Bluff City by Ralph Compton

Author:Ralph Compton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2007-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Where others might have grabbed for their six-shooter in panic, Clay Adams calmly stared at the leveled revolver and asked, “What is this, Skagg? We had a deal.”

“I did agree to help you for the hundred dollars, yes,” the big man rumbled. “But then I got to thinking about how you used me and it made me good and mad.”

“How did I use you?” Clay asked.

“By pretending to like me. By pretending to be my friend. But the whole time all you really wanted was someone to find the Stark gang for you. Probably so you can write a story for that newspaper you work for.”

“It’s not like that,” Clay said.

“All those nights we played cards at the Rusty Spittoon. All the drinks you bought me. You were playing me for a damn fool.” Skagg grinned a sly grin. “But I’ve been put wise to you.”

“Someone fed you the notion that I was using you?” Clay studied him. “Did you find out where Stark is holed up?”

“No. But I’ve met one of his men. I had been to every watering hole in Bluff City, and I was about ready to give up, hundred or no hundred. Then last night a gent named Gorman came up to me and offered to buy me a drink. He said as how he heard I was asking around about Stark, and was it true I wanted to join Stark’s outfit. He said Stark is always on the lookout for the right kind of men. Men who can squeeze the trigger without batting an eye.”

“You didn’t tell Gorman about me, I hope.”

“Hell no,” Skagg said. “Not after he told me that if I joined up with Stark, I’d get an equal share of the loot. That promises to be more money than I’ve seen in all my born days.”

“So you decided to break your deal with me and join up with Stark for real,” Clay said.

“That’s about the gist of it,” Skagg said. “Except I can’t leave you alive to tell folks I’ve joined up with Stark.” Skagg’s tone softened slightly. “You can see how it is, can’t you, Clay? A man has to do what’s best for his poke.”

“What now?”

Skagg Izzard kneed his mount closer. “There is only one way to keep you from talking. I’m sorry it has to be like this but I’m not partial to the notion of gurgling at the end of a rope.” As an afterthought he added, “I asked a friend to help me.”

“A friend?”

“That would be me,” said the man called Rat as he came riding out of the shadows with a revolver in his hand. “Any last words, mister, before we send you to hell?”

“Amateurs,” Clay said in mild disgust.

“Who?” Skagg asked.

“You and your friend. When you have to kill someone, kill them. Don’t talk them to death. And you make damn sure you disarm them before you do anything else.”

Skagg wagged his revolver. “We have you covered. Your pistol is still in your holster.

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