The Death List
Page 11
“I ain’t never killed nobody,” he said. “I broke some bones, yeah, but…I ain’t no killer.”
“Well, that’s okay, Max,” Clint said. “There’s something else you can do.”
“What’s that?”
“Just help me get her away from him.”
“And then what?”
“Then we take her someplace safe.”
“Won’t they look for her?”
“Probably,” Clint said, “but I’ll handle that. You help me get her someplace safe, and then you stay with her. I’ll handle the rest.”
Max looked over at Amanda, with Silver standing behind her.
“Okay,” he said.
“Good.”
“I’m sorry about…the other thing.”
“Hey, Max,” Clint said, “not everybody can kill, you know?”
“Yeah,” Max said. “Yeah, I know.”
“Okay,” Clint said, “now this is what we’ll do…”
Max listened while Clint outlined his plan. He didn’t say a word until Clint was done.
“You got all that?” Clint asked.
“I got it.”
“Okay,” Clint said, “you go back to the poker table.”
“What do I tell Mrs. Tolliver?”
“Don’t worry,” Clint said. “She’ll be ready for whatever happens.”
Max thought about that, then nodded and said, “Okay.”
He started away from the bar, then stopped and looked at Clint.
“Mr. Adams, this is on the level, right?”
“Yeah, Max, it’s on the level.”
“’cause if it ain’t…”
“I know,” Clint said. “You won’t kill me, but you’ll break something.”
FORTY-TWO
Clint remained at the bar while Amanda played. On two occasions she looked at him over her shoulder. Both times he just nodded.
Finally, she called it quits and cashed out. They gave her the money she had won, and she put it in her purse and stood up. She turned and said something to Max. He said something back. Perry Silver was too far away to hear what was being said.
They started for the door and Clint moved to intercept them.
“Hello, Amanda,” he said.
She stopped.
“Clint, hello.”
“Have a good night?”
“Very good.”
Max put his hand against Clint’s chest and pushed him back.
“I told you to stay away!” he snapped.
“Come on, buddy. I bought you a beer.”
Max poked him in the chest with his forefinger.
“Stay away.”
Amanda started for the door, and Max followed. Clint made to follow them, but Perry Silver stepped in his way.
“Listen to the big guy,” he advised.
“Oh, sure,” Clint said, “sure, I’ll listen to him. I wouldn’t want to get Max mad.”
“You don’t have to worry about Max, Adams,” Silver said. “You only have to worry about me.”
“Sure, Perry, sure,” Clint said. “I’ll worry about you.”
Silver started for the door, and Clint stopped him.
“How about another drink?”
“Sorry,” Silver said. “The lady is ready to go home, and her husband is waiting.”
“Well,” Clint said, “I wouldn’t want to keep a husband waiting.”
Silver nodded to him, then turned and went out the door.
Clint stopped one of the girls who was carrying drinks from the bar and asked, “Is there another way out of here?”
“Sure,” she said. “Follow me.”
He did. She took him to a side entrance, then gave him a pretty smile.
“You want my address?” she asked. “You could wait there for me.”
He smiled back and said, “Another time maybe. Thanks.”
FORTY-THREE
Clint went to the Lucky Strike and met Max in the lobby.
“Where is she?” Clint asked.
“Your friend, he took her to a room.”
“Come on,” Clint said, “let’s go.”
Max led the way up the stairs to Amanda’s room. Clint knocked on the door. She answered and let them in, then threw herself into his arms.
“Thank you.”
“Sure, Amanda.”
She backed away from him and touched Max on the arm. He just nodded and stared at her in a lovesick way.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Well,” Clint said, “Silver will go to your husband and tell him what happened.”
“Ben will fire him.”
“It won’t be as easy to fire Silver as it was to fire Hawkins. No, they’ll come looking for you.”
“But…where will they look?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Clint said.
“Here?” Max asked.
Clint looked at Max.
“I hope not.”
It dawned on him then that while he was doing research on Perry Silver during the day, maybe Silver was doing the same on him. But Clint had quite a few acquaintances in San Francisco, and a few friends. How would they pick out King Dirker?
There was a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” Clint asked.
“Desk clerk, Mr. Adams.”
Clint pulled his gun, waved Amanda and Max away from the door, then opened it. It was Lou, the older desk clerk.
“What is it, Lou?”
“Fella downstairs told me to tell you he’s waitin’ down there for you.”
“What fella?”
“Said his name was Silver.”
“Where’s the boss?”
“He’s with that fella,” Lou said. “Somethin’ ain’t right, Mr. Adams. He also told me to give you this.”
Lou held out a slip of paper. Clint took it, and saw that it was the list. The list of ten names. Only now there was eleven.
The name on the end was Kenneth Dirker.
FORTY-FOUR
Clint told Max to stay with Amanda.
“What are you going to do?” Amanda asked.
“Save my friend.”
He went down to the lobby with Lou.
“Where were they?”
“Here,” Lou said. “Behind the desk.”
“King said he had two offices, one here in the hotel.”
“That’s right.”
“Take me to the hotel office.”
“This way.”
Lou led Clint to an office behind the desk area. The door was closed.
“All right,” Clint said. “Go back out front.”
The desk clerk left and Clint put his hand on the doorknob. The door wasn’t locked. He opened it and stepped in. The woman sitting behind the desk looked at him and smiled.
“Wendy, isn’t it?” he asked.
“You remembered,” said the girl he had last seen in Roper’s office.
“Are you Silver’s partner?”
“Perry doesn’t have partners,” she said. “He uses people.”
“And he’s using you?”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t mind?”
She shrugged. “He pays for the privilege.”
“So what do you do?”
“Me? I do research.”
“Is that what you were doing at Roper’s office?”
“Yes.”
“And you did the research here? And found out about this place?”
“Several places,” she said. “Perry said you’d pick this one.”
“And now you’re here to…what? Give me directions?”
“He’ll trade your friend for the woman.”
“I can’t do that. He’ll kill her.”
“If you don’t, he’ll kill your friend.”
“That may be,” Clint said, “but I can’t just hand over the woman.”
“Just give her back to her husband.”
“Same thing. She’ll still end up dead.”
Wendy stood up.
Suddenly, she looked frightened.
“You’re afraid he’ll kill you if you fail here.”
“If he does,” she said, “you’ll be responsible for my death.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then where am I supposed to take Amanda, and make the exchange?”
She handed him a piece of paper. On it was an address.
“This is on the Barbary Coast.”
“Yes.”
“That would give him the advantage,” Clint said. “He can buy help there for a dollar a man.”
“Then you won’t go?”
“No.”
She seemed confused.
“So what now?” he asked.
“I—I don’t know.”
“Well, go to him and tell him I won’t trade.”
“I can’t. I don’t know—I can’t.”
“You work for him. You must know where he is, how to contact him.”
She didn’t answer.
“Did he go back to the Tolliver house?”
“I told you, I don’t know.”
If she was simply lying, he didn’t think she would have been so nervous. Maybe she really didn’t know.
“Okay, then leave,” he said. “Just leave. I’ll find him myself.”
She walked to the door, then stopped.
“What’s wrong? Go out the door.”
“I can’t,” she said.
“Why not?”
She turned to face him.
“He said if I come out the door without you, he’ll kill me.”
“So then he’s not on the Barbary Coast,” Clint said. “He’s still in the building.”
“I can’t leave this room.”
“All right,” he said. “Stay. I’ll leave.”
He started for the door. She stepped in his way.
“If you kill him…”
“What?”
“I’ll be…grateful.” She put her hand on his hip, then moved it to his crotch. He grabbed her hand and pushed it away.
“You can be grateful in other ways,” he said. “There’s no need for that.”
He started for the door again, then stopped.
“If you want him dead, where is he?”
“I would tell you if I could.”
He nodded, said, “Stay here,” and went out the door.
FORTY-FIVE
When he reached the lobby, he saw Lou lying on the floor behind the desk. The lobby itself was empty. Except for two men. King Dirker was there, with Perry Silver standing behind him with his gun in his hand.
Clint leaned over long enough to determine that Lou was alive.
“Come out from behind the desk,” Silver said.
Clint did so.
“Where’s the girl?”
“Wendy? She’s in the office. Waiting for me to kill you.”
Silver laughed.
“Your best days are behind you, Adams,” he said.
“Jesus,” Dirker said, “just do it, Clint.”
“He can’t,” Silver said. “He’s not even wearing a gun.”
“Well, give him one,” Dirker said, “then you’ll see.”
“Shut up!” Silver said.
Clint reached behind his back for his .25.
“Get the woman,” Silver said, “and bring her down.”
“And then what?”
“I’ll do my job.”
“What Tolliver paid you to do?”
“Yes.”
“But why?” Clint asked. “Why did he pay you to kill all those people?”
“I told you, I don’t care,” Silver said. “I’ll just do my job.”
“Well,” Clint said, “you’ll have to kill me to get to Amanda, or to any of the rest of your death list.”
“Kill you?”
“What’s wrong?” Clint asked. “Can’t kill unless you’re being paid?”
“Oh, I’ll get paid,” Silver said. “You’re in my way. Tolliver will pay me to remove you.”
“Then try it.”
“You’re a fool.”
Clint had hit targets as small as a two-bit piece. Even smaller. Silver was standing with King Dirker in front of him as a shield, but his head was visible over Dirker’s shoulder. With his modified Colt, this would have been an easy shot.
“All right,” Silver said. “I don’t have much choice. Killing the Gunsmith will be good for my rep anyway.”
Clint was hoping Silver would step out from behind Dirker to take his shot, but he didn’t. He stayed where he was and extended his right arm.
Clint drew and fired.
Amanda and Max were in the saloon, sitting at a table. He had a beer, she a glass of brandy. They were waiting for the law to arrive. It would be up to the authorities to deal with Ben Tolliver. King Dirker had heard everything Silver had said about working for Tolliver before Clint shot him in the forehead with his .25.
In the morning Clint would send telegrams telling the other four men on the list that they were safe.
Clint and Dirker were standing at the bar.
“What about the girl?” Dirker asked.
“Wendy? I let her go. She was just afraid of Silver.”
“You know, that was kind of close,” Dirker said, taking a long pull on his beer.
“Why didn’t you just step aside?”
“Are you kiddin’?” Dirker said. “I didn’t want to distract you. I knew you only had that little twenty-five on you.”
“I told you it would do the job,” Clint said.
“Yeah, you did,” Dirker said. “And it did the job—but only because it was in your hands.”
Watch for
THE VICAR OF ST. JAMES
364th novel in the exciting GUNSMITH series from Jove
Coming in April!