Pearl River Junction

by Robert J. Randisi

  What was he doing?

  Shaye stepped through the door of the café and became the center of attention. Most of the tables were taken, some by families. He hoped his appearance would not cause Vic Delay to do anything foolish. Briefly, he considered that he might be making a mistake, but once he entered the place he was committed. He walked over to Delay’s table.

  Delay’s meal had not yet been delivered to him, but he did have a pot of coffee on the table and a couple of cups.

  “Mind if I join you, Vic?”

  Delay looked up at him calmly.

  “Do I have a choice, Deputy?”

  “Sure you do,” Shaye said. “Everybody’s got choices in life.”

  “Have a seat,” Delay said. “Help yourself to some coffee.”

  “Thanks.” Shaye sat across from the killer and poured himself a cup of coffee.

  “What can I do for you, Deputy…what’s your name?”

  “Shaye. Dan Shaye.”

  “Shaye?” Delay frowned. “That name sounds familiar.”

  “I’ve worn a badge here and there—”

  “No, further back than that,” Delay said. “There used to be a fella named…what was it…Daniels, Shaye Daniels. Had him a rep around Missouri. He sort of…disappeared.”

  “That was a time in my life I’m not proud of,” Shaye admitted. “That’s what I mean about making decisions. I made some wrong ones back then and now I’m making right ones.”

  “Which name is the real one?”

  “Daniel Shaye.”

  “Well, Daniel Shaye,” Delay said, “changing sides may be the right decision for you, but I don’t think it would work for me. Can’t see myself drawing a deputy’s pay, wearin’ a badge…not for me.”

  “Well,” Shaye said, “to each his own.”

  “I guess you want to know what I’m doin’ in town.”

  “No, we already know,” Shaye said.

  “You do?”

  “Your other men are already here,” Shaye said. “Now we’re just waiting for Jeb Collier to arrive. My guess is that after he takes care of his business with the woman and the child, you fellas are planning to hit the bank.”

  “What if all I’m doin’ is passin’ through?”

  “That would be nice,” Shaye said, “but we both know that’s not the case.”

  “Wait a minute,” Delay said. “You got some boys, don’t you? I heard somethin’ about you and the Langer gang.”

  “That was a couple of years ago,” Shaye said.

  “Grown sons as deputies, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “They here with you too?”

  “They are.”

  “Any other law? Got to be a sheriff, I reckon.”

  “There is and another deputy.”

  “Five of you?”

  Shaye shrugged. “At least that.”

  “Well,” Delay said, “I guess you feel that’s enough.”

  “It’ll do.”

  “Not that I care,” Delay said, “’cause I’m just passin’ through, stopped here for a meal and a bed.”

  On cue Connie appeared with a plate of food for Delay.

  “Somethin’ for you, Deputy?” she asked.

  “No thanks.”

  “Bring more coffee,” Delay said. “The deputy is helpin’ me drink it.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I won’t be drinking much,” Shaye said. “I just wanted to stop in and say hello, introduce myself.”

  “Well,” Delay said, “if you see me around town, introduce me to your sons. They know about their father’s past?”

  “They know.”

  “Odd to find a man who changed his life and ended up with a reputation anyway.”

  “That’s life,” Shaye said, standing up. “We get to make our own decisions, and then we see how they play out. I’ll see you around town, Vic.”

  “Glad to meet you, Shaye,” Delay said. “Hope you have luck with that bank thing.”

  “Yeah,” Shaye said, “so do I.”

  60

  “What did that accomplish?” Cotton asked when Shaye returned.

  “Not much, I guess,” Shaye said. “Guess I just wanted to look him in the eye and let him know we knew who he was and why he was here.”

  “How did he react?”

  “Calmly,” Shaye replied. “Says he’s just passing through.”

  “You gonna brace Collier that way?”

  “I thought we both would,” Shaye said. “I figured we’d take him to see Belinda, get that much out of the way. What do you think?”

  “I think maybe I should check with her.”

  “Why?” Shaye asked. “She doesn’t check with you about much that she does.”

  “That’s true,” Cotton said, “but I should talk to my wife, if I’m gonna bring someone like that to my home.”

  “Then let’s not take him to your house,” Shaye said. “Let’s have them meet somewhere neutral.”

  “Like where?”

  “Like whatever hotel Collier decides to stay in. They can meet right in the lobby.”

  “You think he’ll go for that?”

  “He will if we don’t give him a choice,” Shaye said. “You’re the sheriff. This is your town. You call the shots.”

  The door of the office opened and Thad stepped in. His face looked swollen and had purplish bruises all over it. When he and Shaye returned from the livery, Shaye had not even had to speak to Cotton on the young deputy’s behalf. The sheriff made up his own mind not to fire him.

  “Maybe he’ll learn from it,” he’d said.

  “We can hope so,” Shaye replied.

  “You feeling any better?” Cotton asked him.

  “Yes, sir,” Thad said. “Well enough to go back out on my rounds.”

  “You take a seat right in one of those chairs and stay where I can see you,” Cotton said, pointing to three chairs out in front of the office. “You’re lucky I’m not firing your ass after the stunt you pulled.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Thad sat in one of the chairs, shoulders slumped.

  “Okay,” Cotton said then, “you’re right. We won’t give Collier any options. We’ll go and get Belinda and bring her to him…and we won’t give her any choice either.”

  “They’ve both put us in this position,” Shaye said. “Why should they get a choice?”

  Cotton nodded, his jaw firm.

  While they continued to watch the street, the first two men who rode in walked over to the Wagon Wheel Saloon and entered. Shortly after that the second duo did the same, followed by the third. Finally, Vic Delay walked into that saloon as well.

  “What’s the Wagon Wheel got that the other saloons don’t?” Shaye asked Cotton.

  “Well…it’s the biggest saloon in town.”

  “That’s probably it,” Shaye said. “They want to meet there and blend in.”

  “But…Collier’s not here yet.”

  “He’ll probably ride in any minute,” Shaye predicted. “They’re not all going to the Wagon Wheel for nothing.”

  “So what do we do?” Cotton asked. “Keep waiting out here?”

  Shaye tried not to tell the sheriff what to do unless the man asked first.

  “I think you and James and Thad can stay out here, while Thomas and I go inside.”

  “You gonna talk to them again?”

  “We’re just going to be seen,” Shaye said. “That’s all. Just to let them know they’re being watched.”

  “Well, okay,” Cotton said, “but if I hear a shot, I’m gonna come running in there.”

  “I can’t ask for more than that,” Shaye said. “I’ll go and get Thomas.”

  “Be careful, Dan.”

  “I always am.”

  The Wagon Wheel had a back door. Shaye decided to send Thomas in that way, while he went in the front door. The saloon was in full swing, girls working the floor, gaming tables open and operating, and a piano player tickling the ivories in a corner
.

  It took Shaye a few moments to locate the outlaws. Two were standing at the bar, two were at a table drinking beer and grabbing for girls, and two were gambling: one playing poker and the other standing at the wheel of fortune. Vic Delay had managed to secure himself a table at the back of the room. He was sitting alone, nursing a beer. Shaye had no doubt they were waiting for Jeb Collier to arrive.

  Farther back in the room he saw Thomas, standing with his back to a wall. Just a few feet to his left was Vic Delay’s table. Shaye knew that Delay was aware of Thomas’s presence.

  Shaye was torn between staying in the saloon with Thomas or stepping outside and waiting in front of the place for Jeb Collier to arrive. In the end he decided to treat Thomas as if he was just another lawman and not his son. He would not have hesitated to leave another lawman in the room alone. That was the way Thomas would want to be treated.

  Shaye turned and went back out through the batwing doors.

  61

  Delay watched Dan Shaye leave, then turned his head to look at the other deputy, the one who had come in through the back door. He attracted the attention of one of the girls, who came over in a swirl of skirts and red hair.

  “You want some company?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” Delay said, “but not yours. Ask that deputy to come over and have a drink with me and then bring him what he wants.”

  “That handsome deputy?” she asked. “Maybe he’ll want some company.”

  “Ask him after I finish talkin’ to him.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  She turned and approached Thomas.

  When Thomas saw his father step back out of the saloon, he knew what he had in mind: to wait in front for Collier to arrive. He was proud that his pa knew he could leave him in the saloon alone.

  He saw the girl coming and was prepared to turn her advances away—temporarily, at least.

  “Hey, handsome.”

  “Hey, yourself, pretty girl.”

  “Man over there wants to buy you a drink.”

  “Who? The man in black?”

  “That’s right,” she said. “Unless you’d rather have one with me?”

  “I’d much rather have one with you,” Thomas said. “I like gals with red hair. But I’m afraid this is business.”

  “All right, then,” she said. “Tell me what you’re drinking and I’ll bring it over.”

  “A beer will do,” he said. “What’s your name?”

  “Shannon.”

  “Thanks for the message, Shannon.”

  “My pleasure, handsome.”

  Shannon went to the bar for Thomas’s beer and Thomas walked over to Delay’s table.

  “Have a seat, Deputy,” Delay said. “Is the gal bringin’ you a drink?”

  “She is.”

  “Then let’s talk.”

  Thomas sat, but moved the chair so that he could see the rest of the room. He also sat with his hip cocked so he could get to his gun if he had to.

  “You’re a careful man,” Delay said.

  “I learned from the best.”

  “Your pa.”

  “That’s right.”

  “He was a good man with a gun in his day.”

  “You know about that?”

  “I do.”

  “Well, he still is good.”

  “How good are you?”

  “Fair.”

  “And your brother?”

  “Fair.”

  “Somehow I doubt that, in your case,” Delay said. “I think you’d be…interestin’.”

  Shannon returned with Thomas’s beer and set it down with a big smile.

  “Later, handsome,” she said.

  “I’ll look forward to it.”

  “You know,” Delay said, “that’s what you should do.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Get yourself a nice room,” Delay said, “lay up with that red-haired gal for a while.”

  Thomas sipped his beer, holding it in his left hand, and asked, “And how long would you suggest I ‘lay up?’”

  “Couple of days ought to do it.”

  “And I suppose you’ll pay the freight?”

  Delay laughed. “The way that gal was lookin’ at you, I don’t think anybody will have to.”

  “Well,” Thomas said, “is that why you bought me a drink? To tell me that?”

  “Just some friendly advice, Deputy.”

  “It’s my guess Jeb Collier will be arrivin’ any minute,” Thomas said. “I got to be at my post when he does, so”—Thomas drank half the beer down and stood up—“thanks for the drink.”

  “Think about what I said, Deputy,” Delay said.

  “You tryin’ to save my life for a reason?”

  “Maybe I’m just tryin’ to save you for myself.”

  “Like you said before, Mr. Delay,” Thomas replied, “that might be interestin’.”

  Thomas went back and resumed his position.

  Shaye looked in the window of the saloon and saw Thomas sit down with Delay. He watched for the few moments they spoke and then Thomas got up and went back to his post, leaning against the back wall.

  He turned away from the window and looked up and down the street. It was quiet, as if the town knew that something was amiss. It was so quiet, in fact, that he could hear a horse coming down the street. The clip clop of the horse’s hooves came closer and closer and Shaye knew that, after waiting all day long, they were finally about to get a look at Jeb Collier.

  62

  Jeb Collier spotted the lawman in front of the sheriff’s office right off as soon as he straightened out and started down the main street. Then he saw the man on the roof. Last, he saw there was a lawman standing right in front of the Wagon Wheel Saloon. Without seeing the other saloons in town, he pegged the Wagon Wheel as being the biggest. That meant that the rest of his men—and Vic Delay—had already attracted the attention of the law.

  He rode by all three lawmen without turning his head and eventually found the livery stable at the far end of town.

  “Sure is a busy day for strangers,” the liveryman said.

  “That a fact?”

  “Not that I’m complainin’, mind ya,” Charlie Styles said. “I can always use the business.”

  “Saw some lawmen linin’ the streets,” Jeb said. “They expectin’ trouble?”

  “Already had some.”

  “Bad?”

  “Naw,” Styles said, “young deputy took a beatin’ at the hands of two strangers. Difference of opinion, I think. He thought he was a deputy and they thought he was too young to tote the badge. Guess they was right.”

  “That land them in jail?”

  “Beats me, mister,” Styles said. “I ain’t left here all day.”

  Jeb grabbed his rifle and saddlebags and readied himself to leave.

  “I need a small, quiet hotel,” he said to Styles. “Can you recommend one?”

  “Just up the street, right after the junction, but before you get to the middle of town. It’s pretty quiet. Ya can’t hear all the noise from the Wagon Wheel there.”

  “The Wagon Wheel,” Jeb said. “That the biggest saloon in town?”

  “Sure is, biggest and noisiest.”

  “Sounds like it’ll do, then,” Jeb said. “Thanks.”

  He started out the door, then stopped and said, “Oh yeah, you know a gal named Belinda Davis?”

  “Sure, that’s the gal lives with the sheriff and his wife.”

  “Oh yeah? Where would that be?”

  When Jeb Collier didn’t reappear at the Wagon Wheel, Shaye figured he was boarding his horse and checking into a hotel first. When dusk passed and he still didn’t appear, he thought they’d been had and went across the street to talk to the sheriff…

  Tanner eventually made his way across the floor to Vic Delay’s table and sat down.

  “Past dusk, Vic,” he said. “Reckon Jeb got held up?”

  “I’m thinkin’ he never meant to meet us here at dusk,” Del
ay said. “He just wanted us to occupy the local law.”

  “While he goes to see his gal?”

  “That’s what I figure.”

  “So whatta we do?”

  “We wait here,” Delay said. “He’ll be along when he’s done.”

  “We got us a lot of attention from the law,” Tanner said. “How we gonna hit that bank?”

  “That’s Jeb’s lookout,” Delay said. “He’s the big bank job planner.”

  “So we still dependin’ on him?”

  “Lou,” Delay said, “all I can say is he better come through for us or I will be pissed that he hung us out here to give him time to see his girlfriend.”

  “I seen the deputy come over and talk to you.”

  “I invited him,” Delay said. “I also talked with his pa.”

  “His pa?” Tanner frowned.

  “You ever heard the name Shay Daniels…”

  “My house?” Riley Cotton asked.

  “That’s what I figure,” Shaye said. “When he didn’t come back, I thought, That sonofabitch. He’s got us watching all the other men while he sneaks over to see Belinda and the baby.”

  “And Marion!” Cotton said. “I gotta get over there!”

  “Slow down, Sheriff,” Shaye said. “He’s not going to hurt Marion. Let’s just take a walk over there and see what’s going on.”

  “What about Thomas?” Cotton asked. “He’s inside.”

  “He’ll be fine. Just let me wave James down from the roof. He can go inside and back Thomas up.”

  Shaye turned, caught James’s attention, and waved for him to come down. Then he pointed, hoping James would understand that he wanted him to go inside the saloon.

  “What about Thad?”

  They both turned and looked at the young deputy, still seated in a chair in front of the office.

  “Let’s leave him here,” Shaye said.

  Cotton walked over to Thad and said, “You don’t move from here unless you hear a shot, understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Cotton turned to Shaye and said, “Let’s get the hell over to my house.”

  “Take it easy, sheriff,” Shaye said. “Remember, we don’t want to spook him.”