Outlaw Country

by A. T. Butler

  As the continued to stride toward him, Jacob realized they weren’t going to take a hint, so he ran the short distance toward them. The better to keep the men inside from hearing the conversation.

  “You can’t be here,” he whispered. “Lowry is going to make an arrest. You’ll just be in the way,”

  “Oh, really?” Abe grinned and peered around Jacob to the building. “You boys finally catch up with Lenny Duffin, huh?”

  “Yes, we— Wait. Lenny? Why him? We just found him helping out a wanted murderer. Why do you say him?”

  Lucky and Abe grinned at each other, the former began laughing for the first time since Jacob had known him.

  “You serious?” Abe all but shouted.

  “Keep your voice down,” Jacob warned. “Just spill it.”

  “You boys just not ever go to the sheriff’s office, I guess?”

  “Abe. If you can’t be helpful, I’ll have to arrest you myself for interfering with an investigation.”

  “Alright alright,” he said, raising his hands in surrender. “I thought you all knew. Lenny Duffin is a wanted bank robber. Prescott, I think. I heard he’s coming through Tucson on his way to Texas with his thousands, but I haven’t talked to the man himself.”

  “Lenny is an outlaw too?”

  “Sure is. Why do you say ‘too’? Who else is in there?”

  “Earl Pelling,” Jacob said, watching the gambler’s reaction carefully.

  Lucky let out a low whistle.

  “Damn, yeah,” Abe said. “We heard about that one too.”

  “Right. So. Get out of here. You don’t want to get hurt.”

  Lucky was eyeing the building behind Jacob, frowning. He nudged Abe in the arm and indicated with a nod to the front door.

  “Really?”

  Lucky raised his eyebrows.

  “Fine. Yeah. Okay.” Abe turned to Jacob. “We can give you a couple minutes of diversion, but you have got to get to the top of that building as soon as you can.”

  “What?” Jacob was taken aback.

  “We ain’t aiming to get killed just for you boys, but we don’t want those men in Tucson any more than you do.”

  Lucky nudged him.

  “Oh, yeah,” Abe said. “And we want part of the reward.”

  Jacob grinned in spite of himself. “We’ll have to talk to Deputy Lowry about that. Since he’ll be the one making the arrest.”

  “Oh, that’s true.” Abe chewed the inside of his cheek. “Fine. Let’s just get this done.”

  As they headed in one direction, Jacob went in the other, as far away from the diversion they promised as possible and ready to scale the wall of the livery to position himself at the window at the top. He looked back at Abe and Lucky several times until the moved around the corner of the building out of sight. He wished he could have some control, some way of guiding how the whole situation would play out. Jacob trusted the other men, to an extent, but there were still far too many factors, far too many ways this could fall apart.

  When the conversation started up again, on the opposite side of the building near the door, Jacob hesitated only a moment before he began to climb up the side. There were enough gaps and crooked boards to give him purchase and he was on the roof of the livery in moments.

  The shouting grew louder, and Jacob thought he might have heard the crack of a punch. His heart began hammering as he edged his way gingerly across the roof to the loft that peaked in the middle. Small, square windows peppered the side of the hay loft, too small for Jacob to squeeze through, but plenty big for him to keep watch and shoot if he needed to.

  He sidled his way to the closest window and peered in. From this angle all he could see was the front door of the livery, but all the men had already moved farther into the structure. Jacob scooted over to the next window over, closer to the middle of the livery, and looked down.

  Lowry was nowhere in sight; he must still be waiting by the door out of sight. But Abe and Lucky had either charmed or threatened their way deeper into the livery. Caleb was on his feet now, but still with his back to the wall, shrinking down as though trying not to draw attention. Lucky held his revolver loosely, pointed at the ground, but unholstered.

  Jacob pressed on the corner of the window. He pulled at the frame. He tried to dig his fingers in and slide the glass to the side, but it didn’t budge. He cursed under his breath. It frustrated him that he couldn’t hear what was going on in there. He couldn’t even take proper aim from this position. If the situation escalated—when the situation escalated—he could only guess based on body language. And even then, even assuming his guess was correct, Jacob would only be able to shoot through the glass.

  The yelling from inside was growing louder but the words were still unintelligible. Jacob glanced down and realized Caleb had disappeared altogether. Jacob scanned the visible area and prayed the boy had found a window of opportunity to get far out of the way. With Abe and Lucky providing the diversion, it was possible.

  Lenny was now in Lucky’s face, shouting as the gambler remained stony faced and mute. From this angle, Jacob could see Lucky’s revolver poking right into the other man’s ribs, but either he didn’t notice or didn’t care. Was Lenny bold enough to call Lucky’s bluff? Would Abe and Lucky be willing to take the confrontation that far?

  Earl moved to separate the other two men. Jacob wondered at that, and tried to imagine what he was saying. A wanted murderer on the run playing the peacemaker. But as he put his hand on the silent gambler, Lucky shifted his weight, threw up a hand, grabbed Earl’s wrist and twisted his arm behind his back. All at once several things occurred. A gunshot rang out. Jacob threw his elbow into the glass pane, breaking it and used a closed fist to get rid of the extra shards of glass. He barely felt the sharp edges puncture his skin as he took aim and fired.

  He hadn’t seen where the first bullet landed, but Jacob’s own shot took out Lenny in the calf. The outlaw collapsed, grabbing his leg and cursing. Another shot sounded. Jacob guessed Lenny was defending himself, though of course in the wrong direction. Lucky and Earl were wrestling, the latter trying to throw off the grip of the former.

  Lucky collapsed to the ground and Abe appeared in view, pushing Earl aside. Jacob kept his gun trained on the murderer, silently begging him to stay down.

  But the man didn’t listen. Earl swept his leg toward Abe, knocking the man over. Jacob took aim and fired. As the bullet sank into his bicep, the man cried out angrily.

  With the outlaws thus debilitated, Lowry pounced. He came guns blazing through the door, shouting instructions and barreling his way over the men.

  “Stay down, you bastards,” the deputy shouted.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Jacob Payne, get down here now!” Lowry kept his guns trained on Earl and Lenny. He glanced up to the broken window briefly before immediately looking back to the outlaws.

  Next to him, Abe scrambled to his feet, and also trained a revolver on one of the outlaws. Jacob didn’t stay at his window to see any more. He slid down the incline of the roof to the edge, almost falling off before he regained his grip, turned around and began the climb down. He dropped the final six feet, jarring one ankle when he landed, but didn’t let that stop him in running around the building to the front door.

  “I’m here,” he gasped out, bursting through the door.

  Lenny had scooted over to lean against one of the stalls, tending to the gunshot in his leg. The two injured outlaws remained on the ground in the center of the open space, guns trained on him. In the back, Jacob could hear Caleb soothing and comforting the horses.

  “You two are under arrest,” Lowry was saying. “Good, Jacob. Come here. Keep your eye on these men while I cuff them.”

  Jacob was already halfway across to the deputy. He pointed his revolvers at the men who both were casting dirty looks at their captors. Which of them had been Timson’s murderer? Maybe both, since it’s now clear they were working together in something.

  “We’re g
oing to get you boys a nice cozy spot in the Tucson jail,” Lowry said. “I know you’ve both got warm welcomes waiting for you in other cities. Prescott and Albuquerque, right? We’ll be sure to get you back there where you belong.”

  Through this monologue, Lowry managed to detain both Lenny and Earl. It helped that the deputy was at least thirty pounds heavier than both men; when one struggled out of his grasp, Lowry simply leaned into it.

  “You seem to have this under control,” Abe said, holstering his gun again. “We’re out of here.” He helped Lucky to his feet. The silent gambler nodded at Jacob. The bounty hunter was impressed at the man’s uncomplaining demeanor. Maybe a bullet wound was no big deal to him.

  For the first time, Jacob had to begrudgingly admire the two men. They had stepped up when they didn’t have to. They had helped the law with potentially no reward to them. And they had done it both uncomplainingly and while getting injured. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they stayed in Tucson.

  Between him and the deputy, they got the two outlaws transported to the jail and imprisoned in separate jail cells. The verbal abuse and harassment Earl and Lenny spewed were somewhat impressive, though Jacob wondered at such language on a Sunday of all days.

  “Since you’re in custody anyway, one of you might as well confess to last night’s murder,” Jacob said.

  Earl spit at him, just missing Jacob’s boots.

  “Really?” Jacob said, incredulously.

  “I didn’t do nothing last night.”

  “Me either. I already told you that,” Lenny chimed in.

  “You must have done something,” Jacob said to Earl. He leaned against the man’s cell door, through the bars. “I saw blood on your shirt. You expect me to believe a wanted murderer with blood on him had nothing to do with a murder that very night in the same building I saw you? Do you think I’m stupid, Earl?”

  He shrugged. “Apparently you boys didn’t realize who this jackass was,” he said, gesturing to Lenny. “Seems pretty stupid to me.”

  Jacob’s temper flared. Even someone pointing out what he had missed infuriated him. He was hard enough on himself, he didn’t need anyone else piling on.

  “Explain the blood then. If you can’t it’ll be damn easy to pin Timson’s murder on you.”

  “Okay. I might have done something,” he conceded. “But not what you think. Nothing even illegal.” He grinned, showing Jacob that he was missing at least three teeth. “Truth be told, I had a hankering for a steak. Made my way back to the kitchen and made myself one.”

  “You—” Jacob stopped himself. What he was about to say was just so ridiculous. “You just… You what? You stole a steak and cooked it yourself?”

  “Yep.”

  Jacob wasn’t sure what question to ask next. “And the blood?”

  “It was raw when I picked it up,” Earl said condescendingly. “I got some of that on my hand.”

  Jacob cringed. “And you just wiped it on your shirt?”

  “Yep.” Earl leaned back against the wall of his cell and closed his eyes. “Didn’t hurt me none.”

  “Well, I mean, it could hurt you a lot if the deputy thinks it’s enough evidence to get you for Timson’s murder.”

  “Nah. You law boys always do the right thing. I know you’ll go talk to the bartender at the saloon or whoever you need to to confirm my story. They are … What’s that word? Them’s my alibi.”

  Jacob sighed. He was right. And in spite of Lenny being a wanted outlaw, they still didn’t have any additional evidence tying either one of them to Timson’s murder. He was starting to get a headache. The day was getting away from them and the unfortunate salesman may not get the justice he deserved.

  Before he could continue with his questioning of the two, the door at the front of the office opened and Jacob overheard someone talking to Lowry. As he got closer to the office, Jacob recognized the voice of Randall, raised and arguing with the deputy.

  “You’ve got to get this taken care of,” Randall was insisting. “Arrest her. I told you she had the weapon. You don’t think it’s a little bit suspicious that Holly Merritt was the first person to find the body? And then you found a stack of money in her room. I’m telling you, I can’t have a murderer in my saloon. Arrest her!”

  “Calm down, Mr. Hall,” Lowry said. “We’re close to making an arrest. We just captured two wanted outlaws—”

  “That doesn’t matter! It was her. Her!”

  “The men in the cells—”

  At that moment he caught Jacob’s eye, and the bounty hunter subtly shook his head. He couldn’t be sure of the men’s guilt. They shouldn’t be promising Randall anything.

  “I’m going to have to ask you to continue to be patient, Mr. Hall,” Lowry finished. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, arrest the murderer and then the Golden Saddle Saloon can continue with business as usual.”

  The man blanched at that promise.

  “Yes, well. Get to it,” he retorted. He slammed his fist on the desk and left the office in a huff. Jacob followed Randall to the door, and watched him walk away, out into the road, pushing past a couple strokes;;omg slowly. Leaning in the doorframe, Jacob wondered if he should follow the other man. He seemed angry and possibly dangerous. Irrational at the very least. There was something off about him, something that made Jacob wonder if he was hiding something.

  As Jacob watched, another person turned the corner onto this street. In an instant he recognized it as Holly Merritt and saw that Randall’s trajectory was headed straight toward her. In his anger and frustration, Randall didn’t seem to be watching where he was going. The bounty hunter instinctively headed toward the impact he knew was coming, if only to mediate and buffer the confrontation before anything got worse.

  He hurried his steps. Jacob saw the look of recognition in Holly’s eyes, but rather than step aside out of Randall’s way, she simply stopped. Frozen. Possibly too surprised or shocked to make the choice to move. What happened next was not any more easy to watch simply because Jacob knew it was going to happen.

  Still with his head down, Randall barreled full into Holly’s frozen form. His shoulder rammed into her bosom; Holly put both hands up to protect herself, but the man didn’t stop. Jacob was still a dozen steps away when Randall finally looked up to see who he had run into. Though only able to see the back of him, Jacob noticed Randall’s neck flush, as though another wave of fury had overtaken him.

  “You meddling whore!” Randall shouted at Holly. “Get the hell out of my way!”

  Holly shrunk back at such an exclamation, paling visibly, but only for a moment before gathering her dignity and defending herself..

  “How dare you,” she exclaimed, standing up straight in the face of his wagging, accusing finger. “You can’t speak to me that way. You were negligent and sloppy and weren’t paying attention.”

  Jacob reached them in that moment, placing his large hand on Randall’s arm trying to calm the man before he did anything he might regret.

  The saloon proprietor threw off the grip angrily, turning to next shout at Jacob.

  “Get your hands off me, you worthless excuse for a man. I’m tired of being the only one who gets anything done around here. The only one who sees what is really happening.”

  “Now, Mr. Hall—”

  “Shut the hell up!” Now his accusing finger was in Jacob’s face. “Both of you.” He turned back to Holly. “Get out of my way, I said!”

  With that growl, Randall raised his hands to push Holly physically out of his way. But it was clear the man hadn’t thought his actions through. Jacob Payne had never stood for anyone assaulting a woman in his presence and was not about to give this one a pass for any reason, angry or not. Still mostly behind Randall, Jacob grabbed the other man by the shoulders and yanked him back. The other man lost his balance, his ankles twisting and his feet sliding from underneath him.

  He frantically grabbed at both Holly and Jacob to regain his footing, but Holly had already taken two s
teps back to avoid the shove she had thought coming. As Randall grasped for Jacob, their arms became entangled, wrapped around each other. The man continued to fall, but Jacob’s hold on his jacket tore the piece of clothing clean off of him, scattering the matches, billfold and other items that had been in Randall’s pockets.

  Jacob let go; Randall sprawled into the dirt, groaning in pain and surrounded by the the detritus of his life.

  “I didn’t want to have to do that,” Jacob said, sternly. “You owe Ms. Merritt an apology. Let me—”

  Just as Jacob was about to help Randall to his feet, he recognized the billfold, delicately embroidered with a red rose, that lay in the dirt. That changed everything.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jacob had almost looked away. He had almost helped the other man to his feet and apologized. He had even almost moved on, leaving Randall to his privacy, but something tickled his brain.

  “Dang it,” Randall whispered to himself as he followed Jacob’s gaze and tried to sweep up the billfold.

  “No,” the bounty hunter said darkly. He stepped on Randall’s outstretched wrist, halting his reach for the billfold. “I’ll take that.”

  As soon as the decorated billfold was in his hand, Jacob knew it was familiar. He knew he had seen it before. He and the deputy had been looking for this very item for the last day. Jacob unfolded the worn leather gingerly, not wanting any piece, any possible piece of evidence to fall out. He thumbed gently through the contents, noting about seven hundred dollars in cash, a handwritten letter and a few business cards bearing the name Bob Timson.

  “Randall,” he began sadly.

  “No!” he shouted, wresting his wrist from underneath Jacob’s foot and rolling away. He was far more agile than Jacob expected, and was on his feet, running away down the street in an instant.

  Jacob fumbled, taken aback. He had been all but blindsided by this revelation and giving chase to a suspected murderer was almost the last thing on his mind at that moment. He paused for half a moment, shook his head, and sprang into action. The billfold was quickly closed and tucked away safely into Jacob’s own interior pocket. His revolver was unholstered and in his hand, and he set off.