“A small-caliber bullet—and your wound is worse. The bullet went in and out. You’ve got two wounds that could start bleeding.”
“You’ve got me wrapped up pretty tight. Let’s take a chance.”
“And where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know,” Decker said. “We’ll head back toward Arizona and take Rebecca home.”
“To Arizona?”
Decker nodded.
“I don’t think she wants to go. In fact, I know she doesn’t.”
“Where does she want to go, then?”
“I don’t think she knows. She’s still pretty shook up. I think she’ll just ride with you wherever you go.”
“All right.”
“Were you going to turn me in in Arizona?”
“If I was going to turn you in, it would be for something that you did.”
“In Wyoming.”
Decker looked at Brian and said, “Why didn’t you leave, Brian? Why didn’t you just mount up and leave?”
“You would have died, and that would have left the girls alone.”
“I don’t understand you.”
“Why? Because I robbed banks and trains, that means I can’t have compassion? I never killed anyone, Decker. I never even hurt anyone. I just stole from them. Believe me, they survived that.”
“Look,” Decker said, “come back with me and I’ll stand up for you. I’ll explain that there were two of you, and that the violent crimes were committed by your brother. I’ll tell them what you did here for the girls, and for me.”
“And then what? They’ll only put me in prison for twenty years?”
“Maybe not at all. You may get a clean slate, Brian. If you do, it would be up to you what you did with it.”
While Brian thought about it, Decker tested his legs by walking around. Now that he was on his feet, he was starting to feel stronger.
“Well?” he asked, looking at Brian.
“All right. I’ll go back with you.”
“Good. Let’s get the girls and get started. How many horses do we have?”
“Four. I managed to round up some of the comanchero ponies.”
“John Henry?”
“Your gelding? He’s fine. Felicia’s been looking after him.”
“Why don’t you go out and tell the girls we’ll be leaving.”
“All right. We’ll pack up and come and get you when we’re ready.”
“Fine.”
Brian left and Decker walked over to a window. Looking out, he thought, Brent is out there somewhere, and his mind isn’t all there.
Suddenly he felt as if a Foxx was hunting him.
PART FIVE
FOXX TRIAL
Chapter XXXIX
To Decker’s complete surprise, their trip back to Heartless, Wyoming, was uneventful. He had expected Brent Foxx to try and kill them, but that had not happened.
The trial of Brian Foxx had gone as well as could be expected. Decker testified to the fact that Foxx had saved not only his life, but also the lives of Felicia Wheeler and Rebecca Kendrick.
The judge then called Decker into his chambers and questioned him about the two Foxx brothers.
“This business of twins seemed farfetched,” Judge Harold Cornwall said. The judge was an impressive-looking man, even out of his robes. Snow-white hair and eyebrows, a strong jaw, and broad shoulders added much to this impression.
“It’s true, Judge.”
“I know it’s true, Decker. Nobody would ever concoct a lie like that. What I want to know from you is, do you have the right twin here?”
For a moment Decker felt unsure, then realized how silly the question was. This had to be Brian. For one thing, along the way they had stopped at several streams and waterholes and he had seen Brian with his shirt off. There had been no bullet wound.
“I have the right man, sir.”
“And you really feel that he is worthy of a pardon for his crimes?”
Though a pardon was something you got after you were convicted, Decker knew what the judge meant, and felt it prudent not to correct the man.
“Yes, sir.”
“You are acquainted with Judge Isaac Parker, aren’t you?”
“I know the judge, yes sir.”
Parker was known by the uncomplimentary nickname of “Hanging” Judge Parker, but Decker knew better than to put any credence in that. He had a lot of respect for Parker, a man he had met on numerous occasions.
“I asked him about you before I came here.”
“Yes, sir.”
“He has a high opinion of you.”
“And I have a high opinion of him, sir.”
“I see. Well, since the judge vouches for you, Decker, I’m inclined to put more faith in your opinion—in spite of your profession.”
Fine, Decker thought, the man doesn’t like bounty hunters.
“Does that mean you’ll let Foxx go, sir?”
“I’ll give my decision in the courtroom, Decker. That’s all for now.”
Decker had gone out to the courtroom and waited with everyone else for the judge to come in. When he did, he spoke the words both Decker and Foxx were hoping for.
Foxx would not be prosecuted for his crimes, as his preservation of three lives far outweighed his crimes, all of which were nonviolent.
“As for the wanted posters on Brian Foxx, they will be amended to read’Brent Foxx,’ who will continue to be wanted for the heinous crimes that he has committed.”
Decker had told the judge—and testified—that Brent Foxx had escaped while he and Brian were rescuing the girls from the comancheros.
It just seemed simpler that way.
Now that the trial was over, Decker was having dinner with Brian Foxx, Rebecca, and Felicia. He was saying good-bye to all three.
“It doesn’t seem fair to you,” Felicia said to him.
“What doesn’t?”
“Well, you brought in Brian Foxx, but you didn’t get the bounty.”
“They decided that I brought in the wrong man and wasn’t entitled to the bounty.” He looked at Brian and said, “They were right.”
“Will you go looking for Brent now?” Brian asked.
“Right now I’ve got another poster in my pocket that I don’t think will be as difficult to cash in on. As far as I know, the guy doesn’t have any brothers.”
“Giving up on Brent, then?” Rebecca asked.
He looked at Rebecca who, since the incident with the comancheros, seemed to have lost some of her lustrous beauty. Oh, she was still lovely, but the spark was gone, and he thought that a shame. Maybe it would come back someday. He hoped it would.
“No, not giving up,” he said, “but I’ve got to live and I need money. I’ll get back to Brent eventually. Besides, there’s no telling where he’s gone.”
Decker looked at Brian, who looked away. The brothers had been headed somewhere, and Decker thought that Brian had a hunch where his brother was, but he wasn’t saying.
That was his right.
“What about you, Brian?” Decker asked. “Now that you’re clear, you going to start all over again?”
“No, I guess I’ll just start riding and keep riding until something occurs Tome.”
It had been Decker’s experience that anyone who has ever gotten something for nothing tends to be spoiled for any kind of real job. He hated to think it, but after a few months—or weeks—of real work, he figured banks would start looking good to Brian Foxx again.
“Rebecca?”
Rebecca just shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I can’t seem to think straight.”
“It’ll take time.”
“I’ve got a lot of that.”
They finished dinner, and then Brian Foxx offered to walk Rebecca to her hotel.
“Those two make an odd pair.”
“I think they make a nice couple,” Felicia said.
“They make an odd couple. A few months back she was ready to kill him on sight.”
“Not him, Brent.”
“Yeah,” he said thoughtfully, “Brent.”
“Are you going to leave tomorrow, Decker?”
“Yes.”
“I guess I haven’t grown up enough for you to take me with you.”
He studied her, all cleaned up and wearing a dress and looking pretty as a newborn fawn. He also remembered a night when she killed a man.
“You’ve grown up a lot, Felicia, but your grand-father needs you.”
“I know. He lost weight while I was gone.”
“I’ll be back through here eventually.”
“Sure you will, Decker.” She stood up and said, “Thanks for dinner. I’ll say good-bye now, though, instead of in the morning.”
“I’ll be leaving pretty early.”
She nodded, leaned over, and kissed his cheek. She started for the door, then stopped and came back. The hotel dining room was crowded, but she didn’t care. She put her arms around Decker’s neck and squeezed him tight.
“You better come back, Decker,” she said into his ear forcefully. “You better!”
She released him and ran from the room.
Decker could still feel the pressure of her arms around his neck, and decided that she was right.
He’d better.
The next morning Decker checked out of his hotel and went over to the livery to claim John Henry. On the way he saw Brian and Rebecca walking down the street, arm in arm. It was not especially early, but he assumed that they were going to breakfast.
Together.
An odd couple, he thought. Nobody could convince him otherwise.
Chapter XXXX
New Orleans was different from most of the towns Decker had ever been in. He’d been to some big ones, too. San Francisco, Denver; he even went to Chicago once. None of them seemed to have the same…feel as New Orleans. There were large, opulent hotels, casinos, and plenty of pretty, refined women. The food, too, was different. Decker’s taste buds were not accustomed to the spicy Cajun dishes that he encountered, and he took to drinking lots of cold beer with his meals.
He was in New Orleans because of a message that had finally caught up to him in Texas—which, of course, made it easy for him to respond quickly.
The message said:
DECKER,
NEED YOU IN NEW ORLEANS. WE HAVE FOUND BRENT FOXX. PLEASE HURRY. STAYING AT THE CRAWFORD HOTEL.
It was signed: Rebecca.
That surprised him. Apparently Rebecca had finally straightened out her thinking and she’d decided to keep looking for Brent.
And there was something about her message that didn’t click with him. She said “we” had found Brent.
Who, he wondered, was we?
Decker arrived in New Orleans a full week after reading the message. It had been sent almost two weeks before that, and it had been two months since he had last seen Rebecca Kendrick in Heart-less.
He had been so uncomfortable upon his initial arrival in New Orleans that he went looking for and found a particular hotel, though he’d never been to Louisiana before.
He knew there had to be a New Orleans House. Just being in a hotel that called itself the “something House” made him feel a little better. It showed that in some ways, New Orleans was like any other town.
After checking in, he left John Henry at the hotel livery and hired a cab to take him to the Crawford Hotel. When he arrived, he found a much more expensive hotel than he was staying in.
How was Rebecca affording this?
He went up to the front desk, where a prissy, tight-faced clerk gave him the twice-over—twice!— and found nothing to approve of.
The feeling was mutual.
“Yes?”
“I’d like to see Miss Rebecca Kendrick.”
“Is she registered here?”
“No, she’s registered at the New Orleans House; that’s why I’m looking for her here, friend.” He leaned forward so that his face was inches from Prissy Face. “Aren’t you supposed to look it up and tell me that?”
“Yes,” Prissy Face said, “of course.” He checked the register, then closed it and said with great satisfaction, “We do not have a Miss Rebecca Kendrick registered here.”
“You don’t?”
“No, sir.”
Had he taken so long to get here, he wondered, that she had given up and left.
“Has she ever been registered?”
The man heaved a sigh, compressed his prissy lips, and checked the book again.
“No, sir. Never.”
Odd.
“Thank you.”
“Of course…sir.”
He turned to leave and then a thought hit him. He turned and tried it out on the clerk.
“What about the name Foxx?”
“What about it?”
“Anyone registered here by that name?” Decker snarled. He tried to resist the temptation to grab Prissy Face by the front of his jacket and pull him across the desk.
Looking put-upon, the clerk took out the register and checked.
“Yes, of course,” he said. “Foxx?”
“Foxx.”
“Yes, here it is,” the man said. “Foxx.”
“Mister?”
The clerk gave Decker a pitying look and said, “Mister and Mrs.”
“Of course,” Decker said.
He was having lunch in the Crawford Hotel dining room when they came in. They spotted him, waved, and hurried over.
“Hello, Decker,” Rebecca said.
“Decker,” Brian Foxx said.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Decker said, “but I told them to bill this to your room.”
“No, of course not,” Brian said. “That’s fine.”
“You two can obviously afford it.”
“We have to explain—” Rebecca began.
“Sit down,” Decker said. When they sat he asked, “What’s this Mr. and Mrs. business?”
“That’s for real, Decker,” Brian said. “We got married almost two months ago.”
“In Heartless?”
“Right after we left there.”
Decker mentally shrugged. People fall in love. It happens.
“And then what happened—after you turned your brother in, I mean?”
“What?” Brian said. “I haven’t turned Brent in.”
“Then where did you get the money for a hotel like this?”
He looked at Rebecca, who looked away almost in embarrassment.
“We have to explain,” Brian said.
“Please do.”
“After you left Heartless, we talked and decided that we should track Brent down.”
“You had a quick change of heart, didn’t you, Brian?” Decker said. “First you let him go, and then you decided to capture him.”
“I didn’t want to capture him.”
“What, then?”
“Brent had a lot of the money we stole hidden away. I wanted him to tell me where it was.”
“You never mentioned that.”
“It didn’t seem…important.”
No, of course not. Even decent men are tempted by large sums of money. Brian Foxx was a prime example of that—in more ways than one.
“How did you track him here?”
“This is where we were headed when you caught up to us. We just headed this way, hoping to find him either here or along the way.”
“And you found him?”
“Yes—here.”
“And sent for me?”
“Asked you to come,” Rebecca said.
“All right, you asked me to come. Why?”
“We want you to…approach him.”
“Why me?”
Brian looked at Rebecca, who nodded.
“I think you were right about something, Decker.”
“What?”
“I think if Brent saw me he’d kill me.”
“What’s your excuse?” Decker asked Rebecca.
“If I see him, I might kill him without giving him
a chance to tell us.”
Decker studied them both in silence. They seemed to have prospered, and in Rebecca’s case she had regained her beauty. Her eyes were glowing, her hair was lustrous, and she was wearing a low-cut dress that showed her firm breasts off well.
And they were both trying to pull something on him.
“I don’t appreciate being brought all this way to have the wool pulled over my eyes,” he said tightly.
“We’re not—” Rebecca said.
“Let me,” Brian said, silencing her. “Decker, we want you to capture Brent and get the bounty.”
“And you think he’ll tell me where the money is?” Decker’s tone was incredulous.
“No,” Brian said. “That’s not it at all. I think that after I let him go he went and got the money and came here with it. I don’t know where he’s got it hidden, though.”
“And?”
“We want you to find out.”
“By asking him?”
“By whatever means you have to use,” Brian said.
“Wait a minute. Are you telling me that if I decide to beat it out of him or torture him, you’d go along with it? This is your brother we’re talking about.”
“No, not my brother,” Brian said. “We’re talking about my wife here. I’ve got a wife and I want to provide for her. It’s time I stopped trying to save my brother.”
Decker studied Brian’s face and decided that he was serious. He was a fool, but he was serious. Suddenly the man was being controlled by a woman— his wife—to the point where he would turn in his own brother.
“What’s in it for me?” Decker asked.
“We told you. The bounty.”
“Uh-uh,” Decker said. “Not enough.”
“What do you want?”
“I want a cut.”
Brian’s eyes narrowed and he looked at Rebecca.
“How much?” she asked.
“Not knowing how much there is,” Decker said, “I’ll take half.”
“Half?” Brian asked.
“Half for me and half for you.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No. A third. Brian and I will have our own shares.” Brian looked at her, but then just nodded and said to Decker, “That’s right. A third.”
“You got a deal,” Decker said. “Now all you have to tell me is two things.”
“What?”
Double The Bounty Page 12