by Adam Brady
She lifted one hand and flicked back her hair. It settled around her shoulders like fine silk. Then she gave him another smile, and the warmth of it showed in her eyes.
“It’s Finch,” she explained. “He never said very much about you, only mentioned you once or twice. Naturally, I had no reason to take any interest in you myself ... but now you are here, I must admit that has changed.”
“So,” Halliday said gravely, “what is it that has a nice lady like you so worried?”
“How close are you and Finch?” Melissa asked.
“Close enough. We rode together.”
“But you never entered into any business arrangements together, did you?”
Halliday pursed his lips.
“Bought a few head of cattle a couple times. Fattened them and sold them for a tidy profit.”
“He should still be doing something like that,” Melissa said quietly. “He does not belong in a bank. He doesn’t fit into town life, either. He’s tried, I know, and for a time I believed he could do it. But now I know he’s got himself into something he simply can’t handle. He’s got the whole town hating him ... and I can’t stand it.”
Halliday let his eyebrows rise into a quizzical arch.
“I figured that when a woman took up with a man she went along with everything he did—the good and the bad.”
Melissa flicked her hair back again and came across to him. Her eyes were bright and she moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue before she spoke again.
“If a woman did take up with a man, she would do that, Buck. But I’ve never ever told Finch that I loved him. True, I may have led him to believe there was a chance for us, but it never came to anything definite.”
“No engagement?” Halliday asked.
Melissa shook her head, and the light caught the silky hair and made Halliday want to reach out and touch it.
He could see the open invitation in her eyes, but it was even more obvious in the way she moved.
It just didn’t figure, but if it was a trap, what did she hope to achieve? Halliday told himself to stay wary and let her play the game out. From the gleam in her eyes, it looked like being one hell of a game ... and the most enjoyable in town.
“I have never been in love with Finch,” the girl said firmly, and her gaze settled searchingly on Halliday, probing for his reaction. “And now I know I never will be. I’ll be leaving soon. For some strange reason, I wanted you to know that.”
“Why will you be leaving?” Halliday asked her bluntly.
Melissa touched her lips with the wet, pink tip of her tongue again. Then her hand strayed to the top button of her shirtwaist, toying with it momentarily before beginning to undo the dainty pearl buttons one by one.
Halliday’s eyes dropped to the swell of her breasts, and she said finally;
“Because Finch has disappointed me. He’s let this town down, Buck, and he’s let me down, too. I’ve tried so hard to move him, but he’s a cold man by nature. Did you know that, Buck? I’m not ashamed to admit that I have feelings—strong feelings. I need a real man, Buck. I’ve seen how you handle yourself, and I couldn’t help but compare you with Finch ...”
She was standing very close to him now, undoing the last button.
Halliday felt his pulse begin to race.
“There’s some kind of devil in you, Melissa,” he said slowly.
“Maybe there is,” Melissa laughed, “but I can be nice to you. Very, very nice. Will you tell me one thing, Buck Halliday—are you going to stay in Redemption?”
“I’m not one for stayin’ anywhere for long,” he told her honestly.
“Then why don’t you come with me? Finch is ruined, and the town along with him. People are starting to walk off their farms. Before long, the stores will have to close. Only a fool would stay here now. We could go to Cheyenne ...”
When she lifted her arms and linked them loosely around his neck, Halliday told himself;
‘She’s not Finch’s woman, and if Rudder thinks he has his brand on her, that’s his problem.’
“I want you, Buck Halliday,” she whispered, pressing herself hard up against him. “And I mean to have you.”
Halliday put one finger under her chin and tilted her head back until he could stare straight into her eyes.
“What about Finch?”
“I told you all there is to know about Finch and me. He wants me, it’s true, but all he’s done is shame me. He was very quick to tell everybody that I was his woman, so now the whole town acts as though we were in cahoots, frittering away their money. He can’t be a friend of yours, either ...”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Halliday asked with a frown.
“You haven’t bothered to see each other for four years.”
“I’ve had my own life to lead,” he told her, and then his hand went to the small of her back, holding her against his chest.
Melissa was undoing the buttons of his shirt now, and then her hands were stroking the hard, muscled chest.
“I can’t help but wonder what this is all about,” Halliday muttered, but he knew that the answer had ceased to matter to both of them.
Maybe Melissa was bait for some kind of trap. Maybe every word she spoke was a lie. But for now at least, her body was doing the talking and he was keen to listen.
She turned her face up to his, and her lips opened in soft invitation.
He held her there with her body arching so that her mouth was on his mouth and her thighs were pressed hard against his groin, enjoying the prospect of the pleasure that was to come.
“Buck?”
She whispered his name so softly it was no more than a sigh.
“Yeah?”
“Let me go.”
He released her and she backed across the room to the bed, never taking her eyes from him.
She shrugged out of the blouse and let it fall from her shoulders. Then she reached back with one hand and twitched at her skirt until it fell around her ankles. Then she sat on the edge of the bed and extended one dainty foot out to him.
Obligingly, he bent down and removed the button shoes, noticing for the first time that they were red. She was already plucking at the lacy bodice, but he said;
“Let me do that.”
She nodded knowingly and lay back on the bed with her hair fanned out across the pillow and her hands at her sides, her eyes warm with invitation.
She lay there passively as he undressed her, but he saw that she was quivering with expectation wherever the soft silk or his rough hand brushed her skin.
Finally, she was naked and radiant in the lamplight, but she remained motionless. Only her eyes moved, following his every move.
Halliday leaned over her and began to caress her throat and then her breasts. As soon as his cradled her soft bosom in his hand, he knew that it was going to be a long night.
Melissa closed her eyes and pulled him down to her, then she let out a throaty little laugh.
“You know, I’m told it’s better if we both have our clothes off ... unless you have something else in mind?”
She lay back and watched while he pulled off his boots and took off his clothes.
“Oh my,” she said, admiring his muscular form. “Aren’t you something?”
Halliday stretched out beside her with the bedsprings creaking under his weight.
“You don’t know what it’s been like for me in this dismal little hole of a town,” she whispered, nibbling his ear. “Nobody does. I’ve felt like a prisoner. I have to get out, Buck!”
“Let’s talk about that in morning ...”
Melissa seemed to have forgotten time and place and anything other than the wild craving that drove her to him. She pressed against him with every part of her body straining to bring him closer. Her hair fell across his face like silk. Her perfume touched his senses like lilacs on a hot spring night. There was too much woman here to deny, and too many lonely trails behind him.
He would have her, and he
would have her now.
But Buck Halliday was still the man he’d always been. The gun was close by. His ears still listened for a sound that might mean danger from the place beyond their passion ...
When Buck Halliday finally moved away from her, Melissa’s fingers lingered on his arm and then moved up his neck to hold him close. She was sleepy, but her body yearned for more.
“Please stay, Buck,” she whispered. “I want you to make love to me again.”
“I’d best go.”
“No, Buck. Please don’t go. You’ve got to stay.”
“Not now,” he said.
For just a moment, a look of hurt crossed her features and her eyes turned cold.
As Halliday got to his feet, dressed and buckled on his gunbelt, he thought of saying something more. He looked down at her for a moment and then he walked to the door and pulled back the bolt.
When he opened the door, Finch Rogan was only inches in front of him with his hand reaching for the knob.
“Buck?” Rogan said. “What the hell ...?”
“Howdy, Finch,” Halliday said, moving slightly and giving Rogan a clear view into the room.
His face went white with the shock of what he saw. Then he eased his arm out of the sling.
“We could go get drunk and talk about old times,” Halliday said softly, “or I guess you could try to kick my head in ...”
Halliday saw the awkward punch coming and easily dodged the blow. Then he simply stood Rogan back against the door and stepped around him.
When he saw Rogan clawing for his gun, he slapped his palm down hard on the man’s wrist and the gun fell to the floor with a thump.
Rogan still had his eyes on the weapon, and when he moved toward it, Halliday kicked it away and planted a solid punch on the point of Rogan’s jaw.
Rogan rocked on his feet and would have fallen, but Halliday caught him and helped him into the room.
When Melissa saw that he intended to lay Rogan on the bed, she jumped up and hastily wrapped herself in the crumpled skirt that lay on the floor.
“Get out! Get the hell out!”
“You knew he’d come,” Halliday said. “So why did you want me to stay?”
“It was all your doing, Mr. Halliday,” she said icily. “You forced yourself on me.”
“I’ve seen my share of loose women,” Halliday said slowly, “but I don’t think I’ve ever come across one like you!”
“And I’ve never had a worse lover,” she said, her eyes blazing with anger. “Call me a loose woman, but I think that’s better than being called a fool! That’s what you are, Halliday. So who do you think people are going to believe—you or me?”
Rogan stirred on the bed, and after another sour look at Melissa, Halliday backed out of the room and closed the door. He went along the passageway and returned to his room.
Melissa was right, of course. With even Rogan against him, he was in a town full of enemies. He was a fool.
He was also bone-tired. And not of a mind to run away with his tail between his legs.
Again he took off his boots and let them drop to the floor. Again he kept his gun beside him as he stretched out on the bed.
He could still smell the sweet scent of Melissa’s body as he turned onto his side and went to sleep.
Five – Ride Roughshod
Buck Halliday left the rooming house early the next morning, carrying his gear with him to the livery stable where he left it in the care of the stable hand.
He returned to the main street and was about to go down the alley beside the bank when he spotted Tom Mahoney coming from one end of town and Sheriff Luther Hahn from the other.
Mahoney looked remarkably buoyant, while Hahn was scowling.
Having no business with either of them, Halliday stepped into the alley and went around to the back of the bank. He knocked on the door and stood back to wait, rolling himself a cigarette.
It was Finch Rogan who opened the door, and when he saw Halliday, his face took on the look of somebody who had just been assaulted by a particularly foul odor.
“Come here to gloat, did you?” Rogan snarled.
“No. I came to talk.”
“I’ve got nothing to say to you, mister—not now, not ever again. If I was in better shape, I guess I’d at least have to try to cut you down.”
Halliday drew on his cigarette and studied his friend from behind a cloud of smoke.
“You wouldn’t try, Finch. We’ve been through too much together for us to finish up like that.”
Rogan’s eyes sparked with anger.
“Dammit, Buck, you can say that after what you did last night? I’d have killed you right then and there if I’d been able. I sure as hell tried. But I guess I should have known better, huh? You always were more than a match for me.”
“You’ve got a few things wrong, Finch,” Halliday said.
Rogan glared at him and laughed scornfully.
“I sure as hell have,” he said. “What I’ve mainly got wrong is my impression of you as a man. I made my big mistake, but, by Judas, I won’t make anymore. If you keep messing with Melissa’s affections, I’ll come after you. If I can’t win, I’ll damn well die trying. Now get away from me and stay away!”
The two men were eyeing each other in angry silence when Tom Mahoney came striding into the yard. The rancher smiled and said;
“Howdy, gents. Now ain’t this a helluva fine mornin’? I’ll tell you one thing—I hardly slept a wink last night and I never felt better. I was just like a kid waitin’ to open his Christmas presents.”
Halliday saw Rogan’s face change from anger to grim resignation. After a bitter glance at Halliday, Rogan turned to Mahoney and said;
“Come on in. Might as well get this damn day started and done with.”
“You ain’t changed your mind about what you said last night, have you?” Mahoney asked quickly.
“Things have a way of changing, Tom, whether we like it or not. I said to come and see me. I had hopes of being able to help you by drawing on the resources of a certain friend of mine. But between last night and this morning, that idea blew up in my face. The upshot is that I’ve got no money for you.”
Mahoney’s face fell, and then he turned to Halliday and looked at him curiously.
“Were you that certain friend?”
Halliday shook his head. “No. But if I did have that kinda money, you could have first call on it.”
Mahoney returned his attention to Rogan.
“Who was it then? Hell, you made the offer, and I been thinkin’ of nothin’ else ever since. I can’t last without that loan, Rogan, and you know it. I’m beggin’ you. It’s the first time I’ve ever had to beg in my whole life.”
Rogan shook his head.
“There’s nothing I can do, Tom, and I’m sorry. I’ve dragged together every cent I could find, and there just isn’t anymore. If it’d just damn well rain, we’d all be able to fight our way out of this mess. Without that, well, I just don’t know what to say ...”
“McPhee’s the one that’s gonna bring us all down, ain’t he?” Mahoney said sourly. “He’s the one that stopped me from shippin’ my beef out so’s I could get a decent price, and now he’s the one that’s gonna make you foreclose on all of us ... ain’t that right, Rogan?”
Rogan shot a sidelong glance at Halliday, who leaned uncomfortably against the back wall of the bank, dragging calmly on his cigarette. Then he said;
“I’m not at liberty to divulge the name of any business associate who has in the course of—”
“Associate be damned!” Mahoney snapped. “That lowdown skunk has me by the throat, and he’s chokin’ the life outta me. I came to this territory willin’ to work and go through hard times. I’ve had more than my share of that and I never once complained. But, by hell, I don’t intend to go down without fightin’ to the last breath of my body. So you give me a name, Rogan—I’ll know it by tomorrow, anyway, so what’s the difference?”
; Rogan sighed and fiddled with the sling on his arm.
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “It’s Harp McPhee, all right. I borrowed a lot of money from him. I had to give him the mortgages on your place to do it, Tom. I had nowhere else to turn, and I didn’t think for one minute that he was only investing in the bank so he could acquire a monopoly in these parts. I know now that I made a mistake. What happened to you at the freight yards proves it. I’m mighty sorry, Tom, but there’s nothing I can do.”
Halliday watched Mahoney’s shoulders slump as the old rancher turned and shuffled away without another word.
“Well, Halliday, that’s all thanks to you,” Rogan said bitterly. “You ruined the only chance there was to save that feller and through him, a lot of other folks around here. Unless you can think of some way to do some more damage, I figure it’s about time you rode away and left us to our misery.”
“It isn’t that simple, and you know it,” Halliday said flatly. “You got in over your head, Finch. With this banking business and with Melissa, too. As for leavin’ town, I’ll decide when I’ll go.”
He could still hear Rogan cussing him as he turned into the main street. Ahead of him, Mahoney was trudging in the direction of the saloon with the dragging footsteps of an old man.
The front door was closed, but Mahoney went around the side and Halliday followed him inside.
“I’m buyin’, Tom,” Halliday said as they breasted the bar.
Mahoney shot a glance at him and made no reply. To Halliday, the old rancher had the look of a man who had already given up.
Halliday took the money from his pocket and laid it on the counter. The barkeep served them and stood where he was until Halliday looked his way. With some reluctance, the man picked up his cleaning rag and wandered away.
“Don’t be too hard on Finch,” Halliday said as they tasted their whiskey.
“Let me down, didn’t he?” Mahoney grunted.
“In the end, yes, he did. But I know he meant to help you last night. It was just that what he had in mind didn’t pan out.”
“What he had in mind last night was makin’ himself look good. Why the hell did he have to raise my hopes like he did? I’m finished now.”