Outlaw's Reckoning

by Ralph Compton

  “You a bounty hunter?” Gus snarled as he pointed the gun at its owner’s face.

  The other man was too flustered to answer right away. He was also too busy reaching for a weapon with his other hand. By the time Gus picked up on that, he was almost too late to stop him. Rather than pull his trigger, Gus turned the gun sideways and smashed the shooting iron flat against the man’s face. That took the fight out of him while Gus flipped open the man’s coat to find the backup pistol.

  Holding an Army model .44 in one hand and a smaller .32 in the other, Gus nodded and said, “Much obliged. I’ve been in the market for some of these. Now you’d do well to answer my question.”

  The other man wasn’t inclined to say a word until he found himself staring down the barrels of both of his guns. “Yeah, yeah,” he said quickly. “But I ain’t after you.”

  “You know who I am?”

  The bounty hunter nodded. “You’re Gus McCord, but I wanted to have a word with you.”

  “A word, huh?” Gus snarled. “What’s your name?”

  The bounty hunter blinked in confusion, but replied, “Jacob. Jacob Hawes.”

  “Now that I know what to scratch on yer grave marker, I don’t think I’ll give you a chance to have that word with me.”

  “I ain’t after—” Jacob stopped short when he saw the warning glare on Gus’s face. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he said, “I ain’t after you. I’m after those men that dragged you into that shed. That’s what I wanted to speak to you about.”

  “Go on.”

  “They’re wanted for kidnapping a rich man’s daughter. The father is putting up a good reward for the girl’s return. If you know anything that can help me, I’d be willing to—” Stopping short when he saw the glare on Gus’s face, Jacob added, “Or, if you’d rather, we can just part ways without any hard feelings.”

  Gus nodded slowly as his eyes darted about. It seemed he’d chosen a nice, quiet spot to lure the bounty hunter to. Despite the voices he heard from other places, nobody seemed too interested in poking their noses behind that particular structure. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” he snarled. “What were you planning on doing once you got the drop on me? Would you have bothered making this offer or were you just gonna shoot me in the back?”

  Now that Gus was so close, he could see the bounty hunter carried plenty of scars upon his narrow face. Compared to Gus’s own collection, however, Jacob had barely cut his teeth. “I was tracking those kidnappers when they shot you and dragged you here,” Jacob said. “It wasn’t until I saw you at that saloon that I knew who you were. I came after you to see if you might know if those men still had the girl I’m after.”

  Gus couldn’t tell if the bounty hunter was being honest or merely trying to talk himself out of getting shot. “What girl might that be?” he asked.

  “The one that was kidnapped. This one right here.” When Jacob moved his hands to reach for one of his pockets, the barrels of his own guns were nearly shoved down his throat. Looking at Gus with wide eyes, he said, “There’s a picture of her in my pocket.”

  “Get it . . . real slow.”

  Jacob eased his hand into his shirt pocket and removed a small picture. Seeing as how it had been cut down to an oval smaller than Gus’s thumb, he figured the picture had previously been in a locket. One glance at the picture was all it took for him to see it was a photograph of Abigail’s face.

  “This is her,” Jacob said. “Have you seen this woman?”

  “Maybe, but I ain’t about to just tell you what you want and let you go. I need something in return.”

  A flicker of a smile crossed Jacob’s face. “I suppose you’ll want a way out of here. Am I right?”

  “For a start.”

  “You were smart not to run straightaway. The man with the spectacles who brought you here has got some soldiers working for him. Either that or he’s on friendly terms with a few of the federals. I saw him talking to a few men in uniform after you were hauled in here. How’d you get away, anyhow?”

  “How many soldiers?” Gus asked as his brow furrowed with an angry sneer.

  Jacob immediately started to squirm. “Three but the man with the spectacles was only really talking to one. I don’t know the soldier’s name, but he was the highest ranking of the bunch. Could be that he just paid the soldiers off to have some peace and quiet. Judging by the ruckus going on over at that shed, I’d say their deal is off.”

  Gus backed off so the guns weren’t touching Jacob’s face. Although that seemed to ease the bounty hunter’s nerves for a moment, being able to look clearly down those barrels didn’t do him any good. After stepping back a little more, Gus dropped the .44 into his empty holster and said, “You’re helping me get out of here, but it’ll be on my terms. I shouldn’t have to tell you to keep quiet.”

  Jacob eyed him cautiously. “You kill me and my partners will come after you. Let me go and I can just tell them to chase after someone else.”

  “If you had partners, they would have come to find you by now,” Gus pointed out. “But you did a good job of saying that with a straight face. How long have you been tracking these kidnappers?”

  “The one with the spectacles led me all the way to a train station in Silver City. They were to meet up with someone in Benson, but things went to hell there on account of some robbery or something. I caught up with them again about half a day before they caught up with you.”

  “Think you can find someone else for me?”

  Although he hesitated, Jacob seemed more than confident when he said, “Yeah, but I already told you we can part ways here and now. Just let me go and—”

  “Let you go?” Gus asked with a gleam in his eye. “After you hear the deal I’ve got for you, that’ll be the last thing you’ll want me to do.”

  Chapter 20

  Gus wasn’t about to let Jacob out of his sight, so he talked while helping himself to a few of the horses that were tied up behind the saloon. Those animals must have belonged to customers or hired help, because soldiers wouldn’t have left their animals unattended in such a way. After procuring them both some transportation, Gus and Jacob rode away from Fort Verde, using a narrow trail that led to some nearby houses. After skirting around a few of those little homes, Gus snapped his reins and motioned for Jacob to follow him. Since those motions were made with a gun, Jacob was inclined to do what he’d been told.

  It was black as pitch once they’d ridden clear of the flickering lights that emanated from Fort Verde. All the while, he kept the .32 in an easy grip that was loosely pointed in Jacob’s direction. Between the gun in Gus’s hand and the words Gus had spoken a while ago, the bounty hunter came along without much fuss.

  Finally, Jacob had had enough. “All right,” he said as he pulled back on his reins to bring his horse to a stop, “the least you can do is tell me where we’re going.”

  “No,” Gus replied, “that ain’t the least I could do.”

  Jacob’s eyes drifted down toward the .32, which had now come up to a proper firing position. Swallowing hard, he said, “If you’re going to shoot me, go on and do it.”

  “I just might.”

  “But you mentioned something about a deal,” Jacob pointed out. “Then you said it was something I could profit from. You made it sound like a genuine offer. If it was just a way to get me out in the middle of nowhere, I don’t see the point in wasting so much—”

  “I wasn’t wasting anyone’s time,” Gus snapped. “That’s ’cause I don’t have any to waste. You and me were lucky to cross each other’s path back there.”

  “We were?”

  Lowering the gun so it rested upon his lap, Gus said, “Them soldiers were out lookin’ for a man on his own bolting out of there like his life depended on it. I was lucky to weather that storm and find someone to accompany me this far like we was just out for a breath of air. I’m also lucky this ain’t one of them properly closed-in forts with only one or two ways in or out. With no walls closing m
e in and all them soldiers looking for a lone thief, getting out of there was easier than I could’ve hoped. As for you . . . you’re real lucky you found me without Doyle. If you know anything about my partner, you’d know that he’s killed a few bounty hunters in his time and would’ve been plenty happy to add you to his list.”

  Holding his chin up, Jacob replied, “You mean Doyle Hill. I heard as much about him.”

  “Good. That way you’ll be able to appreciate this.” When he said that, Gus held up the .32 so Jacob could see it. Then he lowered the gun and tucked it under his belt. “Now we’re just two fellows having a talk.”

  “What’s the deal you’re offering?” Jacob asked.

  Although he wouldn’t have admitted as much out loud, Gus had to admire the bounty hunter’s pluck. He’d seen plenty of other men blubber like little girls under similar circumstances. Others might have taken a run at Gus, even though they knew it was a fatal mistake. This one kept a level head. As long as he kept that up, Jacob Hawes might actually live through the next couple of hours.

  “The deal depends on how good of a tracker you are,” Gus said. “And I’m not talking about hanging back to watch a speck through a telescope. I’m asking if you’re good enough to hunt someone down in a hurry.”

  “Who am I tracking?”

  “My partner.”

  Even in the near-total darkness, Gus could see the confused squint on Jacob’s face. Finally, the bounty hunter asked, “You mean Doyle Hill?”

  “Yep.”

  “What’s the catch?”

  “No catch,” Gus said. “I need to find Doyle and I need to find him quick. We weren’t supposed to get separated and I don’t think he’s about to come after me, since I doubt he knows where I’m at or when I went missing. Even if he did know, there’s too much at stake for him to come charging into a place like that.”

  “But he’s your partner. From what I hear, you two have been riding together for a good long while. Surely you’ve been forced to part ways.”

  “Sure, but when we get split up, we usually got things worked out so we can meet up again. Other times, we put a quick plan together with a few words. This time is different. Doyle would have moved on, and even if he did know where to find me, he’s got someone with him to keep him from doing what he pleases. At least, he’d damn well better have someone with him. We’re on a schedule. He can’t afford to wait or track me down and I can’t afford to poke about looking for smoke signals.”

  Jacob was reluctant to take his eyes away from Gus. He watched and waited to hear more, and when Gus didn’t say anything further, Jacob seemed even more confused. At present, the bounty hunter would probably have been more comfortable if Gus was trying to kill him. At least he would have expected that much from the outlaw.

  “All right,” Jacob said reluctantly, “after I find Doyle, I suppose you’ll let me go.”

  “There’s more to it than that.”

  “Well, so far this doesn’t sound like much of a deal,” Jacob said.

  Gus had intended on spelling it all out in a timely manner. Every second counted, especially since he’d already wasted too much time already. But when it came time for him to show his cards to a bounty hunter, Gus felt as if he was forcing himself to take a nice deep breath while his head was being held in a bucket of water. Finally, he said, “You find Doyle quick enough, and I’ll put you on the trail of someone worth a hell of a lot more than me.”

  “I don’t know,” Jacob blurted. “You’re worth quite a bit.”

  Gus fixed his eyes upon the bounty hunter and felt his hand twitch toward the guns he’d so recently acquired. “The men I’m talking about are the kidnappers you’d tracked to Fort Verde. If that one with the spectacles ain’t worth as much as my scalp or Doyle’s, the lot of them should put you way over that sum.”

  “I took the job of tracking Abigail Swann. I can’t just switch.”

  “I know where to find her too.”

  Jacob blinked and then blinked some more. For the next few seconds that seemed to be all he was capable of doing. “What are you talking about? If you want my help in finding Doyle, I can do it. All I want is to call it even between you and me. Just set me free afterward and we can call it square.”

  Now Jacob was bargaining for his life. Although that may have been good enough on some occasions, Gus couldn’t afford to settle for it now. A desperate man would only be doing the bare minimum to save his skin. Gus wouldn’t be able to blink or rest for a second, since Jacob would try to get away or kill him the first chance he got.

  Gus was a fair enough tracker. He could find Doyle. He sure knew what to look for, but he needed to find Doyle quickly. He knew his partner well enough to know that Abigail was treading on thin ice every moment she was with him without anyone to speak on her behalf. If she spoke up at the wrong time or overstepped a boundary somewhere, Abigail was likely to wind up in a very bad way.

  Most women like her could wrap a man around their fingers or even take them by surprise with a sharp tongue. But Doyle wasn’t like any man she’d ever dealt with. He was used to solving problems the quickest way possible and he didn’t have much of a conscience to get in his way.

  “I’m serious about Abigail Swann,” Gus said.

  Jacob blinked yet again.

  “My partner and I have her,” Gus continued. “We intend on taking her back to her family, but things are going to get rough.”

  “How rough?”

  “First of all, if I don’t find my partner quick enough, Abigail might not make it to Prescott. Even if Doyle behaves like a gentleman, he probably doesn’t know that the man with the spectacles and—”

  “You mean Smythe?”

  Gus grinned and nodded. The simple fact that Jacob knew that much was a comfort. “Right. The last time we checked, Smythe and those others were wrapped up in Benson. I didn’t figure on them catching up to us this quickly, so there’s no way Doyle would know any better. I know the direction he’s headed, but I could use someone with a genuine tracker’s nose.”

  “There’s got to be more to it than that,” Jacob said cautiously.

  “There is. If Smythe got this close already, he’s bound to get closer. You were able to hunt him down once, so you know how they operate. Surely you saw how they scout the trail or how they got to me. Someone who knows that could be just as useful helping us steer clear of Smythe and his men as he was in tailing those same fellas.”

  Jacob’s eyes narrowed with thought. “I suppose so.”

  Since the bounty hunter didn’t seem to be on board with the proposition and time was running short already, Gus laid his final card on the table. “I intend on meeting Mr. Smythe’s men again sooner or later. Even if we get all the way to Prescott without a hitch, Smythe’s got men keeping an eye on the Swanns. There’s only me and my partner at present, but there’s bound to be a lot more of Smythe’s men already in Prescott.”

  “I don’t know what I could do about that. I didn’t even know there was anyone watching the family.”

  Gus wanted to call Jacob out for being a fool, but had to remind himself that the bounty hunter thought more like regular folks. Gus may not be on the same page as Smythe, but they were both outlaws and that meant they understood each other the way one predator understood another. Forcing his voice to remain calm, Gus explained things with more patience than he would show a child. “There are men watching the Swann family. There’s got to be. Otherwise, how would Smythe know when things had gone too far in the wrong direction? A man’s got to be able to know when to cut and run, especially when hostages are involved.”

  “I suppose that makes sense.”

  “You know it makes sense,” Gus announced. “The look in your eyes tells me as much.”

  Jacob turned his head as if he was trying to hide a twitch that he knew was giving away the hand he was holding in a poker game. “So why should I believe this is a genuine offer? I mean, I know who you are. I’ve even tried tracking you down a f
ew times.”

  “I’m away from Fort Verde. Why would I waste time flappin’ my gums when I could just as easily put a bullet through your head and be on my way?”

  “How do I know you won’t do that once you catch up with your partner?”

  “Because we need to work together to get this whole thing to work. I won’t get into it all, but I didn’t exactly plan everything out too good when I got ahold of Abigail. It just sort of happened and now I need to scramble to try to make it work. You’ve already started working with Thomas Swann, so he trusts you. If his daughter comes back with the likes of me and Doyle, that rich fella might just think we’re a couple of the sons of bitches who stole her. Even if she speaks up for us, me and my partner might get strung up. But if he sees me bring his girl home alongside one of the men he sent out to find her, we stand a chance of walking away from this.”

  Jacob raised an eyebrow and said, “You could just let me bring her in myself. I could see to it you got a portion of the reward. Thomas Swann is throwing enough money around to make us all rich a couple times over.”

  Meeting the bounty hunter’s stare, Gus told him, “Whether it was a wise decision or not, I brought her this far and I’ll see to it she gets where she needs to go. If you want the job, we need to get started right now. Otherwise, I might as well do it myself and I sure as hell won’t need you dogging my tail.” Gus waited for a few seconds and then brought up the .32. “A man who can’t make up his mind ain’t no good to anyone.”

  “I can make up my mind,” Jacob quickly sputtered, “but . . . haven’t you killed a few bounty hunters?”

  “More than a few.”

  “So you can see why I’m a little slow to accept any deal you’re offering.”

  “I suppose,” Gus said.

  “So you really have Abigail Swann?”

  Gus nodded.

  “And you’re just taking her home?”

  Letting out a tired, aggravated breath, Gus replied, “No, I’m really one of the kidnappers and they shot me from my saddle as a little joke. Now I’m wasting my night going back and forth with you to amuse myself.”