Blaze! Western Series: Six Adult Western Novels

by Stephen Mertz

  “Why bother?” he asked. “We’re here to talk to her, so let’s talk to her.”

  “Okay.”

  They approached a table of three men, where Connie was standing, talking.

  “Connie?” Kate said. The girl looked at her. “We need to talk to you.”

  She looked past Kate at J.D., eyed him with interest which—as far as Kate was concerned—all women did.

  “What’s it about?” she asked.

  “Rustling,” J.D. said.

  Connie looked startled, took a step back.

  “I—I don’t know anythin’ about that.”

  “I think you do,” J.D. said. “Let’s go someplace and talk about it.”

  “Hey,” one of the men at the table finally said, standing, “she’s talkin’ to us.”

  J.D. looked at the three men. They looked like ranch hands out for the night, and they all seemed drunk. There were half-filled beer mugs on the table, and empty shot glasses.

  “You better sit down,” J.D. said to him.

  “Now look—” the man said.

  “You look!” Kate said, stepping in front of the man. She pushed him and he tumbled into his chair. “Sit!”

  The other men started to rise, but she pointed a finger at them and advised, “Don’t make any mistakes here!”

  They hesitated, looked at her, then at Blaze, and settled back into their chairs.

  “Let’s go,” J.D. said to Connie.

  “Where?” she asked.

  “Someplace we can talk.”

  Resigned to it, her shoulders slumped and she said. “I have a room upstairs.”

  “Let’s go there,” J.D. said.

  “All three of us?” she asked, looking at Kate. “I mean, you and me could—”

  “All three of us, darlin’,” Kate said, “just so you don’t get any ideas.”

  “But—”

  Kate grabbed her arm and said, “Let’s go!”

  Chapter 27

  The room was a mess, as was the bed. Connie wasn’t very good at cleaning, apparently. She sat on the bed, and the springs creaked. A slender woman with pale skin, she was to some men’s tastes, but J.D. could see her breast bone and didn’t find her appealing. He needed more meat on his women. Well, he used to. Nowadays, all he needed was Kate.

  “Whataya want from me?” she asked.

  “We know you’re involved with the gang that’s been rustling cattle hereabouts,” J.D. said.

  “I ain’t.”

  “Yeah, you are,” Kate said. “I’ve seen you with Slim.”

  Connie sat up straight.

  “You know Slim?”

  “I do.”

  Connie looked down at the floor.

  “I can’t tell ya nothin’,” she said. “They’ll kill me.”

  “They won’t kill you,” J.D. said, “because they’ll be dead.”

  Connie looked up at them.

  “How many men do you have?”

  “Just us,” J.D. said.

  Connie blew air out of her mouth in disgust. “You’re kiddin’.”

  “Other people get in our way,” Kate said. “We work together perfectly.”

  “Against twenty men?”

  “Yes,” J.D. said, “against twenty men. All we need to know is where they are.”

  “I can’t tell you that.”

  “You’ll be safe,” Kate assured her.

  “And we’ll pay you.”

  “You don’t understand,” Connie said, looking up at him. “I don’t know where they are. When Dev wants me he sends Slim, or one of the others. They blindfold me and take me out there. He fucks me for a while, sometimes days, and then they bring me back. That’s it.”

  “But that’s not it,” J.D. said. “Is it?”

  “Whataya mean?”

  “You also give them information, don’t you?” Kate asked.

  “I, uh, tell what I hear in the saloon.”

  “But nobody in town talks about the rustling, right?” J.D. asked.

  “Not supposed to,” she said. “But some do...up here.”

  “Ah...” Kate said.

  Connie glared at Kate. “You try makin’ a livin’ in a saloon without takin’ a man up here once in a while.”

  “I’m not judging you, Connie,” Kate said.

  “Well,” Connie said, “the only way you’re gonna find the gang is to follow somebody there. Slim, maybe.”

  “Connie,” J.D. said, “you can’t tell anybody we were talking to you, understand?”

  “People saw us come up here together.”

  “So what do you suppose they’ll think?” J.D. asked.

  Her eyes widened. “The three of us? I ain’t like that?”

  “Well,” Kate said, “maybe I just like to watch.”

  “Just keep quiet about it,” J.D. said. “Let people think what they want to think. By the end of tomorrow, you won’t have to worry about being taken to the gang’s camp anymore.”

  “For real?”

  “Yeah,” J.D. said, “for real.”

  They moved toward the door, then J.D. turned back and asked one last question.

  “Connie,” he said, “what’s his name?”

  “Who?”

  “The gang leader,” he said. “The one they take you to see. What’s his name?”

  “O’Connor,” she said. “His name’s Dev O’Connor. At least, that’s what they call him.”

  “Okay,” J.D. said. “Remember, keep quiet.”

  “If you can get me out of this situation,” she said, “I won’t say a word.”

  Chapter 28

  “One more stop,” J.D. said, outside.

  “What?”

  “Guns,” he said. “It’s too late to buy some. And we won’t have time in the morning. We’ll have to borrow some.”

  “From where?”

  “The sheriff’s office.”

  “Let’s hope he’s still there,” she said. “Or are you planning on stealing the guns?”

  “Let’s try borrowing them, first,” he suggested.

  * * *

  When they got to the sheriff’s office there was a light burning inside. As they entered they saw the sheriff and his deputy there. When the deputy saw Kate he immediately jumped to his feet.

  “Deputy,” she said.

  “Ma’am.”

  “Sheriff Allen,” J.D. said.

  “What can I do for you, Blaze?”

  “You can do me a favor.”

  “And what’s that?”

  Blaze looked at the gun rack on the walk. There were some blank spaces, but there was still two shotguns and a couple of rifles there.

  “We need a few extra guns.”

  “What for?”

  “A job.”

  “The rustlers?”

  J.D. nodded. “We got a lead and we’re going to follow it up. But if we run into them, we’re going to need more firepower.’

  “I can’t give you these guns,” the lawman said. “I might need them.”

  “We’ll only need them for one day,” Kate said.

  “I can’t—”

  “Look,” J.D. said, “it’s your mayor who wants this rustling cleared up, right?”

  “So?”

  “So he’d want you to give us the guns.”

  The man folded his arms stubbornly.

  “Can’t do it, Blaze.”

  “Sheriff—“

  “You’re gonna have to go,” Allen said. “Unless you wanna break the law and take the guns from me?”

  “We almost always try not to break the law, Sheriff,” Kate said. “If we don’t have to.”

  “Sean,” the lawman said, “if they make a move toward those guns you shoot ’em, understand?”

  “Uh, shoot ’em?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  The deputy swallowed and looked at J.D. and Kate.

  “Don’t worry, kid,” J.D. said. “I’m not going to make you shoot us.”

  The young man swallow
ed again.

  “Come on, Kate,” J.D. said. “There’s nothing for us here.”

  “But—”

  He took her by the arm.

  “Let’s go.”

  He led her out the door.

  * * *

  In the morning there was a knock at the door. J.D. and Kate were already dressed and waiting. When J.D. opened the door the deputy was standing there with an armful of guns.

  “Here,” he said, “you’ll be needing these.”

  J.D. took the guns from him, turned and set them down on the bed.

  “Thanks.”

  “But you have to take me with you,” the young man said. “Otherwise it’s no deal.”

  J.D. looked at Kate.

  “Well,” he said, “I guess we can use an extra hand. Got a good horse?”

  “Good enough.”

  “Go and saddle it,” J.D. said. “We’ll meet you at the livery stable down the street.”

  “Right.”

  The deputy started down the hall., then stopped and turned back.

  “Them Pinkertons are gonna feel real silly when we find them rustlers.”

  “Yeah, they are.” J.D. closed the door.

  “How did you know?” Kate asked. “That he’d bring the guns, I mean.”

  “I could see it in his eyes,” J.D. said.

  “But did you know he’d want to come along?”

  “I had a hunch.”

  “He might get killed, you know.”

  “So?” J.D. said. “We might, too.”

  “There’s more of a chance of him getting killed than us.”

  “I hope,” J.D. said.

  * * *

  When they reached the livery the deputy was there with three saddled horses.

  “How’d you know which ones were ours?” J.D. asked.

  “I asked Otto,” the deputy said. “He pointed them out.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Sean,” the deputy said. “Sean Duncan.”

  “Been a deputy long?”

  “A few months.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-four.”

  “Well, Sean,” J.D. said, “make sure you’re coming with us for the right reason.”

  “Whataya mean?”

  “Kate is my wife,” J.D. said.

  “I know that.”

  “Don’t do this because you think you’re going to impress her.”

  “That—that ain’t why I’m doin’ it.”

  “Then why?”

  “Because you’re J.D. Blaze.”

  Kate laughed.

  “Is that a good enough reason for you, babe?” she asked J.D.

  “I guess it’s going to have to be,” he said. “Let’s get mounted up.”

  Chapter 29

  Slim had set his meeting with the six new men by a stream about five miles outside of town. Deputy Duncan knew where that was.

  “It’s just up ahead,” he said, reining his horse in.

  “Okay,” J.D. said, “stay here with Kate.”

  “Why? I can come with—“

  “If you’re going to do this with us, you’ll have to do what I say when I say it. Got it?”

  “I got it.”

  “Stay here.”

  “Right.”

  “Oh,” J.D. added, “and take off that badge.”

  As J.D. rode off Duncan took off the badge and put it in his shirt pocket.

  “Why’s he want me to take off the badge?” he asked Kate.

  “Because what we’re going to do isn’t exactly legal...Deputy.”

  “Oh...”

  “Does that bother you?” Kate asked. “Will it bother you?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I guess I’m gonna find out.”

  * * *

  J.D. rode back moments later.

  “Okay, they’re all there.”

  “Are we gonna take ’em?” the deputy asked.

  “No, son,” J.D. said, “we’re going to follow them and then take the whole gang.”

  “But...if we took them now, that’d be seven less to deal with when we find the rest of the gang.”

  “And how would we find the rest of the gang if these men don’t lead us there?” Kate asked.

  Duncan had no reply.

  “The plan is to let Slim take these six men to meet up with the rest of the gang, hopefully at their hideout,” J.D. said, “and then we take them there and then.”

  “The three of us,” Duncan said.

  “Or,” J.D. said, “just the two of us, if you decide to go back to town.”

  “No, sir,” the younger man said. “I’m gonna be with ya all the way.”

  “Okay, then,” J.D. said. “Let’s give them a little bit of a head start, and then we’ll track them.”

  “Why don’t we follow them?”

  “They might spot us,” Kate said, before J.D. could tell the young deputy to shut up and stop asking questions. “J.D. could track a snake in a river. We won’t lose them.”

  Duncan nodded and fell silent.

  “Once they move on we’ll water the horses, fill our canteens, and then start tracking,” J.D. said.

  * * *

  Slim waited for the six men, wondering if they’d arrive one by one, but when they appeared it was all together.

  “You fellers haven’t ridden together before, have you?” he asked.

  Two men raised their hands and said, “We have.”

  The rest hadn’t, they had simply all been in the saloon at the same time, and they were all known to Slim as men who could handle their guns.

  “Okay,” Slim said, “you fellas won’t be comin’ back to town, so you better have all your belongin’s with you.”

  “Ain’t got much that can’t fit into a saddlebag,” one of them said, and the others agreed. It was another reason why Slim had chosen them.

  “You,” Slim said, pointing to one man, “Jones, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I want you to keep an eye on our back trail,” Slim said. “Any sign of somebody following us, you sing out. Got it?”

  “I got it.”

  “All right,” Slim said, “let’s move.”

  Chapter 30

  Dev O’Connor was wishing he had told Slim to bring Connie back with him. He was feeling the need for a woman, to release the pent up energy he had inside. The only way he could ever do that was to kill somebody, and he didn’t want to kill any of his own men.

  He was nursing a beer in the saloon, waiting for Slim to arrive with the six new men that would put the gang back to full strength. Once that was done, they’d go in and hit the Evans place for one or two hundred head—he hadn’t decided yet—to add to the four hundred head they already had in a box canyon about ten miles south. The canyon made for a good natural corral, and was hidden from view. He only needed to leave two men there to keep watch, which meant he’d be going on the raid with seventeen men. Maybe he’d leave two of the new men at the canyon.

  “Welch,” he yelled to a man standing at the bar.

  “Yeah, boss?”

  “Bring me a whiskey.”

  The bartender poured and Welch, a middle-aged man who had been riding with O’Connor for years—even before his name was “O’Connor”—brought it over.

  “Now ride out and look for Slim and the new men.”

  “Look for them?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You got Carny on watch, boss.”

  “Well, leave him on watch and you ride out and find them,” O’Connor said. “They can’t be far. Tell them to get their asses here fast.”

  “Sure, boss.”

  Welch left the saloon as O’Connor downed the whiskey, and then chased it with a sip of beer. Damn, but he was ready to go and pull a job, fuck a woman and kill somebody.

  * * *

  Slim waited for Jones to catch up to the group.

  “Anythin’?” he asked.

  “Nothin’ so far,” Jone
s said.

  “Okay, join up with the rest of the group and send Williams back.”

  “Right.”

  When Williams reached Slim the smaller man said, “You’re ridin’ drag now. Keep an eye out for somebody followin’ us.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Slim nodded, rode ahead to join the rest of the group. Williams nervously eyed their back trail,

  * * *

  They reined in to spell the horses. Deputy Duncan wiped the sweat from his face and neck with a kerchief he then tied around his neck.

  “How much further, do you think?” he asked.

  “No idea,” J.D. said, “but they’d be smart to make their camp many miles from any camp or ranch.”

  “Guess you’re right.”

  “Also,” Kate said, “making it a long way off would frustrate any posse.”

  “It sure would,” the deputy said. “Posse’s I’ve rid with, they get frustrated real easy.”

  “Well,” J.D. said, “we don’t.”

  * * *

  “Hold up,” J.D. said, raising his hand.

  “What is it?” Duncan asked.

  “I think we’re there.”

  “How can you tell.”

  “The tracks,” J.D. said. “They’ve had a man riding drag the whole way, watching their back trail. But not anymore.”

  “You can tell that from looking at the ground?”

  “He can,” Kate said.

  “So what’s our next move?”

  “Well,” J.D. said, “we’re here, so let’s take ’em.”

  Chapter 31

  Deputy Sean Duncan had to have it explained to him how three people could take twenty.

  They left their horses behind and followed the tracks until J.D. spotted the lookout.

  “There,” he said, pointing. “See him?”

  “I do,” Duncan said.

  “We just have to get closer, and make sure he doesn’t see us,” Kate said.

  “So we take him?” Duncan asked.

  “We do,” J.D. said, “but later. Come on.”

  The lookout was up on the bluff, sitting lazily with a rifle across his knees. They moved around behind him and got closer until they could see the camp.

  “Jesus,” Duncan said, “it’s a town.”

  “It used to be,” J.D. said. “Now it’s a ghost town.”

  “Just a collection of decaying buildings,” Kate said. “Makes a perfect outlaw camp because it still looks like a ghost town, if you don’t look too closely.”