by David Archer
“Chance,” Gabriella asked slowly, “what kind of job?”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath once again, then forced his eyes to open so that he could look directly into hers. “When I killed the men who killed my sister, I felt this incredible rush of power. Baldizon told me that I was one of those people who feeds off killing others, and that if I came to work for him, he could see to it that I had opportunities, and that there were ways he could keep me from ever getting into trouble over it. He wanted me to be his hired killer, a hitman.”
She was staring at him, and her breath was ragged. “And you agreed? You actually took the job?”
Chance nodded. “I did, and you can’t imagine how much I regret it. Let’s just say that if I had had any sense at all, I would never have accepted his offer.”
Gabriella was quiet for several seconds, and then she swallowed hard. “What you’re trying to say is that you were actually sent here to kill me?”
Chance nodded, his eyes closed. “Yes. And I regret it more than anything else I’ve ever done in this world.”
She sat on the edge of the bed and stared into his eyes. Chance waited nervously for several seconds, terrified that she was going to start screaming at him to get out, or that she would call the police, but then she smiled.
“But you decided not to,” she said. “Who cares how you came to be here, who cares how we managed to find each other, at least we have each other now. If you’re expecting me to get angry over this, you can relax. Does it scare me a bit? Yes, because I never thought anyone would ever think about killing me. But does it change how I feel about you? No, and I have enough confidence in your feelings for me that I’m not worried. I’m not afraid of you now, Chance.”
“Well, there’s still a little bit more. By now, Baldizon knows that I haven’t done what they sent me out here to do, so it’s possible that we may have to deal with him or his people at some point. Besides that, I talked to my grandmother a while back. It seems that there might have been a witness or two that night I killed the men who killed my sister.”
“So the police might be looking for you back there?” Gabriella asked.
Chance nodded again. “At this point, they just want to ask me some questions. All Grandma will tell them is that I’m out of town on business, but sooner or later I’m going to have to deal with that, as well. That’s the only way you and I can ever have a future together, Gabriella. Both of these problems have to go away.”
“Then we’ll face them together. Chance, I’m not going to lose you now, when I’ve only just found you. I love you, and I’ll do whatever it takes for us to stay together.”
“The problem with that is that it could mean having to pack up and leave everything. It can mean having to change our names, teach the boys to use different names, everything. Unless I can get the cartel and the cops to back off, I’m a fugitive, Gabriella.”
She looked at him, and some of the happiness faded from her face. “Then we have to make them back away. There’s no way we could survive on the run, and that wouldn’t be good for the boys in any case.”
“No, it wouldn’t. I need to get healed up, but then I’m going to have to take a trip back to Kentucky. I don’t know how I’m going to deal with Baldizon, but I think I can handle the cops. I’m pretty sure they don’t have any real evidence against me, so I’m not terribly worried about that.” He took a deep breath again. “Baldizon could be another matter. If I can convince him to leave you alone, then fine. If not, however, then I’m going to have to deal with him on his own terms.”
“You mean you have to kill him,” she said. It was a statement, rather than a question.
“Yes. Him, and I don’t know how many others. The trouble is, if I can’t take care of those problems, then there’s no point in asking you to be my wife.”
“What?” she asked, not quite sure that she heard what she thought she had.
“I love you and I’m asking you to marry me. Not right now, of course, but after I get this taken care of. You don’t have to answer right away. By the looks of it, I won’t be going anywhere for a while.”
“I love you,” she cried with tears of joy in her eyes. “And if we can get through this, then yes, of course I’ll marry you.” Gabriella bent over and kissed him, but when she tried to break away, Chance only pulled her closer, totally ignoring the pain that was shooting through his chest and his left shoulder. They lay there a long time before they finally disengaged from their passionate embrace.
“I’m sorry that I don’t have a ring or anything to give you, but I’ll pick one up as soon as you’ll let me go into town.”
“In that case, you can go tomorrow morning.”
“Great!” shouted Chance. “I hate lying in bed.”
“Hold it!” cried Gabriella. “I was only joking. There’s no way that you’re going to get out of bed until you’re a lot better. The ring can wait.”
“I knew you’d say that,” he remarked with great disappointment.
TWENTY-SIX
The next day, Jerry Johnson came over to meet Chance, and that’s when Chance found out that Johnson had come over to help the night he was attacked. He had gone out and found the bear, loaded it into the back of his pickup truck and brought it back to the barn, then butchered it. About half the meat went into the freezer, but there was far too much, so Gabriella had allowed Johnson to take the rest home.
“Hello, Chance. I’m Jerry Johnson. I understand you are one tough man to kill.”
Chance grinned at him.“I certainly hope so,” he said. “Good to meet you, and thank you for all your help.”
“Not a problem. I hear that old grizzly gave you quite a fight.”
“Ya. I guess Gabriella already told you the whole story?”
“She sure did. Even the newspapers got a hold of the story and they printed it right on the front page.”
Chance groaned. “How the hell did they find out?”
“News around here travels pretty fast.” Johnson chuckled. “You’re a local hero, now.”
“Well, how can they print a story if they don’t know all the facts?”
“Actually, Dr. Naples gave them most of the information. Gabriella wouldn’t even talk to the reporters and she refused to let them interview you when they came around this morning. She told them that you weren’t well enough to have visitors yet. They’ll probably be back in a couple of days to try again. So how are you feeling?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Still a little sore, but I’ll be all right in a couple of weeks.”
“I’m sure you will, you seem to be pretty tough. Oh, hey. Before I forget, I want to congratulate you.”
“Congratulate me? For what?”
“On your engagement to Gabriella. She’s a fine woman. Hey, you didn’t think she was going to keep that a secret, did you? I think she told my wife two minutes after you asked her.”
“Thanks,” Chance replied, expressing his pride with a great big smile. “I don’t think I’m going to complain about that.”
“Well, I guess I’d better get going. I’ve got a lot of work to do at my place, and it’s getting late. Take it easy, okay?”
“Okay, bye.”
“See you later.”
Chance lay back and digested the information that Johnson had revealed to him. The last thing he needed now was for some nosy reporter to start digging for a story. The guy would be asking all sorts of questions regarding his deadly encounter with the bear, but what was of more concern to Chance were the questions that would be asked about his past. He could see no way that he could possibly avoid the interview. If he did, the reporter would probably become suspicious as to why Chance didn’t want to talk to him and would most likely start his own investigation. He would come up with nothing regarding a Chance Davidson, of course, but that could be worse than trying to satisfy the man with a few simple lies. He decided that it would be better to carry on the same tale that he had spun for Gabriella when they had their fi
rst meeting.
Gabriella came up a little later, bringing a pot of coffee with her. They discussed the plan that Chance had formulated for the reporter. Neither of them could think of any other way to solve the situation, so they went over the story several times in order to make sure they would not get crossed up during the forthcoming interview.
“There’s also something else that I forgot to mention to you yesterday.”
“What’s that?” she asked. Her smile never faded.
“How beautiful you are.”
* * *
Bright and early the following morning, the reporter showed up. Gabriella led him upstairs and introduced him to Chance as George Corbin of the Nevada Examiner . She remained in the room, ready to assist Chance in case he needed help explaining his story, although she really didn’t think that he needed any help at all.
George Corbin was a tall, skinny man. He was at least six foot two and he couldn’t have weighed more than one hundred sixty or seventy pounds. He was dressed in the dark, un-pressed suit that seemed to be typical of men in his profession. As soon as he entered the room, he threw his hat on the bed and got straight down to business.
“So you’re the guy I’ve been hearing all those courageous stories about. First, I need to make sure I got your name right. Is it Chance Davidson?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Fine. Now how about telling me what happened out there?”
“Well, there’s really nothing much to tell. Some crazy bear attacked me. That’s all.”
“Oh, come on now. There has to be more than that. Why don’t you just tell me what happened that day from the time that you left the house and walked toward the forest?”
“All right. I went up there right after lunch to do some target practicing while Mrs. Vasquez and her boys were in town. I got tired of practicing and sat down against a tree to take a break. I must have dozed off for a while, because the next thing I heard was the bear’s roar. When I looked up, the damn bear was coming straight toward me. I picked up the rifle and managed to squeeze off four rounds before the mechanism jammed on me. By that time, the bear was only about ten feet away. I didn’t have a chance in hell of getting away, so I drew out my knife and tried to defend myself.”
“Tried? It looks like you did more than just try.”
“Well, if you were lying here instead of me, you’d use the word ‘tried,’ too. I may have come out of the fight alive, but not by much.”
“What was your first reaction when you saw the bear?”
“A little surprised at first, and then damn scared when he started coming toward me. You try watching a thousand pounds of grizzly coming your way, obviously intending to turn you into lunch, see what you think.”
“And when it was all over?”
“When it was all over, I wasn’t even sure that I was still alive. I think I passed out for a while, and then I finally woke up and managed to crawl my way back home.”
“Dr. Naples says that you were in pretty bad shape. How did you get all the way back to the house by yourself?”
“Like I said, I crawled every blasted inch of the way.”
“Okay, then, how about telling me a little about yourself and how you came to work for Mrs. Vasquez?”
“There’s nothing interesting about my life that’s worth telling. And as for how I came to work here, well, Mrs. Vasquez and I met in Clarksville. We talked for a while and then she offered me this job. As you can see, I accepted her offer.”
“Well, where did you live and what did you do before you came to Nevada? In other words, where do you call home and what is your occupation?”
“I can answer that in three words; I’m a drifter.”
“You mean that you just move from one place to another whenever you feel like it, and the same regarding your jobs?”
“Yes.”
“Hum. I’d like a little more information for the story, though. If you could list a few of the types of jobs you’ve done and maybe the last place you lived just before you came to Clarksville?”
“Okay. I’m what you call a jack of all trades. I’ve worked on farms, ranches, and in lumber camps. I’ve driven cabs and even worked as an ordinary laborer in a factory. You name it and I’ve probably done it. As for the cities that I’ve lived in, you can name just about any one you want to, from Dallas, Tucson, Miami, St. Louis and a hundred others.”
“I see. Okay, then, I think I have what I want. Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Davidson.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Corbin,” responded Chance. “Try not to make me sound too good, okay? I’ve already had my fifteen minutes of fame.”
After Corbin left, Chance breathed a sigh of relief. From his point of view, it looked like the reporter had swallowed the tale he had spun; nevertheless, he waited to get Gabriella’s opinion. As an outsider looking in, she would have a better idea as to how the interview had gone.
“Well, how did I do?”
“As far as I could tell, just great,” she said. “I don’t think you have much to worry about.”
The following Monday, the doctor returned. After a full examination, Chance was given permission to get out of bed and to start walking around. There was one strict order that the doctor insisted be obeyed, however, which was that Chance not do any work at all until he was feeling much stronger.
Chance agreed to the stipulation, knowing full well that Gabriella would also insist on him taking it easy for a while longer. At least it meant that he no longer had to lie in that damn bed. So anxious was he to get out of bed that he jumped up a little too fast and as a result, a dull wave of pain flowed through his body, causing him to feel quite dizzy for a few moments.
It was a lot better now that he was allowed to move around again, but that didn’t help his boredom any. As he had predicted, Gabriella refused to let him do any work whatsoever for the first couple of days, not even so much as tidying up the rooms or drying the dishes. Finally on the third day, he could take it no longer. He had to do something before he went insane, so he removed the rifles from the rack and began to clean them thoroughly. At least this way he had something to occupy his time with, not to mention that the next time he wanted to use the weapons, he would be relatively sure that the mechanisms would not jam up on him again.
For the following two weeks, Gabriella allowed him to do light chores around the house, keeping a constant eye on him to make sure that he did not overdo it.
Then on Saturday, exactly three weeks after the violent mishap, while Gabriella and the boys went off to town, Chance went to the barn to do some work that he figured would be best kept secret from the others. Working quickly, wanting to do a good job and yet be finished before they came home, Chance built a false floor in the bottom of the utility box in the tack room. When he was finished, he walked back to his bedroom. He took all of his guns out of the duffel bag, where they were still hiding, and put them into a box. He carried the box out to the barn and hid it under the false floor.
Next, he wandered to the machinery storage shed. Examining it with care, he measured the size of the building and made notes on what had to be repaired. Back in the house, he calculated what material he would require to fix up and enclose the shed. Satisfied with his estimates after having double checked them, he placed an order with a Clarksville lumber yard for delivery early in the week.
When the lumber arrived, Chance paid the bill from the remainder of the money Baldizon had given him. He started on the job immediately, before Gabriella could complain that he still was not strong enough to do such heavy work. He kept at it steadily from dawn to dusk for nearly two weeks before the repairs were finally completed to his satisfaction.
The two boys were constantly busy, between school and helping with the chores. Still, every day for at least an hour they diligently practiced their target shooting. They were so caught up in the sport that they continually tried to get their mother and Chance to come and see how they were doing. Finally,
with the shed repaired, Gabriella and Chance took time out to go and watch.
Both of the boys had actually become quite good. So good, in fact, that Chance was hesitant about participating in a match with them, but all three of them would not let him back down from the competition.
Each of them took their time and aimed with care, not wanting any of their six shots to go astray. Tommy, who was first, scored two tens, a nine, an eight, a seven and a six, which give him a total of fifty points. Andy was second, scoring forty-five.
Chance looked across the thirty paces to the small paper target. After taking several deep breaths to relax himself, he aimed the rifle at the small, black center of the target. He squeezed off each round at thirty-second intervals. After counting up his score, he smiled. He only had one bull’s-eye, but along with it he had three nines, an eight and a seven, which gave him fifty-two points.
“You boys had me worried there for a minute. I really didn’t think that I could beat you.”
“Just wait till the next time, Chance. We’ll beat you then,” remarked Tommy.
“That’s the spirit. Never give up. Always do your best to win, but remember it’s not a shame to lose to someone who might be just a little better than you are. It only means that the next time you will have to try a bit harder.”
“You boys did very well. I’m proud of you,” commented their mother.
“Does that mean that we can go hunting with Chance?” asked Andy eagerly.
“I don’t know. Maybe you’d better ask Chance,” replied Gabriella.
“Can we, Chance? Please, can we?”
“Sure. If it’s okay with your mother, it’s okay with me.”
“Great,” rejoiced Tommy and Andy.
On their way back to the house, Gabriella and Chance took a detour to check on the herd.
“You’ve got a couple of great kids there, Gabriella,” remarked Chance.
“Thank you, Chance. They’ve become awfully attached to you. I’ve never seen them as happy and alive since even before their father died. When I told them that we were going to get married, they practically jumped up and down for joy. They’ve accepted you as their new father and they’ve even made you their hero.”