by Sam Clancy
‘The only starch I got in my pants, old man, was put there by you.’
Willis chuckled. ‘He’s right there, Bass.’
‘I take it that you would like to join him, Roy?’
‘The apple didn’t fall far from the tree, Bass,’ Laramie said.
The marshal glared at the gunfighter. ‘How would you like a job once this is over?’
‘Is that a threat, Bass?’
‘No, damn it. I thought you might like to replace my son!’
‘I’ll think about it.’
Ford shook his head. ‘I don’t believe it. Laramie Davis thinking about putting the badge back on.’
Bass said, ‘There are a few towns still need cleaning up. Walt Grimes told me of a place down in Texas he might need a hand with. It’s called Dent, I think.’
‘Oh, Christ,’ Ford mumbled.
‘What was that?’
‘Never mind.’
Bass turned towards Laramie. ‘You’re sure he works for the governor?’
‘Last I heard he did.’
‘Then let’s go get the son of a bitch.’
When the four of them barged into the governor’s office, Edmond Reynolds looked up and the first person he saw was Bass.
‘My God, you’re still alive.’ Then he saw Ford. ‘And you are in so much trouble the hangman is waiting for you.’
Ford shrugged.
‘We’ll get to that,’ Bass snapped. ‘Right now, though, do you have a feller by the name of Chris Allen working for you?’
Reynolds gave him a confused look. ‘Yes, I do. Why?’
‘Get him.’
The governor’s eyes flared. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘I said get him.’
‘I’ll not be spoken to . . .’
‘Damn it, Ed, just get the son of a bitch so I can arrest him or shoot him. Right at this point in time, I don’t care which.’
Reynolds was gobsmacked. ‘Arrest him! What in the hell for?’
‘The murder of Maria Kemp.’
‘But he was acquitted of that.’
Bass raised his eyebrows. ‘You know?’
‘Of course I do.’
Ford shook his head. ‘He was acquitted by a false testimony.’
‘Can you prove it? Do you have a witness who’ll state as much?’
‘I can,’ Ford said.
‘Oh, great, a wanted murderer himself.’
‘Just get him in here, Ed. I’ll do the rest.’
Reynolds fixed him with an angry stare. ‘You’d better be right, Bass, or by Christ, I’ll have your badge too.’
‘If you don’t get him in here, you can damned well have it now.’
In the end, it all turned out too easy. As soon as he saw Bass and Ford standing with Willis and Laramie, Chris Allen dropped his head and said, ‘I take it that you’re here to arrest me?’
Bass nodded. ‘You got that right. Unless you resist and then I’ll just shoot you. Your choice.’
‘I didn’t mean to kill her,’ Allen mumbled.
Reynolds’ jaw dropped. ‘You actually did what they say?’
Allen looked at the governor and said, ‘Yes. It was an accident.’
‘How can you call strangling a young lady to death an accident?’ Bass seethed.
‘I can’t even remember doing it. She told me it was over, and then I remember looking down at her with my hands around her throat. By the time I realized what I was doing, it was too late.’
‘What happened to confessing?’ Ford asked.
‘Pa wouldn’t have it.’
Ford nodded. ‘I can understand that. And just for the record, I didn’t kill him. His heart gave out.’
Allen nodded. ‘What now?’
Bass said, ‘You’ll be locked up until your trial.’
Another nod.
‘We still have to discuss what we are going to do with your son, Bass,’ Reynolds said.
‘What do you mean?’
‘How he broke a wanted felon out of prison, shot a guard that went after them. It all has consequences.’
‘If it’s the guard I think it is, he was hired by my father to keep an eye on a man named Thomas.’
‘He still broke him out,’ Reynolds said.
‘Couldn’t have,’ Roy Willis said.
‘What?’
Ford frowned.
‘He was with me at the time. Couldn’t have been him.’
‘Do you realize what you are saying?’
‘I was with them,’ Laramie said. ‘He wasn’t nowhere near the prison on the date in mention.’
‘And what date was that?’ Reynolds snapped.
Laramie shrugged. ‘The hell if I know, but he wasn’t there.’
Ford smirked.
‘Bass?’ Reynolds pleaded.
‘Don’t look at me, I was otherwise incapacitated.’
‘Damn it. Get out! All of you.’
Once they were outside in the other office, Roy Willis said, ‘Who’s for a drink?’
Bass said, ‘I’ll get this feller locked away and I’ll join you lot at the Lone Pine. I need to have a talk to Josh about what’s next, anyway.’
They all seemed happy with that, and met up there half an hour later, just as the sun was going down. The four of them sat around a scarred table with a bottle in the middle, paid for by Bass. The place was busy, but not overly so.
Ford took a sip of whiskey and grimaced. ‘Been buying the cheap stuff again, Bass?’
‘Ain’t nothing wrong with that stuff, boy. If you don’t like it, buy your damned own.’
‘What did you want to talk to me about?’
‘First things first. Laramie, have you thought about that job?’
The gunfighter nodded. ‘I’ll take it.’
Bass seemed surprised. ‘Even at marshals’ pay?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Good. Got a job for you north of here. Seems a sheriff got killed up there in a town called Middleton. They got themselves a new one by the name of Jack Pershing.’
Laramie winced.
Bass saw his reaction. ‘Yeah. As bad as they come. My guess he was put there for a reason.’
‘I guess I’ll find out.’
‘The other thing is,’ Bass continued, ‘I want to thank all of you for what you did for me.’
His eyes settled upon his son. ‘Especially you.’
‘Don’t go getting all emotional on me now,’ Ford growled. ‘I was feeling sorry for the folks who had you. Now, how about you tell me what you want from me?’
‘Nothing bad,’ Bass elaborated. ‘Prisoner transfer. Should be simple.’
Ford shook his head, reached up and unhooked the badge on his shirt. He tossed it on the table and snapped, ‘I quit!’