Righteous Kill
Page 17
“You’re that pesky US Marshal,” George said.
“Now look what you’ve done. You put your wife’s life in danger,” Billy quipped. He had no intention of killing her, but he was having fun making idle threats.
“Don’t kill me. I won’t say a word. I didn’t even know his son. You see, I married him after George divorced Al’s mother.”
“Marie, I’m not here to kill you, but I am here to kill your husband,” Billy confessed.
“Kill me, for what? I didn’t pull the trigger. I didn’t do a damn thing,” George roared.
Billy lifted the pistol, aimed it at George’s face, and said, “You ordered them to kill us.”
“I did not do such a thing,” George bellowed.
“Are you really here to kill him?” Marie asked.
With a devilish smile, Billy replied, “I am, ma’am.”
Marie cocked her head, gave George a vicious gaze, and said, “Kill him, please. He’s the vilest human being I’ve ever met.”
Dismayed by Marie’s declaration, George asked, “You want me dead?”
“I do. I think you’re disgusting,” Marie spat.
“I’m disgusting? You prance around town shopping and acting like a harlot,” George fired back.
Billy sat back, amused by the bickering.
“You call being nice to people equal to being a harlot, but you know something, George, if I did want to bed other men, who would blame me? Have you ever looked at yourself? You’re a slug. I cringe every time you put your fat pudgy hands on me.” She faced Billy and said, “I’ll pay you to kill him.”
“How dare you?” George declared.
“Ma’am, I don’t need your money, but your discretion in this matter would be helpful even though I don’t need it,” Billy said, referring to an alibi he had already established for himself.
“I won’t say a peep,” she said.
“I will divorce you the very second this is over,” George barked. “I’ll then use every ounce of my power in the town to have you thrown out of every societal circle you’re a part of.”
“You think you’re going to survive this night?” Billy asked George.
“Of course I am. You may have come here to kill me, but I have what every man and woman wants, and that’s money,” George said. “I’ll give you whatever your heart desires if you’ll just leave. What happened here won’t ever be mentioned again. We will forget this night ever happened.”
Billy pretended to ponder the idea, taking a long pause, then answered, “You think I’m a fool, don’t you? The second I’d take your money, you’d release every lawman north and south of the border to go after me. No, I’m not here to take your money, I’m here to take your life.”
“You don’t want money?” George asked.
“Kill him,” Marie spat.
“Shut up,” George hollered at her. Facing Billy, he said, “I beg you, don’t kill me. I didn’t order them to hurt anyone. I merely wanted my son home safely.”
“Mr. Cummins, I’m a man of the law, I believe in that more than anything, but some men, men like you, abuse it and try to live above it. Not this time. I’m here to correct that. I can’t have you arrested. I couldn’t even bring accusations about you that would see the light of day. No, if men like you are to receive the justice they deserve, it has to come from men like me willing to exercise violence in a righteous way.”
“Please don’t kill me, please,” George pleaded, seeing that Billy seemed intent on killing him.
“Kill him. Release me from this prison,” Marie urged.
“Ma’am, I am shocked by you,” Billy said.
George scooted off the loveseat and plopped down on his knees. He clasped his hands together and said, “Please don’t take my life. I’m really not a bad man.”
“Yes, he is. He’s one of the most corrupt people in this town,” Marie said.
George smacked Marie with the back of his hand and barked, “Shut your mouth, woman!”
Marie’s head snapped back.
“I said to shut up!” George yelled, his hand cocked back ready to strike again.
Marie brought her head forward; a dribble of blood came from the corner of her mouth.
Billy could see the anger welling up inside her. She jumped to her feet and took hold of Billy’s pistol by the barrel and twisted it out of his hand. She placed it against George’s temple and pulled the trigger.
The opposite side of George’s head exploded. He toppled to the floor dead.
Billy immediately took the pistol back. His mouth hung open. “You killed him.”
“He hit me and you were only talking, so I did you a favor. Now you can go home knowing that you don’t have blood on your hands,” Marie said.
“But you just murdered your husband,” Billy said in awe at the grisly event he’d just witnessed.
“What you saw tonight was just a glimpse into how my life with him has been. He regularly took to beating me. When I said he was a vile human being, I was telling you the truth,” Marie said.
Billy didn’t know what else to say. He’d come all that way to kill the one man who’d started this whole thing, only to have that opportunity taken from him by a wife who had been living in a nightmare situation.
“You’d best go now. A constable will no doubt arrive shortly, and if I’m going to play this up, I need to get ready,” Marie said.
Billy holstered his pistol and said, “Goodbye.”
“I trust you’ll never utter a word of this?” she asked.
“You’ll never see or hear from me ever again,” Billy said. He turned and exited out the back where he’d entered. He raced down the alley and disappeared into the night.
AUGUST 9, 1895
TWO MILES SOUTH OF GREAT FALLS, MONTANA
Billy sat high in the saddle and gazed upon Alice’s house in the distance. This was the very spot he’d left her weeks before, only to find her running for her life from Joseph. Now he had returned, his mission complete and a new badge on his chest. He was the sheriff of Cascade County and would now call Great Falls his new home. He didn’t know what the future held, but what he did know was that Alice would be a part of any future he had.
He’d come a long way from his days living in Wallace, Idaho. He had always been an impulsive man who had to develop discipline to keep himself on the straight and narrow. It helped that he’d had Hemsworth as a friend and mentor, and even though he was gone, his lessons would stay with him his entire life.
The encounter with Al Cummins and Joseph had taught him that a good man is not necessarily a peaceful man, that sometimes evil men who use violence must be confronted by good men trained and willing to use violence. He’d also come to discover that the laws on the books weren’t implemented equally and in a fair manner. He promised that as sheriff, he’d not just do what the laws said, but what was the right thing to do. Laws were written by men, and he’d come to find out that some men could bend those laws to their own benefit.
Filled with promise for what tomorrow and the days after had in store, he headed down the drive and into a new life.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
G. Michael Hopf is the best-selling author of the acclaimed series, THE NEW WORLD and other novels. He is a veteran of the Marine Corps, former Executive Protection agent and whiskey aficionado. He lives with his family in San Diego, CA
Please feel free to contact him.
www.gmichaelhopf.com
www.facebook.com/gmichaelhopf
NOTE TO READERS
Thank you for reading. If you have time, please leave a review. Your perspective is valuable and provides future readers information to make discernible choice as to what to read.
BOOKS BY G. MICHAEL HOPF
THE NEW WORLD SERIES
THE END
THE LONG ROAD
SANCTUARY
THE LINE OF DEPARTURE
BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS
THE RAZOR'S EDGE
THOSE WHO
REMAIN
THE WANDERER SERIES
VENGEANCE ROAD
BLOOD GOLD
TORN ALLEGIANCE
SERIES BOX SET
THE VAN ZANDT CHRONICLES
EXIT
NEMESIS
NEMESIS: INCEPTION
THE BOUNTY HUNTER SERIES
LAST RIDE
THE LOST ONES
PRAIRIE JUSTICE
SERIES BOX SET
OTHER BOOKS
HOPE with A. American
DETOUR
DRIVER 8
DAY OF RECKONING
THE DEATH TRILOGY with John W. Vance
THE LAWMAN
THE RETRIBUTION OF LEVI BASS
JUDGMENT DAY