Uh oh, thought J.D.
Belton said, "Rosa Diablo does that to all her female victims. She shoots the men. She’s trying to make a name for herself."
J.D. said, "Reckon shooting men to death and carving up the womenfolk would get a person noticed even out here."
"She came up from Mexico, is what they say. Supposed to have run an outlaw gang down in Vera Cruz until the federales closed in. She was the only one who escaped with her life and some say she set up the ambush of her men so she could make off with the loot. Anyway, when she reached the border she hooked up with a bandido named Luis Paco."
J.D. said, "I’ve heard of him. Supposed to be a mean cuss."
"Mister, he’s been leading a band of the meanest cutthroats you’d never want to meet. When he and Rosa Diablo teamed up, well sir, they’ve been raising holy hell in these parts ever since. I’m supposed to be doing something about that."
J.D. indicated the bullet-riddled stagecoach, which now stood in front of the livery stable where the liveryman cared for the horses.
"Don’t appear as you’ve been too successful in that undertaking. What about the law?"
"Law? Hell, mister, there isn’t any law and order in these parts or hadn’t you noticed? Why do you think I’m packing?" Belton eased aside his frock coat to reveal a pistol holstered at his hip. "Wouldn’t have to carry a gun back in Philadelphia, Lord knows. But here I am, afraid to risk my life riding my own company’s stage out of this wild frontier until these murdering thieves have been stopped."
"What about the cavalry out of Fort Huachuca?"
"There's not enough of them, for one thing. The Apaches keep them busy."
Kate nodded. "We’re aware of the Apache problem."
"A unit from the fort has been detailed to escort the stage brining the payroll in tomorrow."
Doc Cornish joined them on the boardwalk.
"I’ve done all I can for the lady," he said with a nod in the direction from which he came. He uncorked a pint bottle of whiskey, produced from his back pocket, and took a drink. "Poor thing. Not physically injured except for the, er, marking that I showed you. She’ll recover."
He offered J.D. and the company man a swig but each declined with a polite shake of the head.
Kate snatched the bottle without it being offered to her. She threw back a long slug from the bottle, barely making a face when she returned it to the doctor.
"Sure, the lady will be fine... except for her back being scarred for life with the initials of the bitch that violated her. I’ll tell you boys straight. That makes my skin crawl. Makes me hate the whole damn human race. Makes me want to kill something. Or someone."
Doc said, "You two are the gunfighter couple that brought an end to the Russell-Davis feud over near Chilton Prairie, what was it, about eleven months ago?"
"That was us," J.D. acknowledged. "We rode for Mr. Russell."
Doc said to Belton, "These two cleaned up that range after two years of blood feud. Smoked the Davis boys out and then shot it out, best as I recollect. Decent folks breathed a big sigh of relief, not having to worry anymore about Davis men rustling their cattle."
J.D. said, "You were doctoring in those parts?"
"I was. I patched up the few you left wounded. Most of them who threw down on you died where they stood."
Kate asked Belton, "Is there by any chance a reward being offered for the apprehension of this gang?"
"There is. The people I represent have already lost a fortune in property and business, to say nothing of loss of life and the sort of horror perpetrated on that woman"
"Paco and his whore," said Kate. "Dead or alive?"
Belton briefly considered this. "It would be preferable to have Luis Paco or Rosa Diablo captured and brought back alive. We’ll find a judge or a lawyer or some such, give them a fair trial and then hang them. That would send the message that law and order have come to this frontier. One way or another, though, eradication of this deviltry is what we seek."
Kate said, "We’re good at eradicating deviltry, aren’t we, J.D.?"
J.D. said, "You’re good at inciting it, I know that much."
"There is urgency to this matter," said Belton somewhat stiffly. "The payroll for the big ranches is coming in tomorrow. There a cavalry detail guarding it and they’re taking an alternate route past Lizard Butte, but even that may not be precaution enough."
"Where does this gang go to ground between their murdering and looting?"
"A place called Tombstone Canyon." Belton frowned. "Everyone hereabout knows that. Trouble is, no one has the courage or the resources to do anything about it."
J.D. said, "See, hon? What chance would a pair of drifting gunfighters like us have against odds like that?"
Kate said, "I’ve got some ideas."
J.D. sighed. "I’ll bet you have."
"Mr. Belton, how much of a reward is your company offering for the eradication of this deviltry?"
"Why, uh, ten thousand dollars."
Kate said to J.D., "Isn’t that how much we lost to those thieving Apaches?"
J.D scratched the back of his neck. He studied his boots.
"I reckon. But how are two people, even if it’s you and me, going to take on an entrenched gang that even the army can’t flush out?"
Kate said, "We’re going to join their gang."
J.D. said, "Huh?"
"Think about it. Or better yet, don’t think about it. Just trust me. Mr. Belton, what about this cavalry detachment accompanying the stage tomorrow?"
"The big ranchers in the area leaned on someone for a military the escort," said Belton. "See, if cowboys aren’t paid, they ride off to find work somewhere else, cowboys being the way they are. So the ranchers want the cowboys’ money to get into our humble bank." He nodded toward the squat brick building across the street.
"Last item," said Kate. "We’ll need directions to Tombstone Canyon."
J.D. said, "Now wait a minute, hon—"
She said, "I won’t wait a minute. J.D., we’re tracking this gang down and we’re collecting that reward. And you’re going with me."
J.D. sighed. "Wouldn’t have it any other way, darlin.’ And after seeing what Rosa Diablo’s been doing to her women holdup victims, you’d hunt the bitch down and kill her for free, wouldn’t you?"
Kate smiled. She leaned up and placed an affectionate kiss on the cheek.
"My man. You do understand me. That means a lot to a woman."
"I just don’t get why I have to keep proving it. Okay, Mr. Belton," said J.D. "Let’s have those directions. We’ve got a trail to follow, and we’re burning daylight."
Chapter 9
J.D. reined in the stallion when he heard a bird call that wasn’t a bird call.
He said, "They know we’re here."
Kate drew up beside him.
The vastness of the Sonoran desert spread out behind them. Before them the mouth of the canyon beckoned. The foothills of the towering Chiracahuas loomed above and beyond the canyon. Boulders and scrubby piñon trees flanked the canyon entrance, which measured about one hundred feet across. That narrowness made the entrance an ideal place for an ambush.
The vast mountain range ran north-south. The domain of the Apache. Rugged high peaks and mesas provided safety for Geronimo, Cochise and their bands of raiders. From such high ground, they could observe a line of bluecoats approaching from a day’s ride out and be decamped and long gone should the troopers even manage to pick up their trail. They could stay hidden forever up there in those mountains.
Kate said, "Now what?"
J.D. glanced around. The fading daylight painted the boulders a gentle rosette.
"The next move is theirs. Be ready for anything."
"Thanks, husband. I hadn’t thought of that."
They rode past boulders that flanked the canyon mouth.
A voice from behind them snarled, "Hold it right there."
J.D. sensed Kate drawing into herself, ready to spring.
He raised both hands. Kate did the same.
A stocky man came forward to face them. Unshaven. Sloping brow. He held a Winchester.
He said, "Both of you, drop iron."
J.D. said, "Like hell. I’m J.D. Blaze. This is my wife, Kate. We’re not here to make trouble. We’re here to make money. We drop iron for no man."
Sloping Brow considered this.
He said, "Oh, all right. I done heard of you two. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Kate said, "Wish we could say the same. Step aside."
"Yes, ma’am."
The sentry stepped aside.
They rode past him, deeper into the gathering shadows of the canyon. The sentry lumbered back to again conceal himself behind a boulder. He mimicked another bird call. Slightly different. This would let the gang know he had passed them on.
Several hundred yards in, the towering rock formations gave way to a meadow.
Horses grazed. Cooking fires burned. Canvas tents had been pitched. Women were preparing the evening meal. The men lounged about, drinking. Each man wore at least one sidearm, some with a carbine close at hand. A surly, brutish lot.
J.D. and Kate drew up near the largest tent. A few of the outlaws sauntered over to meet the new arrivals. J.D. dismounted.
He said under his breath to Kate, "Meet them on their ground. Still think this is such a hot idea?"
Kate said, "Sure. They’re just men."
She swung down out of the saddle. She checked the looseness of her revolver in its holster.
The largest of the men swaggered up to them. The others gathered nearby, watching. He emptied a whiskey bottle to the last drop and flung it aside. The bottle shattered on the ground. The outlaw was missing two front teeth, the rest a rotted black. His face was a flushed, drunken red.
He said, "What the fuck do you two want?"
J.D. told him who they were. "We’re looking for work."
"Is that right?" The outlaw made a production of staring long and hard at Kate from the top of her head to the tip of her boots and back again. Hungry eyes lingered here and there. He made a production of licking his lips. "Me, I’m looking for a woman. Ain’t had me one in a long time."
Kate said, "Now why do I find that so easy to believe, you stupid ugly fuck?"
This brought a chorus of chortling from the nearby assemblage.
The outlaw laughed too. He spat.
"Spirit. I like that. I like to break a woman with spirit."
He started toward Kate, hands reaching out for her like claws.
J.D. slid his rifle out of its scabbard. Chambered a round. Aimed at the outlaw’s head.
"Maybe you didn’t hear. That’s my wife."
The outlaw paused. He spoke over his shoulder to the others. "This hombre does anything untoward, cut him to fucking ribbons. Now where was I?"
He closed in on Kate.
J.D.’s finger eased into the trigger pull. Consequences be damned. No man would lay a hand on his woman while he lived.
Kate spoke in a soft, confident voice. "Don’t worry, hon. I’ve got it."
When the outlaw drew close enough with his grasping hands, she kneed him hard in the crotch. He doubled over. She drew her revolver and brained him with it, the crack! of his skull audible to anyone within earshot. The outlaw collapsed, hemorrhaging blood from his nose and ears.
Kate twirled her gun twice for effect before returning it to its holster.
She said, "Anyone else game enough to try?"
No one responded.
J.D. returned the Winchester to its scabbard.
"Like I said, we’re looking for work."
The sound of a single person clapping hands, slowly but loudly from the front of the main canvas tent. Luis Paco stopped his clapping once he had everyone’s attention. He wore a sombrero and bandoliers of ammunition. When he grinned, a gold front tooth sparkled.
"Nicely done, señora. That man you just killed, his amigos thought he was a bad man. Now he is a dead piece of shit, eh? You make quick work of him. I like your style."
A woman emerged from the tent. A statuesque, bronze beauty. Haughty. High cheek bones. Flaming red hair fell onto her shoulders, loose and wild. Fiery eyes matched the cruel set of her mouth. A cigar jutted skyward from the corner of her mouth. This could only be Rosa Diablo.
She said to Paco, "You have a woman. If you forget, I will do to you what this gringa did to Santone."
"Of course, querida. I was only joking."
Rosa eyed Kate, much as Santone had. She took a final drag on the stogie and then tossed it aside. The fiery eyes settled on J.D.
"This is your woman? She belongs to you?"
J.D. said, "We belong to each other."
Kate smiled. "Good answer."
Rosa ignored her.
"If she is your woman, send her to work with the other bitches, making dinner for the men. That and one other thing are all women are good for in this camp."
J.D. said, "Uh, begging your pardon, ma’am, but you’re a woman. I don’t see you bent over a cooking fire."
"That is because I am Rosa Diablo. Queen Bitch of the border."
Kate said, "Great. So now that we’ve all been introduced, why don’t we try being polite?"
J.D. said, "I cannot believe I’m hearing that from you of all people. But it’s good idea just the same." He said to Rosa, "We rode in to join up. If you’re not interested, we’ll ride out."
Rosa smirked. "Oh, I am interested, amigo, if what I have heard about your prowess as a man is true. You are welcome to join our gang."
Kate said, "Well, I’m not going anywhere."
Rosa snickered. "Your man rides with us now, and you are his slut. You will go only as far as the cooking fires. Go now. Get to work."
Paco made a shooing gesture with both hands.
"Vamoose," he told Kate. "Do as my Rosa say."
J.D.’s gun hand drifted toward the butt of his holstered gun.
"Kate stays with me. Or we ride out together."
Paco’s hand eased to his gun butt.
"Better yet, you die together. Eh, Rosa?"
Onlookers edged back, sensing an escalating confrontation that could erupt into gunfire without further warning.
Kate drew a deep breath, exhaled and spoke in a reasonable voice.
"If I could have a minute of everyone’s time, Queen Bitch, I do believe I could make us all a pile of loot. My old man and I want a cut of the action, that’s all. It’s too big to take on ourselves."
Paco frowned. "What is that you say, mija?"
"I’m saying we can start shooting at each other and several of us can die for no damn reason, which is fine with me by the way. Hell, I always knew I’d wind up that way sooner or later anyway. But, dammit, let’s parley. There’s money to be made and lots of it."
Rosa said, "Speak, gringa. You have my interest."
J.D. said, "Yeah, me too."
Kate said, "There’s a payroll shipment coming through on the stage tomorrow."
Rosa sneered. "Is that what you offer? We know of this. We have our plans already made. We don’t need you for that."
"But there’s something you don’t know."
J.D. whispered, "Kate, no—"
Kate continued unimpeded.
"The stage is taking an alternate route tomorrow, with an Army guard. But if we join forces, we can take that payroll."
Chapter 10
Paco and Rosa sat in their tent, drinking tequila by candlelight. The flaps of the tent were closed. The atmosphere between them was intimate. And yet Paco felt uneasy.
He said, "You surprise me, my love."
"Do I? Tell me how."
She threw back another shot of tequila. She sat, smoking a cigar.
He said, "You’re impulsive. That is not good. You took in Blaze and his wife too easy. I don’t trust them."
She said, "We know about J.D. and
Kate Blaze. Everyone along the border speaks of them."
"They speak of how that shootist and his bitch wife sell their services to anyone who will meet their price. And they ride into our camp. Do you forget that I am the one who put this gang together before you ever came to this territory?"
"And now it is our gang," she said between puffs, "and that makes you nervous, eh?"
"Woman, I don’t know how I feel. That is something Paco is not used to. But you have a...a power. I don’t know how else to put it."
Rosa nodded. "That is the perfect way to put it. I have within me the power of the desert, of battle, of woman."
And banditry, thought Paco.
He said, "The gang does take in more since we teamed up."
She raised her chin. "Since I took you as my lover, you mean. Rosa Diablo does not join. I take. I have taken you, Paco. You are strong like a bull when I need a man between my legs where I am a woman. You are good at satisfying me. This I like. This I need. And you know which of us is the smarter and stronger, don’t you?"
Her fiery eyes burned into his. He lowered his eyes.
"I do."
"Then what is your concern? You don’t believe their story about the payroll?"
"I believe it well enough." He threw back a shot of tequila to boost his courage. Then he looked in those fiery eyes. "I don’t trust them. I don't trust Blaze. And I did not like the way you look at him."
Rosa studied Paco.
He began to regret having spoken his mind. He had another shot of tequila, this time straight from the bottle.
At last she said, "So my rough gun-toting man is jealous." She threw her head back and laughed. When she regarded him again, the fiery eyes had cooled. "Men are such children. You don’t know me very well, do you, Paco?"
"What do you mean, querida? I know you, yes."
"You do not know me deep inside. The things that drive me. You never will. Listen to me now and I will explain to you this one time."
He knew the sultry edge that was creeping into her voice. He knew what was coming. This was not what he had intended but the tequila made him somehow weak and excited at the same time.
He said, "Yes, my love?"
Blaze! Western Series: Six Adult Western Novels Page 4