Chapter Thirty-two
Decker woke and walked to the window. He opened it and took a deep breath. This, he thought, smells like a town, and he found he missed the fresh smell of the Rio del Gato.
Staring out the window he saw three men walking from the hotel to the cantina, as if they had just checked in and were now on their way to get a drink. He almost thought nothing of it when he frowned and took a second look.
If he was not mistaken, those were the same three men he and Jose had knocked unconscious in the livery—Gilberto Diaz’s men. Had he seen any of them alone he would not have recognized them, but all three together were hard to miss.
So, in addition to having Moran in town, he also had those three. Could Gilberto and Raquel be far behind?
It wasn’t that big of a surprise that they had been able to escape from Jose. After all, he wasn’t exactly the model of an efficient lawman. The question this brought up, however, was whether or not their presence here in San Louisa was a coincidence.
He thought not.
How they had found him he did not know, but the fact that they had bothered could only have been fuelled by a desire for revenge.
Things were about to get much more complicated than he needed.
Chapter Thirty-three
Before meeting Gilberto and Raquel at the cantina, Juan, Martinez and Orlando went to the hotel to secure three rooms. Gilberto and Raquel would each have their own, while the three men would be forced to share one.
While waiting for their rooms, Juan went through the register and saw Decker’s name. This was the news he gave the bandit leader and his sister, now.
“Then he is here,” Gilberto said.
“How much further will we have to follow him to find the man he seeks?” Raquel asked. She looked at Juan and asked, “When did he arrive?”
“Yesterday.”
She looked at her brother.
“If he is not leaving today, then he has found the man he is hunting for.”
“Here, in this town?”
“Yes.”
“Then we have them both.”
“All we must do is identify the man,” Raquel said, “and then we will no longer need Decker.”
“Identifying the man should not be difficult,” Gilberto said. “He will also be a gringo, and there are not many here.”
“The sheriff,” Juan said.
“What?” Gilberto asked.
“The sheriff is a gringo.”
Gilberto and Raquel exchanged glances.
“The three of you move about the town and find out what you can about the sheriff. What his name is, when he came to town, when he became sheriff and anything else that you can,” Raquel instructed. “You will find us at the livery stable.” They looked to Gilberto for confirmation, but she snapped, “Go!” and they moved.
“Why the livery stable?” Gilberto asked his sister. He had been looking forward to sleeping in a real bed.
“Gilberto, we will have to stay out of sight so that Decker does not see us.”
“If he is staying at the hotel—”
“Yes. We will have to stay somewhere else.”
“There is nowhere else.”
“Then we will camp outside of town,” Raquel said. “If he sees us it will ruin everything. I don’t want him to see us until the last moment of this life.”
“And it will be my pleasure to kill him,” Gilberto said.
“And mine to watch.”
When Moran left his office he saw the three men leaving the cantina. They were strangers, and Moran had been a lawman long enough—and enough times—to distrust strangers. He watched their progress as they crossed the street and then suddenly split up.
He decided to follow one of them and see where he would lead.
His instinct was more one of self-preservation than anything else. The phrase “bounty hunter” had only recently been brought up, and now there were three strangers in town. True, they were Mexicans, but Mexicans could collect a bounty just as well as gringos.
With the direction his thoughts were taking this morning, it definitely was time to start moving again.
San Louisa had now lost all of its charms.
Chapter Thirty-four
When Decker left his hotel he saw Moran leaving his office. Ducking back into the lobby he watched and saw Moran watching the three bandits. When the three men separated, Moran started to follow one of them.
Was the man acting like a real sheriff all of a sudden? That wasn’t very likely. He was probably acting out of a natural distrust of strangers, and that made Decker happy that Moran had not seen him yet. As lawmen went, Moran had not exactly been very visible yesterday.
Decker decided to tail Moran, because if the man was that jumpy, this might be the day he’d make his move.
For the next hour he followed Moran as “The Lawman” followed the bandit. The bandit, on the other hand, seemed to simply be roaming the streets, stopping occasionally in a store to speak with the merchants.
It was odd behavior for a bandit.
While following the two men Decker kept an eye out for Gilberto or Raquel, but they were more than likely keeping a low profile so as not to run into him.
Decker knew he was going to have to do something about them well before he made a move on Moran. The only problem with that was that there were five of them, and only one of him.
Unless, of course…and the answer came with a jolt of irony…unless the town lawman could be persuaded to back him.
Moran didn’t know him. What if he became convinced that Gilberto, Raquel and their men were bounty hunters?
It was a big ‘what if?’, but if it worked…
After the initial hour Moran gave up on tailing the bandit, and crossed the street to go in the opposite direction. Decker stepped into a doorway and watched the sheriff to see where he was headed. When it was safe to do so he stepped out and followed him.
Moran eventually went into a café—hopefully for breakfast—and by then Decker’s plan was completely formed in his mind.
He entered the café, found Moran, and went over to sit with him.
Chapter Thirty-five
“Can I help you?” Moran asked. He was frowning. He disliked the idea that there was another stranger in town, and that the man had suddenly appeared at his table.
A waiter came over and Decker said, “Coffee for two, and bring the sheriff whatever he wants for breakfast.”
Moran, his appetite possibly ruined, said, “Just the coffee.”
“Nothing more? That’s not the right way to start a day, Sheriff.”
“Why don’t we start it with an explanation from you, friend?”
“Well, I saw you come in here and figured maybe you’d like another gringo to talk to. You know, about home and all that?”
“You were wrong.”
“All right, then I wanted somebody to talk to.”
“About what?”
“About this little problem I’m having.”
“Which is?”
“Well, this is a little embarrassing to admit,” Decker said, scratching his head, “but the fact is I’m a wanted man back in the States.”
“Is that a fact?”
“Yep. A thousand dollars.”
“That’s quite a price.”
“My problem is that there are some people in town who are looking to collect.”
At that Moran suddenly looked interested. They suspended the conversation while the waiter put down a pot of coffee and two cups.
“Something else?” he asked.
“No!” Moran said firmly. After the waiter had left he looked at Decker and said, “Bounty hunters?”