Lawman From Nogales by Ralph Cotton

Author:Ralph Cotton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2011-08-05T00:00:00+00:00

From the overstuffed chair sitting out in front of the adobe building in Caminos, Art Hedden squinted through the wavering heat and saw the Ranger and Erin appear out of the dust on the horizon. Noting the two were no longer riding double, he grinned to himself, his hand tightening around the stock of a repeating rifle in his lap.

“We’ve got the sumbitch this time,” he said to Bo Sapp, who stood a few feet away in the shade of an alleyway alongside the public building.

Standing halfway up from the hot, dusty chair, Hedden levered a round up into the rifle chamber.

“Stay back out of sight,” he said to Sapp, who had started to take a step forward.

“You want my help or not?” Sapp asked sharply. Not liking Hedden to begin with, Sapp especially resented taking orders from the big gunman.

“Your help?” Hedden chuffed. “So far I haven’t seen any help. All I’ve seen you do is hang in the shade like some locked-out house cat.”

“Keep it up, Big Chili,” Sapp said, calling his nickname with contempt.

Hedden ignored the warning in Sapp’s tone. He shook his head, spit and looked away toward the two riders drawing closer to town.

“I’m not needing any of your help from the looks of it,” he said. “Just try to keep yourself out of my way.” He stepped over and kneeled down behind a water barrel sitting on the edge of the porch.

Sapp gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to raise his Colt and put a bullet in the back of Hedden’s head.

“Watch how I pick this fool’s eyes out,” Hedden said. “Maybe you’ll learn something.” He laid the rifle down across the barrel top, watching the Ranger and Erin ride closer, a rise of dust billowing up behind them.

Sighting down along the rifle barrel, Hedden saw the two ride down out of sight on the roll of the land.

“There went your target,” Sapp said, also watching the two riders from his spot at the corner of the building.

“Yep,” Hedden said confidently, “and as soon as he rides back up into sight, he’s not going to know what hit him.”

Sapp stood staring out, his neck craned slightly.

Hedden relaxed for a moment, his finger still on the trigger of the cocked rifle. As soon as the Ranger and Erin rode back into sight, he would take his shot at a hundred and fifty yards. Not a hard shot at all for him, he reminded himself.

A few tense moments passed.

“All right, where is he?” Sapp finally asked. He drew his Colt up out of his holster as if he might need it real soon.

Damn! Hedden stared out, seeing neither Erin nor the Ranger reappear.

“Something ain’t right!” he said to Sapp.

“You’re telling me,” Sapp said, stepping onto the street, edging closer to where their horses stood at a hitch rail. “Hell, he’s no idiot. He knew some of us would be waiting to kill him!”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Hedden asked, seeing Sapp unhitch his horse and start to swing up into his saddle.

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