Bannerman the Enforcer 45

by Kirk Hamilton

  “Mebbe she caught it from you,” Yancey said between his teeth.

  Slocum flushed a little. His eyes were full of hate, but there was a flicker of fear lurking in them, too, and he continued to watch Yancey closely.

  It was a long day. Twice food and water were pushed through the trap in the bottom of the cell door. Yancey didn’t speak at all. Once he clawed at his head, lying full-length on his bunk, and he threw himself around. Another time he collapsed, falling to the floor and lying so still that at first Slocum thought he was dead. He called for a guard but no one answered.

  Just after dark there was the rattle of the bolt in the door.

  Yancey and Slocum sat up on their bunks. Slocum glanced at the Enforcer in the dim light and saw by the anguish in his face that Yancey had another of his headaches. His eyes were wide and wild as the door opened and lamplight washed into the cell.

  Doctor Boles stepped inside, the two guards close behind. A rifle and a six-gun menaced Yancey and Slocum.

  “I have an order from the governor saying that you be transferred to my office for a full medical examination, Yancey,” Boles said. “I have a nurse waiting upstairs. If you give me any trouble she’ll pour some chloral hydrate down your throat. I believe you are familiar with the knock-out effect of that stuff and the terrible aftermath of vomiting?”

  Yancey stood slowly, swaying a little, one hand over his right eye. “All right, Doc. Don’t worry. I feel too poorly to make a fuss. I been havin’ headaches all damn day. Passed out once.”

  “That’s right,” Slocum said, relieved to be getting rid of Yancey even for a short time. “He flopped to the floor in a dead faint. I yelled and banged on the grille but no one came.”

  Boles looked sharply at the Rangers. They merely shrugged. The doctor’s mouth tightened. “Very well. Get him upstairs and let’s get this done with.”

  The younger guard lowered his rifle and propped it by the door. Reaching behind his belt, he produced a pair of manacles. “We’ll put these on first, Bannerman,” he said, stepping forward. “Hold out your hands.”

  Yancey lowered the hand from his face and lifted the other. The guard reached for his right wrist.

  Suddenly Yancey moved with the speed of a striking rattler. He grabbed the guard’s forearm and pulled the man tightly against him, spinning him around and using him as a shield when the senior man brought up his gun. Yancey’s right hand dipped and pulled the young guard’s Colt from his holster. He fired without hesitation and the other guard threw up his arms and crashed out through the door to sprawl face down in the dimly-lit passage. There were stirrings in the other cells. Someone demanded to know what was going on and someone else told him to shut up.

  After shooting the Ranger, Yancey shoved the young guard away and smashed him across the back of the head with the smoking gun barrel. The man fell in a heap without a sound. Before he hit the floor, Yancey spun and rammed the gun barrel into the shocked Doctor Boles’ belly.

  “Take me out of here, Doc!”

  “My God, Yancey! What’ve you done, man?”

  Yancey grabbed the medic’s shoulder and shoved him towards the door. He snatched up the guard’s rifle and pushed the protesting Boles into the passage.

  “You’ll never make it,” the medico said grimly.

  “We’re way below street level, Doc,” Yancey told him. “Remember, I know this place. There’s a six-inch-thick oak door at the end of the passage. That shot wouldn’t have been heard outside. Now move or I’ll blow your head off and find another hostage.”

  The Enforcer suddenly turned at a yell.

  “Hey! How about me?” Slocum was standing in the doorway of the cell.

  “The hell with you,” growled Yancey. “Look after yourself.”

  “Judas, are you gonna leave me here with a dead Ranger and another one stretched out?”

  “Run then. It don’t matter a damn to me,” Yancey said, shoving the doctor along the passage.

  The prisoners who were being held for the massacre of Senator Giles and his family called out to be set free. Yancey ignored them. Slocum hesitated, watched Yancey reach the thick oak door and open it, then lunged forward. He snatched up the rifle from beside the dead guard and ran down the passage, catching up with the Enforcer and Boles before they were past the door.

  Yancey merely glanced at him and then he shoved Boles up stone stairs. Slocum licked his lips. There was a lot of noise from the other prisoners in the maximum-security cells.

  “What about them?” Slocum asked.

  “Shut that goddamn door!” Yancey snarled.

  Slocum heaved the big door closed and turned the key in the lock. It shut off the shouts of the others. Then, his heart hammering at this unexpected chance at freedom, he ran up the stone steps after Yancey. At the top, outside another door, the Enforcer turned on Slocum, his face ugly.

  “Keep out of my way, Slocum! I didn’t ask you along. You get in my way and I’ll blow you apart!”

  Slocum nodded, breathing heavily.

  “Yancey, for God’s sake, man!” Boles said. “Don’t do this!”

  “I’ve had a bellyful of you, Doc!” Yancey said as he opened the door and went through fast, using the medico as a shield. The man on guard was taken unawares. He’d expected only the doctor and the guards. When he realized Yancey was armed and wasn’t manacled, it was too late.

  Yancey swung the rifle and the barrel took the guard across the side of the head. His knees buckled and he fell. The Enforcer pushed Boles down another passage and to a side door. It was locked. Yancey swore.

  Slocum looked around nervously. “Hell! Now what do we do?”

  Yancey shoved him roughly aside, placed the Colt muzzle against the lock and dropped the hammer. The lock gave way and Yancey kicked the door open before the echo of the shot had died. They lunged into an alley and at the end saw the doctor’s buggy and a young woman standing beside it. She came running down the alley.

  “Doctor Boles? Doctor? Are you all right?” she called.

  She gasped as Yancey forced Boles to his knees and grabbed her arm. She struggled as he picked her up one-handed and held her across one hip, swinging his smoking Colt barrel at the dazed Boles.

  “You tell ’em. If they try to follow, Doc, we’ll kill the girl! Tell ’em! Savvy?”

  Boles nodded and then Yancey was running, the girl under his arm, and Slocum was following. As Yancey neared the stable, there were shouts from the main building.

  There were always six horses saddled and provisioned, in case of escape attempts and other emergencies. Yancey ducked into the stable where the mounts were kept, slugged the dozing guard and flung the sobbing girl across a saddle. He swung up behind her, grabbed the reins of another mount and then spurred out of the stable, almost knocking Slocum down.

  “Hey, wait!” The killer swore when Yancey kept riding. He flung himself into a saddle, and, like Yancey, grabbed the reins of another saddled mount and spurred away.

  Two Rangers appeared in a doorway. They dropped to their knees and brought their rifles to their shoulders. Slocum fired his rifle one-handed, spun it around the lever and trigger guard to cycle a fresh cartridge into the chamber, and fired again. A guard went down and lay still. The other threw himself flat. Then Slocum was galloping through the night, following Yancey and the girl.

  Guns seemed to be hammering at them from all directions as the fugitives rode hell-for-leather through the night crowds and traffic of Austin. The town marshal and the sheriff came running out of their respective offices, not knowing what had happened. The marshal started to draw a bead on Yancey but then he saw the struggling girl. He swore as he lowered the gun. Then Slocum swept past and by the time the marshal lifted the Colt again and got off a shot, the killer was across the plaza and thundering along the exit road from town, heading towards open country.

  Yancey glanced behind and saw horsemen silhouetted against the glow of Austin. He didn’t speak to the sobbing girl but concentrated o
n putting his mount where he wanted it to go while holding the reins of the other saddled horse. He caught a glimpse of Slocum behind and to the right, but ignored him.

  Soon Yancey swung the horses towards an area known as Juniper Flats, where the Enforcers had a large training area that had been built at Yancey’s instigation and had been under his supervision. It wasn’t being used right then. It would be about the last place where the pursuers would look.

  He rode fast and put his horses onto grass to deaden the sound of their hoofbeats. The only horses he could hear now were Slocum’s. The posse seemed to have headed off in another direction.

  Then he saw the looming gateway of the area known as Ironsite, the training ground. He reined down and the girl started to slip from across his knees. He grabbed a handful of her dress and unceremoniously heaved her back. Surprisingly she didn’t struggle.

  Yancey threw off the chain from around the gate and it swung open. He eased the mounts through and was about to close the gate when Slocum loomed out of the darkness.

  “Hey! Lemme in!”

  “Damn it, if you’ve led that posse here I’ll kill you!” Yancey snarled.

  Slocum shook his head. “No. I shook ’em. Followed you, did everythin’ you did.”

  Yancey bit back a curse. “I don’t want you along, Slocum! Right now I’d like to put a bullet in you, but they might hear the shot.”

  “Same if I shot you,” Slocum said, and Yancey saw the shine of starlight along the barrel of the rifle pointed at him.

  “All right. Come in for now. But I’m a loner, Slocum, remember that.”

  “Please let me go,” the girl gasped.

  “Nope,” Yancey said. “You’re my ticket out of here. They’ll keep their distance as long as I have you with me. Who are you?”

  The girl hesitated, then said, “Tina Gunn. I thought you’d have recognized my voice, Yancey Bannerman.”

  Yancey laughed as he and Slocum rode slowly across the dark training area towards some empty buildings.

  “What’s so funny?” Slocum asked.

  “We got a better passport than I figured,” Yancey told him. “She’s a senator’s daughter!”

  Five – The Texas Breaks

  Johnny Cato was simmering as he strode down the high-ceilinged hall to the governor’s office. Inside the office he found Dukes, Doctor Boles and Ranger Captain Ames. They were all grim-faced. Cato nodded curtly to all and looked at Dukes.

  “Governor, I resent bein’ called in here right now, when I could be out with the posse searchin’ for Yancey. I can do a helluva lot more good out there than I can talkin’ in here.”

  Dukes held up a hand. “Simmer down, John. This is important.”

  “So’s stoppin’ Yancey!”

  “I agree with that,” Ames said. “The man’s a homicidal maniac!”

  “I think that may be too strong a term, Captain,” Boles said quietly.

  The Ranger glared at the medico. “What would you call him?”

  “Sick, Captain. A very sick man who’s been trained to kill and has been killing for some years now with the full sanction of the State of Texas. As a result of a wound received in a gun battle on behalf of the State of Texas, he’s cut loose and gone a little loco, but he’s far from being a homicidal maniac.”

  “It’s too fine a distinction for me to see,” muttered Ames. “He’s killed two of my men, slugged a couple, and another man was wounded at the stables. He’s also stolen horses, not to mention taking hostage the daughter of one of Governor Dukes’ top-ranking senators. Hell, the man has to be stopped, Boles, at all costs.”

  “Not at all costs, Captain,” Boles said.

  “Damn it, yes!” Ames thumped a fist on Dukes’ desk and then looked apologetically at the governor. “Sorry, sir. Got a mite carried away, but this man Bannerman—”

  “Will be taken care of, Captain,” Dukes assured him. “You have to understand that all three of us here have worked closely with Yancey Bannerman over the years. He’s a good friend. In fact, Cato and I owe him our lives. It’s very difficult for us to accept that he’s gone hog-wild, but the proof is before us, I’m afraid, and we’re reluctant to face the remedy we know we must take.”

  “As long as you know what must be done, sir,” Ames said quietly.

  Dukes gave him a hard look. “I’m fully aware of my responsibilities to this State, Captain.”

  Ames flushed and looked embarrassed. “Of course, sir. I didn’t mean—”

  Dukes nodded. “Very well, Captain. You have men deployed all around Austin, I understand?”

  “Yes, sir. We’re scouting for tracks but Bannerman’s got the luck of the devil—it rained durin’ the night and washed away all sign that might be useful to us. We know they spent at least part of the night in that Ironsite Training Area, but which way they headed after that we haven’t been able to determine yet. But we will find their tracks, Governor, I promise you.”

  “Thank you for reporting in, Captain,” Dukes said. “That will be all.”

  Ames looked surprised at his sudden dismissal, but he nodded to Cato and Boles and saluted Dukes before turning crisply and leaving the room. Dukes watched him go impassively, then he turned his lined and weary face to Cato.

  “I want you to work on this alone, John. By all means call on the Rangers or the sheriff’s posse or the army if needs be, and do anything else you think might be of help, but mostly I want you to do the tracking.”

  Cato nodded soberly. “Suits me, Governor. Suits me just fine.”

  Dukes looked at him steadily for a long moment before adding quietly, “When you find Yancey, John, I want you to kill him.”

  Cato stiffened, his face frozen in shock. “What’s that, Governor?”

  Dukes sighed. “I have no choice, despite what I said to Ames. Doctor Boles thinks Yancey’s condition can only get worse.” Stunned, Cato turned to the doctor. “What about that operation you were talkin’ about?”

  “Well, John, there’s no guarantee it’d be a success, and while I’d be willing to try I don’t think it would be possible to take Yancey alive without endangering other lives. He’s already killed men, and now he has a senator’s daughter as hostage. He’d kill you as quick as he would his deadliest enemy if the pressure was on just when you tried to bring him in.” He shook his head slowly. “I’m sorry, John. The governor consulted with me and we’ve concluded that the only course is to kill Yancey Bannerman.”

  “That’s right,” Dukes said. “Much as we care for him, John, we can’t risk any more lives. Yours, especially.”

  Cato kept his face rock-hard. “Have you thought about havin’ Kate talk with him?”

  “Of course. But it’s out of the question.”

  Cato sighed. “Why didn’t you just let Ames give his men the order to shoot to kill?”

  Dukes fidgeted. “We owe Yancey that much, I figure. If he has to be hunted down, we feel you should do it.”

  “Thanks,” Cato said bitterly. He was silent for a long time. “And what if I can bring him in in one piece?”

  “I don’t want you to try, John,” Dukes said. “It’s too dangerous. I can’t risk losing two of my top Enforcers.”

  “You’re askin’ for too much, Governor.”

  “Then it has to be an order, John,” Dukes said.

  “S’pose I resign?”

  “I wouldn’t want to see that, John, but if it happened then someone else would receive the same order.” He leaned forward. “There is another aspect to it. If Yancey turns outlaw, as he may well do, there’s all that inside knowledge he possesses about the Enforcers. Can we risk letting outlaws know about our operations, our secrets?”

  Cato drove his left fist into the palm of his right hand, his mouth a slit. “By God, I never figured I’d be huntin’ down my best friend.”

  “And I never thought I’d order you to do it, John,” Dukes replied.

  Cato opened his mouth as if to speak but apparently changed his mind. He drew
out his Manstopper and held it balanced in the palm of his hand while Dukes and Boles watched tensely.

  Then Cato shook his head slowly, holstered the big gun and walked towards the door with purposeful steps.

  “John ...?”

  Cato paused with his hand on the doorknob, turned.

  Dukes made a helpless gesture. “Good luck.”

  Without another word Cato left the room.

  The girl was in her late teens. She was frightened but hid it well behind a defiant facade. All the same, when Yancey snapped an order at her she jumped.

  Now she was riding the spare mount Yancey had taken from the courthouse stables. Her hands were free but her ankles were tied together with a rope that ran beneath the horse’s belly. She was slim but her figure was maturing. Her wheat-colored hair streamed in the wind and her face was fresh and beautiful. Looking at her, Yancey figured that any man who tried to dominate her had better be strong or she’d have his back against the wall.

  “What were you doing nursing for Doc Boles?” he had asked earlier as they rode through a narrow draw, all three crowded close.

  Tina Gunn didn’t answer at first. When he asked the question again, she saw the sparks in his eyes and figured it would be best not to antagonize him. After all; he had killed men in cold blood and she was alive only because she was useful to him at the moment. That was the impression Slocum had, anyway ...

  She said, “I wanted to do something useful. I’ve been helping the doctor for some time now. I’m a friend of Kate Dukes and I know all about you through her, Yancey Bannerman. Except that she didn’t tell me you were a killer.”

  “Maybe they didn’t know,” Yancey had said. “Anyhow, I’m glad you happened to be there outside the courthouse, Tina. You’ll get me out of this with a whole skin.”

  Slocum laughed and dropped back a ways, ignoring the cold look Yancey threw at him.

  Tina glanced behind. “What about him? You can’t seem to shake him, yet you claim you don’t want him along.”