“No,” she said. “No want that to happen.”
“He’s your son,” said Ryker.
“You right, my son.”
“There’s just me and you here, Mrs. Conley. I don’t mind telling you, I love Dawn. I want to marry Dawn.”
The woman’s gaze came back to Ryker, and he shifted uneasily under the stare of those beady eyes.
“You want marry Dawn?” she asked.
“Yeah, that’s the idea, Mrs. Conley. I’m a big man in Turquoise City, you understand. If I say they must hang Peter—they hang Peter. If I am going to marry Dawn, I not say for them to hang Peter. You sabe that?”
“Damn right!”
“Fine. When Dawn say she marry me, I get Peter loose. If she not marry me—” Ryker hesitated meaningly.
“You hang Peter,” said the woman heavily.