Nat and Spenser stood tall and raised their hands to shoulder level.
‘In the saloon, I guess,’ Nat said. ‘You’ve got no reason to hold us at gunpoint. We’re just—’
‘Be quiet.’ Hearst hurried down the last of the slope to stand before Nat. ‘You’re not talking me into releasing you like you talked Cassidy round.’
‘We had a deal.’
‘That deal ended the moment you double-crossed us. Now Cassidy is in jail back in Bear Creek because of you.’
Nat blinked hard. ‘In jail, why?’
‘He believed your lies that Fernandez would raid the train.’ Hearst shrugged. ‘By mistake, he attacked some innocent people.’
‘That isn’t our fault.’
‘It is when you lied about the gold being on the train.’
‘The gold was on the train to Denver.’
‘It wasn’t. Now, I’m escorting you to Bear Creek where you’ll explain your involvement to Sheriff Ballard.’
Spenser snorted. ‘I’m not doing that.’
Hearst smiled and turned to Nat. ‘And you, Nathaniel?’
‘I will do that, but only when we have Fernandez,’ Nat said.
Hearst firmed his gun hand. ‘Cassidy is so convinced you’re a decent man that he can’t see who you really are. I’m not Cassidy and I don’t believe you’re trying to capture Fernandez.’
Nat pointed at the trail below. ‘Then why else are we sitting here, watching the trail?’
‘I don’t know. For all I know you’re planning to raid the gold shipment yourself.’
Hearst searched Nat’s eyes for a flicker of concern. He saw none, but Spenser shuffled from foot to foot.
‘You got us wrong,’ Spenser said.
‘Perhaps I have or perhaps I haven’t, but either way, the court can decide.’ Hearst gestured to Nat and Spenser’s horses.
Both Nat and Spenser glanced at them, but then flinched and looked over Hearst’s right shoulder.
‘We can’t leave,’ Nat said, his gaze set on the top of the ridge. ‘We’ve got trouble.’
‘I won’t fall for that trick,’ Hearst said with a snort. ‘There isn’t no—’
A gunshot blasted, ripping into the earth six inches from Hearst’s right foot.
Hearst swirled round to see that a row of men had stood up from behind the rocks at the top of the ridge. He ran his gaze along them, counting fifteen, and then sighted the nearest man down the barrel of his gun.
The man at the end, Luther, swung his gun round and fired at him, the shot initiating a sustained burst of gunfire that blasted around Hearst, peppering dirt into his legs and whistling by his head.
With no choice, Hearst dived for cover behind the nearest boulder, throwing his hands up and rolling over a shoulder as he slammed to a halt.
A moment later, Nat and Spenser rolled to a halt beside him, a volley of gunshots hurrying them on their way. Nat sat back against the boulder, facing Hearst.
‘Any ideas for taking on Fernandez’s gang?’ he asked, his voice low.
Hearst took a deep breath. ‘We’ve got to put aside our differences to get out of this.’
Nat raised his head, but gunfire blasted into the boulder and forced him to duck.
‘That makes sense,’ he said, frowning. ‘What’s your plan?’
‘I’ll cover you while you both get flanking positions on either side of Fernandez’s men.’ Hearst glanced around, searching for potential cover. Two squat boulders were on either side of them. On judging that a running man could reach them within twenty seconds, he pointed at them. ‘Then you cover me while I go for the horses.’
Nat glanced at the boulders, shaking his head, and turned back to Hearst.
‘You’re a typical lawman. You only think of guns and shooting your way out of trouble.’
‘You claimed that you were once a lawman.’
‘I was, but when I moved on, I learnt to think.’ Nat tapped his temple. ‘Sometimes, negotiation works better.’
Hearst shook his head. Then he swung his gun on the top of the boulder, but before he could blast off a single shot, a volley of lead hammered into the rock before him, ripping shards into his face, and he ducked.
Hearst removed his hat and poked a finger through a frayed and smoldering bullet hole.
‘All right, negotiate away,’ Hearst said, slapping the hat back on his head.
‘Hey, Fernandez, why are you shooting at us?’ Nat shouted.
‘You have information,’ Fernandez shouted from the top of the ridge. ‘You’re giving it to me, one way or the other.’
‘We’ll tell you about that gold, but only when you lower your guns.’
Nat counted to ten. He glanced up and then smiled at the lack of gunfire.
‘You’re making a big mistake,’ Hearst said, shaking his head. ‘You can’t trust an outlaw like Fernandez.’
Nat snorted and stood up, followed by Spenser. They moved on and faced up the slope.
On the count of twenty, Fernandez’s men hadn’t fired off any gunfire, so, with a reluctant shake of his head, Hearst followed them.
From the top of the ridge, Fernandez paced out from his cover and strode down the slope to stand halfway down, facing them. Talbot and Luther flanked him, standing two paces back, and all three men had holstered their guns, as had the men on the ridge.
‘Who are you?’ Fernandez asked, pointing at Hearst.
Hearst held his hands wide apart. ‘I’m no trouble.’
‘You were searching for them earlier,’ Luther said. ‘And you had them at gunpoint when we arrived.’
‘It was nothing we couldn’t deal with,’ Nat said. ‘We got into a long-standing argument, but I don’t see why you attacked us.’
‘I’ve been searching for you for two days,’ Fernandez said, ‘looking for that inside information on the shipment.’
‘The gold is heading into Bear Creek within the hour. It’ll head through Deadman’s Gulch. It’ll have few or no guards and—’
‘That’ll do.’ Fernandez raised a hand and swung round. He paced back up the slope to join Luther, but then stopped and swirled round to face them. He pointed a firm finger at Nat. ‘You’d better be right. If you’ve double-crossed me, you’ll live just long enough to regret it.’
‘That’s the truth.’
Fernandez stood for a moment and then clicked his fingers.
Hearst edged his hand towards his holster, but the only response from Fernandez’s men was for a portly man to stand up and slither down the slope towards them. Before this man reached Fernandez, Hearst recognized him as Dewey Wade.
Fernandez chuckled and slipped his gun from its holster to aim it down at the threesome, the action faster than any of them could react to.
‘That isn’t what Dewey says. He claims that you sold me out to two lawmen.’ Fernandez grinned and aimed his gun at Nat’s head. ‘What have you got to say about that?’
Chapter Sixteen
As Spenser and Hearst winced, Nat paced forward.
‘Fernandez, don’t listen to the lies of a saloon bum like Dewey Wade,’ he said.
‘Except I did listen.’ Fernandez stood aside to let Dewey shuffle down the slope and join him, but Dewey kept his eyes downcast. ‘He told me that this man is a lawman, and that you did a deal with him to turn me in for the bounty.’
‘We aren’t bounty hunters. We are bank raiders.’ Nat shrugged. ‘Did it look like we were working together when you arrived?’
‘It didn’t. Either way, you’re trouble I don’t need. So, drop your gunbelts and raise those hands.’
Hearst lowered his hand another inch towards his holster, but Fernandez narrowed his eyes. With a shrug, Hearst unhooked his gunbelt and threw it on the ground, but only a few feet before him. Nat and Spenser did the same.
On Fernandez’s instructions, Luther paced forward, picked up the gunbelts, and hurled them over his shoulder. Then Fernandez firmed his gun hand and sighted Nat’s forehead.
‘You’ve already told me where it’ll be, and even if you’ve lied, I know how to make a man talk.’
‘Even if you can make me talk, you have less than an hour.’
Fernandez’s gun hand shook with a momentary tremor. Then he lowered his gun.
‘Then I have to trust you,’ he said. ‘Tie them up, Luther.’
Luther scurried back up the ridge. He gathered rope from his horse and slithered down the slope to Nat’s side.
Nat backed away a pace, so Luther pushed him towards the nearest boulder. Nat wheeled to a halt and whirled round, his fists rising, but Fernandez barked a short command forcing Nat to lower them.
Luther shoved Nat to the ground. Then, with calm efficiency, he secured him to the boulder, crossing the rope back and forth across his chest, and then looping it around his arms and legs to ensure he couldn’t wriggle out.
Then he secured Hearst and Spenser to the boulders on either side of Nat. With so many men standing around them, none of them resisted.
‘Trust me, Fernandez,’ Nat said, when Luther stood back.
‘Once I have the gold I might.’ Fernandez smirked. ‘Except I might not bother to come back and question you. You might sit there until you rot.’
Fernandez gestured up the slope and his men peeled from their positions at the top of the ridge and headed to their horses. As they led their steeds on a snaking path towards them, Fernandez stalked back and forth, tapping a fist against his thigh.
Dewey faced up the slope, but he still flinched every time Fernandez stalked by him. When the men joined him, Fernandez mounted his horse, Luther and Talbot following him, but when Dewey moved to mount his steed, Fernandez shook his head.
‘Can’t I go with you?’ Dewey said, his eyes wide and pleading. ‘I showed I’m useful this time.’
Fernandez pointed at the captive men. ‘Guard them and prove it.’
Dewey shuffled towards the prisoners while Fernandez stayed back and watched his men find the safest route down to the trail. When Dewey stood before Spenser, he eyed the thick bonds securing him to the boulder and smirked.
‘You’ve got to help us, Dewey,’ Spenser said, his voice too low for Fernandez to hear.
‘Like I said, even I can better myself, and I reckon I’m doing that. I’m always the outsider.’ Dewey puffed his chest and straightened his tattered clothing. ‘Now, I’m on the inside.’
‘You won’t get the chance. Fernandez will kill you when he returns, just like he’ll kill us.’
‘He won’t harm me.’
‘He will, because of what I’ll tell him.’
Dewey folded his arms. ‘I’m not doing nothing.’
Spenser raised his head to face Fernandez, who was moving to follow the last of his men down the slope.
‘Hey, Fernandez, do you know what Dewey really does?’ he called, his voice echoing back from the ridge. ‘He’s a dirty double-crosser. He sold information on you to Sheriff Ballard.’
Dewey slumped to his knees. In an instant, his hands shot up to assume a praying position.
‘I didn’t,’ he babbled. ‘Don’t believe him, Fernandez.’
Fernandez pulled his horse back and paced it in a steady arc around Dewey.
Dewey hung his head until his forehead was six inches from the ground, his pleas drifting to silence, but Fernandez continued past him until he stood over Spenser.
‘Don’t you think I know that?’ he said. ‘Dewey has sold information to Ballard for the last year – enough to keep the lawman quiet, but not enough to let him get me.’
Spenser glanced at Dewey, who had closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the dirt while mumbling to himself.
‘You knew?’ Spenser said.
As Fernandez nodded, Dewey raised his head, grit mottling his forehead.
‘You mean you’re not angry?’ he said.
‘Nope. Even worthless saloon bums have their uses.’ Fernandez raised his reins. ‘That’s why I like you, and why I trust you to look after my prisoners.’
Dewey gulped. ‘What do I do with them?’
‘Whatever you want.’ Fernandez chuckled. ‘Consider it a test of whether you’re an outsider or an insider.’
Fernandez snorted and then rode past Dewey and down the slope, his men in a line before him as they headed for the trail, leaving Dewey to grin and rub his hands.
‘Now, what should I do with some real double-crossers?’ Dewey said, licking his lips.
Chapter Seventeen
‘You fine in there?’ Sheriff Ballard said, peering at Cassidy through the cell bars.
Cassidy considered the open cell door. He shrugged and interlocked his hands behind his head as he leaned back on his cot.
‘I’ll let justice run its course, like I always do.’
Ballard ran a finger along the edge of the cell door. He pulled the door open a foot and then pushed it back so that it closed.
‘As a result, you’re sitting in a cell and it isn’t even locked. You must feel pretty stupid.’
Cassidy shuffled back on to his cot and drew a leg up to place the knee before his shoulder.
‘I’m not the one demeaning himself. I did what I thought was best, but I was wrong and I’ll face the consequences in a court of law. Whatever the court decides, I’ll still be a better lawman than you’ll ever be.’
Ballard threw back his head and snorted a huge guffaw.
‘How did you figure that out?’
‘Because you’re doing something I’d never do. You’re gloating at one of your prisoners, and that discredits everything the badge stands for.’ Cassidy rocked his leg to the floor and leaned on it. ‘If anyone should apologize, it’s you.’
‘I’m not gloating.’ Ballard swung the cell open and stood in the cell doorway. ‘I want you to learn humility. Then, when you next ride into another lawman’s territory, you won’t tell him how to run his town, you won’t ruin his investigations, and you won’t shoot up innocent folk when you’ve got no right even being there in the first place.’
With hooded eyes, Cassidy glared at Ballard.
‘Groveling to you won’t help none.’
‘It won’t. You’re already too useless, but it doesn’t hurt to try.’ Ballard glanced at the empty cell beside Cassidy’s. ‘It’s a pity you haven’t got as much sense as your deputy. He understood.’
‘Hearst didn’t. He left to continue with our investigation.’
Ballard narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice.
‘What investigation?’
‘Before we tried to find that gold, he was determined to track down Fernandez to reclaim your approval. I talked him out of it, but with me in here, I guess that’s what he’s doing.’
‘He wouldn’t ruin another investigation, surely?’
‘He won’t aim to, but if he’s as incompetent as you reckon he is . . .’
Ballard lowered his head for a moment, but then stood tall.
‘Hearst won’t get close enough to Fernandez to ruin anything.’
‘Perhaps not, but he was close enough to learn that the gold was on the train to Denver. As I now reckon that it came off before we boarded the train, it’ll be heading to Bear Creek on the open trail and it’ll get here soon, perhaps within the hour. Fernandez will raid it.’
‘If he does, he’ll fail.’
‘I know, because I also reckon you have another plan to capture him.’
For long moments Ballard didn’t reply, and when he spoke his voice was low and guarded.
‘The gold is coming, today.’
Cassidy rolled from his cot and stood before Ballard.
‘Nothing can go wrong with your plan to get Fernandez, except for a random element, like Isaac Gillespie giving information to two bounty hunters who want Fernandez for themselves, and to a deputy sheriff who has his own plans.’
‘Isaac w
ouldn’t talk to Hearst.’
‘Isaac will tell anyone anything, for the right price, and as Hearst didn’t return here, I guess he got the information he needed and is now closing on Fernandez.’
Ballard gulped and half-turned from Cassidy.
‘If you’re right, what will he do?’
Cassidy let a smile twitch the corners of his mouth. Then he yawned and sat back on his cot.
‘I’m a prisoner. I’ve got rights.’ Cassidy crossed his legs on the cot and lay flat. ‘I don’t have to tell you anything.’
Ballard kicked the cell door open to crash it back against the bars.
‘Tell me!’ he roared.
‘I’m right comfortable. I don’t want to talk.’ Cassidy yawned. ‘Come back at sundown and I might feel like talking then.’
Ballard stalked into the cell and grabbed Cassidy’s collar. He pulled him from the cot, Cassidy going limp in his grip, and stood him straight.
‘You’re not littering up my cell no more.’ Ballard shoved Cassidy a pace towards the open cell door. ‘Now, tell me what your goddamn useless varmint of a deputy will do before I kick you from here to Morbid.’
‘Monotony.’ Cassidy smoothed his rumpled jacket and smiled. ‘But seeing as you asked so nicely. . . .’
Chapter Eighteen
‘Don’t do anything rash, Dewey,’ Spenser said, his voice level.
‘Don’t tell me what to do,’ Dewey snapped, pointing a firm finger at Spenser.
‘Don’t let Spenser confuse you,’ Nat said. ‘We had a deal. You can’t go back on it.’
‘We only agreed to help each other.’ Dewey considered the bonds securing Nat to the boulder. ‘Spenser has just ended all that and you’re not in no position to do any helping now.’
‘Trying to get into Fernandez’s gang one moment, and then joining us to capture him the next, and then switching back is a mighty dangerous plan for someone like you.’
‘What do you mean – for someone like me?’
‘It means you’re a no—’
‘What Nat means,’ Hearst said, interrupting, ‘is that you’re too decent a man to be in Fernandez’s gang. You’re sure to get killed.’
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