“Fair enough,” Kurt said before racing down the street like a horse bolting from a burning stable.
Clint approached Miss Tasha’s, scooping up the pistol Kurt had dropped along the way. Since the window had neither glass nor curtains in it, he could see straight through to the front room. Every piece of furniture was overturned. Several men lay on the floor, crumpled and bloodied by whatever hell had been unleashed in that place. Striding down the stairs as if he were taking a stroll through a park, Ki Dhang made his way to the front door. He looked at the carnage, but seemed more puzzled by the shattered window and the fact that Clint was standing on the other side of it.
“Son of a bitch!” shrieked a voice from within the building. Screaming a string of obscenities in at least two different languages, Chow Sun stomped down the stairs carrying a pistol that seemed heavier than his entire body. “You die, bastard!”
Ki Dhang’s expression hardly changed as he turned to get a look behind him. Even when he caught sight of the crazy old man coming down the stairs, he didn’t make a move to defend himself.
Clint acted out of reflex. Bringing up the .44 he’d taken, he fired a shot that caught the old man in the chest and sent him tumbling the rest of the way down the staircase.
Another pair of armed men rushed into the front room from the direction of the parlor. Clint snapped his aim toward them to defend himself, but Dhang stopped those men in their tracks with a swiftly raised hand and a few clipped words. Looking to Clint, Dhang said, “You are a wise man, Mr. Adams. I appreciate your choice of targets.”
“I never did like that guy,” Clint said. “Now there’s still the matter of you sending that woman to kill me.”
“Jade is but one of the traitors on my payroll whose head was turned by the lure of Chow Sun’s money. Since you still live, I trust you have dealt with her?”
“She’s alive.”
“Then I shall deal with her. I owe you a great debt,” Dhang said. “Chow was poised to do much damage to me and my business by dirtying my name with his filthy slavery. What happened here will not go unpunished. If there is something you require of me, you merely need to ask.”
“I’ll get back to you on that.”
* * *
Clint went back to the Howling Hound to check on Leo. Before he even got through the front door, Leo rushed outside shouting, “She’s gone! They took her!”
“Who’s gone?” Clint asked. “Madeline?”
“No! Henrietta. Westin came by when all the shooting started down the street and grabbed her. I don’t know where they went.”
“I believe I do.”
THIRTY-EIGHT
Clint had become an expert at navigating Larga Noche’s twisting streets. He made it to Bale Avenue in no time at all thanks to cutting across several alleys and a few back lots. Following the simple directions Madeline had given to him, Clint found the little house that was supposedly being used by Westin Voss. When he saw Westin lean out a window to take a shot at him, Clint knew he’d found the right place.
The shot was hurried and sailed well above its mark. Clint ran in a crooked line to avoid catching any other wild shots and kicked in the house’s front door as soon as he was close enough. Standing inside a modestly furnished room, Westin had his pistol in one hand and his other hand hanging on to the collar of Henrietta’s dress.
“What are you doing, Westin?” Clint asked.
Westin’s eyes were wild, and when they darted to a nearby door, he wailed, “No!”
The door creaked open just enough for Clint to see Samuel’s face and the barrel of a shotgun. Without hesitation, Clint pulled the second gun he’d collected with his left hand and fired several shots through the door in a tight grouping. The one-armed man fell forward and dropped face-first into a heap.
“I’ve had enough of you,” Clint said. “Let the woman go.”
Petrified by how easily his partner had been sent to hell, Westin grabbed Henrietta’s collar and pulled her close. She barely came up to his chin, but he hid behind her as if she were a brick wall. “The old man,” Westin sputtered. “He promised we’d all be rich.”
“Chow’s dead,” Clint told him. “And so is anyone else associated with him. Because you’re Leo’s brother, I’ll give you a chance to get out of town before Dhang comes looking for you.”
“Miss Tasha was in on it, too.”
“And I’m sure Dhang has plans for her.”
“I can’t . . . I won’t . . .” The more Westin tried to speak, the fewer words he could get out.
As Westin’s gun drifted closer to Henrietta’s temple, Clint growled, “Let her go, damn it!”
But Westin was too far gone. His eyes took on a crazy spark, prompting Clint to fire a shot that whipped over Henrietta’s head and drilled through Westin’s shoulder. When Westin hit the floor, Clint pulled Henrietta away and kicked his gun aside. “Next time you hide behind a prisoner,” he said to the wounded outlaw, “find someone taller.”
THIRTY-NINE
“Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you!” Leo said as he vigorously shook Clint’s hand the following day.
“I think you’ve already thanked me a thousand times, but you’re welcome all the same.”
“I appreciate you not killing Westin, even though he deserved it. Next time the county sheriff comes through town, he’ll be taking Westin along with him.” Leo’s face brightened when he added, “The good part is that after all that gun smoke cleared, Ki Dhang came by to make me a partner! He’s headed out to California and he’s letting me take over the Tiger’s Paw! I can make any changes I like!”
“That’s great, Leo.”
“Since Miss Tasha’s nowhere to be found, her girls are working for me as well. Suddenly, I own three places instead of just one!”
“Just try not to name any of them after dogs,” Clint said as he tipped his hat to the excited barkeep.
Henrietta and Madeline were both waiting for Clint as he made his way to the door. The young singer gave him a hug along with a kiss on the cheek before getting back to the stage.
“Are you sure you can’t stay?” Henrietta asked. “We could use you.”
“I think I’ll decline. The saloon business is too difficult a trade for a man like me.”
Watch for
LET IT BLEED
397th novel in the exciting GUNSMITH series from Jove
Coming in January!
A Different Trade Page 14