Grinning and trying not to laugh, Bower said, “That arrogant bitch thought she was so slick wriggling out of those ropes, even though Clint needed to loosen them twice. I turned my back on her for a solid minute before she made her move and knocked me in the head with a lamp. Good thing it broke so easily, because she took off like a shot.”
“And you don’t think she’ll be riding out of town right this instant?” Mark asked.
“Of course she will,” Bower told him. “I already followed her a ways after she ran from the hotel. She must have really thought she knocked me out cold, because she stole a horse right from the corner and headed north.”
“That’d take her back to Kipperway,” Clint said.
Bower nodded and got his horse moving at a quick trot. “I know right where her trail starts, and it’s early enough for it to still be there. We’ll see which way she took to leave town, then track her to where she goes and scoop her up again when she gets there.”
Although Mark was still fidgeting, he followed Bower and Clint back to the hotel. Bower hung off the side of his horse like an Indian riding bareback so he could get a better look at the street outside the Archer Hotel. “These tracks right here are hers. I got a real good look at those expensive boots she was wearing. This is where she stole the horse.”
“And here’s the freshest set of horse tracks,” Clint said while pointing to the freshly trampled dirt.
Sure enough, there weren’t any other horses in sight that could have left those tracks, and no other prints to mar the ones Clint had spotted.
“This could turn out to be a big mistake,” Mark warned.
Bower shrugged and grinned. “At the least, all this running will tucker her out so she’ll be easier to take back to Texas. At the most, we’ll get to the other one.”
Mark still looked as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. “You really think this is a good idea?”
“Hell, this sort of thing is why I wanted to join the Rangers in the first place.”
FORTY-ONE
When Clint walked back into the Kipperway Tavern later that afternoon, he found Henry sitting there as if he was holding court. In fact, it seemed as if Clint had never even left. It didn’t take long for Henry to notice him and wave him over to his table.
“Good to see you, Adams,” Henry said. “What’s so damn funny?”
Clint wiped the grin off his face and took a seat next to the Texas Ranger. “Just that I’ve been gone for a while and you’re in the same spot as when I left you.”
“Yeah, well maybe sitting still ain’t so bad. I heard there was some trouble over your way.”
“You heard about that, huh?” Clint asked.
Henry nodded. “Solace ain’t that far away, you know.”
“Well, I haven’t heard anything from here, so you must’ve been taking it easy.”
The Texas Ranger let out a guffaw and leaned back to catch the bartender’s eye. “You hear that? Clint thinks I’ve been sitting on my ass the whole time.”
“That sure ain’t so!” the bartender said. “You drink free here so long as I own this place.”
“And that’s better than the wages the town law gets paid around here,” Henry told Clint with a wry grin.
“Was there any more trouble from Red or any of those others that tried to loot the Wilkins place?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Henry said proudly. “They tried to make a move on me and Talman just as soon as you left.”
Clint glanced around, but saw no trace of Talman.
“And before you get yer hopes too high,” Henry said, “we rounded them up without taking more than a scratch or two ourselves.”
“Talman and I may not have seen eye to eye, but I wasn’t hoping for the man to catch a bullet.” Upon seeing the stern scowl on the older man’s face, Clint shrugged. “Well, maybe it would’ve been acceptable if he got a flesh wound.”
“Mean, but honest. I like that. What about you, Adams? Have any luck over in Solace?”
Now it was Clint’s turn to strut. “While you and Talman were hooking your bunch of local minnows, Bower, Mark and I were catching the big fish.”
Henry leaned forward and grabbed hold of the table. “You caught him?”
“We locked horns with him, but we caught her.”
“Her?”
Clint told the Texas Ranger what had happened while he was gone and helped himself to a beer along the way. Since he gave the shortened account, Clint’s mug wasn’t even half-empty by the time he was done.
Letting out a breath, Henry leaned back in his chair as if he’d been dropped into it. “You . . . let . . . her . . . go?”
Clint nodded. “It’s all a part of a plan so we could—”
“You let her go? What in the hell were you hoping to accomplish by that? Do you know how long we’ve been tracking them down?”
“Yeah,” Clint replied sternly. “And in all that time you didn’t even know one of the people you were after was a woman.”
“We had our suspicions.”
“Well, if you don’t want to hear the best part of this whole thing, I can let you scream while I finish my beer.”
“Fine,” Henry grunted. “What’s the best part?”
“The best part is that the plan worked.”
Some of the anger in Henry’s eyes faded when he heard that. “Really?”
“Do you think I’d be sitting here enjoying a beer if it hadn’t?”
“I suppose not. How well did it work?”
“Well enough that we found where they are.”
“Both of them?” Henry asked hopefully.
Clint nodded. “Both of them. Mark and Bower are keeping an eye on them as we speak. They’re supposed to come get us if either of those killers makes a move to leave town, and I wouldn’t count on them sitting still for too long.”
Henry jumped from his chair and marched toward the door. “Take me to those sons of bitches. I’ve got something I’ve been meaning to tell them.”
FORTY-TWO
Clint took Henry to a small dry goods store on the north end of town. Giving a nod to the little old man behind the counter, Clint led the Ranger straight to the back of the store and into a small supply room. Mark and Bower were already there. To Clint’s surprise, Talman, Barkley and Dave had joined them as well.
“Look who we found while you were away,” Bower said as he pointed toward the other three Rangers.
Barkley extended a paw of a hand toward Clint, which was immediately shaken. “Glad to see you’re still with us, Adams,” the tracker said. “I heard there was some trouble in Solace.”
Clint looked over to Henry, only to see the older man shrug.
“Barkley keeps his ear to the ground better than anyone,” Henry said. “That’s why we keep him.”
Although Clint acknowledged Talman’s presence with a friendly nod, he only got half a grin in return before the Ranger spat a wad of dark juice onto the floor.
Stepping over to the only window in the room, Clint looked out through the small square opening and across the street. “What have they been doing all this time?”
That question put a smirk on all of the Rangers’ faces except for Henry. Clint settled upon Mark and stared the Ranger down until he got his answer.
“We’re not certain,” Mark muttered, “but it seems they’ve been, ahhh, making up for lost time.”
“What?”
“Near as we can tell . . . they’ve . . .”
Barkley cut in. “They’ve been humping like dogs in mating season. I could hear her hollering enough to be certain.”
Shaking his head, Henry stepped up to the window to get a look for himself. Apart from the little house at the corner, there wasn’t much else to see. “They’re bold, I’ll give ’em that much. I want someone to get up there and take a closer look.”
Talman started to step forward, but he was cut off before he could throw his hat into the ring.
“What I
meant was, I want Barkley to take a closer look,” Henry added. “He’s the only one who can get up there and back without being spotted.”
Barkley tipped his hat and walked toward the door. He was gone before Talman had enough time to start complaining.
Clint ignored Talman’s grousing so he could focus on what was happening outside. With just a little bit of concentration, he could hear the faint sound of a woman’s moan.
“She’s a loud one, all right,” Dave said.
Glancing quickly at the young Ranger, Clint said, “You’ve been picking up a lot of Barkley’s habits. I didn’t even realize you were there.”
“He’s teaching me to be a real tracker.”
“Well, he’s a good one to learn from in that regard. Take a look for yourself.”
Dave looked through the window for a few seconds before spotting Barkley making his way from one spot to another as he closed in on the small house. Even though he knew Barkley was out there, as well as where the tracker was headed, Clint lost sight of the man every so often.
“There wasn’t anyone in that house before, was there?” Clint asked.
Talman shook his head and spat a wad of tobacco so it landed within inches of Clint’s boot. “Nah. I scouted it out myself. And if you don’t believe me, you can take Barkley’s word for it when he gets back.”
“I believe you,” Clint replied. “You’ve got to be good for something.”
Everyone but Talman got a chuckle out of that. Although Clint hadn’t looked away from the window for more than a second or two, Barkley was already on his way back to the store when he looked out again.
The tracker moved swiftly across the street and quickly made his way to the back room where the rest of the Rangers were waiting. “They’re still in there,” he said. “At least, the big fellow still is.”
“What about the woman?” Henry asked.
Barkley shrugged. “I didn’t see her, but I couldn’t see every corner inside that house.”
Henry checked his pistol to make sure it was fully loaded. “We’re going right now. Barkley, you and Dave circle around back of that house. Mark and Bower, you two fan out along the street to see if you can spot the woman. Talman and Clint, we’re going straight ahead.”
Everyone nodded and checked his gun. Not another word was said as all the men followed Henry’s lead and filed out of the store.
FORTY-THREE
Clint, Henry and Talman were first out of the store and stepped immediately into the street so they could approach the house head-on. Dave and Barkley came out next and moved ahead quickly to disappear into the alleys so they could make their approach around back of the house. As ordered, the remaining two men fanned out and kept their eyes on everything else other than the house.
As Clint got closer to the house, he felt as if the place was getting smaller and smaller. It was two floors high, but only slightly wider than a single room. By the looks of the place, it could have been part of the neighboring structure at one time or another. Putting those stray thoughts aside, Clint focused on the task at hand. From what he’d already seen of the two they were after, he was going to need to be extra sharp if they were going to be brought down without any more casualties.
Henry climbed the single step that led from the street to the house’s front door, but paused before making another move. Once he saw Clint and Talman take positions on either side of him, he reached out and knocked.
“Come on out, Voorhees,” Henry announced. “This is the only chance you’re getting, so make the best of it. If we have to come in after you, it’s gonna get ugly.”
All three men outside that door were like coiled springs.
They stood ready to fight as their senses strained for any trace of movement on the other side of that door.
Clint was standing to Henry’s left. Although there was no window there, he could hear the subtle scratch of something moving against a dirty floor. Along with that, Clint heard two clicks that sent a chill down his spine.
Reaching out to grab Henry’s collar, Clint pulled the Ranger away from the door just as a shotgun nearly cut the door in half.
The shotgun blast was deafening from that distance. Splinters of wood filled the air, and smoke poured through the gaping hole in the door. Clint still had Henry by the collar and had to look at the Ranger carefully to make certain he’d acted quickly enough. Judging by the stunned look on Henry’s face, even he wasn’t sure whether or not he’d survived intact.
Finally, Henry nodded and said, “I’m all right.”
As soon as he heard that, Talman flipped his gun to his left hand and then drew the second gun from his double-rig holster. He stretched out his left arm and fired a shot into the house before stepping up to the doorway and unleashing both of his barrels.
“Talman is good for something, you know,” Henry said.
Clint chuckled under his breath and drew his Colt so he could join Talman. The other Ranger was already inside, pulling his triggers and filling the entire house with the roar of gunfire.
Rather than join Talman in making holes in the walls, Clint squinted through the smoke to find a target. The inside of the house seemed even smaller than the outside. There was no furniture to be seen, which told Clint that the reports of the place being empty could be trusted. Even so, the place was still a bit emptier than he would have liked.
“Keep going toward the back and flush him out,” Clint said once Talman paused to reload.
Talman sent the spent casings to the floor and reloaded in a series of quick, practiced movements. In no time at all, he was snapping his guns shut and looking for something to shoot. “What about you?” he asked.
Clint pointed to the narrow, broken staircase to his right without saying a word. Nodding, Talman continued his walk through the house.
The stairs were noisy and felt as if they were one stiff breeze from falling over. Clint kept to the side of each stair and knew he was on the right track when he saw another set of fresh footprints in the dust.
Knowing better than to charge straight up the stairs, Clint went as quickly as he could without taking too much of a risk. As it turned out, his caution almost wasn’t enough to keep his head on his shoulders.
The only thing at the top of the stairs was a pair of large boots. As soon as Clint saw them, he dropped down and pressed his chest against the top stair. Voorhees pulled one of his shotgun’s triggers and emptied its barrel into the wall a foot or two over Clint’s head.
Clint had wound up a little closer to Voorhees than he’d hoped, but that distance kept him just outside of the spread of buckshot coming from the shotgun’s barrel. He didn’t waste any time counting his blessings before climbing the rest of the stairs and pulling his own trigger.
Voorhees backed into the room as smoke curled from the end of his shotgun. Even though he tracked Clint with the weapon, he was reluctant to pull his trigger.
Clint was reluctant to fire as well. “What’s the matter, Voorhees?” Clint asked. “Afraid of setting off that kerosene? I thought you’d be drinking the stuff by now.”
Voorhees grinned, but didn’t take his eyes off Clint to glance at the containers of kerosene stacked against the wall. Still grinning, the big man turned at the waist to take aim at the containers.
Clint was still hoping to keep the kerosene from being sparked, which was why he hesitated to pull his trigger.
Voorhees, on the other hand, didn’t have any such reservations. When he fired the second barrel of his shotgun, he did it without hesitation. The sparks from the barrel alone were almost enough to get the fire going. Once the buckshot ripped through the metal containers, the kerosene within ignited with a loud rush of heat.
“Too late to stop me now,” Voorhees said as Clint watched in shock as the fire spread to consume the room. “This place is just the fuse! You and everyone else in this town are dead!”
FORTY-FOUR
When Clint and Talman were heading into the house, Barkley ha
d caught sight of a slender figure running along the backs of the neighboring buildings. The figure was moving quickly, but Barkley could still see well enough to know that it was the woman he’d seen before.
The next thing Barkley did was look for his young apprentice. Just when he’d thought Dave wasn’t around, he saw the Texas Ranger leap out from another alley and land in front of Elizabeth. Barkley ran as quickly as he could, as gunshots erupted from the house behind him. As much as he wanted to turn around and see what he could do to help Clint, Henry and the others, he knew his job was to nab that woman.
Dave had managed to wrap his arms around her, but Elizabeth was fighting back with everything she had. She dropped what looked like a waterskin as she was lifted off her feet by Dave. Kicking and screaming like a crazed woman, Elizabeth hit Dave anywhere she could as Barkley rushed in to help out.
A split second before Barkley closed the distance between them, Elizabeth got free of Dave’s grasp and whipped around to face him. Her boots had barely touched the ground before she snapped out one arm and made a quick slash at Dave’s neck. There was a glint of steel in Elizabeth’s hand as Dave let out a surprised yelp and staggered back.
When she turned around to face Barkley again, the Texas Ranger was already bearing down on her.
He reached out to grab Elizabeth, but pulled his arms back when he saw her take a swing at him with her knife. The thin blade sliced through the air twice, each time coming close enough for Barkley to feel the breeze caused by her passing arm.
Barkley tried to get ahold of her again, but only snagged a bit of her sleeve before she tried to slash at him again. This time, Elizabeth was too close to get a proper swing at Barkley and her arm bounced off the man’s wrist.
Lifting her off her feet with ease, Barkley tossed Elizabeth against a wall and then locked a solid grip around her wrist just above the knife in her grasp. Barkley gritted his teeth with the effort of holding her in place. Although she wasn’t stronger than him, Elizabeth had more than enough steam in her to give him a run for his money.
She kicked and thrashed against him, just as she had with Dave. With her knife arm being held in place, she’d lost the edge that had allowed her to escape the first time.
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