Killer Poker

Chapter 3





Conrad hadn’t strapped on his Colt yet. The coiled gunbelt and holster laid on the ground next to his bedroll. His Winchester leaned against the cottonwood log, nearby but not within fast reach. All he had in his hand was a cup of coffee.

He grimaced as the riders reined in and the cloud of dust raised by their horses’ hooves drifted over the camp. “You fellas are in too big a hurry. You’ve got dust in our breakfast.”

Since the sun was behind them, the riders were mostly in silhouette. Conrad could tell they were looking for trouble. They carried their rifles across the saddles in front of them. Since he couldn’t very well shoot it out with them, he would have to rely on talk instead.

“Who’re you two?” one of the men demanded in a rough voice.

“I could ask the same of you,” Conrad said. “After all, this is our camp, and you’re the visitors.” His mouth tightened. “Or intruders might be a better word.”

“Don’t get smart with me, boy. I’m Sheriff Lucas Pevner, and I’m on the trail of three no-good bastards who robbed the bank in Stillwater.”

The thought that they might be the posse mentioned by the outlaws a few hours earlier had been in the back of Conrad’s mind. He turned and gestured casually with the tin cup in his hand toward the tall weeds.

“The men you’re looking for are right over there, Sheriff.”

Pevner moved his horse so he blocked out the rising sun. He was that big. Conrad could see the lawman’s rough-hewn face, with a drooping white mustache.

“What in blazes are you talkin’ about?” Pevner demanded. He turned his head. “Danny, check it out.”

One of the posse members urged his horse forward. A brawny young man who wore a deputy’s badge, he rode over to the weeds and reached down with his rifle, using the barrel to push some of the growth aside.

“Son of a—They’re here, all right, Sheriff. Looks like all three of them.”

“Dead?” Pevner asked like he couldn’t believe it.

“Dead as they can be.” Danny turned around with a disgusted look on his face. “The ants are gettin’ to ’em.”

Pevner took off the battered old Stetson he wore and scrubbed a big hand over his face. Then he clapped the hat back on his head and glared at Conrad. “What happened here?”

“They rode in a few hours ago and tried to steal our horses. We didn’t let them.”

“Didn’t let ’em,” the sheriff muttered. “Do you know who those hombres are? I mean, were?”

“One of them was called Kingston,” Conrad said. “That’s all I remember.”

“Bully Kingston, they called him,” Pevner said. “Killed at least four men that we know of. The other two were almost as bad. And you’re claimin’ a dude like you and this skinny drink of water shot it out with ’em and killed all three of ’em?”

“We didn’t want them to take our horses,” Conrad said.

Pevner blew out a sigh, causing his mustache to flutter. “All right, Danny,” he said to his deputy, “you and some of the boys drag ’em out and wrap ’em up in blankets. We’ll take them back to Stillwater with us.”

“We might not want to do that, Sheriff,” Danny said. “It’s gonna be a mighty hot day, and like I said, the ants are already startin’ to get to ’em . . .”

Pevner sighed again. “You’re right. We’ll plant the bastards right here.” He looked around at the creek and its grassy, tree-lined banks. “It’s a prettier place for eternal rest than the varmints deserve, that’s for dang sure.”

Conrad said, “We’re obliged to you, Sheriff. Arturo and I were going to bury them, but you and your men can save us the trouble.”

Pevner swung down from the saddle. With his size and lumbering movements, he reminded Conrad a little of a bear.

“Who are you, mister?” the lawman demanded.

“My name is Conrad Browning. This is my friend Arturo Vincenzo.”

Pevner glanced at Arturo. “Foreigner, eh?” He turned back to Conrad. “What are you doin’ out here, Browning?”

“We’re on our way to Denver.” He didn’t volunteer any other information.

“You said Kingston and his men wanted to swap horses with you. What happened to their mounts?”

“They spooked and ran off when the shooting started. That’s the last we saw of them. They probably didn’t go very far. You can probably find them if you want to look.”

Pevner nodded and looked over his shoulder. “Danny, see if they got the bank loot on ’em.”

Conrad said, “I can save your deputy the trouble, Sheriff. I searched them already. The money they took from the bank must be on their horses, because they don’t have it.”

Pevner gave him a suspicious frown. “Is that so? It wouldn’t be that you already found the loot and claimed it for yourself, would it?”

Conrad thought about being proddy but decided it wasn’t worth the time and trouble. He waved a hand at the buckboard and said, “There’s all our gear. You’re welcome to go through it if you want. I can tell you right now, though, that you’ll find some cash. That’s our traveling fund.”

“How much cash?”

“A couple thousand dollars.”

Danny let out a surprised whistle. “Some travelin’ fund.”

“Kingston and them took eight thousand from the bank,” Pevner said. “Maybe you done already stashed the rest of it and just kept out a couple grand.”

Conrad couldn’t keep the irritated edge out of his voice. “Why don’t you send some of your men to look for those horses first, Sheriff, before you go around accusing somebody who’s actually done you a favor?”

Pevner glared at him a moment longer before jerking his head in a curt nod. “All right. Did you see which way they went when they stampeded?”

“North.” Conrad nodded his head in that direction.

“Phillips, Martin, Webster, go take a look and see if you can find them horses,” the lawman ordered.

“While they’re doing that, Arturo and I are going to have our breakfast.” Conrad looked at the coffee in his cup and made a face at the skim of dust floating on its surface. “That is, if it’s still fit to eat.”

He didn’t offer to share their food with the posse. He and Arturo were running a little low on supplies, and what they had would have to last until they reached Denver.

Besides, Pevner’s attitude rubbed Conrad the wrong way. He could understand why Frank had told him that a lot of lawmen were full of themselves and hard to get along with.

A couple posse members had brought along shovels. It was a smart thing do when chasing outlaws. Chances were, somebody would usually need burying before the pursuit was over.

Pevner told his men to start digging. “Not too close to the creek,” he added.

When Conrad and Arturo finished breakfast, Conrad started to hitch the team to the buckboard while Arturo cleaned up. Pevner came over to the vehicle, still glaring, and demanded, “Where the hell do you think you’re goin’?”

“I told you. Denver.”

Pevner shook his head. “Not yet, you ain’t. Not until we account for that missin’ bank money.”

“You searched our belongings while we were eating,” Conrad said. “You should be satisfied by now that we don’t have it.”

“You’re stayin’ right here until my boys get back with them horses. Then we’ll just see what happens.”

Conrad’s jaw tightened. He expected the three men Pevner had sent to look for the outlaws’ horses to be back soon. It was easier to wait for that than to argue, but it didn’t mean he had to like it. “Fine. For the time being.”

Pevner snorted.

Conrad walked over to his bedroll. He reached down toward the coiled gunbelt, intending to strap it on.

“Don’t do that,” the sheriff snapped. “Step away from that gun, Browning.”

Conrad turned toward him, struggling to control his anger. Ignoring the warning look Arturo gave him, he began hotly, “Sheriff, you—”

“The fellas are comin’ back,” Danny broke in. “Looks like they got those horses with ’em.”

It was true. The three posse members were riding in from the north, leading the three horses the outlaws had ridden in on the night before. As they came up, Conrad saw that the saddlebags on each animal appeared to be well stuffed.

Eagerly, Pevner opened one of the pouches and stuck his hand in it. He had a thick wad of bills clutched in his fingers when he brought them out. “Looks like the loot’s here, all right,” he said. “Danny, get it all out and count it.” Pevner cast a hard glance toward Conrad. “If there’s six grand, we’ll know that somebody was lyin’ to us and had already collected his share.”

“You said three men robbed the bank, Sheriff,” Conrad said. “There are three graves over there.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you was the mastermind behind the whole thing, mister.”

Conrad bit back the angry words that wanted to spring to his lips. It would all be over soon, he told himself.

It didn’t take Danny long to count the money he pulled from the saddlebags. “Eight thousand, one hundred, and sixty-seven dollars,” he announced a few minutes later. “I reckon that matches up with what Mr. Madison at the bank told us those fellas got away with, Sheriff.”

Pevner nodded and sighed. “You’re right, Danny.” He turned and stuck out a big paw toward Conrad. “No offense, Browning. I reckon you’re in the clear.”

Conrad wasn’t that eager to accept his implied apology, but he shook hands anyway. He supposed the sheriff had only been doing his job.

“You’ll finish burying them?” he asked.

Pevner nodded. “We sure will.”

“Then Arturo and I will be on our way as soon as we can get ready to travel.”

“That’s fine. Headed for Denver, you say?”

“That’s right.”

“You ought to be there in another couple days.” Pevner paused, then added, “Unless you run into somebody else who wants to shoot you.”

“I wouldn’t rule it out,” Arturo said.