Pariah
Page 16
“It’s ransom money paid for some of the other girls they kidnapped,” the old man said. “Those bastards kept it and never returned anyone to their families.”
“How many bags are there, Eddie?” Clint shouted.
“Six! All stuffed with—”
“Take one for yourself and give one to Tumen. Hand the rest over to these folks.”
The bounty hunter looked positively appalled when he stuck his head out of the wagon. Tumen had taken position just outside the broken doorway, which made Eddie’s task a little easier. When the saddlebag was handed out to him, Tumen took it and looked inside.
“Is there enough in there to make up for what was taken from your people?” Clint asked.
Tumen grinned and nodded.
“Then we’re done and Eddie can go. Thanks for your help, big man.”
After gripping Clint’s hand in a friendly shake, Tumen walked back to his horse.
“The rest goes to these people, Eddie. See to it.”
One by one, Eddie tossed out four saddlebags. Then the bounty hunter climbed out of the wagon, carrying another bag over his shoulder. “Hardly seems fair,” he chuckled.
“Morrow’s carcass is worth a pretty penny,” Clint said. “He’s all yours, along with whoever else you want to drag away from here. You’ll hand over some of that cash to me to make up for my portion of the work, and the rest goes to these folks that Morrow wronged. Seems fair to me.”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Eddie replied as he stuck his hand into the saddlebag and pulled out a wad of cash. Handing it over to Clint, he said, “I mean these assholes. Putting them down was like shooting fish in a barrel. I ain’t complaining, but still . . .”
Clint flipped through the cash and found more than he’d expected. Stuffing the money into his pocket, he looked at the crumpled form of Morrow’s corpse and growled, “These bastards didn’t deserve a fair fight.”
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PLEASANT VALLEY SHOOT-OUT
338th novel in the exciting GUNSMITH series
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