“I’ll cover you.”
Decker holstered his gun and ran for the window. He grabbed the curtains, trying to ignore the shots he heard being fired. When he had the curtains on the floor he grabbed a chair, hoisted it through the newly repaired window, and tossed the curtains outside, where they coud burn harmlessly in the dirt.
He turned, drawing his gun. He was just in time to see Duke, crouched by the stairs, catch a bullet. He saw his friend fall to the floor. He found the man who had fired the shot and fired one of his own, hitting the man in the head.
The battle had been very one-sided until Decker and Bendix arrived. Together, they turned the tide until all of Van Gelder’s men were down—except for Big Harry.
Decker ran to Duke, who was bleeding from the shoulder.
“Did we get them?” Duke asked.
“We got them all, except Big Harry, and we can take care of him right now.”
Decker started to rise but Duke grabbed his arm.
“Leave him to Mitch.”
“But—”
“Leave him!”
They watched, then, as the two huge men traded blows in the center of the lobby. Caliente and Peoples had gone to get buckets of water and had doused the blazing remnants of the desk.
“Jesus,” Bendix said, moving alongside Decker. “We gonna let them slug it out?”
“I guess so.”
“I got fifty says Big Harry wins.”
“You’re covered,” Decker said.
“I’ll take some of that, Duke said.
Bendix lost.
Chapter Thirty-six
When the door to Van Gelder’s room slammed open, both he and Sideman looked up from their dinner in surprise. They had been discussing Van Gelder’s investment possibilities.
“What the hell is this—” Sideman asked, turning to face the door.
Decker knocked him aside with a well aimed punch, then stepped aside so Sam Mitchum could move past him with his load.
“What’s going on—” Van Gelder demanded, but he was cut off when Mitchum dropped Big Harry on Van Gelder’s dinner table. The table gave way and crashed to the floor. Van Gelder leaped back to avoid being crushed.
Mitchum glared at him, a piece of skin hanging down from above his left eye, which was almost entirely closed. Van Gelder felt fear in the pit of his stomach.
“Keep him away!” Van Gelder shouted.
Decker moved forward. Behind him Bendix and Peoples stood watch. Caliente had taken Duke to a doctor.
“I want what you have on Annie Tucker, Van Gelder,” Decker said.
“What? What?”
“Whatever hold you have on Annie Tucker. I want to know what it is?”
“I don’t have to—”
“Mitch!”
Mitchum moved forward, as if to grab Van Gelder, who moved away.
“No, keep him away!”
“Then tell me!”
“Murder,” Van Gelder said. “I have evidence that she murdered one of her customers.”
“Here in the hotel?”
“Yes.”
“What do you have? Witnesses?”
“Y-yes.”
“Who? Who are the witnesses?”
“Look, Decker—”
“Mitch!”
Mitchum grabbed Van Gelder and lifted him up with one hand beneath his chin.
“A little pressure, Van Gelder, and you’re a dead man. Who were the witnesses?”
“N-nu-nu—” Van Gelder stammered.
“Give him some air, Mitch!”
Mitchum set Van Gelder down on his feet, but kept one hand on the man’s shoulder.
“Van Gelder?”
“None, there are no witnesses,” Van Gelder said.
“I lied.”
“What do you mean, you lied?”
“She wanted to leave, and I didn’t want her to, so I—we—planted—”
“You set her up?”
Van Gelder nodded.
“I had her drugged, then killed the man and put him in her room. I told her she did it.”
“And she bought it.”
“Yes.”
“Johnny?”
Bendix stepped forward.
“Is he telling the truth?”
Bendix studied Van Gelder and then said, “Yeah, I think so.”
“Mitch?”
“Yeah.”
“Danny?”
“Seems like.”
Decker looked at Van Gelder, then said, “You sonofabitch!” and hit him.
Epilogue
Decker and Duke were in Duke’s office.
“Sure I can’t convince you to stay, Decker?”
“Not that you haven’t tried, Duke, but no. It’s time for me to get moving.”
“You didn’t get what you wanted,” Duke said. “Are you going to keep looking?”
Decker took a moment before replying. He thought about Sally and Annie Tucker, who now both worked for Duke. Sally was still waiting tables. Annie had been given the option to do what she wanted, and had not yet exercised it, but she was staying with Sally while she thought it over. Somehow, Decker didn’t think she’d choose waiting tables, but the dining room could always use a lovely hostess. Now that Van Gelder no longer had a hold over her—a hold he’d exerted because he had loved her as he loved his possessions and didn’t want to give her up—all her decisions were her own.
Then he thought about the other set of sisters he’d brought together. Stella was a gambler and would continue to gamble and travel. Julie was a con woman. Now that she had found Stella, what would she do? Would she continue to travel and work her scams, or would she go with Stella and gamble?
Whatever happened, the lives of these four women were now in their own hands. Decker took a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that he’d had a hand in that. Also, he’d helped oust Van Gelder as the owner of the Alhambra. It remained to be seen what kind of man Sideman would become now that he was on his own.
As far as Duke’s question went…
…Decker had a private conversation with Julie about her past.
“Now that you’ve found your sister,” he’d told her, “I think it’s time you put this ‘con woman’ career behind you.”
“Oh, you do?” she asked.
“Let’s put it this way, Julie. If I ever hear of you being connected with a con again, I’ll come after you, and this time I’ll bring you in.”
“Do you really think you could?” Julie asked.
“Count on it.”
Julie had regarded him silently for a few moments, then said, “I get the feeling you’re a nice man, Decker. I also get the feeling you mean what you say. Okay,” she said, extending her hand, “you’ve got a deal.”
Of course, there was the fact that she had killed two people, but letting her off was a judgement call on Decker’s part. Sometimes he had to play judge and this had definitely been a crime of passion.
If she’d loved her husband—and he assumed she did—then he could understand her reaction. If he ever found the men who had raped and killed Holly, he intended to kill them…
“No,” Decker said. “I think I’m going to forget this one, Duke, and go on to the next.”
“Which is?”
“I don’t know, yet,” Decker said, standing up to leave, “but the next outlaw will be chosen with more care than this one was. I can guarantee you that.”
High Praise for Robert J. Randisi!
“Randisi always turns out a traditional Western with plenty of gunplay and interesting characters”
—Roundup Magazine
“Each of Randisi’s novels is better than its entertaining predecessor.”
—Booklist
“Everybody seems to be looking for the next Louis L’Amour. To me, they need look no further than Randisi.”
—Jake Foster, Author of Three Rode South
“Randisi knows his stuff and brings it to life.”
—Preview Magazine
>
“Randisi has a definite ability to construct a believable plot around his characters.”
—Booklist
Other Leisure books by Robert J. Randisi:
Thrillers:
COLD BLOODED
BLOOD OF ANGELS
EAST OF THE ARCH
CURTAINS OF BLOOD
BLOOD ON THE ARCH
IN THE SHADOW OF THE ARCH
THE SIXTH PHASE
ALONE WITH THE DEAD
Westerns:
THE LAWMAN
DOUBLE THE BOUNTY
THE MONEY GUN
BLOOD TRAIL TO KANSAS
TRAPP’S MOUNTAIN
BACKSHOOTER
THE FUNERAL OF TANNER MOODY
LANCASTER’S ORPHANS
MIRACLE OF THE JACAL
TARGETT
LEGEND
THE GHOST WITH BLUE EYES
Copyright
A LEISURE BOOK®
June 2009
Published by
Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
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New York, NY 10016
Copyright © 1988 by Robert Randisi
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