They decided on two possible locations. Each would yield the gang a hundred or more head or prime beef. They just had to make their final decision on which location to stake out.
“And if we pick the wrong one?” Kate asked.
“Then we can at least track them down,” J.D. said.
“Okay,” she said, “so which way do we go, north or west? Pick one.”
“I pick west.”
“I would’ve picked north.”
“Then why’d you ask me?”
“Because you’re in charge,” she said. “You picked this job for us, remember?”
“And we’re getting paid three times.”
“It remains to be seen if we even get paid once,” she told him.
“Yeah, well...let’s get back to town, and we’ll get back out here tomorrow and start watching the west meadow and see what happens.”
“I really hate this part,” she said. “It could take forever.”
“It could,” he agreed.
“That’s not very encouraging.”
* * *
“When are we supposed to do this?” Ed Dozer asked Slim.
“Whataya mean when?” Slim asked. “You’re out here now, so...now!”
Dozer looked back at the other five men who were with him.
“On the way back to town?” he asked. “Or in town?”
“Goddamnit,” Slim said, “why are all your brains in your trigger finger?”
“What if I shoot you in the head and we’ll see what your brains look like?” Dozer asked.
“Yeah, okay, forget it,” Slim said. “Do it before they get to town.”
“That’s all you had to say.”
“I’m goin’ back to camp,” Slim said. “I still got some work to do. I’ll see you there when the job is done.”
“When should we come back?” Dozer asked.
“Come back,” Slim said slowly, “when the job is done, and they’re both dead.”
“Even the woman?”
”Yes,” Slim said, “even the woman.”
“Can we—you know—before we kill ’er, can we—”
“Do anythin’ you want, Dozer,” Slim said, “as long as she ends up dead.”
“Okay.”
“And oh, Dev wanted me to tell you somethin’ else.”
“What’s that?”
“If you fuck this up,” Slim said, “don’t come back to camp.”
Dozer frowned.
“He said that?”
“He said that.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Make sure they all know.”
“Sure, Slim.”
Slim watched as Dozer rode back to the other five men and gave them the news. They all turned their heads and looked at Slim with dead eyes. He turned his horse and headed back to camp before one of them decided to use their trigger finger.
Chapter 19
At the sound of the first shot J.D. launched himself from the saddle. He knew that Kate would instinctively be doing the same thing. You can’t outrun a bullet.
Also, having ridden side-by-side for a long time, they knew to leap in opposite directions, and to seek cover separately. He rolled behind some bushes, while Kate found cover behind some rocks. The moved so quickly that the rest of the half dozen shots did not come close. The first shot, however, had come perilously close to J.D.’s right ear.
“Kate?” he called.
“I’m not hit. You?”
He touched his ear, came away with a little bit of blood.
“Close, but no,” he said.
They both had their guns in their hands by now. Their horses had run off, only to stop a few yards away.
“Let’s move,” he said, “further apart.”
“I got ya,” she said.
Moving further apart meant separating the shooters. And if there was only one shooter, then he or she had to make a decision. But judging from the sound of the shots, J.D. figured on three or more of them.
* * *
“What the hell—” Dozer said. “He’s movin’ away from the woman.”
“Leavin’ her on her own,” John Waller said. “What a gentleman.”
“Johnny, you and Spear take the women. The rest of you are with me. We’ll take Blaze.”
The men all nodded, and they split up.
* * *
As Kate moved away she knew if the shooters were men they would automatically consider her husband the main danger. Men like that would refuse to believe that a woman could harm them. That’s how it had been in the saloon.
As she ran she thought she could hear them behind her. She remembered a clearing they had ridden through about half a mile back. All she had to do was outrun them for that long.
* * *
J.D. knew that splitting up would give Kate a better chance of survival. And he was confident enough in his own abilities to know that he could handle the two to four gunmen who were pursuing him. Of course, more than that might be a problem.
Of course, the fact that they bushwacked him spoke volumes about their own confidence. They wouldn’t want to face him head on.
He ran until he came upon a likely spot, not too many trees or bushes, just a few rocks that he could put his back to.
He waited.
* * *
Kate reached the clearing she wanted, stopped and turned. She could hear the approaching horses of the pursuing men. Luckily, she was very fleet of foot, but she would not have been able to keep ahead of them much longer.
This was it.
* * *
J.D. tensed as the horses came closer, and then they came into view. There were four of them. He had seconds before they saw him. In those second he fired once, taking one of them from the saddle. The other three horses shied from the shot, and all three men drew their guns.
* * *
As two riders approached her Kate stood her ground. When they saw her they reined in their horses.
“Take it easy, lady,” one of them said. “You can’t go nowhere.”
“I don’t intend to.”
“We just wanna be nice to you,” the other man said.
They dismounted. She saw the bulges in their trousers and knew what kind of nice they wanted to be.
“Come ahead, then,” she said, letting her hand dangle down by her holstered gun, “be nice.”
* * *
J.D. fired again, taking a second man from his horse. The other two fought their horses, had to dismount if they were going to defend themselves. As their feet touched the ground they drew their guns and turned to face Blaze, who had holstered his gun.
“I’m giving you a chance,” he said. “Drop the guns and tell me where to find your boss.”
“Our boss?” one asked.
“You’re with the gang of rustlers, right?” J.D. asked. “I need to know where they are, and who you work for.”
The two men exchanged a glance, guns still in hand. J.D. wanted to take one of them alive, but if they pushed it...
They pushed it.
Chapter 20
J.D. made his way back to the point where the ambush had taken place. Along the way he reloaded huis gun.
The two men had made the wrong decision. They had both raised their guns to shoot J.D., but the gunman had drawn cleanly and quickly and dispatched both of them with a shot to the chest.
He didn’t think Kate would have had any trouble with the others, but he was ready for anything. When he got there, though, he knew things were okay, because Kate was waiting for him, with their horses.
“What took you so long?” she asked.
* * *
They sat for a few moments, passed a canteen back and forth in the absence of whiskey, and compared notes.
“Two?” he asked. “Two and you couldn’t keep one alive?”
“Hey,” she said, “I made sure I came out alive. What about you? There were only four.”
“Only?”
They laughed and passed the canteen b
ack and forth again.
“You know,” she said, “we’ve got to start carrying a bottle of whiskey around.”
“You know what happens after a kill if we drink whiskey,” he said.
“Yes, I do know,” she said. “The last time we had sex on the ground I was picking little rocks out of my ass for days. It’ll be a lot better if we wait until we get back to town.”
“Well, before we do that we’ve got to collect the horses.”
“What for?”
“We’re taking them back to town to see if anyone knows any of them,” he said. “Since we couldn’t keep any of them alive, that might be the only way we can find out anything from one of them.”
“Jesus, J.D.,” she said, “that could take forever. Some of those horses were pretty nervous.”
“Then we better get started, before they go too far.”
He put his canteen back on his saddle and they mounted up.
* * *
It actually didn’t take that long, at all. The horses hadn’t gone that far, and they’d stayed bunched up. The thing that took time was tying the bodies to their saddles, but once that was done they headed back to town.
“You didn’t happen to know any of these guys, did you?” she asked, as they rode back.
“No. You?”
“Not a one,” she said. “And they didn’t seem to know us.”
“They tried to bushwack us, rather than face us,” he said.
“That was probably their orders.”
“Orders,” J.D. said, “from somebody who does know who we are.”
“You think?”
“Why send six men after us?” J.D. asked.
“Then how did he know we’re here?” she asked. “And that we’re looking for him?”
“Because,” J.D. said, “the gang has somebody in town.”
“Somebody’s who saw us.”
“Or,” he said, “somebody we’ve already talked to.”
“Great,” Kate said.
* * *
They rode into town leading six horses with bodies tied to them. By the time they reached the sheriff’s office they had a crowd following them, and Sheriff Allen was waiting out front.
“What’ve you got?” he asked.
“These six tried to bushwack us,” J.D. said.
“Who are they?”
“Damned if we know,” J.D. said, “but I’m assuming they were with the rustlers.”
“Six of them?”
J.D. nodded.
“Then you’ve put a serious dent in the gang.”
“Maybe,” Kate said.
“Have a look at them,” J.D. said. “Let some of these other people look at them. See if anyone knows even one of them.”
“Right.”
“We’ll be at the hotel.”
As they started away the sheriff said, “By the way.”
“Yeah?”
“Pinkertons are in town.”
“So?”
“They want to talk to you.”
“Why?”
“They know you’re lookin’ for the gang.”
“And who told them?”
“Damned if I know.”
“Fine,” J.D. said.
They headed for the livery, before going to their hotel.
“Who do you think told them?”
“Who are they working for?” he asked.
“The Cattleman’s Association.”
“And they don’t know about us,” J.D. said, “but three others do.”
“Weatherby wouldn’t tell them.”
“Well, Evans might,” J.D. said, “and the mayor.”
“And who do you think is working with the gang?”
“Could be one of those three,” J.D. said, “but it could also be anybody else in town.”
“How do we find out?”
“Maybe we don’t,” J.D. said. “Maybe we just keep doing our job.”
“But I’d like to know.”
“Yeah,” J.D said, “so would I.”
Chapter 21
Instead of going to their hotel J.D. and Kate decided on a drink first. They went to the Red Garter, the first saloon they came to. It was also the first saloon J.D. had been to. As they entered there were men there who recognized them, and all conversation stopped.
They went to the bar and ordered two beers. As they did, several men made a move for the door, and a few others followed.
“Well, thanks for that,” the bartender said sarcastically, setting their beers down in front of them.
“What?” J.D. asked.
“We were about three-quarters full when you walked in. Now look.”
J.D. had looked already. The place now appeared to be less than half full.
“They’re afraid of both of you,” the man said, “after seeing what you can do with those guns.”
“Then maybe they should take a look outside,” Kate suggested.
“What’s outside?”
“Six dead rustlers.”
“Six...you killed six more men?”
“Didn’t have much of a choice,” J.D. said. “And we may have to kill a few more before we find this gang.”
The bartender wet his lips. It occurred to J.D. that the perfect person to spy for the gang in Arvada could be a bartender.
“You wouldn’t know anything helpful, would you?” J.D. asked him.
“Oh, n-no, sir,” the man stammered. “I don’t know nothin’.”
“If we find out you’re lying...” J.D. said, warningly.
“I ain’t!” the man insisted. “I don’t know nothin’ about the rustlers.”
“You haven’t heard anything in here?” J.D. asked. “No talk?”
“Folks don’t talk about the rustlin’,” the bartender said. “We ain’t supposed to.”
“I heard that before,” J.D. said. “What is that, a law?”
“Kind of an unwritten law.”
Kate looked at J.D..
“Maybe the unwritten law isn’t so strong in one of the other saloons?”
“We can only ask,” J.D. said.
J.D. looked around. There were three girls working the floor.
“What about the girls?”
“What about them?”
“They know anything?”
The bartender shrugged.
“I dunno know. You gotta ask ’em.”
“I’ll ask them,” Kate said, putting her hand on her husband’s arm.
“Be my guest.”
“What’re their names?”
“The blonde’s Diane, the other two are Angel and Connie.”
“Be right back,” she told J.D.
* * *
Kate corralled the girls and took them to a table.
“What’s this about?” the blonde asked.
“I just need to ask you a few questions.”
“Why don’t you have your man ask us?” one of the other girls asked.
“That’s my husband,” Kate said. “What’s your name?”
“Angel.”
“So you’re Connie?”
“That’s right.”
“Any of you girls hear anybody in here talking about rustlers?”
“Not me,” Diane said.
“Me, neither,” Angel said.
Connie didn’t answer.
“And you?”
“Huh? Me? No, I don’t know nothin’.”
“Hear anything from any of the girls in the other saloons?” Kate asked.
Angel laughed. “We don’t talk with other girls. We keep to ourselves.”
“Sorry we can’t help you,” Diane said.
“Yeah, me, too,” Kate said.
* * *
They finished their beers. As they started to leave J.D. stopped and turned back to the bartender.
“I don’t want to hear that you said anything to the other bartenders in town. That would make me very unhappy.”
“Who, me? I ain’t gonna say a word. I swear.”
“Mr. Blaze?” he asked, still looking at her.
“That’s right.”
“Sheriff Allen would like you to come to his office, sir,” the deputy said.
“When?”
“As soon as you can,” the deputy replied. “He, uh, actually, said right now.”
“Tell him we’ll be right there.”
The young deputy nodded, but didn’t move, rooted to the spot by Kate’s beauty. She smiled at him.
“Go ahead, handsome,” she said. “We’ll be right along.”
“Uh, yes, ma’am,” the deputy said. He backed out the batwing doors.
“Another conquest,” J.D. said.
“I’m still way behind you, J.D.,” she said. “I’ve seen too many women wet their bloomers over you.”
“You know you’re the only one for me, Kate.”
“I better be!”
* * *
Outside the saloon Kate said, “Two of the girls were real sorry they couldn’t help.”
“And the other one?”
“Not so much.”
“Saloon girls hear almost as much as bartenders do.”
“Yeah, they do,” Kate said.
“Okay, we’ll see the sherriff, first.”
Chapter 22
When they reached the Sheriff’s Office the horses with the dead bodies tied to them had been removed. As they entered they saw Sheriff Allen behind his desk, with the deputy standing next to him. There were three other men there, dressed in three piece suits and bowler hats, looking like they had just come off the streets of Chicago.
“See, Sheriff,” the deputy said, “I tol’ you they was comin’.”
“All right, Rusty,” Allen said. “You can go.”
“But I wanna—“
“Go! Make your rounds.”
“I made my rounds—“
“Make ’em again!”
Reluctantly and with one last look at Kate, the young deputy left.
“What’s on your mind, Sheriff?”
“These fellers are lookin’ to talk to you,” the lawman said. “They’s Pinkertons.”
“That right?”
“It is,” one of them, the oldest, said. “My name’s Atherton, these two are Tate and Cornwell. We just arrived in town today.”
“To do what?” Kate asked.
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