Slocum 419 by Jake Logan Page A

left. Tell him I’m coming to kill him as soon as I get dressed. Is that clear?”
    â€œYes, Mr. Slocum. I—I’ll tell him. He—he won’t like it none.”
    â€œHow many men does he have left, do you know?”
    â€œWell, there’s Hobart and Loomis. Loomis is crippled up where you shot him in the leg.”
    â€œIs that all, then? One able-bodied man and the one with the jake leg?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd while you’re at it, you’d better tell Clara and her boss that they’re on my list, too.”
    â€œYour list?”
    â€œMy list of messes to clean up. You’re all crooked as snakes and I’ve got blood in my eye. Now get the hell out and start delivering those messages while you’re still able to draw a breath.”
    â€œI’m gone,” Clemson said.
    â€œAnd don’t pick up anything on your way out,” Slocum called after him as Clemson raced across the room.
    When he was gone, Slocum turned to Stacey.
    She was bereft with grief. Her eyes were rimmed in red from weeping. She held Lacey in her lap. Lacey was not breathing.
    â€œStacey,” Slocum said, “I’m real sorry.”
    â€œOh you, you are what got my sister killed.”
    â€œBlame me all you want, but I didn’t shoot her, nor did I want her dead.”
    â€œNo, but—”
    â€œJust answer one question I have, Stacey, while I get dressed.”
    â€œWhat question?”
    â€œWhich one of you pushed the handle of that plunger down at that mine?”
    â€œWho do you think it was?” Stacey said, surprised by his question.
    â€œI think it was Lacey. She was a lot bolder than you. Is that who blasted the dynamite?”
    â€œOh, what difference does it make now? Yes, Lacey pushed the plunger. I was holding the horses so we could get away afterwards.”
    â€œThen there is some sort of justice afoot here, isn’t there?”
    â€œYou bastard. I hope I never see you again. You killed my sister, sure as if you had pulled the trigger.”
    Slocum put down his pistol at the end of the bed and began to dress. Stacey glared at him the whole time.
    â€œI’ll see that someone comes here and tends to your sister, Stacey,” Slocum said as he put on his hat. “You might want to put your clothes back on before the undertaker gets here.”
    â€œGo to hell, Slocum,” she spat.
    Slocum walked to the bureau and picked up the bottle of Old Mill. He walked across the hall and let himself into his room. He locked the door behind him.
    He poured himself a drink after he lit one of the lamps.
    He waited for the knock that he knew was to come.
    He was sorry that Lacey had been killed. He felt sorry for Stacey. But the real culprits were their parents, Clemson and Clara.
    And besides those two, there was Wolf and his cronies.
    He hoped like hell they would get the message.
    If not, he’d have to face them in a death match with high stakes.
    Winner take all.

16
    Wolf Steiner paced the floor in his dimly lit cabin’s front room. Clara sat there on the divan with Abel Fogarty, who was as nervous as a cat in a room full of marbles and rocking chairs. He had his briefcase next to him and a lap full of legal papers that he shuffled through, comparing signatures.
    Clara Morgan sat stiff as a board, watching Wolf’s angry stride up and down the room. She listened intently to every word, but her mind was back at the hotel. She had deserted her post as soon as Clem and the other two men had entered the lobby.
    â€œWhere in hell are those knuckleheads?” Wolf roared. “They’ve had plenty of time to take care of Slocum.”
    â€œI don’t know,” Clara said.
    â€œWolf, this signature doesn’t quite match Jasper Nichols’s. You’ll have to do it again or these papers won’t go through.”
    Wolf stopped pacing and wheeled to face Fogarty.
    â€œDamn it. I practiced that signature