Death in the Desert Read online

  “But—”

  He reared up and smacked her across the face, then held his forefinger to his lips and said, “Shhh,” again. This time she remained quiet.

  He went back to chewing on her nipples, and did so until the skin was sore and cracked. Then he reached between her legs, but found her dry. He inserted his fingers and manipulated her until she was wet. Then he spread her legs and drove his hard penis into her. He slammed himself in and out of her so hard the bed began to hop up and down. When he was finally ready to explode, he pulled out and let his stream go onto her face and chest. She closed her eyes, but didn’t dare make a move to wipe the sticky substance away, for fear of being hit again.

  He got off the bed after wiping himself on the sheet, and walked to the door.

  “Hale!” he shouted when he opened it.

  A man immediately appeared outside the door.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Pay her off and escort her out.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Don’t ever bring her back,” Brock said. “She spoke.”

  “I warned her, sir—”

  “Never mind,” Brock said. “Just get rid of her.”

  Brock left the room and walked down the hall to another. In anticipation, his servant had already drawn him a hot bath.

  He got into the bath and settled down into the hot water. Hale appeared with a cigar, stuck it in Brock’s mouth, and lit it.

  “Is she gone?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Any telegrams?”

  “Yes, sir. He’s asked for six men and wagons.”

  “Six?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Did you send them?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good,” Brock said, letting his head loll back. “How much time do they need?”

  “They still need the better part of a week to finish up, sir,” Hale said.

  “Everything better be going smoothly.”

  “What could be wrong, sir?” Hale asked. “Everyone thinks the town is diseased.”

  Brock took a moment to think before asking the next question.

  “We did tell him to put up a quarantine sign, didn’t we?” Brock asked.

  “We told him, sir.”

  “Meaning?”

  Hale firmed his jaw.

  “Permission to speak freely, sir.”

  “Granted.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if he forgot.”

  “And if he forgot, somebody could have ridden into town,” Brock said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Hale took the cigar from Brock’s mouth, waited while his boss expelled a long stream of smoke, and then put it back.

  “Ah, well,” he said, “what harm could a drifter or two do?” Brock asked.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Clint would have to stash Kathy and Emily somewhere safe while he tried to find them a horse. If he couldn’t do that, then he’d have to consider letting them ride out on Eclipse.

  Actually, having them ride Eclipse would be more up to the horse than up to Clint. The big gelding was particular about who rode him. So far he’d allowed Emily to sit on his back. That didn’t mean he’d do the same for Kathy.

  “Wait a minute,” he said, looking up at the back of a brick building they were passing. “What building is this?”

  Kathy looked up and said, “It looks like the back of city hall.”

  “City hall,” Clint said. “There’s nothing to loot in city hall. No bank, no county clerk’s office, no assessor that I saw when I was in there.”

  “The mayor’s office,” Kathy said, “and the town council meets there. The district attorney’s office and the courtroom.”

  “Okay,” Clint said, “okay. You two are going to wait for me in here.”

  “In city hall?” Emily asked. “The mayor’s office again?”

  “Sure,” Clint said, “the mayor’s office. Come on, let’s find the back door.”

  Clint forced the back door without much trouble, and they went up the back stairs. He was carrying the sack of supplies Kathy had packed, and Kathy was carrying her rifle.

  Clint was suddenly worried about Eclipse. The horse had been alone in that livery for a long time. He hadn’t heard anything during his bouts of eavesdropping to indicate that anyone had found him, but how long would that last? He was going to have to check on him, and move him.

  “Now you two stay here,” he said as they entered the mayor’s office. He put the sack on the desk. “I’ll be back soon.”

  “With a horse?” Kathy asked.

  “Hopefully.”

  “Are you going to bring Eclipse?” Emily asked.

  “Maybe I will,” Clint said. “Just do what Kathy tells you, honey. Okay?”

  “Okay, Clint.”

  He looked at Kathy.

  “Unless you hear my voice,” he said, “you shoot anybody who comes through that door, you hear?”

  “I hear.”

  He walked to the door, said, “Lock it,” and went out.

  • • •

  It was a miracle, but Eclipse was right where he’d left him. He checked the ground for fresh tracks, but there were none. Apparently, they had decided against using this place for keeping their horses. Was that why that one man had been here? The one whose tracks he’d followed? To check it out?

  The gang was probably keeping their horses close to them, in the stockyards. But before Clint went there, he needed to make sure Eclipse was safe. And where was a safe place to put the big gelding?

  • • •

  “Okay, where’d you see him last?” Steve asked Ned.

  “Over there,” Ned said.

  “Where?”

  “In front of that hardware store.”

  “Did he go inside?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Okay,” Steve said, “come on. We’re all gonna have a look-see.”

  They crossed the street.

  • • •

  “Kathy! It’s me,” Clint said at the door to the mayor’s office.

  “Come on in.”

  He entered.

  “You’re back already?” she asked. “Did you find their horses?”

  “No,” he said, “I had to find a safe place to put my horse first.”

  “And where is that?”

  “Here,” Clint said. “He’s downstairs in one of the courtrooms.”

  “Eclipse is here?” Emily asked, clapping her hands. “Can I see him?”

  “When I come back,” Clint said. “For now you have to stay up here.” He looked at Kathy. “I just wanted you to know in case you heard some noise.”

  He went to the door, said, “Lock it,” again, and left.

  He made his way to the stockyards, figuring none of the gang would be there. They’d be out looking for him. Or for Chris. Or for both of them.

  • • •

  “Look around,” Steve said.

  “Where?” Billy asked.

  “Everywhere!”

  While Billy and Ned looked around in front of the hardware store, Steve went to the storeroom. He walked around, looked in the corners, then thought he heard something. He stopped, and listened. It seemed to be coming from behind some wooden crates that were piled in the middle of the room. Why would they be piled up like that?

  “You guys get in here!” he called.

  Billy and Ned came running.

  “What is it, boss?” Ned asked.

  “Move these crates,” Steve said.

  “Move ’em where?” Billy asked.

  “Just move them,” Steve said. “I wanna see what’s hidden behind them.”

  Ned and Billy started moving crates, and before long they saw Chris lying there, tied hand and foot.r />
  “Okay,” Steve said, “get him untied and up on his feet. Now we’re back to four.”

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Clint found the horses. Five of them. They were in a stable in the rear of the stockyards. Five saddle mounts and five saddles. But there were also four other horses, and two buckboards. Not enough to carry away all of the loot the gang was collecting.

  Once again he thought about the telegraph key. Had Steve sent a message before he disabled it? Were there more men and wagons on the way? And if so, how long would it take them to get there?

  He quickly saddled one of the horses and walked it outside. He was going to have to be damn lucky to walk the horse to city hall without being seen. He made the walk with his hand on his gun, waiting for someone to shout, or start shooting. But it didn’t happen.

  When he got to city hall, he walked the horse right in, as he had done with Eclipse, put it in the same room with the big gelding. Then he went upstairs.

  • • •

  “Damn, my legs are asleep,” Chris complained, flexing his legs.

  “I know just how you feel,” Ned said, sympathizing with the kid.

  “Chris,” Steve said, “what did you tell Adams?”

  “Whataya mean?” Chris asked. “I didn’t tell him nothin’. Why would I?”

  “Come on, kid,” Steve said. “We’re talkin’ about the Gunsmith here. You must’ve been scared to goddamned death. When he asked you some questions, you answered him. What did you tell him?”

  “I just told him . . .” Chris started to say, but allowed his voice to trail off. He was obviously afraid to answer Steve’s questions.

  “How many of us there are?”

  “Well, yeah . . .”

  “And did you tell him I was sending for more men?” Steve asked.

  “I said . . . yeah, well, that eventually you would be, ya know?”

  “You tell him how many?”

  “No, no . . . I don’t know . . . I mean, I don’t know how many you were gonna send for, do I?”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “What else did you tell him?” Ned asked. “Did you tell him where our horses are?”

  “Shit,” Billy said, “the horses.”

  “All right,” Steve said, “okay, we’re gonna go and check on the horses. If he didn’t move ’em, we’re gonna make ’em safe, and then we’re gonna go out and find ourselves a Gunsmith.”

  “What? We’re gonna look for him?” Chris said.

  “We’re gonna look for him and kill him,” Steve said. “Ned, where’d you see that little girl?”

  “A couple of times near this café on Main Street,” Ned said, “one time across from the Magnolia.”

  “Okay,” Steve said, “we’re gonna look for her, too. If we threaten her, maybe Adams will come out of hiding.”

  “You think so?” Ned asked. “He’s gonna come out and let us kill him, just to save some little girl he don’t know?”

  “That’s what we’re gonna find out,” Steve said.

  “Boss, I’m sorry—” Chris said.

  “Don’t worry about it, kid.”

  “You ain’t gonna kill me?”

  “No, I’m not gonna kill you,” Steve told him. “We need your gun. Come on, let’s go.”

  They left the hardware store and started back to the stockyards to check on their horses. He wouldn’t kill the kid until this was all over.

  TWENTY-NINE

  “You mean leave now?” Kathy asked.

  “Right now,” Clint said. “Let’s go.”

  “But . . . are you sure you won’t come, too?”

  “We went over this,” Clint said. “I can’t leave until I’m sure I won’t infect anybody. Now come on.”

  He hurried them downstairs to where the horses were.

  “Can’t we take Eclipse?” Emily asked.

  “Sorry, sweetie,” Clint said. “This is your horse.”

  She made a face and folded her arms across her chest.

  “Don’t we need supplies?” Kathy asked.

  “You’re not riding far,” Clint said. “Just to the next town. When you get there, go and talk to the sheriff and tell him what’s going on.”

  “But . . . what town?”

  “I passed the town of Givens about thirty miles back,” Clint said. “What’s the next town going east?”

  “I think it’s . . . Flint.”

  “Haw far?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Forty miles?”

  “Then when the folks left town altogether, they probably went to Givens, right?”

  “But you just said you rode through Givens on the way here.”

  “You’re right,” he said, shaking his head. What was he thinking? He’d been in Givens and hadn’t heard anything about a mass exodus from Medicine Bow. That meant they probably went to Flint.

  “Then you’ll ride to Flint.”

  “What if they see us?”

  “We’ll have to hope they don’t,” he said. “Come on, we’ll go out the back.”

  • • •

  “My horse is missing!” Chris exclaimed as they entered the livery.

  “And Kenny’s saddle,” Ned pointed out.

  “Why would he need to take one horse?” Steve wondered aloud. “He’d have his own.”

  “Maybe it’s lame,” Billy said.

  “Maybe he needs one for the little girl,” Ned suggested.

  “A little girl can’t ride on her own,” Steve said.

  “So then his horse is lame,” Billy said.

  “Or,” Steve said, “he needs it for somebody else.”

  “Another person?” Chris asked. “So our odds are down.”

  “Still two-to-one,” Ned said, “if that other person can even shoot.”

  “Maybe they’re gonna leave town,” Billy said. “Would that be so bad?”

  “We can’t let ’em leave town,” Steve said. “They might go to the law in the next town.”

  “I thought you said what we were doin’ wasn’t illegal,” Chris said.

  “I don’t think it is,” Steve said, “but I don’t want to have to argue the point with a lawman.”

  Ned and Billy thought Chris was stupid if he didn’t know what they were doing was illegal. Why else would they want to kill to keep it a secret?

  “Okay,” Steve told them, “first we’ve got to move these horses.”

  “What about my horse?” Chris asked.

  “You can have Kenny’s.”

  “But my horse was better—”

  “We’ll get it back,” Steve said, “after we kill the Gunsmith. But for now we’ve got to make sure he doesn’t get to these animals.”

  “Why didn’t he just take them while he was here?” Billy asked.

  “Maybe he couldn’t handle five horses,” Steve said. “He probably wanted to make some time.”

  “He could have scattered them.”

  “That would have attracted attention.”

  They each grabbed a horse and their saddles—Chris taking Kenny’s horse while grumbling about it—and walked them outside.

  “Where we gonna take them?” Ned asked.

  “We’ll find a place,” Steve said. “But let’s make it quick. We’ve got to stop him before he puts Chris’s horse to use.”

  “There’s a few other stables,” Billy said.

  “No stable,” Steve said. “Someplace he wouldn’t think to look.”

  They all thought a moment, and then Steve said, “I’ve got it. The jail is big enough.”

  “The jail?” Chris asked.

  “Why not? I don’t think he’d look there. Come on. We can walk them so we don’t attract too much attention.”

  “What if he’s watchin’ us right now?” Chris as
ked.

  “Then it won’t make a difference.”

  “Too bad none of us can track,” Ned said. “Or we’d be able to follow him to where he took the horse.”

  “Forget it,” Steve said. None of them had that talent. “Let’s just get these horses stashed away and then find him, or the little girl.”

  THIRTY

  They walked the horse out the back door, where Clint gave Kathy a boost up into the saddle. He then lifted Emily up to sit behind her.

  “Forty miles,” Clint said. “This horse is fit. Should take you four or five hours if you ride straight through. If Emily can stand it.”

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “We’ll make it, and send back help.”

  “I want you to ride out the east end of town, and then circle around,” Clint said.

  “Why not just ride west?”

  “It’s shorter this way,” Clint said. “Less chance of being seen.”

  “All right.”

  “Emily,” Clint said, “you hold on tight to Kathy, all right?”

  “Yes, Clint.”

  “And I’ll see you soon.”

  Emily wrapped her arms around Kathy and pressed her face to her back.

  “Go!” Clint said.

  • • •

  As much as Clint Adams hated the word “coincidence,” it did rear its ugly head from time to time—usually at the wrong time.

  Just as Kathy came out from an alley on horseback, with Emily behind her, Steve Harwick and his three men were walking down Main Street.

  “What the hell—” Ned said.

  “Who’s that?” Billy said.

  “Never mind who it is,” Steve said. “Stop her!”

  They all drew their guns.

  “Don’t hit the little girl,” Steve said. “Just keep them from leaving town.”

  “Right,” Ned said, and they all began firing.

  • • •

  Kathy heard the gunfire, and her heart leaped into her throat.

  “Hold on, honey!” she said.