Dying Wish

by J. R. Roberts

  “Oh, thank God.”

  Wilson’s brow furrowed when he heard that. He still had a confused look on his face when he heard the scrape of a boot against the floor at the back of the house. Turning to the left, he found Clint standing at the section of broken wall that opened to the Rio Grande.

  Firing both the rifle and his pistol at the same time, Wilson sent a wave of lead toward that half of the house.

  Clint dropped down and dove so Wilson would have to turn even farther away from Olivia to follow him. Wilson did just that, and corrected his aim even quicker than Clint had anticipated.

  A bullet ripped through Clint’s collar and dug into his neck like a hot claw. The modified Colt bucked against Clint’s palm to put a round into Wilson’s chest.

  Wilson twitched as the bullet punched through him, but didn’t drop. He clenched his jaw against the pain and kept firing. Just then, another pop could be heard and Wilson twitched again. He turned around to find Olivia aiming her smoking derringer at him. Because she needed to hold the little gun in her left hand, she’d only been able to graze the fatty portion of Wilson’s gut.

  Still twitching with a combination of rage and pain, Wilson growled, “You bitch.” Before he could do anything more than that, a pair of bullets from Clint’s pistol knocked Wilson off his feet and sent him staggering into a corner. By the time he slumped to the floor, Wilson was dead.

  “Sorry about that,” Clint said as he stepped forward. “I thought you got him.”

  “I wish I had been the one to finish him off,” Olivia said. “But thanks for being there.”

  Clint helped her up and then reloaded his Colt.

  “Are there any more?” she asked.

  “If there were supposed to be any more, they turned tail and ran. From what I saw of these other two, the Nagle brothers probably just hired them off a street corner or in a saloon somewhere. Now, what about that lockbox?”

  Olivia set her rifle down and removed the leather bundle from her sash. “First of all, you should read this for yourself,” she said as she handed the letter from under the floorboard to Clint.

  “You sure you want me to read this?”

  “Yes. You’ve been through enough to help me. I think you should know how this ends. Besides, I might still need you to come with me on one more train ride if you don’t mind.”

  Before he agreed or disagreed to that ride, Clint opened the letter. It read:

  My dearest little bird,

  I have tried to be a good uncle, but I’m not the best man. I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but have also had some things pan out recently. I know I might meet my end soon, but there’s no need to tell you that because by now I will already be gone. A man in my spot learns that the only real thing that matters is loved ones you can trust.

  Since our family has been whittled down one way or another over the years, whatever I’ve got left will be split up among you. But when there’s that much money involved, there’s bound to be some backstabbing. I hope this isn’t the case, but it usually is. To this end, I’ve devised a little test.

  First of all, I’ve arranged to notify you and Jenny about my passing. I hope at least one of the letters I paid to have sent were delivered without too much trouble. Secondly, I’ve already had my safe delivered to Jenny’s house in Dallas. She’s the only one who stays put, Olivia, so don’t get your nose bent out of joint.

  Olivia, you should have been told to scatter my ashes here, so get to it. While you’re at it, don’t forget to check your nest for eggs. If all goes right, you’ll be able to open the safe and I trust you’ll split the money fairly. If one of you tries to disgrace my memory, the other will get the money. If Jenny tries anything rotten, you fly away, Olivia, and live your life. Some money isn’t worth facing that sort of ugliness. Hopefully, you’ll both do just fine together and will end up rich. At least I could provide for my loved ones in some way.

  Whatever happens, I trust you’ll know what to do.

  Love,

  Abner

  When Clint looked up from the letter, he saw Olivia holding a key.

  “There’s a strongbox in that hole,” she told him. With that, she knelt over the space where the floorboard had been removed and pulled out a small iron box. The dusty key in her hand fit into the box and she opened the lid.

  “What is it?” Clint asked.

  The box contained only one thing. “This,” Olivia replied as she pulled out a larger key, “means we need to go back to Dallas.”

  FORTY-FIVE

  A short ride and a few train stations later, Clint and Olivia were back on Jenny’s doorstep. Clint knocked and stood with his hand on his holstered Colt as Jenny opened the door. She had to blink several times before she could form enough words to greet them.

  “Oh,” Jenny stammered. “I…welcome back.”

  “What’s the matter, Jenny?” Olivia asked as she stepped around Clint and walked into the house. “Weren’t you expecting us?”

  “Yes. Of course I was.”

  “Where’s the safe?”

  “What?” Jenny asked.

  Olivia cocked her head and looked as if she wanted to spit in the woman’s round face. “Abner’s safe. I know it’s here.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “All right then,” Olivia said as she reached into her pocket and removed the large key that had been in the hidden strongbox. “Then you won’t be needing this.”

  Jenny waited for all of three seconds before she finally snapped her hand out to try and take the key from Olivia. Although Olivia was taken by surprise by Jenny’s speed, Clint was quick enough to grab Jenny’s wrist.

  When she felt her fingertips graze the key, Jenny let out a grunt that sounded more like it had come from a hungry animal. “Give me that! Abner wanted me to have that money!”

  “He wanted us both to have it,” Olivia said. “I got a letter saying so, and I’m sure you did, too.”

  “My letter said that I was to give you his ashes and wait for you to come back with the key. Until then, I was to hide the safe just in case you tried to take the money for yourself.”

  “Abner was a smart man.”

  “He was a fool,” Jenny spat. “He didn’t even put the right key into those ashes.”

  Now it was Clint’s turn to be surprised. “You dug through those ashes before we even got here?”

  Looking up at him with a disgusted expression on her face, Jenny replied, “Sure I did. There was something in there, but the key was too small for the damn lock.”

  “Seems like Abner was even smarter than I thought,” Olivia said.

  “Yes, but he loved you,” Jenny said. “If anyone was to get preferential treatment even after he was dead, it was you.”

  “Is that why you hired the Nagles to follow me?” Olivia asked.

  Jenny showed her a smug grin and said, “I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing.”

  “Bullshit. Wilson mentioned one of my own kin was turning on me.”

  “Why would he say something like that?”

  “Because he thought I wasn’t going to live long enough for it to make any difference. Also, you’re the only one who knew about the money, where to find me, and how to find the Nagles.”

  That caused the grin on Jenny’s face to dry up. Then she started to squirm against Clint’s grip. “Let go of my arm,” she demanded.

  “I don’t think you’re in a spot to make demands,” he replied.

  Olivia patted Clint’s shoulder and told him, “Go ahead and let her go. Jenny, show me that safe.”

  The moment Clint turned her loose, Jenny walked over to a small table in the corner of her dining room. She removed the vase of flowers and cloth from the table to reveal it was actually a safe that was roughly twice the size of a footstool.

  Olivia walked over to the safe, fitted the key into the lock, and turned it. When the door swung open, there were neat stacks of money piled almost to the top of the safe’s inn
ards. After taking a moment to look at the money, Olivia spread the tablecloth on the floor and stacked a close approximation of half that money on it.

  “There,” Olivia said as she gathered up the tablecloth to form a makeshift sack for the money. “The rest is yours.”

  “What?” Clint asked.

  Although she didn’t say anything, Jenny looked even more surprised.

  “The other half is yours, Jenny,” Olivia repeated. “It’s what Abner wanted. He hoped we’d just scatter those ashes, visit that house, and open the safe. He wanted to provide for us. That was his dying wish, so that’s how it’s going to be.”

  Jenny blinked and looked at Clint as if she expected him to shoot her. When Clint didn’t make a move in that direction, Jenny opened her arms and walked toward Olivia. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. I don’t know what came over me. Times have been hard and—”

  “Shut up,” Olivia said as she stood up and picked up the money. “Don’t ever talk to me again. As far as I’m concerned, you’re dead.”

  “I understand. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me.”

  “I better not know where to find you.” Stopping short of the front door, Olivia added, “Because the Nagle brothers had a few cousins who were just as rough as Boris and Wilson. I intend on sending word to them about how you got those two killed. They’re a tightly knit group, so I suppose they won’t like hearing about that.”

  “What?” Jenny gasped. “You can’t do that!”

  After taking a moment to let that sink in, Olivia walked through the door. Clint tipped his hat to Jenny, stepped outside, and shut the door behind him.

  “If Jenny did send those killers after us, you might want to hand her over to the law,” Clint said.

  “No,” Olivia replied. “Jenny made her bed, so she’ll have to lie in it. I’m through with her, and you’ve already done more than enough. Do you think you could help me with one last thing?”

  “What is it?”

  “There’s a few more Nagles I need to find.”