by Corba Sunman
‘Come into my office, Captain Moran,’ Craven said. ‘I’ve gathered statements from those men who were involved in the shooting in the guardhouse earlier.’
Moran followed the Sergeant-Major into the office, and pulled up short when he saw Major Harmon sitting at a desk, accompanied by Ruth Sandwell, who was looking very scared. Harmon had a pistol in his hand and it was cocked and pointing at Ruth.
‘I’ve been waiting for you to get back here, Moran,’ said Harmon harshly. ‘Disarm yourself. I’m not taking any chances with you.’
‘I’ve got some questions to ask you, Major,’ Moran countered. ‘Put down your gun, or better yet, give it to Sergeant-Major Craven.’
‘No chance.’ Harmon cocked the weapon and kept it aimed at Moran’s chest.
‘You took the garrison out of the fort earlier this evening to give Reinhardt an opportunity to attack the guardhouse,’ Moran continued. ‘You’ve reached the end of your trail, Major.’
‘Don’t try to side-track me. Captain, I told you to disarm yourself, so do it now or I’ll shoot you.’
‘You don’t have one chance of getting away with what you’ve done,’ Moran replied. ‘Before he died, Bowtell told me you were involved.’ He glanced at Ruth Sandwell. ‘Are you OK?’ She grimaced, and he turned his attention to Sergeant-Major Craven. ‘You were supposed to be taking care of Miss Sandwell,’ he said.
Craven shrugged. ‘Major Harmon returned to the fort unexpectedly and drew his gun on me. Now he is using Miss Sandwell as a hostage.’
‘You’d better believe it, Moran.’ Harmon tilted the muzzle, and fired a shot that reverberated in the small room. Gun smoke drifted with the fading echoes. ‘I won’t tell you again to divest yourself of your gun. My next shot will be through your head.’
Moran reached for his pistol with finger and thumb and lifted the weapon from its open-top holster. He threw it on the floor.
‘So what happens now?’ he demanded. ‘Are you planning to kill all of us; everyone who knows what you’ve been doing?’ He saw Harmon’s change of expression and laughed mirthlessly. ‘Half the men in the fort know what the trouble is around here. You’ve gone too far, Major, and now the chickens are coming home to roost. I’ve got Reinhardt coming back to the fort under armed guard, and he’s given me enough of a statement to enable me to tie up the loose ends of this trouble. You’d better start thinking about your future. You’ve got to run from here as fast as you can, but I know from experience that you won’t be able to hide from me. Evidence is reaching me fast and furious now your criminal scheme is running out of steam.’
‘Who killed my brother, Major?’ Ruth demanded. ‘He came here to find out what was going on, and was shot dead for his trouble. Did you kill him? It sure was a nice touch to have him executed in front of his men.’
‘I have no idea what happened to your brother.’ Harmon’s lips twisted as he spoke, and Moran smiled grimly.
‘I received some information as I came out of town a short time ago,’ Moran said. ‘It was Bowtell who killed the lieutenant on your orders, Major. I was told the accusation can be proved, so you don’t have a leg to stand on, and you must be plain loco if you can’t see you’re all washed up.’
‘If that’s the case then all I have to do is kill the witnesses against me. That’s you, Moran, the girl, and Sergeant-Major Craven. When that’s done I’ll be in the clear.’
‘You can’t murder half the men in this command,’ Craven said. ‘It looks as if you’ve left it too late to get out, Major. Put down your gun, sir, and I’ll do what’s necessary.’
‘I’m waiting for a patrol to report in,’ Harmon said. ‘They are hand-picked men who will take care of you three.’
‘So you’re to blame for my brother’s death!’ Ruth’s voice rose to a higher note as she spoke.
Before Harmon could reply, Moran heard footsteps outside the office, and a voice called for the Major.
‘In here, Chaddock,’ Harmon replied, and the door was opened and a sergeant appeared, tall, tough and determined.
‘No problems in town, Major,’ he reported. ‘I saw the men you mentioned and they gave me the all clear. Apart from that, everything is normal.’
‘That’s good news,’ Harmon said. ‘There’s one other matter for you to handle, and after that you can call it a day. I want you to get rid of some evidence, and then we’ll be in the clear. Take the Captain, the Sergeant-Major, and Miss Sandwell out of here and dispose of them.’
Sergeant Chaddock looked at the Sergeant-Major, and a frown crossed his face.
‘Do you mean kill them, Major?’
‘What else? They’ve learned too much about what’s been going on.’ Harmon paused and glared at Chaddock. ‘You’re not going soft on me, are you, Sergeant?’
‘No, sir. Your order will be carried out.’
‘Then I’ll leave it to you.’ Harmon got to his feet. ‘I’m going into town now – some unfinished business. I’ll be back first thing in the morning. Draw your gun, Chaddock. Captain Moran is highly dangerous at all times, and if you give him half a chance he’ll turn the situation on you and you’ll be dead.’
Chaddock pulled his gun. Moran tensed. Harmon got up from the desk and moved towards the door, holstering his pistol as he did so. He passed between Moran and Chaddock, and for a brief moment Moran was shielded from the menace of Chaddock’s gun. Moran reached out, grasped Harmon’s shoulder, and slammed his right fist against Harmon’s chin; thrust Harmon against Chaddock and both men went down in a tangle of bodies. Chaddock tried desperately to get his gun clear of Harmon’s body to fire a shot at Moran, but Moran stepped in and kicked the pistol out of Chaddock’s hand.
Harmon was dazed by Moran’s blow. Chaddock disentangled himself from Harmon and lurched to his feet. He halted abruptly when he found himself looking into the muzzle of a gun which Sergeant-Major Craven had pulled out of a desk drawer. Harmon tried to get to his feet but dropped back to the floor. His hand fell by chance upon the pistol that Moran had dropped to the floor and he surged to his feet, trying desperately to cover Moran, who lunged at him.
The crash of a shot hammered through the office. Moran pulled up as if he had run into a brick wall; looked around quickly, and saw Craven motionless, the gun in his hand covering Chaddock. Moran’s gaze shifted to Ruth, who was sitting stiffly in her seat by the desk, and a faint twist of gun smoke was rising from the small pocket gun she was holding. Her face was ashen, eyes wide, and she was staring at Major Harmon, who was swaying on his feet, the weight of the gun in his hand pulling itself out of his grasp. Harmon took a half pace forward, his mouth agape, a thin trickle of blood issuing from between his lips. Then the life ran out of him and he crashed to the floor.
Moran collected his gun from the floor and slid it into his holster.
‘Put Chaddock in the guardhouse, Sergeant-Major,’ Moran said, and Craven grinned tensely and marched Chaddock out of the office.
Moran bent to examine Harmon, who was dead; a small bullet hole in his neck testified to Ruth’s accuracy with a gun. Moran went to the girl and sat down at the desk. He eyed her critically. She was trembling, eyes filled with the turmoil she had experienced.
‘You saved my life,’ he said gently, ‘and not only mine but your own and Craven’s. You saved three of us. Who taught you to shoot like that?’
She sat up a little straighter in her seat and her expression changed slightly, as Moran had intended.
‘I saved your life,’ she said faintly, and shock began to recede from her eyes.
‘And I’ll always be grateful,’ he said gently.
‘What happens now? Shall I be charged with shooting him?’
‘You shot him in self-defence. He had threatened to murder you, and he was in the act of shooting me when you stopped him. I was about to deal with him when you stepped in. But that’s over now, and you can forget about it.’
She smiled, and relief began to filter into her face.
‘You said
he told Bowtell to kill my brother.’
‘That’s how it was, and Bowtell is dead.’ Moran took her arm and gently pulled her to her feet. ‘Shall I take you back to town? You’ll be safe there now the men running the crooked business are dead or in jail.’
‘You’ve still got work to do to finish your investigation.’
‘That can wait a little longer. I can spare time to spend with the woman who saved my life.’
He led her outside, and a sigh escaped him as he looked around. Soon his job here would be finished, so he could take a little time off for himself. And he knew how he could spend it. He would explore his feelings for Ruth, and perhaps he could help her through the bad days she would experience before she could settle down again. He put an arm around her shoulder, and she looked up at him and pushed in closer to his side, as if seeking protection. He liked the contact, and for a moment his thoughts shifted to the future. He relished the thought of getting to know this girl, for their trails had come together and had merged, and relief filled him as they walked closely together through the silent shadows.
