“Boss, we're thirty minutes out," said one of his men, walking back from talking with the conductor two days later. Lucas nodded acknowledgment and stood, stretching. He couldn't arrive stiff, after all.
Gunshots interrupted his stretching, and he whipped his head around toward the sound. Screams erupted from the passenger compartments, and in a blur, all the lawmen grabbed their guns. As he grabbed four lawmen, Lucas thought quickly and headed for the motorcade door.
"The rest of you, stay put. We need everyone ready when we get to the station. We don't know if that gang is waiting for us or not," Lucas ordered over his shoulder. The men nodded, though they weren't too happy to be told to twiddle their thumbs. The four he took with him held their guns ready.
"Keep casualties to a minimum," Lucas directed, cocking his weapon. Then he led the way, jumping from their car to the next one. When he and two others were next to the sliding door, he nodded to the one closest to the handle. The man glanced into the window and opened the door, rushing in. Lucas and the rest followed through the passenger car and on to the next one. When they got to the middle car, they heard another shot and ducked against the outside of the compartment.
In here? Lucas glanced slowly into the window, finally spotting the troublemakers. Several men—and a few women—robbing the passengers at gunpoint. Gritting his teeth, Lucas counted the number of bandits quickly; there were seven robbers total. They were outnumbered, but not overly so, and Lucas believed they could take them.
Glancing to two of the men with him, he ducked back and gave them their orders, telling them to go over to the other side, over the roof. He waited several minutes before he nodded to the one closest to the handle of the door. Then, with a quick flick of his wrist, the door rattled open, and the three of them aimed into the compartment. They caught the thieves off-guard, but before they could fire, the door opposite opened. The first thing he saw was the gun held to the heads of one of his men.
Then he saw the smirk—strangely familiar—on the lips of the man holding his man. Dark hair cascaded down his back, black eyes that stared into his soul, handsome as the Devil-
"Look what we got here, boys! Buncha lawmans!" the stranger said, shoving Lucas's man forward. "We gots some rats to smoke out, huh, boys?"
A few of the bandits hollered, though three stared straight at the front of the car, where Lucas and his men had taken cover.
That doesn't make sense! Where's-
Before he could finish the thought, his eyes fell to the ground behind the dark-haired man. There, his missing man lay in a growing puddle of blood.
19.
His eyes snapped back up to the stranger, his eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched. Lucas aimed his gun right between the bandit's eyes.
"Now, now, don't be so hasty," the bandit laughed, that smirk widening. "We're just here collecting our tolls."
Another laugh from the bandits, but they hadn't moved back to the passengers.
"Boss, we got plenty," one of the women muttered, glancing at the lawmen. "We don't want them followin' us back."
"You chickenin' out on me?" Those dark eyes shifted to the woman, a vicious, terrifying look. The woman shuddered and shook her head. "Then get back to work."
At the order, the other bandits moved past the dark-haired man.
"Hold it!" Lucas growled, rushing into the car, both hands on his pistol to steady his shot. "Release him, now!"
Those black as night eyes turned back to Lucas, and he felt a flicker of fear for just a second before smothering it. Ridiculous.
"You've got balls," the man purred, though he didn't release the man in his hold, and the other bandits didn't stop what they were doing. "And if I don't, kid? Whatcha gonna do? Run back to your boss with your tail between your legs while you got the chance. I ain't gonna tell you twice."
Lucas swallowed thickly and squared his shoulders, his eyes focused solely on the outlaw.
"Boss, we're done here," one of the bandits said from behind the man. With that cocky smirk returning to curve his lips, the dark-haired man nodded.
"Go," he ordered. As each filed out, the man started to back up, with the lawman still in his grip, his gun still pressed to his captive's hair.
"I said hold it!" Lucas shouted—and fired. His bullet hit the frame of the door, a warning shot. "Next one goes through your skull. You're under arrest!"
The man just laughed before suddenly pulling the captive lawman back up to the door. "You're fun. I'll play with you again soon."
The sound of the gun covered his exit. Blood splattered from the hole in the captive's forehead, painting the people in front of him. Too much got on Lucas as he rushed forward to stop the bandit from getting away. The shock of the brutality hit him like a steam engine in the gut.
But he grit his teeth and rushed past the body of his man—he didn't even know the man's name—and out the car door. There, in the distance, he could see several mounted outlaws riding away, that dark-haired one leading, his black hair swirling, whipping in the wind.
18.
—
Lucas didn't bother wiping off the blood of his two fallen comrades. Instead, he helped his men to wrap the bodies and unload them at the station. The mayor stood off to one side of the platform, watching the lawmen unload their gear and the two bodies. When he saw the bodies, however, the mayor hurried over.
"Oh dear, what happened?"
Lucas turned his eyes to the toothpick of a man who seemed older than the file indicated. This man didn't look 34; he looked 60, maybe 70. Lucas supposed that was the price of stress.
"Those bandits attacked the train on our way in," Lucas replied, glancing from the mayor to the two covered bodies. "I lost two good men."
"Oh dear, oh dear... we'll be sure to give them a good burial, sir." Then the mayor cleared his throat and held out his hand. "I'm Mayor Timothy Rise. We've got a place ready for you and your men to use as your base."
Lucas nodded and took the hand, "Officer Lucas Solomon. Thank you for your cooperation, Mayor. We'll get this mess settled and out of your hair as soon as we can."
Under Lucas's direction, they loaded up the provided wagon, and the mayor showed them their assigned 'base’—the house attached to the sheriff's office. It was small, in disuse, and most certainly wouldn't fit all of them. With a sigh, Lucas made the most of the situation and split up bunk space evenly. He gave his men the house and told them he'd sleep in the sheriff's office—that way, they had some distance from their boss. With his belongings stored, Lucas took stock of the sheriff's office. After a quick search, he found the keys to the two cells, the office, and the house next door.
No wonder the house is in disuse. It must have been the last sheriff's home...
Throwing on his duster and hat, Lucas strode out the door—and nearly ran straight into a young woman.
"Oh, thank heavens, you've arrived!" the woman cried out, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. "It's terrible! Those bandits, they're at the tavern!"
Lucas stood up straighter and told her to go straight home and lock the door. Lucas went next door and got his men together after the woman ran off with her skirts flying around her ankles. They all rushed over to the tavern. When they got there, though, the owner told them the gang had left only ten minutes ago.
"They were headin' outta town," the man said as he worked to clean up the mess left in the common room.
Grinding his teeth and feeling like he was on a wild goose chase, Lucas sent his men to patrol in pairs. "Ask around, see what you can find out. Maybe we'll get lucky and discover where they base."
On his own, Lucas started to wander the streets of the trade town. For a township harassed daily by bandits, this place seemed extraordinarily at ease and wealthy. The people looked well-fed and well-dressed, several people seemed to own a horse, and the houses appeared maintained. Nevertheless, just walking around gave him a bad feeling about this place.
A tug on his coat and the lawman cast his gaze down. There, a boy of maybe five stood, clutching his duster, with tears in his eyes. Lucas knelt down and asked him what was wrong.
"Momma... momma said ta get you... she said you have ta go there, and you gotta bring your gun..." sniffled the young boy, pointing to a building with a provocative sign.
A brothel?
"Do you know why?" Lucas asked, patient with children.
"The bad man's there..."
That was all Lucas needed to know. He told the boy to go home quickly, that he'd take care of everything. The boy sniffled again and ran off. Unholstering one of his guns, the lawman moved briskly to the entrance of the brothel. With his back against the outside, he glanced in the door. Almost immediately, his eyes found the black-haired outlaw from the train. He wasn't paying attention with his arm slung around two women, his back to the door.
But Lucas could tell it was him.
Got you!
Slowly, he moved inside, doing his best not to attract attention. Then he shoved his gun against the man's head. "Don't move. Make a move, and I'll shoot."
A slow laugh boiled up from the man. "Oh, it's you... good, I was getting tired of the same old pussy I find in this joint."
"Shut up!" Lucas growled, shoving the gun against his head. "Show me your hands! Slowly!"
The man slowly raised his hands from the women, who darted away from the lawman and the outlaw.
"You're under arrest for murder, armed robbery, and banditry," Lucas informed him, pulling out his handcuffs and grabbing one of the man's wrists. As Lucas tugged it behind his back, the man suddenly moved. A shout of surprise and he fired, but the man had knocked the gun up, so the bullet hit the wall behind him.
The outlaw moved fast, faster than Lucas thought possible, and knocked the lawman to the ground. He lost his grip on his gun, the pistol skidding over the floor, stopping several feet away. Lucas shoved an elbow at the bandit, and the dark-haired man grabbed his elbow, pinning that against the floor with one hand while the other held Lucas's wrist above his head. That stupid smirk curled at his lips, his dark hair flowing like liquid over his shoulder, and those dark piercing eyes burrowing into Lucas.
"Now that I get a good look at you, you're prettier than all the sluts here..." the man purred, his broad shoulders blocking Lucas's view of anything other than his face. "Whadd'ya say, beautiful? Wanna be my bitch? It'll be more fun than trying to catch me..."
Lucas sneered and spit into the outlaw's face, feeling a shudder roll down his neck and his cheeks heat. "Get off me! Resisting arrest is just going to make this worse for you!"
The man laughed again, even as Lucas struggled to get out from under him, bucking to attempt to dislodge the larger man. "Man, I was just kidding, but you're hot when you're angry. Maybe I'll just take you for a ride and see if you're better than all these bitches."
With those words, Lucas shoved up with all his strength, using his legs to kick at the outlaw. With that stupid smirk on his lips, a laugh falling smoothly, the bandit jumped up and danced away. He pulled his pistol from his hip, aiming it at Lucas as the lawman slowly got up.
"You've got fire," the man smirked, tilting his head. "Tell ya what. I'll give ya till tomorrow to think over my offer. Come to the Devil's Bones Valley outside of town, alone, by sun-up, and I'll let the rest of those lawmans you brought with you live."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I'll just have to shoot each one of your men and convince you on my terms," the man said, his smirk widening. "Either way, you'll be mine soon."
"I'd rather see you swing," Lucas sneered, glaring at the man.
Another laugh, and the outlaw grabbed a woman who'd been cowering under one of the tables. "We'll see about that, blondie," he said, slowly backing out, with his gun pointed toward the woman. "Don't move now. Wouldn't want a repeat of the train, would we?"
Lucas stiffened at the reminder. As the man got to the door, he winked at Lucas.
"By the by, blondie—the name's Malachite Fury. I hope you make the right choice." Then he thrust the woman forward and disappeared out the door.
READ THE FULL VERSION ON GUMROAD. Link in the Author's Note.
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