Slocum's Breakout by Jake Logan

Author:Jake Logan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: General, Westerns, Fiction
ISBN: 9780515150117
Publisher: Jove
Published: 2011-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

“You ought to be a highwayman,” Slocum said. “This is the perfect spot for a robbery.”

“That was my father,” Procipio said indignantly. “I farm and that is all I want from life.”

“Didn’t mean anything by it,” Slocum said, his attention fixed on the way the road made a hairpin turn and the boulders on either side. Those rocks could protect the stage and driver but also provided an excellent spot for a rifleman to take out any guard who refused to surrender. One robber need only stand in the road to stop the progress up the trail while an accomplice did the necessary work if the driver or shotgun messenger protested. The tight notch in the road prevented the driver from wheeling the stage about and trying to run, as if any driver would. Being held up on a California route was an all-too-often occurrence. If the driver surrendered his cargo, the highwaymen obliged by not killing him and his passengers.

“I was falsely put into San Quentin,” Murrieta went on. “Just as Atencio was, though they did not see fit to frame me for horse thieving.”

“Hush,” Slocum said, motioning Murrieta back. Two riders trotted into the notch from the direction of Miramar. They were ten miles outside town, about perfect for a stagecoach robbery. The more Slocum saw of this location, the more envious he became of whoever could launch a robbery here. It was as close to perfect as he had ever seen for thievery.

The two riders stopped and looked around. Both had bandannas pulled up over their faces, but this was to protect them from the blowing dust rather than hide their identities. They exchanged words too low for Slocum to hear, then split up. One rode back down the road and stepped down from his horse. He took out a rifle, cocked it, then went to the middle of the road.

The second rider wended his way up into the rocks to the very spot Slocum had picked out as ideal for an ambush.

“That’s José,” Slocum said softly. Murrieta nodded, then reached for his six-shooter. Slocum grabbed the man’s brawny wrist and forced him to leave his gun in its holster. “We wait.”

Murrieta grumbled but relaxed, sliding back to a spot where José Valenzuela could not see him if the bandido chose to look around.

“How will we capture them?” Murrieta asked. “I should go to the road and—”

“We’re not going to catch them. After they rob the stage, they’ll take the loot back to their hideout. Their new hideout,” Slocum explained.

“Where they might have the gold from the bank?”

“Exactly,” Slocum said. He was all keyed up, as if he were the one doing the robbery. How much would the payroll be for an entire Army garrison? He couldn’t tell. There might be enough for both Fort Point and the Presidio. The stagecoach shipment might be thousands of dollars. After he followed the Valenzuelas back to their lair, he would have to consider letting Murrieta use the gold to free Atencio and keeping this haul for himself.

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