THE DODGE CITY MASSACRE (A Jess Williams Novel.) (22 page)

             
“What are you talking about, Mister?”

             
“He’s burying ten gunslingers today and I guess unless you change your mind, he’ll be burying eleven,” said Jess.

             
“You killed all ten men?”

             
“Well, I did have a little help,” replied Jess.

             
“None of that means shit to me. You’d better hope you’re as good as they claim because if you ain’t, you’ll be the eleventh body going into the ground today. I’ll even pay for a proper burial myself since I’ll be ten thousand dollars richer after I put a bullet in your chest,” Quick spat.

             
“Idiot,” said Jess, mostly to himself, but he did say it out loud.

             
“What did you call me?”

             
Jess was frustrated at this whole business about the blood bounty on his head and he made up his mind right then and there that when he finished up in Dodge City, he was going to take a trip to New York City and kill Henry Stidham while he slept.

             
“You heard me, I called you an idiot. You know, stupid, dumb, loco in the head, take your pick asshole. Now pull that damn gun,” demanded Jess.

             
Quick was Quick, but not quick enough for Jess. The two slugs from Jess’ pistol slammed into Quick’s chest and as he stumbled backwards a few steps, Jess fanned two more slugs into Quick simply because he was getting pissed off at the whole matter of the blood bounty.

             
Saul walked over to Quick and he was surely dead and after getting a good look at him, he recognized him. “Hey, this man here is Hutt Quick and I think there is a bounty on his head. I recognize him from all the pictures I’ve been going through while checking on any bounty on the other five men we killed last night,” said Wicks.

             
“That’s good news,” replied John. “I can see my retirement already. I’ll be laying in the sun down on one of those beaches in Mexico with a few of those beautiful Mexican women waiting on me.”

             
“I have to go and get some supplies for our trip to Dodge City and send out a few messages. One of them is going out to that damn banker letting him know that he ain’t got much longer to live,” said Jess, as he headed for a store in town.

             
John looked at Saul. “I’ve only worked with Jess for a few weeks and I don’t think I ever saw him lose his cool and get so pissed off,” said Bodine.

             
“Yeah, he did kind of seem pissed off. He put four slugs into Quick here and the first two would’ve done the job for sure,” replied Wicks.

              After Jess bought some supplies and more ammunition for their trip to Dodge City, he went to the telegraph office and sent one wire off to Black Creek and one to his two friends in New York City regarding the matter of Henry Stidham. Then, he met up with Bodine, Parks and Wicks for some lunch at the café. Wicks brought the bounty money like he had promised and they split it up evenly.

             
“Jess, that man you shot earlier did have a one hundred dollar bounty on his head. I’ll wire it to your banker in Black Creek along with any other bounty that might be on those other five men. I still haven’t heard anything, but I reckon I will soon,” said Wicks.

             
“I figure you for an honest man, Saul,” replied Jess. “Whatever you collect on them, you make sure that you take your share out before you wire me the money.”

             
“Jeff, where do you want me to wire your share to?” asked Wicks.

             
“You know what, I don’t care about the money that much. You keep my share of it if you do in fact collect any bounty money on those other men,” replied Parks.

             
“I appreciate it, Mr. Parks. I don’t make much money on a deputies pay,” replied Wicks.

             
“Don’t I know that,” replied John. “That’s the only reason I quit and went back to bounty hunting. I’ve made more money in the last few weeks than I would’ve if I worked for another ten years as a deputy and that’s probably about all the time I have left in me. I’m getting too old for this shit already.”

             
“You won’t get any argument from me,” said Jess, getting a dig in at Bodine just for the fun of it.

             
“Well I’m glad to see your sense of humor came back even if it is at my expense,” laughed John.

             
“What makes you think I ever lost it,” replied Jess.

             
“I watched you gun that man down today and those two extra slugs surely weren’t necessary,” replied Bodine.

             
“I guess I was a little pissed off at that banker, but I’m over it now, especially knowing that he won’t be around much longer,” replied Jess.

XXX

              Heath Durrand, Lee Thomas and Hank Cullom walked into Manny Welch’s office. Welch was talking with the banker from Dodge City about another offer for another ranch in the area. He already made three offers and they were all turned down, although the third offer was not even close to what the ranch he was trying to buy was worth.

             
Welch looked up as the three men showed up at his door. “You men will have to come back later. I’m trying to come up with another offer to buy out the Long Bow Ranch.”

             
“That’s just it, Mr. Welch, we ain’t coming back later or ever. We just wanted to let you know that we are quitting,” replied Durrand.

             
“What the hell for? I pay you good money and lately you haven’t had to do anything to earn it. Why the hell would you quit now?”

             
“That Jess Williams fellow has a ten thousand dollar blood bounty on his head. That’s a lot of money and the three of us are planning to collect it,” replied Durrand.

             
“Damn it, Durrand! That Jess Williams threatened to come out here and kill me and burn my place to the ground and I think he meant it,” exclaimed Welch. “Besides, he ain’t been spotted in Dodge City for a while now. Maybe he’s moved on to another city.”

             
“Then we’ll find him, and when we do, we’ll make sure that we let him know that you fired us,” replied Durrand.

             
“I don’t think that will matter much to that man,” said Welch. “He doesn’t seem to think like most men.”

             
“Just the same, we’re going after him. I can’t forget the fact that he killed two of my best friends,” replied Durrand.

             
“Then consider yourselves fired as of now. My banker here will have your final pay for you in town. You can collect it there tomorrow,” replied Welch, a real look of frustration on his face.

             
The three of them walked out of Manny Welch’s office for the last time. They got their horses from the livery, told the other men of their plan and rode out. That left Welch with only six men left and not one of them were really great with a gun. He sent out notices that he was hiring, but there had been no responses yet.

XXX

              Jeff Parks headed out after lunch for Wichita, Kansas, in pursuit of a gunslinger with a reputation as a fast draw. Jess and John were heading out of town when Heather Wheeler came out onto the boardwalk of the little café. Jess and John stopped their horses and they both removed their hats out of courtesy.

             
“I heard what you did over at the bank regarding the note on my house, Mr. Williams. It wasn’t necessary, but I sure do appreciate it,” said Heather.

             
“You’re welcome. Besides, my banker has been investing my money anyway so one more investment won’t hurt. And I told him that you would not be making any payments for at least six months,” replied Jess.

             
“You have my word that I will pay every penny of it back even if I have to work three jobs,” replied Heather Wheeler.

             
“That’s not necessary, Heather, if you have a hard go of it, you just write my banker and he will give you whatever time you need to pay off your note. I don’t need the money right away,” replied Jess.

             
Jess put his hat back on and nodded his head at Bodine. “John, let’s get moving to Dodge City and get you your retirement that you seem to want so badly.”

             
They rode for about an hour in silence before either of them spoke. “So,” said Bodine, “you didn’t tell me about buying out Heather Wheeler’s note on her house.”

             
“I didn’t think I needed to,” replied Jess.

             
“True, but it was a real nice thing you did for her,” replied Bodine.

             
“I felt bad for her, especially about her losing her boy. I know what that feels like and it’s hard enough to deal with let alone lose your only possession left in life. She needed something to look forward to,” replied Jess.

             
“Yep, like I said, you sure are a contradiction in terms,” said Bodine.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

              It took Jess and John over a week of hard riding to get back to Dodge City. They arrived late in the afternoon and stabled their horses, got a room and a hot bath, and headed for the Long Branch Saloon. Logan Whipple, the barkeep, smiled when he saw Jess and John walk in.

             
“Where in the hell have you two been? I thought you’d never come back here,” said Whipple, as he poured Jess and John a glass of whiskey.

             
“Where haven’t we been is more like it,” replied Bodine.

             
“I suppose that wherever you’ve been, they buried a lot of bodies,” replied Whipple.

             
“I suppose you’re right about that,” replied Jess. “How have things been around here? Have any of Welch’s men been to town or causing any trouble while we were gone?”

             
“Not too much,” replied Whipple. “He ain’t got but half a dozen men left since three of his best men are no longer with him. Now, those three boys are a different story. They’ve been in town raising all kinds of hell and they’ve made several inquiries about you, Jess.”

             
“What did they want to know?” asked Jess.

             
“They wanted to know if I had seen you and of course I told them I haven’t, since that was the truth. They also asked me to let them know if I heard anything about you and they mentioned something about collecting the ten thousand dollars on your head,” replied Whipple.

             
“Did they quit on Welch or did they get fired?” asked Jess.

             
“All I know is they’ve been staying at one of the hotels in town. I think they’ve been waiting for you to come back,” replied Whipple. “There is another man who’s been asking about you too.”

             
“Do you know who the man is?” asked Jess.

             
“He said his name was Harlan Avril,” replied Whipple.

             
“Did he say what he wanted with me, although I have a pretty good guess,” replied Jess.

             
Logan looked up at the swinging doors. “I guess you can ask him yourself, since he’s fixing to walk in any moment now.”

             
Jess removed his hammer strap as Harlan Avril walked in. Avril was wearing a single six-shooter, worn low and tied down. He was very neatly dressed and wore a very expensive looking black hat. Avril walked up to the bar and ordered a whiskey and never really looked directly at Jess, although he recognized him as soon as he walked in. Avril took a slow sip of his whiskey. He still didn’t look down at the other end of the bar when he said it.

             
“So, am I to assume that you are that Jess Williams fellow?” asked Avril.

             
“Yes, and I’m going to assume that you’re looking for me because of the blood bounty on my head,” replied Jess.

             
“You’re a right smart fellow, Mr. Williams. You are correct on that matter.”

             
“I’m also going to assume that I won’t be able to talk you out of this,” replied Jess.

             
“Like I said, you’re a right smart fellow, Mr. Williams.”

             
Jess figured the talking was over so he stepped away from the bar a few feet and Avril did the same. Jess looked into Avril’s eyes for that telltale sign he always looked for, but he never saw it before Avril went for his gun. Avril dropped his gun as he stumbled back from the force of the two .45 slugs from Jess’ pistol slamming into his chest.