Banyon's War by Terrell Bowers

Author:Terrell Bowers [Bowers, Terrell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-02-27T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Banyon had explained each step taken with Whitey for the third time, when the door opened to the sheriff's office. Tincup and Rodney entered the jail, both of them puffed up with righteous indignation.

'What the hell, Wilcox?' Tincup wasted no words in greeting. 'You can't arrest Banyon.'

'The law states I have to arrest him until there's a hearing,' Wilcox argued. 'The only witness saw him approach Whitey from behind and start shooting.'

'That's a load of road-apples, and you know it!' Tincup pointed a finger at his chest. 'Kemph told me he saw Renz hurry past his store window after the shots were fired! Ain't no way he could have seen what happened around to the side of the building. About the only window facing that direction is the one over at the bank.'

'If Kemph will testify at the hearing, it should win Banyon's freedom,' Wilcox said. 'Still, I have to hold him until the judge hears the case.'

Tincup snorted sarcastically. 'Kemph won't dare open his mouth. Havelock has the deed to his store!'

'This is great,' Rodney said thickly. 'Whitey kills Ti Fat and sets fire to our place, and you put the only man in the valley who stands against Havelock in jail.'

'Whitey did admit to murdering Ti Fat,' Mace chipped in from his cell. 'He wondered how we had zeroed in on him as the killer. Of course, he only confessed to it because he was confident he could beat me to the draw.'

'There's blood on your shirt,' Tincup noticed, looking closer at Mace. 'You get hit?'

'Turns out, Whitey was every bit as fast as me. His shot was a couple inches off the mark – put a crease across my ribs.'

'You get the doctor over here right now!' Tincup barked the order at Wilcox. 'You put a man in jail, you better darn-tootin' see he's taken care of!'

'I'll see to it,' the sheriff said wearily. 'You men aren't making my job any easier, you know?'

'What I know is,' Rodney broke into the conversation, 'without Banyon to protect them, those Chinese farmers are all going to be targets. That means you have to protect them, Sheriff.'

'What am I supposed to do? I can't be every place at once.'

'Havelock is going to stir up a mob and try to run those people out of the valley. With this drought, there are a lot of jealous farmers looking to blame someone besides Nature. And our place is likely to be hit too.'

“Judge Morrison will be here in a few days. I sent a wire about Ti Fat being killed, so he already scheduled a trip here. Banyon can have his say and, hopefully, we'll get someone to back up his story about the gunfight.'

Rod said, 'And if not, you're willing to let him be railroaded into the hoosegow or a noose!'

'What about the protection of my farmers?” Tincup wanted to know. 'How are you going to guard a prisoner and stop the violence against them?'

'I'll have to hire a temporary deputy.

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