook his head to clear the awful thoughts.

When he stopped thrashing, the tears that had been threatening finally fell. There was no way Lou would run off on him, on their love, on their dreams. She loved him. He loved her. There could be no one else. Pulling the picture from his pocket, Kid held it before him. It didn't matter that he couldn't see it in the pitch-black darkness of the room. He'd memorized her smiling face long ago - on the first day he'd discovered her secret. He'd loved her ever since and he would not give up on that love now. She was somewhere in St. Joe, and she was in trouble, and he would give his very last breath to find her and bring her back safe.

Chapter 7