Luke Jensen: Bad Men Die Part 20

She stirred in the bed, which made McCluskey wonder if she knew somehow that he was thinking about her. She sat up and stretched, the sheet falling away to reveal her surprisingly lush nudity.

Maybe once they got to Mexico he'd keep her around longer than he had thought, McCluskey mused.

"What are you doing awake?" she asked him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking about something."

"Those strongboxes full of gold?"

McCluskey chuckled. "How did you know?"

"Because I was dreaming about them." She pushed the sheet back, stood up, and went over to him. As she draped herself across his lap, she took the bottle out of his hand and drank some of the whiskey. "All that gold ought to belong to us," she said as she gave the bottle back to him.

"You don't want to go in partners with Harmon?"

Delia snorted contemptuously. "Partners, h.e.l.l. He's the boss, and he'll always be the boss. That's the kind of man he is."

"I'm afraid you're right," McCluskey agreed.

"Besides, I saw the way he was looking at me. Sooner or later, he's going to expect me to come to his bed, Frank."

McCluskey didn't say what he was thinking, which was that he didn't care nearly as much about that as he did about the gold.

Delia evidently mistook his silence, because she went on. "I know, I know. That shouldn't bother me. But that's just it, Frank. Ever since I met you, I haven't been what I was. You changed me. I don't want to be with anybody but you. I'll play up to a man if I have to, for us to get what we want, but other than that I'm your woman and your woman alone from here on out."

She was loco, all right, McCluskey thought, but undeniably useful. He drew her closer to him and kissed her. She responded eagerly, squirming on his lap.

McCluskey drew back. "If we can get our hands on that gold, we can go someplace n.o.body'll ever find us. We'll be together from now on."

"Yes, yes," Delia panted. "I like the sound of that."

"But our only way out of here with those strongboxes is if we take Harmon with us as a hostage. Otherwise, his men will come after us. They'll be afraid to, though, as long as his life is in our hands."

"What about when we're safe?"

"Then we kill him," McCluskey said. "If we don't, that old man would likely hunt us to the ends of the earth to get even."

Delia nodded. "Yes, he would. When are we going to do it?"

"No time like now." McCluskey stood up, not so gently setting Delia on her feet. "It's the middle of the night. He and his men think they're safe in Pine City, so most of them are probably sound asleep." He slapped her bare rump and made her squeal and jump a little. "Get some clothes on. Those strongboxes are just waiting for us!"

Before leaving the livery stable, Luke went through the dead guard's pockets and found six more shotgun sh.e.l.ls. It was a distasteful task, but he felt better for having the extra ammunition.

With a man on guard inside the barn, it was doubtful Harmon would have posted another one outside, but Luke couldn't rule out that possibility. He left the place by the smaller rear door, slipping into the alley behind the barn.

Moving like a phantom through the shadows, he made his way around the building, back to a spot where he could look along Pine City's main street. Lights burned in the hotel lobby and the saloon, but the rest of the businesses were dark, long since closed for the night.

He didn't see anyone moving along the boardwalks.

He took a couple steps to cross the street to the hotel when one of the big double doors on the front of the barn sc.r.a.ped open.

Luke whirled in that direction, bringing the shotgun to bear. An icy finger raked down his spine. He wasn't afraid of many things in this world, but he knew good and well the guard he'd left in the barn was dead.

The man couldn't have gotten up and walked and opened that door.

Luke managed not to pull the shotgun's triggers, but it wasn't easy. He was glad he did, though, as the man-shaped shadow stepped out of the barn.

The shadowed man thrust his hands in the air and exclaimed in a harsh whisper, "Don't shoot!"

"Silas?" Luke lowered the gun.

The liveryman was breathing hard from sudden fear as he moved closer. "Lord, I thought you was gonna blow me in half!"

"I almost did," Luke said as he motioned Silas back into the thicker shadows next to the barn and went with him. "What are you doing here? Were you inside when I was fighting with Harmon's man?"

"No, sir. I just got here a couple minutes ago. I came because Tillie and Miz Walton and Mr. McGill were all worried about you. I was, too. Seemed like you might've had time to escape by now, so I decided to come and see." Silas swallowed. "But when I went inside and struck a match, all I found was that dead fella."

"I managed to get out not long ago," Luke explained. "You say you were with your wife and Mrs. Walton and Ben McGill?"

"Yes, sir. Them and some others from here in town are gathered at the cafe, waitin' to see what's gonna happen."

"You mean waiting to see whether or not I'm going to kill Dave Harmon for them?" Luke asked.

Silas sounded a little angry as he replied, "That ain't exactly the way it is. All the menfolks have got guns. If we heard shootin', we were gonna come help you. Figured we'd take Harmon's men by surprise that way."

Luke had to admit that strategically, it wasn't a bad plan. His escape would serve as a distraction, giving the townspeople more of a chance against Harmon's hired killers.

"But if I didn't get out, you'd just go on knuckling under to him."

"We're not gunfighters, Mr. Jensen," Silas said. "And most of us got families. Can't expect us to go up against those gun-wolves without much chance of winnin'. We figure if anything'll swing the balance toward us, it's havin' somebody like you on our side."

Luke nodded in the darkness and clapped a hand on Silas's brawny shoulder. "I know. And I'm sorry I sounded a little testy there. What do you say we try to get Harmon's boot off this town's neck?"

"That's all we want," Silas said. "Just a chance to get on with our lives in peace."

"All right. Can you tell me where Harmon and his men are right now?"

"Harmon's in the hotel, as far as I know. He's got his own suite there, down at the end of the hall on the second floor. Probably some of his men are there, too. But some of 'em are still in the saloon. I had a look as I was comin' down here a few minutes ago. I think they got themselves an all-night poker game goin' on."

"What about Marshal Kent?"

Silas shook his head. "Lawman or not, he ain't gonna help us."

"I'm not expecting him to. I just want to know where he is so I can keep an eye out for him."

"He ain't married. He sleeps in the room back of his office. That's where he is now, I reckon."

"He doesn't have any night deputies?"

"Naw. Never been a need for any. Folks around here know that if they cause too much trouble, they'll answer to Harmon. He's the real law in Pine City. He's judge, jury-and executioner."

"He's killed people?" Luke asked.

"Oh, yeah," Silas said. "Had it done, anyway. How do you think Miz Georgia got to be a widow?"

That took Luke a little by surprise. "Harmon had her husband killed?"

"That's right. Tom Walton got hisself elected mayor and tried to do somethin' about the way Harmon was runnin' things around here. Harmon had some of his men jump poor Tom one night and beat him to death. Thing is, Miz Georgia don't know that. Harmon's men tossed the body in my corral with a bad horse I had at the time. They tried to make it look like Tom had gone in there for some reason and that hoss killed him. That's what Miz Georgia believes. But I've seen men who got kicked and trampled to death by a horse, and I can tell the difference. Tom Walton died at the hands of men, not some horse."

As far as Luke was concerned, that made Dave Harmon just as much a murderer as his men. Since Luke had been in Pine City, the only ones who'd been killed were members of Derek Burroughs' outlaw gang. The law wouldn't see their deaths as a crime. Even Harmon's attempt to hang on to the gold might not get him in much trouble with outside authorities if any ever showed up. He could always claim that he hadn't known the gold was stolen, and no one around here would dare to dispute him.

But Tom Walton's murder-and the deaths of anyone else in Pine City who had opposed Harmon's iron-handed rule-made things different.

Luke would no longer hesitate in going after Harmon. "You'll testify against Harmon if it ever comes to that?"

"Dang right, and I ain't the only one. There's plenty of wrongdoin' to lay at that man's feet."

"Then let's do it. Go back to the cafe and tell your friends to get ready." Luke glanced at the sky and saw that it had turned gray with the approach of dawn while he and Silas were talking. "The sun's going to come up on all h.e.l.l breaking loose in Pine City this morning."

CHAPTER 33.

Delia put on the same dress she'd been wearing ever since she got on the train in Rattlesnake Wells. It was the only thing she had to wear.

McCluskey suggested she leave the top two b.u.t.tons undone. "We might as well distract Harmon a little," he said with a grin. "That might help us get the drop on him."

"I don't mind doing that." Delia adjusted the garment. "Especially if it helps us get that gold so we can find some safe place to spend the rest of our lives."

Not for the first time, McCluskey wondered how she would react when she found out, somewhere down the line, that they weren't going to be spending the rest of their lives together. She had a tendency to turn violent when she didn't get what she wanted.

Maybe what he ought to do instead of cutting her loose was to wait until some night when she was sound asleep and put a pillow over her face and hold it there until she stopped breathing. That way she would have spent the rest of her life with him, just like she wanted, he mused.

He put those murderous thoughts out of his head. For now, they were a team, and a good one, at that. He said, "All right. Let's go."

As they went down the hall toward Harmon's suite, McCluskey thought it unlikely the cattle baron had any bodyguards with him. Harmon seemed to feel he was the lord and master, making him absolutely safe in Pine City.

They paused in front of the double doors. McCluskey knocked loud enough to rouse a sleeping man from slumber.

After a moment, a groggy voice asked from inside, "Who the h.e.l.l is out there? This d.a.m.n well better be important!"

McCluskey nodded to Delia.

She raised her voice a little and said, "I need to talk to you, Mr. Harmon."

"Oh. Miss Bradley." Harmon sounded surprised but not displeased that Delia had come calling on him in what seemed like the middle of the night. A key rattled in the lock, and one of the doors swung inward. "Please come on-" The invitation stopped short as Harmon saw that McCluskey was in the corridor, too. "What is this?" the rancher growled.

McCluskey said, "We need to talk to you. It's about the gold."

Harmon looked suspicious, but he opened the door the rest of the way. His white hair was rumpled from sleep. He wore a red union suit and had a revolver in his right hand. "All right. Come on in, both of you."

McCluskey and Delia stepped into the suite's sitting room. With the door to the bedroom open, they could see that Harmon had lit a lamp on one of the tables beside the bed.

Luke and Silas split up, Luke heading for the hotel while the liveryman went back to the cafe to rally the townspeople ready to throw off Harmon's brutal rule. He moved quickly at an angle across the street so as not to be spotted by any of Harmon's men who happened to be up and about at the early hour.

Reaching the alley beside the hotel, he ducked into its welcoming shadows. The gloom was so thick he had to move slowly to avoid tripping over anything and creating a racket.

He almost ran into an outside stairway that led to the second floor. Holding the shotgun ready, he stayed close to the wall where the boards would be less likely to creak and went up the stairs.

At the small landing at the top, he tried the doork.n.o.b. It was locked, but he gripped the k.n.o.b tighter, put his shoulder against the door, and pushed and heaved.

The lock wasn't st.u.r.dy enough to withstand that much force and popped open. He swung the door back, stepped into a dimly lit corridor, and looked around.

The doors nearest him looked like they went to regular hotel rooms. More likely, the double doors at the other end led to Harmon's suite.

"What's this about the gold?" Harmon said sharply.

Even though he was worried about that, McCluskey noted the cattle baron's eyes kept straying to the shadowy, enticing valley between Delia's b.r.e.a.s.t.s that the unfastened b.u.t.tons revealed.

Delia spoke quickly. "Oh Mr. Harmon, we're sorry we woke you. We have some information we think is important."

"Well, get on with it. Tell me what is so important you woke me in the middle of the night." Harmon looked from Delia to McCluskey.

"I think some of your men are planning to double-cross you," McCluskey said. "They're going to take the gold and try to get away."

Harmon snorted. "They wouldn't dare! All my boys are loyal to me. Besides, they're smart enough to know that if they ever did something like that I'd track 'em down and peel all the hide off'em a strip at a time, just like the Apaches do."

"Maybe, but I swear I overheard some of them plotting to take the gold," McCluskey lied. "I figured it wouldn't hurt anything to go down there and take a look, just to make sure."

Harmon glared at him. "If you're so certain of this, why didn't you come tell me before now?"

Delia moved closer to him. "Frank was going to, Mr. Harmon, but I told him he ought to wait and not stir up trouble. Then I got to thinking about how kind you've been to us, and about how much we owe you, and . . . and I couldn't just stand by and let anything happen that would cause trouble for you." She put a hand on his arm. "It's already going to be hard enough for us to repay you."

Harmon breathed a little harder with Delia standing so close to him. He nodded. "All right. Let me get dressed and we'll go have a look. I still think you're wrong, McCluskey, but I reckon with that much gold at stake, it don't hurt anything to be careful."

As he turned toward the bedroom door, Delia looked back at McCluskey and smirked in triumph.

Unfortunately, Harmon had paused and swung back around, either to say something else or to get another look at Delia's cleavage, and he saw the look that pa.s.sed between his two visitors.

Harmon stepped back quickly and raised the gun as his face darkened in anger. "What the h.e.l.l was that?" he demanded. "I saw that look. You two are plottin' against me, ain't you? This is some sort of double-cross!"

"Oh, no, Mr. Harmon!" Delia cried. "We'd never do that. You're mistaken-"

McCluskey bit back a curse. Delia's overconfidence in her own charms might have ruined everything. His hand moved instinctively toward the gun on his hip as he told her, "Get out of the way!"