Beauty And The Bounty

by Robert J. Randisi

  “What have you got?” Decker asked.

  “This is a message for you. A man dropped it off at the front desk a few minutes ago.”

  “What did he look like?”

  Duke shrugged.

  “The desk clerk didn’t notice. You know, medium height, medium build—”

  “Uh-huh,” Decker said, opening the sealed envelope.

  “What’s it say? Anything important?”

  Decker handed it to Duke, who read it.

  YOU WERE ASKING ABOUT JULIE LANDAN LAST NIGHT. COME TO THE BLOODY BUCKET TONIGHT AND FIND YOUR ANSWERS.

  A FRIEND.

  “Where’s The Bloody Bucket.”

  “On the Barbary Coast. It’s a bad place, Deck.” He handed the message back and asked, “Who’s Julie Landan? The con woman you’re looking for?”

  “No such luck,” Decker said. “She’s Stella’s sister.”

  “Stella’s sister. What the hell would Stella’s sister be doing on the Barbary Coast.”

  “I don’t know, but I guess I’ve been invited to find out, haven’t I?”

  “Are you going to go?”

  “Sure, along with our friend, Johnny Bendix.”

  “Why don’t you let me come with you?”

  “They know you there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then stay here, Duke. I don’t want to draw any undue attention.”

  “But this isn’t even your job,” Duke said. “This is just a favor.”

  “I do favors every once in a while, you’ll remember.”

  “Yeah, okay, you’ve done enough for me, but I’ve returned the favor.”

  “So, return it now. Let me and Johnny handle it.”

  “Sure, okay.”

  Decker noticed that Duke’s lip was swollen and asked, “How did you sleep last night?”

  Duke touched his lip, then grinned and said, “Like a baby.”

  “Ruffian,” Decker said, and they both laughed.

  “I’ve got work to do,” Duke said, getting up.

  “If you see Johnny send him in here, will you?”

  “Sure thing.”

  After Duke left, Decker continued to eat his breakfast with the message sitting on the table by his right elbow.

  “Love letter?”

  He looked up and saw Sally standing next to him.

  “Just business,” he said. “Could I have more coffee, please?”

  “Sure.”

  When she came back with it Decker saw Johnny Bendix enter the dining room, look around, and then start over to him. When he reached the table Sally was still there.

  “Who’s this pretty little thing?” Bendix asked.

  “Johnny Bendix, meet Sally Tucker, my favorite waitress.”

  “And now mine. Hello, Sally.”

  “Hello, Mr. Bendix.”

  “Oh, please, call me Johnny.”

  “Johnny…would you like some coffee?”

  “I’d like…” Bendix said, then looked at the remnants of Decker’s breakfast and said, “…whatever Decker here had for breakfast. Okay?”

  “Coming right up.”

  Bendix watched her walk to the kitchen, then looked at Decker.

  “Nice. You did say Tucker, didn’t you?”

  “Yep. She’s Annie Tucker’s sister.”

  “And Duke hired her away from Van Gelder?”

  “Sort of.”

  “I can see why Van Gelder’s not pleased.”

  “I don’t see it,” Decker said. “She’s only one naive little eastern girl who’s not fit for much more than waiting tables. She was of no use to him.”

  “She’s very pretty,” Bendix said. “He would have found some use for her.”

  “Well, not now.”

  “Duke said you wanted to see me.”

  “Read that,” Decker said, pushing the message over to his side of the table. Bendix read it, then pushed it back.

  “Are we going?”

  “If it’s all right with you.”

  “Hell, I’m being paid to watch your back. I go where you go.”

  “Okay.”

  “This isn’t the one you’re looking for, is it?”

  “No, this is a favor.”

  “For her?” he asked, inclining his head toward the kitchen.

  “No, but I’m doing one for her, too.”

  “Which is?”

  “She wants me to find out why Annie Tucker won’t leave Van Gelder.”

  “Maybe she loves him.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “Maybe he’s got something on her.”

  “That’s what she said.”

  “That’s usually the way he works.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Hell, that’s how he keeps Big Harry around. He’s got evidence against Harry that would put him away for murder. Everybody knows that.”

  “Nice guy.”

  “So maybe he’s got something on her, too, only nobody else knows about it.”

  “Maybe we can ask around.”

  “Sure.”

  Sally came back with his breakfast—eggs, ham, potatoes, biscuits—and Bendix broke off to watch her set it before him.

  “Thanks, Sally.”

  “Sure. Like me to pour your coffee?”

  “Please.”

  She leaned over to pour a cup and Decker knew that Bendix was catching the clean scent of her.

  “Thank you, Sally.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  She walked away and Bendix said, “Sweet.”

  “And young, and naive.”

  “She’ll learn.” He attacked his breakfast and after he had swallowed the first mouthful he said, “By the way, you have company.”

  “I do?”

  “Outside, across the street. One of Harry’s—or Van Gelder’s—men.”

  “He’s having me watched?”

  “Probably followed.”

  “That’s interesting.”

  “Means he’s afraid of you.”

  “I can’t imagine why.”

  “You’re a mystery to him. He wants to know why you’re here.”

  “Why I’m actually here has nothing to do with him.”

  “But you’ve gotten yourself involved in other things, besides what you’re really here for, and at least one of them involves him.”

  “Let him sweat, then.”

  “What’s on the agenda for today?”

  “Well, tonight’s the Barbary Coast, but maybe we should go over there today, just to check it out.”

  “Fine—uh, after I’ve finished my breakfast?”

  Decker nodded.

  “After you’ve finished your breakfast.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  They checked out The Bloody Bucket that afternoon, careful not to lose the man who was following them.

  The Barbary Coast was quite different from Portsmouth Square. It was harsher and, in a way, more honest. Decker actually felt more at home there. The streets were dirt. There were boardwalks instead of paved sidewalks, and there was more equine traffic.

  “This is where I should be staying,” Decker said.

  “I suppose you would feel more comfortable here, not being a city boy.”

  “Were you born here?” Decker asked Bendix.

  “I was. I travelled some, but I came back. Here it is.”

  They stopped in front of the saloon called The Bloody Bucket.

  “Do you want to go in?”

  “No,” Decker said. “I don’t want anyone to recognize me tonight. We’ll come back when it gets dark.”

  “We don’t know who we’re looking for,” Bendix said, and then added quickly, “although I don’t know why that should bother me. We never have.”

  “We’ll just have to ask when we come,” Decker said.

  “Yeah,” Bendix said, “ask questions. That’s a sure-fire way to find trouble here in the Barbary Coast.”

  “You can always pull out.”

  “No
, I’ll tag along. Maybe I’ll get a chance to see you in action tonight.”

  “Jesus,” Decker said, “I hope not.”

  Julie Landan dressed in a man’s shirt and loose fitting jeans, not wanting to attract too much attention. She also wore a wide brimmed stetson that had seen better days, and pulled it down over her forehead.

  When she reached The Bloody Bucket she ordered a beer and took it to a back table.

  She felt that by watching the door she’d know the man when he came in. He’d probably be looking around the room for her, and then he’d probably ask the bartender for her by name. Of course, the man wouldn’t know who he was talking about, but by that time she’d have him picked out and would approach him. If she was wrong, she’d try again.

  She began nursing her beer, and waited.

  Before leaving for The Bloody Bucket Decker decided to stop in and see Stella. She wasn’t in her room, so that meant she was at the game. He knocked, and when the door was opened he asked the man if she was there, and if she could come to the door. When she came to the door she stepped out into the hall and closed it behind her.

  “How’s it going?”

  “Class is starting to tell,” she said. “Luke Short is cleaning up. Do you have something?”

  He showed her the note.

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “No. The Barbary Coast is no place for you—”

  “You should see some of the places I’ve played poker, Decker.”

  “I know, but let me do this, Stella. If she’s there, I’ll bring her here to you.”

  Stella looked as if she was going to argue, but finally relented.

  “All right,” she said.

  “Go inside and play poker,” Decker said. “Give them hell.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Outside The Bloody Bucket, Decker stopped Bendix.

  “You go in first,” Decker told Bendix, “and don’t stop in the doorway to look around. Just go straight to the bar.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t know her and I don’t know if she knows me. She might be looking for someone who looks like he’s looking for someone.”

  “That’s too confusing for me,” Bendix said. “I’ll just walk to the bar and let you handle the rest.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Bendix entered, and Decker looked back to see if Van Gelder’s man was still there. He was. He had decided not to lose the man, because what he was doing here had nothing at all to do with Van Gelder.

  He waited long enough for Bendix to get set at the bar, and then walked in.

  Julie Landan knew him as soon as he walked in. He stopped in the doorway and searched the room with his eyes, then walked to the bar.

  She waited.

  The place was about half full, Decker noticed. There was a poker game going on at one table, at another two men sat with a couple of saloon girls. At a table in the back a lone figure sat with half a mug of beer. The too big hat pulled low over the brow was a dead giveaway, but he played it out.

  He went to the bar, ordered a beer and asked, “Do you know Julie Landan?”

  “Never heard of her, pal, but we got plenty of girls here. One of them will even let you call her Julie.”

  “Never mind,” Decker said. He took the beer and turned his back to the bar so he could watch the room.

  Finally, the figure at the back table raised a hand and beckoned to him.

  As he approached the hat was pushed up from the head and he saw the face of a very pretty woman—but what he noticed first were the eyes. The shape of the eyes, and the eyebrows.

  Just like the drawings on the poster.

  Decker hated coincidence more than anything in the world, but it looked as if he had walked right smack dab into the middle of one.

  What was he supposed to do now?

  Annie was frightened.

  Quite by accident she had heard Big Harry talking to about eight men in the back room that he used as an office. She had gone back there to get something for the bartender, and the door had been ajar. Harry’s voice had come rumbling out, and she couldn’t help but hear.

  “Does everybody understand?” he was asking.

  “We go in there and wreck the place. Anybody gets in your way, bust him up.”

  “What about women?”

  “Don’t touch any of the women, except for Sally Tucker. Any of you remember her?”

  Annie heard a couple of men say yeah, they knew her if they saw her.

  “Annie Tucker’s sister, right?”

  “Right,” Harry said. “Looks a lot like Annie.”

  “What do we do with her?”

  “Just bring her along. Van Gelder wants to talk to her. That’s it. We leave in an hour.”

  Annie moved away from the door quickly, almost banging into the wall in her panic.

  Van Gelder was sending Harry and his gang in to grab Sally and destroy as much of the Ballard Hotel as possible.

  They had to be warned. She had to warn Sally, even if it meant that Van Gelder would turn her over to the police.

  “Julie?”

  She looked at him and said, “She sent me.”

  He laughed.

  “Are we going to play that game?” he asked. “My name’s Decker. Are you Julie Landan?”

  “Why do you want Julie Landan?”

  “I’m trying to find her as a favor for a friend,” he said.

  “Who’s the friend?”

  “Stella Morrell.”

  “Stella?” the woman asked, unable to hide her surprise.

  “Your sister.”

  “My…my sister. What does my sister look like?”

  “Like—” Decker started to say, but then the batwing doors opened and someone stepped through. “Jesus,” he said. “Like that.”

  Julie Landan looked up at the doors and saw Stella Morrell standing there.

  “Julie?” Stella asked, unsure.

  As Julie removed her hat, her auburn hair fell down around her shoulders.

  “Stella!”

  Well, Decker thought, as the two women embraced, that answered that question. The two women were sisters. Now what was he supposed to do about the lady on his poster.

  Julie Landan was the woman in the poster, the con woman he had been hunting for the reward.

  How would he tell Stella Morrell about her sister?

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Annie ran into the lobby of the Ballard House and demanded to see Duke.

  “I’m sorry, Miss—” the clerk started, but she changed her mind.

  “Never mind,” she said, and headed for the dining room.

  “Hey!” the clerk shouted.

  Annie Tucker ran into the dining room. She saw Sally standing at a table taking an order, and grabbed her sister’s arm.

  “Annie! What’s wrong?”

  “Come on, Sally. We have to get out of here.”

  “Why? What’s the matter—”

  Duke entered from behind and approached the two women.

  “What’s wrong, Annie?” he asked.

  “Big Harry is on his way over here with eight men. They’re going to wreck your hotel and grab Sally. I can’t let her stay here.”

  “I’ve got a man on watch—” Duke began, but he was interrupted when someone else came running into the dining room. The diners began to watch the scene curiously.

  “Duke,” Danny Peoples called out. “There’s a group of men coming, with Big Harry in the lead. They look like a lynch mob.”

  “Shit,” Duke said. “Sally, take Annie into my office.”

  “We’ve got to get out—”

  “It’s too late,” Duke said. “Do what I say!”

  “Where’s Decker?” Annie asked.

  “He’s not here now. Go! Take the back hall so you don’t have to go through the lobby.”

  Sally grabbed Annie’s arm and pulled her from the dining room.

  “Danny, where are Mitch and Carlos?”


  “In the casino.”

  “Shit, shit. Are we gonna be able to keep them out of the lobby.”

  “If they’re not there already,” Peoples said, but then they heard a crash and the sound of men shouting.

  “They’re here,” Duke said, reaching for his gun. “Let’s go.”

  Decker had immediately recommended to the sisters that they bring their reunion back to the Ballard House.

  “I’m staying at the Parker House,” Julie said.

  “Let’s go back to my hotel,” Stella said, and Julie agreed.

  Decker waved at Bendix, who joined them, and they started back to the hotel.

  When they came within sight of the hotel Bendix said, “Jesus Christ. Decker, it’s on fire!”

  When Duke and Peoples entered the lobby they saw Big Harry lift the desk clerk out from behind the desk as if he was a baby. Another man slammed an axe into the desk several times, reducing it to splinters. A third man stepped forward and raised a lighted torch.

  “Hold it,” Duke shouted, but the man dropped the torch onto the remains of the desk.

  Duke hit him, and all hell broke loose.

  “Stella, stay here!” Decker said.

  “What’s going on?” Julie demanded.

  “A war,” Decker said.

  “Let’s go,” Bendix said.

  “Johnny, get the guy following us, and then come ahead.”

  “Right.”

  Decker ran to the hotel, mounted the steps and met utter chaos.

  He heard two shots as he entered, and then a slug hit the wall near his head. He drew his gun and fell to one knee. He picked out a Van Gelder man and fired, cathing the man in the chest.

  Decker knew that Duke had Peoples, Mitchum and Caliente, so anyone he didn’t recognize had to be a Van Gelder man.

  And then there was Big Harry.

  He saw Sam Mitchum and a man who had to be Big Harry locked in battle in the center of the lobby. The front desk was in flames, and the window curtains caught fire. From outside it looked as if the whole first floor was ablaze.

  Bendix followed Decker into the lobby. He stopped him before he could join the fray.

  “We’ve got to get those curtains down before the walls catch fire.”