Billy cowered to one side, shaking violently. He’d seen Willard get angry one too many times, and he knew what was probably coming.
“I thought you wanted me to get her to come to you, I didn’t think you meant for me to kidnap her,” Billy replied.
“I didn’t mean for you to kidnap anyone!” Willard shouted. “I wanted you to find a way to get Evelyn to come back to me, I didn’t want you to kidnap her father!”
“But this might get her to come to you and—”
Willard swung for Billy, who just managed to duck out of the way of the right hook. “Then why not just bring me Evelyn?”
Billy didn’t know what to say. Willard could see that he’d made a mistake, but the bigger mistake was doing it in broad daylight. This happened during the daytime, so surely someone somewhere in Kecheetah would have seen what had happened. It would only be a matter of time before the sheriff was on his trail.
“You’re an idiot, Billy Rivera, pure and simple, I don’t know why I keep you around.”
“Don’t say that, boss, I was only thinking—”
“No, Billy, you weren’t thinking!” Willard shouted, marching toward Billy, the rage bubbling up inside him. “You never think, that is your problem. You think that bringing Evelyn’s father here will bring her to my side, but it won’t, it will only succeed in making her hate me even more than she already does. This is a disaster!”
“Boss—”
“The only saving grace is that her father has no idea what is going on or what is happening to him, so maybe, just maybe, we can salvage this.” Willard paced back and forth, unable to stop his heart pounding, to stop himself from feeling so tense. “You’ve really messed up this time, Billy,” he said. “And until I figure out exactly what we are going to do next, you’re going to have to stay here with him, do you understand?”
“But boss, I—”
“What, Billy, what is it now?”
“We might have a problem,” Billy said sheepishly. “I left a note. I thought that was the right thing to do, telling Evelyn she needs to come here to get him herself, I just thought—”
Willard howled like a beast, running toward Billy and wrapping his hands around his neck, pinning him to the wall. Billy choked, spluttered, gasped for air, kicking his legs, trying to find a way to get Willard off him.
“You, Billy Rivera, are a liability, and I have no idea what I am going to do with you,” he growled. “A little more pressure and I could end your life here, you know that? I know I could do it, and maybe that is what this will come to eventually.” Willard let go, letting Billy fall to the floor, coughing as he tried to get the air back into his lungs. “You are a fool, Billy. You are a stupid fool and I don’t know why I keep you around.” Willard sighed. “Stay here.”
“But sir,” Billy croaked. “What about—”
“You will watch him while I figure out what it is, we are going to do next,” Willard interrupted. “And if you even think about runnin’, I will track you down and shoot you. Don’t think for a moment that I won’t, because you know I will. You have my word on that.”
Willard stalked out of the cave, pulling his hat low and wrapping a neckerchief around his mouth. It wasn’t much of a disguise, but it would have to do.
He climbed atop his black horse and rode to Malwakee. Every second of the journey was spent trying to figure out what he was going to do with Billy and the mistake he’d made. How much longer did he have before the sheriff and that ranger were on his trail? He might be in more trouble than he cared to admit.
He made it to the Golden Horseshoe, the saloon in Malwakee that he frequented as often as he could. He traded here, he got weapons here and, more often than not, he managed to round up a couple of bandits willing to get themselves in trouble for him. But right now, all he wanted was a drink.
He tied up his horse outside by the water trough and walked in. Immediately heads turned to him, watching as he got inside. There were a lot of people in that saloon that knew him, a lot of people who were certainly scared of him. A couple hid their faces, a couple of others stared him down. Willard felt a thrill rush through him as he walked over to the bar.
They know me, he thought. He couldn’t stop himself from letting out a chuckle. That’s what he’d always wanted, to be known, and these people knew him. There were faces in here he couldn’t pick out of a line up, people he had never even met, and they all knew who he was.
“Barkeep!” he called out as he took a seat. “Whiskey.”
“Sir, I was ahead of you,” a man next to Willard piped up. Without a second’s hesitation, Willard turned on the man, his gun drawn from its holster and pointed at the guy’s chin.
“You sure about that, buddy?” he growled.
The man was shaking, and Willard couldn’t keep the smile off his face. If there was a single person left in that saloon who didn’t fear him, that would probably do it. He released the man and turned back to the bar to see his drink already waiting for him. He drained it.
“Another!” he shouted. The man behind the bar obliged at speed. He decided to take his time with this one, letting himself unwind a little, and trying not to think about Billy and that stupid mistake he’d made.
It will be fine, Willard thought. I just need to figure out my next move.
The next move he wanted to make was to get hold of Evelyn. In fact, that was supposed to be the move he had already made, had Billy not messed it up so completely. She was the missing piece of his puzzle. The people in this saloon already worshipped him, feared him, and that was what he had always wanted. He was a king among these bandits, the only thing missing was a queen.
Evelyn will be my queen, he thought. One way or another, she will be at my side.
Chapter 25
At the Mayor’s say so, Evelyn and Lonnie headed into town to the sheriff’s office. If they were going to go, Lonnie said he was going to need back up. This could be their only chance to get hold of Willard, and they needed to make it count. They also needed to make sure that Evelyn’s father was safe, something Evelyn was trying to make sure wasn’t an afterthought.
“You have to let me come with you,” Evelyn said as they walked.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Lonnie replied.
“Why not?”
“Willard wants you, Evelyn,” Lonnie said. “He’s made that abundantly clear. If you end up in harm’s way, I would never forgive myself.”
“I’m volunteering.”
“I don’t care.”
“It’s my father, Lon, I need to know he is okay,” she barked. “Apart from which, you’re saying that Willard wants me, then maybe my being there will help to draw him out.”
“I’m not using you as bait!”
“This isn’t a discussion!” Evelyn shouted. “This is my father and Willard has been my problem for far too long. I want this to be over and I will do whatever it takes, so I am coming with you and that’s that!”
A smile tugged at the corners of Lonnie’s mouth.
“What?” Evelyn asked.
“I forgot just how feisty you can be,” he said. Evelyn blushed. She was taking it as a compliment. He placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her in close. She couldn’t stop herself from letting out the tiniest gasp. It made him grin, but just for a moment. He rearranged his face into something a little more serious, locking his eyes onto hers. Evelyn’s heart was pounding so hard, she half-expected he could hear it. “You can come, but you need to keep safe. I don’t want to lose you, alright?”
“Alright.”
“I mean it, Evelyn,” Lonnie said firmly, not releasing her. She could feel the warmth of him radiating, the scent of him was making her dizzy. “This means you will have to stop acting recklessly and actually listen to what I say, do you think you can do that?”
Evelyn pretended to consider it.
“Evelyn!” Lonnie warned.
“Fine, fine, fine!” she said, and they continued on their
way.
After informing Sheriff Hawker about what was going on, they gathered what men they could at short notice and started toward Malwakee. One of the men foolishly offered Evelyn a place on his horse, but she was more than capable of riding herself. In fact, she was a much better rider than he could ever hope to be. She deliberately rode ahead of him, heading up the group with Lonnie, determined to show that she was strong enough to handle this, and that they were a team.
They reached the outskirts of Malwakee and looked around at the town. It was a little rundown, the buildings looking like they hadn’t been cared for quite as well as they were in Kecheetah. The porch was broken outside the general store, a broken-down wagon that looked like it had been there for a little too long. But other than that, it didn’t seem like anything was happening. The sun still beat down on the dusty ground, the townspeople still walked around as if it was just another day. It seemed normal. Evelyn didn’t know what she’d been expecting. Maybe she was expecting it to be more obvious that Willard was here. Maybe she’d expected fire or gunshots, but what she was met with was a town that looked like any other day.
Carts were being pulled along the roads, the market traders were finishing up for the day, people looked like they were heading home or off to the saloon.
“What do you think?” Lonnie asked.
Evelyn didn’t know what to say. “I’m not sure,” she replied. “I thought he might have tried something here. Willard doesn’t exactly do subtle.”
Lonnie scoffed. “We’ll just have to start looking around.” He reached his arm up and waved it around in a circle. On cue, the men who had joined them kicked at their horses and dispersed around the town. A couple galloped off into the distance, a few more started looking at the ranches nearby to see if they could find anything. They knew who they were looking for. There wasn’t a chance in hell they could miss Willard.
They started through the town, passing the market traders and heading in the direction of the Yellow Tail Inn, not too far from the saloon and it was there that Evelyn saw a familiar face.
“There!” Evelyn whispered.
“Willard?” Lonnie whispered back.
She shook her head. “Billy!”
Sure enough, walking out of the Yellow Tail Inn was Billy. He looked a little rougher than he had looked the last time Evelyn had seen him. His hair was raggedy, he had a purple bruise blooming around his eye, and Evelyn had to wonder if Willard had taken a pop at him.
He turned in time to see them and darted in the opposite direction.
Lonnie wasted no time at all, kicking the back of his horse and racing after him. It wasn’t really a contest, Billy could try to outrun Lonnie on a horse, but it was never going to happen. Lonnie lassoed him, tripping him up so he bit the dust and came to a grinding halt.
Evelyn trotted after them and hopped off her horse, handing the reins to Lonnie so she could question Billy. He stayed on the ground and she allowed herself to tower over him. He was cowering, shaking.
“Please, please, Miss Evelyn, don’t hurt me, I promise I never meant to hurt anybody!” he shouted. He was drawing attention to himself, attention that they didn’t need right now, if they were going to try and catch Willard off guard.
Evelyn knelt down next to him and took hold of his hand.
That will soon shut him up, she thought.
“I’m not gonna hurt you Billy, okay?” she said. “I promise you I won’t.”
Billy looked confused. “Really? But after everything—”
“I know, Billy, but what’s hurting you gonna do, huh? I never wanted to hurt you, Billy.” She smiled her sweetest smile at him, and it seemed to calm him down, his entire demeanour softening. At least he wasn’t shaking anymore.
“I guess not much,” he replied. “But I wouldn’t blame you, I mean, I did a very stupid thing.”
“A very stupid thing, Billy,” Evelyn said, trying to stay as sweet as possible. “And because you did a really stupid thing Billy, and because I know how much you care about me, I’m going to need you to do me a favor.”
“What’s that?”
“I need you to tell me where my father is.”
Billy looked a little unnerved. He looked at the inn, he looked at Lonnie and he looked at Evelyn, his face panic-stricken. “I don’t know if I can do that.”
“Billy–”
Without warning, Lonnie darted forward and grabbed hold of Billy’s collar, slamming him into the ground.
“Listen here, Billy—”
“Lonnie, stop it!”
“Evelyn—”
“Trust me, Lon, okay?” Evelyn tried to keep her voice steady, but the slightest shake betrayed her. She knew she was taking a gamble here, but nobody knew Billy better than her. If she could just talk to him, she knew that everything would be alright. “Lonnie, please?” she said.
Lonnie let go and took a step back. She could tell that he didn’t like it, but he needed to let her take the lead on this.
“Evelyn, Willard told me to stay with him, I just wanted to come out and get a little air. I didn’t know you were going to be here, and I would get lassoed and…” He looked up at Lonnie. “That hurt, by the way.”
“It wasn’t supposed to tickle!” Lonnie barked.
“Easy, easy,” Evelyn said to Lonnie. “Look, Billy, I need to know where he is okay? Everything that’s going on with me and Willard is a little bit wild, so I just need to know where he is. You don’t have to be part of any of this.”
“I just wish I understood what was going on,” Billy said. “He’s mad, but he likes you a lot Evelyn, he loves you almost as much as I do.”
“Now, now, Billy, that doesn’t seem quite right,” Evelyn said, offering Billy a wink. He practically melted in front of her. “Now how about you tell us what we need to know and you can be on your way.”
“Evelyn, you can’t just—”
“You’re not going to hurt anybody, are you Billy?” Evelyn said. “If I let you go, you’ll be good, won’t you? You’ll get yourself far away from Kecheetah and Willard and do something good with your life, won’t you?”
“Of course, Evelyn, if that’s what you want, you know I’ll do anything for you,” Billy replied with a dumb-looking smile.
He really is a sweet guy, Evelyn thought. Sure, he’s dumb as a box of sand, but he’s not hurting anybody. He doesn’t mean to, anyhow.
“So, where is my father, Billy?” Evelyn asked.
Billy looked over to the inn. “He’s in the inn,” he replied. “He’s in room number eleven, and Willard had me tie him up, but we didn’t hurt him, okay? He was never meant to be hurt.”
“That’s okay, Billy,” Evelyn said, untying Billy and getting to her feet. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.”
Evelyn leaned forward and kissed Billy on the cheek. He went bright red. “Now, you get on your way now,” she said. “I don’t want to hear another thing from you. I knew you were a good boy after all Billy, I just knew it.”
“Thank you, Miss Evelyn, Mr. Lonnie, sir,” Billy said, turning and walking off into the sunset. Evelyn had no idea where he would go from here, but she hoped that wherever he ended up, whatever he ended up doing, it made him happy. Billy was pretty simple. She didn’t bear him any ill will.
“You shouldn’t have let him go, Evelyn,” Lonnie said. “He was one of Willard’s accomplices he—”
“He has never done anything wrong that wasn’t ordered by Willard,” Evelyn interrupted. “I don’t want him getting hurt. He is a good boy, I know he is Lonnie, you just have to trust me, okay?”
Lonnie looked a little unsure but shrugged. “Fine. I trust you.”
“Now let’s go and get my father.”
Lonnie shook his head. “No, Evelyn, you’re not going into that inn,” he said. “I know you want to, but if Willard is in there, I can’t risk you getting hurt. I will go in and get your father and bring him out here to you.”
“But Lonnie, i
t’s my father, you can’t—”
Lonnie held up a hand to her and she stopped. “You made a promise to me Evelyn, you said you would listen to me. And I need you to listen to me now, I don’t want you getting hurt. So please, just this once, do as I ask.” Lonnie took a deep breath. “If you hear gunfire, for goodness sake, protect yourself. Run if you have to.”
Evelyn watched as Lonnie walked toward the inn, stepping inside and vanishing from sight. She listened hard for any commotion, anything that might point to something happening inside, but nothing came. She started to pace, ignoring the strange looks she was getting from the townspeople. She didn’t know what she was expecting, gunfire? Shouting? But for there to be nothing but silence was almost too much to bear.
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