Texas Bluff

by Robert J. Randisi

  “That’s flattering to hear,” Butler said, “but it doesn’t help our situation.”

  Newman took a deep breath but with a pleasant look on his face. He’d gotten very lucky at the tables that night. The cards had been running his way, but Butler hoped he’d been a better lawyer than he was a poker player. He couldn’t bluff worth a damn.

  “All right,” he said, “I do know Sutherland from my days as a criminal lawyer, but not well.”

  “And he came to you?” Butler asked. “Why?”

  “Out of desperation, I guess. Apparently Ed Cramer used to tell him what to do, and without that—guidance—he seems lost.”

  “So he wants you to tell him what to do?” Butler asked.

  “Apparently so.”

  “And what did you tell him?” Short asked.

  “I said I’d think it over and get in touch with him later.”

  “And have you thought it over?”

  “Yes.”

  “And?”

  “I was going to talk to Jim Courtwright today.”

  “So you know where Sutherland is, then?” Butler asked.

  “No,” Newman said, “but he gave me a place to send messages to.”

  “Where?” Butler asked.

  “A saloon down near the docks.”

  “Al, did he say that he’d killed Cramer?” Short asked the lawyer.

  “No,” Newman said. “On the contrary, he said he didn’t, but he thought you had.”

  Short looked at Butler.

  “That’s got to be a lie. I know I didn’t kill Cramer, so who else could it be?”

  “There are lots of murderers down there,” Newman said. “Men who will cut down any man for a few dollars. Cramer must’ve got on the wrong side of at least one of them.”

  “Maybe…” Short said.

  “Okay, Al,” Butler said. “So why lie to me about knowing Sutherland?”

  Newman raised his hands helplessly.

  “You hit me with that about a half hour after he left my house,” Newman said. “You caught me unaware. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. So I lied. I’m sorry.”

  Butler studied Newman, who he felt was contriving to look embarrassed.

  “Okay, so you’re supposed to leave him a message at this saloon, and then what?”

  “I guess that would depend on what the message was,” Newman said. “I could tell him not to bother me anymore.”

  “Or you could tell him to meet you somewhere,” Short said, “and we could be there.”

  “I thought I might do that and the law would be there to grab him.”

  “If Courtwright thought he could kill Sutherland and still be able to pin the murders on me, he would,” Short said. “We need to be able to catch him and turn him in ourselves.”

  “And have somebody from the Evening Mail or some other newspaper present,” Butler suggested.

  “Well,” Newman said, “where would you like me to have him meet you?”

  “You’ll do it?” Butler asked.

  “Why not? If he actually killed the two men your being blamed for, Luke, I’d like to help.”

  Butler still wasn’t sure about Newman. This could have been his way of getting rid of Sutherland so the man could not implicate him in anything further.

  “Luke?” Butler asked. “You know this town better than I do.”

  “Why not the Bloody Spur?” Short asked. “It’s boarded up, now.”

  Would that be someplace Al Newman would go, Butler wondered?

  “Let’s try and think of someplace else,” Butler suggested. “Someplace Sutherland would think Al would go.”

  “It would have to be someplace we’d both go,” Newman said, “so that neither one of us stood out.”

  “What about your home again?” Butler asked.

  “No,” Newman said, “I already told him I did not want him coming back, he upset Helen.”

  “As I did,” Butler said.

  “That’s quite different,” Newman said. “He frightened her.”

  “Okay,” Butler said, “we can decide on the time and place. What should this message say?”

  They all sat silent for a while, and then Newman said, “How about…I’ve figured out what he can do and will explain it to him when he meets me.”

  “Good,” Butler said, looking at Luke.

  “That’s what he wants to hear,” Short replied.

  “Let’s do it now,” Newman suggested.

  “Here?” Short asked.

  “Why not? I’ll have the waitress bring me a pencil and paper.”

  “And who will deliver the message?” Newman asked.

  “Can’t be one of us,” Short said. “We’ll be recognized.”

  “We’ll find somebody,” Newman said. “A kid will do it for four bits.”

  “We appreciate your willingness to cooperate, Al,” Short said.

  “Think nothing of it,” he said, waving to the waitress to get her attention.

  CHAPTER 49

  Spills, Randolph, and Dennis had no other place to pick up Butler except at the White Elephant. They did not, however, get there in time to see him leave in the morning with Luke Short. So they were all surprised when they saw Butler and Luke Short come walking back in later in the day. Short was easy to recognize because of his hat and cane—and, in fact, Dennis had seen him before. Butler they recognized because he was with Short, and from the description Sutherland had given them.

  “Okay, so now he’s back inside,” Randolph said to the other two. “What do we do now?”

  “We could go in,” Spills said, “start an argument, gun ’im and get out.”

  “Too much chance someone else will get involved,” Dennis said to them. “We gotta get ’im outside, when he’s alone.”

  “He might be right,” Randolph said. “He’s gotta have friends in there.”

  They were across the street and Dennis said, “We’ve got to wait in front of the place. We don’t wanna have to run across the street when he comes out.”

  “Okay,” Randolph said, “let’s get over there. Me and Spills can stand on one side of the door, and you on the other.

  Dennis had heard the stories about these guys doing everything together.

  “That’s fine,” Dennis said. “Just don’t start firing until I do.”

  He thought he might get an argument from the two of them, but they seemed perfectly satisfied with being told what to do.

  As they crossed the street, though, Randolph did have one question.

  “Whatta we do if he doesn’t come out tonight?”

  “We’ll just have to deal with that if it happens,” Dennis said. “Right now let’s stick to this plan.”

  “Okay,” Randolph said, “whatever ya say.”

  “This is the damn part I hate again,” Short said, when he and Butler got inside.

  “What part’s that?” Butler asked.

  “The waiting.”

  They were at the bar, each with a beer in front of them, but neither of them was really interested.

  “I know what you mean, Luke,” Butler said. “It’s especially hard when you’re waiting to hear from somebody you don’t trust.”

  “You didn’t buy what he was selling, either?”

  “Not for a minute,” Butler said. “The man is a terrible liar, just like he’s a terrible bluffer at the table.”

  “So why are we waiting?”

  “Either way,” Butler said, “something’s going to happen. Either he’ll set Sutherland up, or he’ll try to set us up, or Sutherland will just come here for us.”

  “I think I’d prefer the last,” Short said. “I like being on home ground.”

  “Well, this is certainly your home, and downtown is Sutherland’s home ground.”

  “So where’s your home ground?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t have one,” Butler said. “For the time being, maybe I can just borrow yours.”

  CHAPTER 50

  Jerry had not tol
d his bosses or Butler, but he had decided to take the initiative. He had put a man across the street from the White Elephant, just to keep an eye on things. He’d told Tim Doocey to let him know if he saw anything suspicious. Doocey wasn’t really clear on what Jerry would consider to be suspicious, but he had a feeling three men with guns loitering around the front doors qualified. Especially since they had started out across the street.

  Doocey walked down the block, crossed the street, went down an alley, and entered the White Elephant through a back door. He made his way across the busy floor to the bar, got Jerry’s attention and told him what he saw. Jerry slapped the young man on the back and gave him a free beer. Then he went around the bar to where Butler and Luke Short were still standing.

  “There’s three men with guns outside the front door,” Jerry said. “They look like they’re waitin’ for somethin’—or someone.”

  “How do you know?” Short asked.

  Jerry told them about putting Tim Doocey across the street, just in case.

  “Jerry,” Short said, “I think you deserve a raise…”

  “Thanks, Boss.”

  “…and probably a promotion. I’m going to talk to Bill Ward about it.”

  “Thanks. Do you, uh, want me to get my shotgun?” the bartender asked.

  “No,” Short said. “Just stay where you are and do your job. Where’s Doocey?”

  “End of the bar,” Jerry said. “I gave him a free beer. He’s happy.”

  “How old is he?”

  “About twenty-two, I think.”

  “We’ll put him on the payroll,” Short said, “but don’t tell him yet.”

  “Sure, boss.”

  “Jerry,” Butler asked, “go ask Doocey where the men are exactly.”

  “Right.” Jerry ran down the bar, asked the question, got the answer and came back.

  “He says two to the right, one to the left.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  Jerry went down the bar to serve drinks and Short looked at Butler.

  “You know what I’m thinkin’?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Butler said, “that they’re here for me.”

  “I’m going out the back,” Short said. “Give me five minutes and then come out the front.”

  “Okay.”

  “You want the two or the one?” Short asked.

  That was a tough question. If he said the one it meant he didn’t think he could handle two. And he sure as hell didn’t want to admit that to Luke Short.

  “If they’re here for me, I should take two,” he said, finally, “but why don’t we try to take your one alive? Maybe we can find out for sure why they’re here, and who sent them?”

  “Okay,” Short said, “as long as you’re sure you can take the two.”

  “Just take care of your guy, Luke,” Butler said, “and try not to kill him.”

  “You know, I really think that’s going to be up to him.”

  Luke Short left the bar and made his way across the saloon floor, pretty much retracing Tim Doocey’s steps.

  Butler stepped to the front of the saloon and peered out a window. He saw two men waiting together, didn’t see the third. That was okay, he had to trust the third to Luke Short. His job was these two.

  He took his gun out, checked it, and slid it back into the holster, testing it to see if it would come out easily. Butler knew his real skill was with cards, but he knew he could handle himself with a gun. If these two men were out to ambush him, they were going to be pretty shocked when he came out the batwing doors facing them.

  The outcome was going to rely solely on how they reacted.

  He waited the full five minutes before walking to the front doors.

  Trusting that Luke Short would be where he said he was going to be, Butler walked through the batwing doors. He turned quickly to face the two men who—as he hoped and half expected—seemed completely shocked.

  “I think you boys are out here waiting for me,” he said.

  CHAPTER 51

  “What the fuck—” Randolph said.

  “Jesus!” Spills shouted, startled.

  Both of them tried to look past Butler at Andy Dennis, but he was nowhere to be found.

  “Crap,” Randolph said.

  He probably would have lived had his partner Spills not panicked and gone for his gun. Butler had no time to differentiate between who was going to shoot and who wasn’t. He drew his own gun, shot Spills first. Randolph was saying, “No, no, no wait,” even as he tried to draw his own gun. Butler wasted no time shooting him in the chest, knocking him off the boardwalk and into the street.

  He turned quickly to see where the third man was. At that moment Luke Short stepped from the alley with a man at the point of his gun.

  “This one gave up his gun pretty easily,” Short announced. The gun in question had been tucked into Short’s belt.

  “You sneaked up on me like an injun,” the man complained. “Gimme my gun and face me and we’ll see who’s still standin’.”

  “Sorry, friend,” Short said. “I sneaked up on you to save your life. We need to ask you some questions.”

  “I ain’t answerin’ no questions,” Dennis said. “I don’t know what’s goin’ on. Me and my friends was just standin’ out here mindin’ our own business when you and him,” he pointed to Butler, “come out blastin’. You killed my friends. Where’s the law?”

  “We’re the only law you have to worry about,” Butler said.

  “You can’t do that.”

  “Yeah, we can,” Short said. He looked past the man at Butler. “Should we take him inside?”

  “I don’t know,” Butler said, scratching his chin with his gunsight. “If we take him inside we can’t ever let him out again. We’ll have to question him, and then kill him.”

  “What the hell—” Andy Dennis said. “Whataya talkin’ about? Why do you got to kill me?”

  “Well,” Butler said, “maybe we don’t have to.”

  “Maybe,” Short said, from behind the man, “we just want to.”

  “Jesus—” Dennis said.

  “You got two choices,” Butler said. “Answer questions out here and live—”

  “—or go inside and die,” Short said.

  Andy Dennis took a deep breath, then asked, “Whataya wanna know?”

  By the time they got their questions answered, Sheriff Jim Courtwright had arrived on the scene.

  “Now you’ve done it, Short,” he announced. “Shootin’ men down in the street.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, Sheriff,” Butler said, “but Luke never fired a shot.”

  “Huh?”

  “I killed these jaspers,” Butler said. “They tried to rob me as I came out of the saloon.”

  “The hell you say?” Courtwright shot back. “You coverin’ for Short, Butler?”

  “Just ask this fella,” Butler said, pointing to Andy Dennis, whose gun—albeit unloaded—was back in his holster. “He was just passing by and saw the whole thing.”

  Courtwright glared at Dennis.

  “What’ve you got to say?”

  “It’s like he said, Sheriff,” Andy Dennis said, “they tried to rob him and he got the best of them.”

  “And what’re you doin’ out here, Short?” Courtwright demanded.

  “I heard the shootin’ and came out to see if I could help, Sheriff. That’s all.”

  Courtwright studied the three men intensely, then looked at the two men on the ground. They could see he was torn. He turned to the two deputies standing behind him.

  “Get rid of these bodies.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Courtwright looked at Short.

  “The bartender at Cramer’s place was killed just the way he was.”

  “I’ve got an alibi,” Short said. “I was here with a saloon full of people.”

  “How do you know when it happened?”

  “It’s all over the street, Sheriff,” Short said. “Everyone knows.”

&n
bsp; Courtwright said, “I ain’t done with you, yet.” Then turned to Butler. “You, neither.” He looked at Dennis, said nothing, then turned and stormed away.

  “Can I go now?” Dennis asked. “I backed up your story, and told you what you wanted to know.”

  “Yes, you did,” Short said. “You can go as long as you know if we ever see you again, we’ll kill you. Got it?”

  “I got it,” Dennis said, and slunk away.

  “He’s going to have to get out of town before Sutherland can kill him, too,” Butler said.

  “Sutherland won’t have a chance,” Short said, “because we’re going to take care of him first.”

  CHAPTER 52

  Luke Short and Butler went to Al Newman’s house and, right on the doorstep, Butler said, “Send your message to Sutherland. Tell him to meet you at that saloon on the docks. It’s as good a place as any.”

  “All right,” Newman said. “When?”

  “Tomorrow,” Short said. “Make it noon. It’ll give us time to get down there and set up.”

  “Set up?”

  “We’re going to try to take him alive,” Short said, “so he can clear me.”

  “All right,” Newman said. “I’ll get it sent over right away.”

  “Good,” Short said. “Thanks.”

  “Uh, has something happened since we met last?” Newman asked.

  “No,” Short said, “nothing special.”

  They had found out what they wanted to know from Andy Dennis—that it was Sutherland who sent the three of them to kill Butler.

  “He wanted us to take care of you,” he said to Butler, then looked at Short and said, “and he’s gonna kill you himself.”

  “He is, huh?” Short asked. “Well, he’ll get his chance soon enough.”

  So now they had Sutherland set up to meet them at this saloon on the docks—or did they?

  “You still don’t trust Al much, do you?” Butler asked Short.

  “No, do you?”

  “No,” Butler said. “The message we want him to send and the message he does send may be very different.”

  “We’ll have to be ready for anything, then.”

  “Maybe,” Short said, “we should go down there tonight and have a look.”

  “Okay,” Butler said, “but you have to do something about the way you’re dressed.”