THE BOUNTY: Twentieth in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 20)

by Robert J. Thomas

  “Then, I guess you’re the only one standing in my way,” threatened Harrison.

  “You can ride out of town if you want, but you’re not taking her with you when you leave,” warned Jess calmly.

  “I ain’t giving up on twenty-five thousand dollars just because you say so,” said Harrison sarcastically. “That’s just too much money.”

  “It’s not worth dying for money that you’ve got no chance of collecting,” implied Jess bluntly.

  “I could say the same thing to you,” said Harrison, moving his right hand down closer to the butt of his pistol.

  “I’m telling you, you’re making a mistake,” warned Jess.

  “And you’re making a huge mistake underestimating me, Mister,” Harrison blustered angrily.

  “I’m not underestimating anything, I’m just stating the facts as they are,” answered Jess.

  Harrison glanced over at the table of men. “Any of you men throwing in with this one here?” he asked cautiously. Lauter looked at Gilpin and Gilpin looked at Lauter and Wright looked at Harrison.

  “No, but if you happen to get lucky enough to kill him, you’ll have to go through the rest of us after that since we’re all sharing in the money, except for this one here,” explained Wright, his hand on Rubin Fisher’s shoulder. Harrison glared angrily at Jess now.

  “I guess you’re first then,” barked Harrison, his palm gently touching the butt of his Colt. Jess carefully moved away from the doors while keeping his right hand in position.

  “Last chance to leave town while you can still sit in a saddle,” warned Jess threateningly.

  “I walk out those doors; I’m heading straight for the woman.”

  “I can’t let you do that.”

  Harrison stared deep into Jess’ eyes and found a calm that was somewhat unnerving, even to him. If it weren’t for the large amount of money and the knowledge of what it could buy him, he might have conceded and walked away. But twenty-five thousand dollars was just too much money to walk away from, even though something in the back of his head told him he should do exactly that.

  He reached for his gun and thumbed the hammer back and fired a slug into the floor between him and Jess a split second after the two slugs from Jess’ pistol traveled through his body, one punching a hole through his right lung, the other burning a hole through his heart. Harrison went stiff and fell straight backward and hit the saloon floor with a loud thud. Jess walked over and toed him as he replaced the two spent shells in his pistol. He looked over at the barkeep and gave him a hard look.

  “You tell anyone else about Jane being in town, you’ll join this one here if you get my meaning,” threatened Jess. The barkeep frustratingly put his hands up in the air.

  “Nobody told me it was a secret,” complained the barkeep.

  “Well I’m telling you now,” warned Jess, as he threw the barkeep a twenty dollar gold piece. Jess walked over to the table and Lauter, Gilpin and Wright all looked at him with funny smiles.

  “I sure do admire your shooting ability with that hog leg of yours,” exclaimed Wright, lifting his glass up in the air.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  They all agreed to meet in the little café in the hotel in the morning for breakfast before riding out to Mercer’s place. Jess and Jane were already waiting when Lauter, Gilpin, Wright, Fisher and Sheriff Burch walked in. Gilpin was walking with his crutch, which was squeaking even louder with each step.

  When Gilpin walked past a table where an old man was paying his bill and getting ready to leave, the old man started to get up, moving his foot out a little. The crutch landed solidly on the old man’s foot and he let out a yelp that startled Gilpin and the crutch broke. He went down on his hands and knees cursing and screaming angrily.

  Gilpin rolled over onto his back and was holding his left foot in his hands and the old man was seated in his chair holding his right foot and cursing. The old man removed his shoe to see a large bruise already beginning to form on his toes and he gave Gilpin an angry look.

  “You clumsy fool, I think you broke two of my toes,” the old man muttered. Gilpin gave him a disparaging look of contempt.

  “Well consider yourself lucky then ‘cause I almost had two of mine shot off!” barked Gilpin, using a nearby chair to help haul himself back up. He looked at the crutch, which was broken in half and useless now. The old man stormed out and Gilpin limped to the large table where everyone was laughing about his misfortune.

  “Go on and laugh all you want at my expense, but you’re buying my breakfast,” snapped Gilpin as he flopped himself into a chair. “You know, because I ain’t got paid yet.”

  “Order anything you want,” grinned Jess.

  Gilpin ordered more food than he could possibly eat and he was doing his best to finish up on a flapjack, but he put his fork down and gave up, leaving the rest of the food on the table. They all walked down to the livery to get their horses and Jane turned to Jess as they walked.

  “You know, I still haven’t given you that money back that you gave me when we were in the cave,” she said.

  “Don’t worry about that now, you might still need that money to travel out east if Mercer won’t listen to reason,” he offered.

  “And I guess I’ll need to buy me another horse, too, since we left mine behind,” she added. Sheriff Burch was listening to them talk and he walked up to Jane and frowned a little.

  “I guess this is as good a time to tell you about your place,” said Burch, a sad look on his face when he said it.

  “What about my place?” she asked nervously.

  “Well, for starters, it ain’t your place anymore. Walt put in a bid on it when you went behind on the note. And then he had the place burned to the ground.” Jane stopped walking and her shoulders slumped a little and she started to sob quietly. Jess gave Burch a harsh look and Burch simply shrugged his shoulders and frowned.

  “I thought she needed to know,” defended Burch.

  “That was the one thing I had left in my miserable life,” she sobbed. “That and my dead husband’s horse and I’ve even lost that.”

  “I’ll get you another horse,” offered Jess.

  “And where am I going to keep him?” cried Jane. “I have no house left.” Jess gave her a reassuring look and put his hand on her shoulder.

  “Let’s not worry about that right now,” implied Jess. “I can put you up in the hotel for a while, but first we have to get this meeting with Mercer over with. That’s the most important thing right now.” Jane wiped her eyes dry with her shirtsleeve and nodded.

  “You’re right,” she sniffled. “Let’s go and get this over with.”

  The group of them rode up to Mercer’s huge ranch house and reined up in front of the large porch, which went all the way around the house. Mercer came strutting out when he heard the ruckus and when his eyes fell on Jane, Jess could see the hate seething underneath his gaze.

  “Well, someone finally found what I’ve been looking for, but I didn’t want this one brought back here,” barked Mercer when he looked at Rubin. Everyone climbed down from the saddle and Sheriff Burch walked forward to the steps of the porch.

  “Why don’t we all go into your office and discuss what really happened out at the Lacey house,” suggested Burch, a little more forceful than usual and Mercer noticed it. Mercer spun on his heels and waved them inside the house. They all sauntered inside and Jane, Sheriff Jubal and Rubin Fisher sat in the chairs in the large office across from Mercer’s large mahogany desk. Mercer glared at Lauter and Gilpin, who were standing against the wall with Jess and Wright.

  “You two ain’t getting paid a nickel,” implied Mercer hatefully. Gilpin shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

  “We’s gettin’ paid the same money you was gonna pay us to kill Rubin there. Just now we’re gettin’ paid to bring him here alive so he can squeal his ass off,” said Gilpin, leaning on his right foot. Jess gave Mercer a funny look.

  “You really were paying these two to kil
l Rubin so he couldn’t talk?” Jess said as a statement.

  “There isn’t anything in writing, just my word against theirs,” snapped Mercer in a lawyerly-like voice.

  “Well, Rubin was there and he witnessed the whole thing,” interjected Burch. “Let’s hear what he has to say.” Rubin cleared his throat and looked at Mercer through dreadful eyes.

  “Well, we went out to Ms. Lacey’s home that day and Jethro kept talking about how he really liked her,” started Rubin. “He’d made several advances toward Ms. Lacey in less than a few days, but she kept telling him she wasn’t interested in him. When we went out there the last time, he kept pushing her and when she said that she was going to come and tell you what he was doing, he kept at her until she finally slapped him across the face. Well, when she did that, he got really mad and he punched her and knocked her out cold.” Rubin paused and looked down at the floor, almost afraid to continue because of the look of twisted hate on Mercer’s face. Burch slapped Rubin on the back of his head lightly.

  “Go on, finish the story,” demanded Burch, which garnered himself a hateful look from Walt.

  “Well, after he knocked her out, he cut all her clothes off and…well…he dropped his pants and he raped her right there on the ground in front of me.”

  “My son wouldn’t do such a thing!” snapped Mercer.

  “I’ve got no reason to lie about it Mr. Mercer,” begged Rubin.

  “You’re probably the one who raped her!” Mercer spat at Rubin.

  “No it wasn’t,” interjected Jane in a broken voice. “When I came to, Jethro was still buttoning up his pants and he was telling Rubin that he had to kill me so that you didn’t find out what he had done to me.” Rubin nodded his head in agreement.

  “He was going to slit her throat with that boot knife he always kept on him,” added Rubin. “You know the one you bought him for his last birthday.”

  “Rubin, if I find out you’re lying to me, I’ll kill you myself,” spat Mercer.

  “I’ll swear it on a stack of bibles in front of a judge if I have to,” Rubin offered nervously. Mercer leaned back into his chair and let it all sink in. The realization that his own son was a rapist sickened him to no end, but he was still his only son. Jane wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at Mercer with pleading eyes.

  “If I hadn’t stabbed him with that pitchfork, your son would be a murderer and a rapist,” implied Jane. Mercer didn’t respond; he just glared at Jane with a dark look. “Your son raped me, you burned my house down and bought my property and I’ve lost my husband. I have nothing left for you to take. Isn’t that enough?” Mercer still didn’t respond. He just sat there seething with hate and glaring at Jane, whose eyes fell to the floor in fear. Jess took one step forward and gave Mercer a harsh look.

  “I believe you owe me twenty-five thousand dollars Mr. Mercer,” Jess said flatly. Mercer’s head snapped toward Jess and he gave him a menacing look.

  “You think I’m going to pay you money for this?” Mercer asked incredulously. Jess pulled out the wanted poster that Sheriff Burch had given him at breakfast and he laid it on the desk and turned it around facing Mercer.

  “Says right there, twenty-five thousand dollars for the man who brings you Jane Lacey alive, and well…she looks quite alive to me,” said Jess bluntly. Mercer glared at Jess.

  “I’ll pay you the money as long as you leave her with me,” offered Mercer, an ominous look on his hardened face of hate.

  “Are you going to put her up in one of your rooms since you burned her house down?” asked Jess sarcastically.

  “No, he wants to put her up in the air with a rope around her neck,” interjected Burch. Mercer shot Burch a look of scorn.

  “You might as well take that badge off now because you’re as good as fired,” snapped Mercer. Burch took the badge off and threw it on Mercer’s desk and smiled.

  “You can kiss my ass Mercer,” Burch said smiling for the first time in a while.

  “Well?” interjected Jess.

  “Well what?” barked Mercer.

  “The twenty-five thousand,” replied Jess.

  “Not if she walks out of here,” argued Mercer. Jess gave him a long hard look and then smiled at Mercer amusingly.

  “You know, I took you for a lot of things Mr. Mercer,” said Jess, “a shrewd businessman; a man who knows how to turn a penny into a dollar; a well-known man who commands respect from his peers; but I never reckoned you for a liar and a cheat.” The last few words were like a stab into Mercer’s personal armor.

  “Nobody calls me a liar and a cheat!” hollered Mercer. Jess tapped his left index finger on the poster sitting on top of the desk.

  “I don’t really need the money, since I’m already a rich man myself, but it’s the principal of the matter,” explained Jess. “Now, if you don’t pay me, I’m going to use some of my own money to take out ads in every major newspaper in the country telling everyone how you swindled me and lied about the money. What do you think your rich friends and business partners will think about you after that?” Mercer glared at Jess.

  “You don’t have enough money to do that,” argued Mercer. Jess dug into his pockets and when he was finished, he dropped over seven thousand dollars on the desk and everyone stared at the pile of large bills. Mercer’s mouth went slack-jawed and Jess stuffed the money back into his pockets.

  “I’ve got a hell of a lot more money than that in my saddlebags and I gave Jane two thousand dollars to keep in case she had to run out east to get away from your sorry ass,” explained Jess. Jane dug into her pockets and pulled out the two thousand dollars and showed it to Mercer. Jess cocked his head a little and grinned that slightly evil grin.

  “I ain’t asking for the money again,” warned Jess. Mercer finally broke his gaze off with Jess and stood up and walked over to a large portrait hanging on the wall. He swung the portrait open to reveal a very nice safe built into the wall. He spun the dial and opened the safe and removed twenty-five thousand dollars and threw it on the table.

  “Take your damn money and get the hell out of my house, all of you,” demanded Mercer. Jess picked up the five bundles of money, each bundle exactly five thousand dollars. He handed one to Lauter, one to Gilpin and one to Wright. Jess opened the front of his shirt and stuffed the other two bundles of money inside and re-buttoned his shirt.

  They all slowly walked out of the house, Gilpin limping, but smiling happily now. They had gotten down the steps and were ready to climb up in the saddle when the bullet exited Jane’s right shoulder just above her right breast, blood spewing out from the wound. Before she hit the ground, Jess spun around and removed his hammer strap and put two slugs into Mercer before Mercer could thumb the hammer back again on the little .32 caliber pistol he kept in his pocket. Mercer stumbled backward and fell inside the doorway of his house. Jess quickly ran up the steps and to the doorway and watched Mercer taking his last few ragged breaths.

  “Why in the hell did you do that?” Jess asked him. Mercer darted his eyes around a little. Blood started forming around his lips and the last words he ever spoke were—“He was my only son.” Jess frowned at him and then turned around to see Burch holding Jane up in a sitting position.

  “She’s out cold, but she’s still breathing,” said an excited Burch. “Mercer’s got a wagon and if we can get her to town quickly, the doc might be able to save her.”

  Jess didn’t even have to say a word, Wright ran for the large barn and Lauter quickly joined in and helped him hitch a horse up to it and then gently laid Jane down in the back of the wagon. Sheriff Burch climbed up in the wagon and slapped the reins on the back of the horse and the wagon lurched forward.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Jane was awake and moaning when they carried her into the doctor’s office and placed her on the table. The doctor pushed everyone out of the room and went to work on her wound. Everyone waited outside the doctor’s office and about an hour later, the doctor walked outside and closed the door
behind him.

  “How is she?” Burch asked first.

  “Lucky you got her here as quick as you did,” the doctor explained. “The bullet went clean through and missed the lung and she lost a lot of blood, but I think she’ll pull through. She’ll have to stay in bed for at least a week though. Who do I give the bill to?” Gilpin pointed at Jess and smiled.

  “Give it to Mr. Money Bags here,” quipped Gilpin smartly. “Who rides around with that much money in their saddlebags anyway?” Jess shot Gilpin a look and Gilpin shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Jess dug into one of his pockets and handed the doctor a hundred dollar bill and the doctor frowned.

  “I can’t give you change for that,” the doctor complained.

  “I don’t want change,” argued Jess. “That should cover your fees for the next week or so. I’ll put her up in the Defiance Hotel and I want you to visit her every day until she’s able to get out of bed.”

  “You’ve got yourself a deal,” agreed the doctor. He looked at Gilpin’s left foot with the Moccasin.

  “I can sell you a crutch if you need one,” said the doctor.

  “I’m getting along just fine without one,” answered Gilpin. “Besides, I found out why they call it a crutch. You get all depended on it and then it fails you when you least expect it.”

  “I heard about that,” laughed the doctor. “I had to splint two broken toes on old Henry this morning.”

  “Serves him right for tripping me,” snapped Gilpin.

  ***

  The next few days were pretty uneventful. Jess rented the best hotel room in the Defiance Hotel and had Jane transferred there. He made arrangements for food to be delivered to her room from the café three times a day. He made sure that Jubal Burch cancelled the wanted poster on her and Burch sent wires out to every town he could think of. The news would get out pretty fast, but Jess planned to stay in Defiance until she was able to walk on her own and also to make sure no one else came after her.