Six-Guns Or Surrender (Lincoln's Lawman Book 1)

by A. M. Van Dorn

  “I’ll see to it, sir, but …” Riker looked at him. “As a commissioned officer in the military, you have the authority to enlist us to help retake the town. I can speak for my men that we stand ready. These are good men, maybe too good considering how we put down the Indian threat to the point that the outpost is being abandoned.”

  Riker smiled, liking the pride Ullery was taking in his men and he appreciated that, as well as the offer to come along. He looked around the fort. At most maybe there were a dozen men, the bulk of them having already left before he and McKenna had even shown up. The truth was he had considered taking the men back, but, in the end, he knew the odds were better to stick to the plan and slip the guns into the waiting men. Attempting to ride up there with only a handful of men launching a full-frontal assault would only lead to them being outnumbered and outgunned by the Peace Officers. Cleansing Dalton's Creek would more likely be accomplished with subterfuge than from within.

  “I appreciate the offer, Captain Ullery, but you have your orders to decommission this fort, so stick to your assignment. Just get me those guns as soon as possible. It’s high time I was getting back. The town of Dalton’s Creek has long been overdue for a High Sierra showdown.”

  CHAPTER 39

  Carlton Corday was a troubled man as he charged down Black Rock Pass with his two men, Betts and Monroe, who was doing his best to ride with his injured ankle flanking him. Ahead of them, he could just make out the Conestoga freight wagon stopped along the steep crevasse that nature had carved into the floor of the pass eons ago. Had his brother-in-law dispensed with the woman as planned?

  The previous day he had become immediately alarmed when Markham had shown up in his office with this Riker woman purporting to be some manner of federal marshal. Knowing how formidable his own wife could be, he didn’t immediately dismiss her as a threat despite being a woman. Things were bad enough—killing the driver in the canyon had been bungled, and then Betts and Monroe had failed at burning the wagon and all the supplies his miners were desperately craving. Now with Markham having enlisted this deputy marshal all of the plans he and Claire had made could become undone.

  His worry had only increased after Markham and the woman had left to return to Pine Bluff. Betts reported seeing her visiting not only the doctor’s office but poking around behind the miners’ quarters as well before heading to the general store. Betts had listened outside through an open window as the woman questioned the clerk about someone purchasing arrows. When Betts had reported back this news, he had become enraged at the man asking him how they could be so stupid as to buy the arrows right there in town. When the man had nothing to say to that, Betts had tried to switch gears and asked if Corday had been happy with his performance in front of Markham and McKenna Riker about threating to quit. He had ignored the pathetic attempt to curry favor and ordered Betts and Monroe to head to the doctor’s office to find out what she was doing there.

  Glumly, the men had returned a short time later to reveal that McKenna was looking into the nature of Monroe’s injured ankle. He had demanded to know what they said or did during the attack on the wagon that would have set her on their trail, but again, both men had nothing to say for themselves. Furious at knowing if the female deputy marshal managed to zero in on his men; eventually, the trail would lead right back to him. Telling the men to stand by, he had dashed to his smart-looking two-story house, the finest in Pepper Hill and in a rush of words updated Claire on the developments, saying they needed to figure out what to do.

  Claire’s initial instincts had been that they needed to make the men disappear as in permanently. Dead men tell no tales, she had reminded him, with that coldness she had in her voice when plotting. It was, after all, what was going to happen when they reached the end game, only now they would have to accelerate their time table. The problem was; however, they were going to have her brother Butler do the clean-up of their henchmen. With him heading back to Pine Bluff, they were the only ones who could carry out the murders and dispose of the bodies. Hastily, they decided offing Betts and Monroe here and now was not the way to go.

  Instead, they would send Betts to trail after the group from the freight company and eventually make contact with Butler. Corday's instructions for the foreman were to see if McKenna Riker had made Markham suspicious of anyone at the mines. If he learned that she had or if it even appeared that way, then his orders were to torch Markham's house during the night leaving the freight hauler to appear to have died in a tragic accident. Also, he was to get the jump on the deputy and make sure her body was buried deep in the foothills where it would never be found.

  Corday had found a small measure of relief when Betts had returned to town with the news that it appeared the woman was keeping her suspicions to herself for the time being, as she had made up a story for Markham and Butler about being at the post office when she was really out snooping around. The mine manager didn’t know what her reasons were for keeping it to herself, and he didn’t care. He was just relieved they could carry out their plan to ambush the wagon, take out Riker who had promised to be riding along with it, and seal the fate of the Cape Girardeau mine.

  Given how their well-oiled plans seemed to be coming apart at the seams, Corday was taking no chances. That was how he found himself on horseback at the moment drawing close to the supply wagon. He intended to see it destroyed, pushed to the bottom of the crevasse and confirm that the woman intruder was dead. A smile lit up his face as they were now close enough to see the form of Jake Butler standing by the side of the wagon near its rear waving to them. Best of all he didn’t see any sign of McKenna Riker whose body should be at the bottom of the fracture in the pass

  His heart skipped a beat as he realized they were on the threshold of achieving all of their plans. Once the wagon with the supplies and medicine impacted far below, the mine was finished. The workers would quit and flee with their families giving the partners back at the Cape Girardeau Mining Company the final nudge to drive the last nail into the mine's coffin and be forced to sell it quickly and at a below market price. What none of the partners knew was the buyer that was in negotiations for the mine was actually a front man working for him.

  As the trio brought their horses to a stop and dismounted, he thought how at long last he was going to get his due. He had tired of successfully opening and operating mines for the company only to have his efforts unappreciated through both praise and payment. He was desperate to get off the wheel of making money for someone else. Claire had been sick of hearing him complain about it and told him to shut up and do something about it. In irritation, he had demanded to know what that could be. That was when Claire had retired to her room for several hours and when she emerged, her face was plastered with a grin and she had a plan … this plan.

  CHAPTER 40

  As Jake Butler stood ramrod straight near the back of the wagon, just around the corner standing behind it, McKenna lurked with her gun drawn. Next to her was the solemn Red Horse with the barrel of a Winchester rifle pressed against Butler's back, ready to blast the man's spine in two if he made any effort to warn his partners. McKenna swiveled her head and a look passed between them, which asked if he were ready, and the almost imperceptible nod of his head told her that he was. She gave him a tight smile, happy to have him along. When she had first approached him the previous day she planned to have him trailing after the supply wagon out of sight in case she needed back up should a more than likely attempt be made on this wagon.

  All that had changed when she had discovered there was a connection between the mine manager Corday and Butler. Despite Markham’s trust in him, he was the man all along helping orchestrate all the previous accidents that were playing havoc with the freight line. It was crystal clear to her now that he had drawn Belfry in to check the manifest at the last minute to leave the wagon open to sabotage. One of the two men she suspected at the mine had traveled to town and had done the sawing of the spokes while the other lay in wait in a sniper’s
nest high up in the pass.

  The only thing she didn’t know was why Butler was betraying his friend, but she had known she would find out eventually. What had mattered the most after her discovery was that she would be riding side by side with the enemy and she wanted an ace in the hole. After leaving Butler's place, she had returned to Red Horse and told him the plans had changed and she now wanted him hidden in the back of the wagon just behind her and Butler. Once the carpenter had been updated, she'd hurried back to Markham's house.

  When he had first opened the door, there had been a look of pleasure on his face, thinking McKenna had returned for more lovemaking. Regretfully she had not only to tell him that her return was not for another heaping helping of passion but to tell him that he had been the victim of betrayal. Markham, of course, had taken the news hard and hadn't wanted to believe her, but she had pressed until, at last, he had to accept the ugly truth.

  McKenna had pressed him if he had any idea why Butler would have turned against him, but Markham had been at a loss for words. Then she asked about Claire Corday wanting to know if Butler had ever mentioned a sister. Markham said Butler had once told him he did have a sister. The man had said they were estranged, and he hadn't said why, and Markham hadn't pried, so he had no inkling that she was the wife of Carlton Corday. McKenna had then asked him if she knew if Butler was from St. Louis, but he didn't know. Matt Markham had become very unsettled, realizing how very little he actually knew about a man he had called friend.

  Now, as McKenna stood there at the ready, she would be getting all the answers that Markham deserved. Her hand tightened on the grip of her weapon as she heard the voice of Carlton Corday calling out.

  “I don’t see the wench, so I imagine her body is already down there in a bloody heap! Good work, Jake, Claire will be pleased.”

  “Pleasing my cold-hearted sister might be the reason you draw a breath in the morning, but it’s not mine.” McKenna tensed for a moment wondering if the man’s unkind words about his sister would alert Corday something was amiss, but she felt a wave of relief course through her as he answered.

  “I know you got your differences, but I’m glad you could put them aside long enough to work with her and make us all rich. Now come on, let’s get moving and dump this damned wagon over the edge!”

  McKenna spun around the wagon, her gun pointing square at Corday’s chest leaving his face to turn ashen becoming paler still as Red Horse revealed himself as he prodded Butler forward with his rifle.

  "I don't think so! You men back there drop your gun belts and raise your hands!" she hollered. Long ago, she had learned that life and death in the West often came down to split-second decisions, just like the one made by the man with the injured ankle.

  Monroe slapped his hand down to his holstered weapon and cleared leather long enough to get the firearm partially up before McKenna drilled him with a bullet to the chest that sent blood splattering in all directions. Red Horse swung his shoulder into Butler’s back knocking him to the forward toward a stunned Corday leaving with him with a clear line of fire towards Betts who had yanked out his own gun while McKenna was busy blowing his friend away. Alerted to the threat McKenna was already pivoting her gun towards Betts when the blast of the Indian’s rifle echoed up and down the Black Rock.

  The Winchester's slug went high and blasted open a jagged hole in Bett's throat as the man's hands forgot all about his weapon as he flung his arms in the air in shock, the six-gun flying away. He clasped his hands about his throat in shock and terror as the blood bubbled and seeped through his fingers. The man dropped to his knees, making a gurgling sound as his body pitched forward. He was already dead before his face buried itself in the dust.

  Horrified and desperate, Corday pushed himself away from Butler who he had caught in his arms when Red Horse had shoved him. Reaching forward, the man from the Cape Girardeau outfit grabbed Butler’s gun that McKenna had ordered put back in its holster to maintain normal appearances as the trio rode up.

  “Nooooo!!” Butler managed to croak out in warning, but it was too late as the man pointed the gun at McKenna and fired. Caked with mud deep inside the barrel the explosive discharge blew the gun apart in Corday’s hands. Fingers with contrails of crimson flew in all directions and McKenna had to jerk her free hand up in front of her face to shield it from being hit by the man’s thumb. She stepped back as the man seemed to go insane with agony, his eyes as wide as full moons stared at the sight of his ruined hand. Not only were all his fingers gone but his palm looked like so much ground beef you’d find at any slaughter yard.

  Corday began to run madly about in a circle and Butler attempted to take full advantage of it. He bolted past McKenna and started running down the pass in the direction that they had come. She took a moment to call out to Red Horse.

  “See what you can do for him. I don’t want him to miss out on his upcoming extended stay in state prison!” Red Horse simply nodded, and her boots began smacking the hard ground as she dashed after Butler. He wasn’t going to get far she knew because she had one last shock for the man. Looking ahead at the fleeing figure, she saw him come to a halt as the surprise revealed itself. McKenna had taken a page out of Butler’s own playbook when he had gotten Belfry away from the wagon with a claim of wanting to check the manifest. She and Markham had conspired to draw Butler back into the offices under the pretense of a redrawn bill while she had slipped Red Horse into the back of the wagon, hidden behind crates. The new plan they had concocted was that it would now be Markham astride Cain and not Red Horse who trailed after the supply shipment.

  Charging towards Butler was Matt Markham on horseback with a Peacemaker drawn on the man. His escape route cut off, Butler looked back toward McKenna and then from left to right. On one side was the sheer wall of the pass and on the other was the chasm separating the wagon trail from the other wall. She shook her head as desperation led him to take the only possible option open to him.

  Dashing to the edge, he swung his legs out over the crack in the earth and began to climb down. By the time Markham had dismounted Cain and joined McKenna who was holding her gun and pointing down at the man, Butler had made it about ten feet down.

  “For the love of God stop, Jake! It’s all over!” Markham pleaded.

  “Give it up!” McKenna barked.

  “You’re going to get yourself killed, Jake!”

  The man paused his descent and looked up at the pair. “Like you would give a damn after what I did to you and the business!”

  “Why did you do it? Why? We were friends!” the frustrated Markham shouted downward.

  Butler looked up, his hair matted against his forehead with the sweat from the exertion of his attempted flight and the climbing. He breathed heavily and looked up.

  "Friends, huh? Some friend you were! The only reason you were able to get as much as you did for your ranch was because I saved it from spiraling into complete worthlessness. Then you go and use the money to set up the freight business, which I helped you … but did you ever once think about asking me if I wanted to partner with you? No, sir! I was just going to be your flunky again! Well, that no good sister of mine came to me and told me if I helped her and Corday put the mine of business, they would re-open it with me as a full partner! That's more than you ever offered me!"

  "I … I'm sorry, Jake. I … paid you well as my foreman in both my businesses," Markham offered as his brow furrowed.

  “Don’t apologize!” McKenna snapped. “He’s just trying to make you feel sorry for him. Remember Sam Belfry right now is lying at the doc’s with a bullet hole through his chest!”

  McKenna’s words seemed to penetrate the mist of guilt that Butler had managed to throw up around the man next to her. She saw him stiffen as he shouted downward.

  “She’s right! Come back up here and face justice like a man!”

  "You and that brown-haired whore next to you can go to hell!" Having gotten his wind back up, Butler slipped his right foot down to the
next foothold that he could find. As he maneuvered his right hand lower, it came to rest on a small ledge. A blood-curdling scream burst from his lungs as McKenna and Markham recoiled at the sight they beheld.

  A rattlesnake that slithered free from a crack in the wall that it called home had sunk its fangs deep into the back of Butler’s hand. In a panicked frenzy, he fought to shake it off and his boots slid out from the precarious purchases that they rested on. Both Butler and the snake went into free fall. Seconds later the man’s screams were cut short as he impacted head first, his skull split open like a rotten pumpkin thrown to the ground.

  High above, they looked down at the man and could just make out the pool of red that began to pool out from underneath the crumpled body. Markham withdrew from the edge of the cliff and sat back with his hands on his knees. McKenna remained silent, knowing he had a lot to work through at this moment. She sat down next to him and remained silent. Slowly he pulled a telegram out of his pocket and handed it to her.

  “Before leaving to follow the wagon, I stopped by the telegraph station like you asked to see if you had anything,” he said quietly as she accepted it and scanned the contents. It was from the Pinkertons saying that Francis Drew had left the country for Europe after the buyout and was unlikely to be involved in any revenge plot. McKenna crumpled it up knowing it was confirmation of Corday’s attempt to misdirect them and throw suspicion elsewhere. It didn’t matter now … they had them.

  ***

  Two hours later as the freight wagon sat empty in front of the doctor's office, McKenna, Red Horse, and Markham walked back from the dynamite shack that they had hastily converted into a temporary jail for Corday and his wife Claire whom McKenna had promptly arrested when they arrived in Pepper Hill. Inside they could hear Corday moaning in pain from his destroyed hand the doctor had bandaged up earlier. It had been McKenna's idea to use the shack, as she hoped that the extra fear of sitting on top of explosives would serve as an additional form of punishment for the evil couple as they awaited transfer to a real jail.