One Man's Law
Page 15
When Brewer looked over to Patricia, he found her walking toward Clint. “I tried to get back as soon as I could,” she said to Clint.
“It’s all right,” Clint said. “Everything turned out just fine. And I wouldn’t be too mad at Liddell, Brewer. He’s the one who tossed his deal with me out the window just to try and get in on whatever scheme you had planned.”
“You couldn’t stop me before, Adams,” Brewer growled. “And that’s back when you had a posse backing you up.”
“That was last time,” Clint told him. “This time, you wound up in the exact spot I wanted you to be without anyone to back your play. Now drop that pistol and come along with me before this gets ugly.”
“Looks to me like you don’t have the numbers on your side, Adams,” Brewer said. “Not since I know I can trust my friend Liddell here.” Leaning his head toward Liddell without taking his eyes off of Clint, he said, “You want to double your cut on the next job? Follow my lead and bury this son of a bitch.”
Clint took his hat off and raised it in the air. Before anyone could get a chance to wonder what he was doing, a rifle shot cracked in the distance and a chunk was blasted from Liddell’s right leg. Liddell dropped and curled into a squirming ball.
“That leaves you and me now.”
Brewer lifted his chin, puffed out his chest and dropped his gun. “You’re real brave, Adams. I heard you were a legend with the shooting iron, and it turns out you got a marksman doing the work for you. You don’t even have the sand to kill me while you got the chance. I know that much from seeing the fear in your eyes back in Texas.”
Slowly, Clint extended his arm. He turned his hand so he held his gun sideways and then opened his fingers to let the Colt fall to the ground. “There. Equal footing, even though I’m sure you never gave the same chance to those lawmen you shot.”
Brewer glanced down at the gun on the ground, back up to Clint and then at the landscape around him. “Your fucking marksman will just gun me down.”
“Then what have you got to lose?” Clint asked. Suddenly, the fear drained from Brewer’s face. His knees slowly bent as he inched his way down to within arm’s reach of his pistol.
Clint stood his ground. His back was straight and his chin was held high.
After going down another inch or so, Brewer tensed every muscle in his body and lunged for his gun.
Clint dropped straight down, swept up the Colt and fired without once taking his eyes off of his target. In a lightning-fast motion, he brought the modified Colt up to the level of his bent knee and shot.
Brewer managed to get his gun in hand, but his finger didn’t make it under the trigger guard before Clint’s bullet punched through his chest. The impact knocked Brewer flat onto his back, where he stayed to bleed into the dirt.
FORTY-FIVE
“This don’t seem fair,” Ed muttered as they rode back across the border and into Texas.
Clint had Patricia in the saddle behind him, one of his hands wrapped around Eclipse’s reins and the other hand placed upon the saddle horn. “Why?” he asked. “You’ve got Brewer and you’ll collect the bounty. You’ll keep the whole bounty, so that’s an even better deal.”
Ed looked around at the body draped over the back of his horse as if there was a chance that Brewer might have gotten away. “I know, but Jesus Christ, Clint. You made out like a bandit!”
Although there was a bit of envy in Ed’s eye when he saw Patricia wrapping both arms around Clint, he looked positively sick when he saw the other horses that were tied to Clint’s saddle horn and following along behind the Darley Arabian.
On one of those extra horses, Liddell rode with his leg heavily bandaged and his hands tied behind his back. Another horse carried a gunman who was tied up even tighter than Liddell, and the third horse had two bodies draped over its back.
“All those men must be worth triple what Brewer’s worth,” Ed griped.
“I don’t think so,” Clint replied. “Just be sure to take Brewer back to somewhere close to Sailsby, and I’ll bet the bounty’s gone up since the last time you checked.”
Grudgingly, Ed nodded. “Since I get to keep the whole reward, I should make out OK. You sure you agree to that?”
“Yeah, Ed. You more than earned it.”
Ed rode up alongside Eclipse and extended a hand. “It’s been good workin’ with ya, Adams. Be sure to track me down the next time you need an extra hand.”
“Will do,” Clint said while shaking Ed’s hand. “You’re the best damn one-eyed shot I’ve ever seen. Since you’re going to Sailsby anyway, could you do me a favor?”
“What is it?”
Clint handed over the reins to the horse with one of Brewer’s gunmen tied to the saddle. “Take this one with you. I don’t want to keep him in line all the way back to Louisiana.”
“What if he’s worth something?” Ed asked.
“He will be. There’s a standing payment offered for anyone who rode with Brewer. Keep the money and buy me a beer the next time we meet.”
“Will do.” Looking to Patricia, Ed tipped his hat. “Nice meeting you, ma’am.”
“Good-bye, Ed.”
Clint took his time escorting Patricia back home. Liddell’s wound wasn’t serious, but it hurt him enough to keep him quiet during the whole ride. In Dallas, Clint found out the dead men were worth more than enough to make up for the trouble of hauling their carcasses over the border. Each of them was wanted for horse thieving as well as one shooting each.
When they got back to Louisiana, Clint headed straight to Callahan Prison. This time, he didn’t even get close enough to see the squat little dungeon before he was stopped by three men armed with shotguns.
“Is that who I think it is?” one of the guards asked the moment he spotted Liddell.
“Sure enough,” Clint replied. “I found him in Old Mex.”
Liddell sat calmly in his saddle, glanced over to Clint and then said, “You might as well take that man into a cell with me. He’s the one that busted me out.”
The guard was the same big man who’d stopped Clint at the door most of the times he’d come to visit. He eyed Clint suspiciously and then shifted his eyes back to Liddell.
“He’s lying,” Patricia said.
“That you, Patty?” the guard asked.
“It sure is.”
“Where you been?”
“Liddell took me as a hostage and ran after he got out of prison. This man was nice enough to take me back and bring Liddell back to where he belongs.”
“I know we’re cousins,” Clint said. “But the law’s the law.”
“I don’t believe this bullshit!” Liddell snapped. “This man’s the one that busted me out! He shot at your men!”
Clint shook his head and gazed over to Liddell with genuine pity. “Could you please take him away? I can’t watch him disgrace our family so soon after his aunt’s passing.”
Patricia tightened her grip around Clint and batted her eyes at the guard. “If you need me to swear to a judge regarding this man’s character, I will.”
“No need for that, ma’am,” the guard said as he took the reins to Liddell’s horse. “I’m just glad to see you back safe and sound. This one here’s always been trouble.” To Clint, he added, “There’s a reward coming for this fella’s return, you know.”
“I think that money should go back to the prison,” Clint replied. “I’m sure it could be useful to repair whatever damages were done by my misguided cousin’s escape attempt.”
“It could indeed, mister,” the guard said. “The state of Louisiana thanks you kindly.” He took hold of the reins to Liddell’s horse. “Come on, you lying sack of shit. Me and the rest of the boys got a nice little party planned to welcome you back.”
Liddell appeared to be close to tears. “You son of a bitch.”
“You had your chance to set things straight,” Clint told him. “But you decided to bite the hand that tried to feed you.”
“S
on of a bitch!”
Clint tipped his hat and steered Eclipse away from the prison. “The law’s the law.”
Watch for
RED RIVER SHOWDOWN
307th novel in the exciting GUNSMITH series from
Jove
Coming in July!