Missing Patriarch (9781101613399) (8 page)

TWENTY-SIX

They rode south and picked up the trail.

“See here?” Clint said, pointing at the ground. “Seven, maybe eight horses.”

“How can you tell?”

“The tracks are that different,” he said. “Each horse has its own pattern, its own signature.”

“I don't see it,” Willis admitted.

“Luckily, I do. Let's mount up,”

They got back on the horses and followed the tracks south until it started to get dark. Then they camped.

“Geez, my ass is sore,” Willis said as they sat around the fire and ate beans. “It's been years since I was on a horse this long.”

“It'll feel better tomorrow,” Clint said. “You just have to get used to it again.”

“How far south do you intend to chase this gang?” Willis asked.

“Mexico, if I have to.”

“Can we do that?” Willis asked. “Go into Mexico after them?”

“Sure.”

“With authority?”

“Well . . . no, not with authority.”

“Then what rights will we have once we cross?”

“We'll have right on our side, Lou,” Clint said. “And if we run into the
rurales
, maybe we can get them to back us.”

“And if not?”

“I'll think about that when we get there,” Clint said. He looked across the fire at the lawyer. “Lou, you can turn back anytime you want.”

“No, I can't,” Willis said. “I'm representing the town, remember?”

“Okay, then,” Clint said. “We'll set a watch. I'll go first, wake you in four hours.”

“Why are we on watch?” Willis asked. “We're chasing them.”

“Just in case.”

“Just in case . . . what?”

Clint shrugged.

“They could double back,” he said. “They could split their take and some of them might come back this way. Who knows?”

“W-What do I watch for?”

“Just listen,” Clint said. “The horses will alert you if somebody's coming. If they do, wake me up.”

“What if I wake you up for nothing?”

“Better than me not waking up at all,” Clint said. “Go ahead, Lou. You get some sleep.”

“I don't know if I can sleep on the ground,” Willis said, “but I'll try.”

“Don't worry,” Clint said. “You're tired enough.”

Willis wrapped himself in his bedroll, and in a matter of minutes, he was asleep.

*   *   *

In another camp two fires were going. Around one sat Andy Donovan, Jimmy McCall, and Henry Carter. Around the other sat the rest of the men.

“Tomorrow we'll be in Mexico,” Donovan said.

“You think the boys are gonna go that far?” Carter asked. “Mexico?”

“If they want their share of the money, they will,” Donovan said.

Carter looked at McCall, who had nothing to say.

“What about you?” he asked. “Are you doin' to Mexico?”

Jimmy looked at Carter and said, “If Donovan's goin' to Mexico, that's where I'm goin'.”

Carter took his beans and walked to the other fire.

“Do you know what he's doin' over there?” Jimmy asked Donovan.

“Yeah, he's doin' what I tell him to do,” the gang leader said. “He's keepin' an eye on those guys, findin' out what's on their minds.”

“And what do you think is on his mind?”

“What are you gettin' at?”

“You're afraid those men might turn on you sometime, huh?” Jimmy asked.

“I keep my eye on them.”

“And what about Henry?”

“What about him?”

“You trust him?”

“Jimmy, you know me. You know I don't trust anybody—not even you.”

“Well, if I was you, I'd keep an eye on all of them,” Jimmy said. “Even Henry. Maybe especially Henry.”

Donovan poured himself some more coffee, picked up his plate to finish his beans. Then he turned his head and looked over to where Carter was talking with the other men.

“Jimmy.”

“Yeah?”

“You wanna go home to your kids?”

“You know I do.”

“Keep me alive long enough to split the money, and you'll be rich.”

“Tell me somethin'.”

“What?”

“You intend to split this money with them at all?”

“Probably not.”

“So you need to turn on them before they turn on you,” Jimmy said.

“I intend to.”

“Then why not now?”

“I'm not ready now.”

“Mexico?”

“I'll probably be ready there. And I'll need you to help me.”

“It would be good if you had Carter, too.”

“We'll see,” Donovan said. “But you and me, we can handle them if we have to.”

“How much money do we have, Andy?” Jimmy asked.

“Almost enough,” Donovan said, “almost enough.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

Three days out from Windspring, Clint woke up to the smell of fresh coffee.

“You made a pot?” he asked, rolling out of his bedroll.

“I thought I might try pulling my weight,” Willis said. “Want some jerky?”

“Sure.”

Willis handed him a piece of jerk, and then a cup of coffee. He watched while Clint sipped it.

“How is it?”

“Not bad,” Clint said. “Not bad at all. You're learning.”

“You said you liked it strong,” Willis said. “It almost ate through the bottom of the pot.”

Clint laughed and said, “That's strong, all right.”

Willis smiled, sipped, and winced, then they both laughed.

“How far out are we from Mexico?”

“A couple of days.”

“And how far behind the gang are we?”

“Three days, maybe more,” Clint said. “By my reckoning, they're already in Mexico.”

“And we're definitely crossing after them?”

“I am,” Clint said. “I don't know about you.”

“Oh, if you're going, I'm going, too,” Willis said.

“Then let's finish this elaborate breakfast and get going.”

*   *   *

Donovan and his gang stopped at a small village called San Angel. Little more than a collection of adobe buildings housing a cantina, a small hotel, and a church.

“You boys go ahead and get something to drink or eat,” Donovan said, “or both. Aikens, you and Booth take the horses to the stables. Don't unsaddle them. We won't be stayin'.”

“Okay, boss.”

“And don't nobody get drunk,” Donovan said. “Jimmy, you come with me.”

“Okay.”

McCall gave the reins of his horse to Aikens, then followed Donovan on foot.

“Where are we goin'?” Jimmy asked.

“The hotel.”

“I thought we weren't stayin'.”

“We're not.”

“Then why are we goin' to the hotel?”

“To meet somebody.”

“Who?”

“You'll see.”

*   *   *

Henry Carter went into the cantina with four of the other men, including Long.

They bellied up to the bar and ordered tequila or beer, then asked the bartender for some tacos.

“Sí, señor,”
he said.
“Immediatamente!”

Long and Carter moved to one end of the bar, where the others couldn't hear them.

“So what do you think?” Long asked.

“Not yet,” Carter said. “Not here. We don't have all the men yet.”

“We have enough,” Long said.

“No,” Carter said, “we need them all.”

“There's just Billings and Dade.”

“We need them. That'll just leave Donovan with Jimmy McCall to back him.”

“You can't get McCall over to our side?”

“I doubt it,” Carter said. “I'll feel him out, but I doubt it. I think we're gonna have to kill him, too. A shame.”

“Why?”

“All he wants to do is get back to his kids.”

“So tell him if we kill Donovan, he can go see his kids. Hell, we'll all go see his kids.”

“Yeah, okay,” Carter said. “For now let's just eat and drink before Donovan comes in here and yells at us to mount up.”

“Why isn't he in here eatin'?”

“I don't know,” Carter said. “I'm not gonna worry about that now.”

They moved down the bar to join the other men eating tacos and washing them down with beer and tequila.

*   *   *

When they entered the hotel, the desk clerk had his head down on the desk, snoring.

Donovan walked to the desk and slapped his hand down on it. The clerk jerked his head up, eyes wide.

“Sí, señor?”
he said. “Do you need a room?”

“I'm looking for a man named Rodrigo.”

“Rodrigo?”

“Yes.”

“I do not know—”

Donovan drew his gun and pointed it at the man, whose eyes went wide.

“Let's try again.”

“
Sí, señor
,” the man said. “Rodrigo is in Room 5. He is, uh, with someone.”

“That's okay,” Donovan said. “We'll just interrupt him.”

“
Sí, señor
.”

Donovan holstered his gun.

“You can go back to sleep now.”

“
Sí, señor
.
Gracias, señor
.”

Donovan looked at McCall and said, “Let's go.”

“Are we gonna need our guns?”

“No,” Donovan said. “Rodrigo is expecting me.”

“So he won't mind being interrupted while he's . . . with his guest?”

Donovan laughed.

“Oh, yeah, he'll be mad,” he said, “but that's just too damn bad.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

When they got to the door of Room 5, they heard sounds from inside, two people grunting and groaning.

“Maybe we should wait,” Jimmy McCall said.

“No time,” Donovan said. He reached for the doorknob, turned it, found the door unlocked. He slammed it open.

At the sound of the door hitting the wall, the man on the bed leaped off it and went for the gun on the chair next to him.

“Easy, Rodrigo!” Donovan yelled.

Rodrigo stopped and stared at Donovan. When he recognized him, he relaxed and stood up straight, ignoring his gun. He was naked, and aroused.

The girl on the bed was naked, a dark-haired, dark-skinned Mexican woman who was forty if she was a day. She had a body that had once been bountiful, but now sagged. Still, she probably looked good to a man who had spent many days on horseback.

“Cabron!”
she said.

Jimmy didn't know if she was cursing Donovan, or Rodrigo.

“We need to talk, Rodrigo.”

“
Mi amigo
, Donovan,” Rodrigo said.
“Como esta?”

“I'm doin' fine, Rodrigo,” Donovan said. “Sorry to interrupt you.” He walked to the bed, took out some money, and dropped it on the mattress. “There you go,
señorita
. Now git!”

She grabbed at the money, then hopped off the bed and picked her clothes up from the floor. She didn't bother putting them on, just carried them with her as she went out into the hall. McCall closed the door behind her.

“Get dressed, Rodrigo,” Donovan said. “Nobody wants to look at your tallywacker.”

The Mexican grabbed his pants and pulled them on, covering his wilting penis.

“My friend, it is so good to see you,” he said. “Who is this?”

“My
compadre
, Jimmy McCall,” Donovan said. “My men are over at the cantina.”

“Perhaps we should go there and join them?”

“In a minute,” Donovan said. “You got the information I need?”

“
Sí
, as promised,” Rodrigo said.

“Let's have it.”

Rodrigo crossed the room, took something out of his saddlebags. As McCall watched, the man unfurled it and he realized it was a map of Mexico. Rodrigo spread it out on the bed.

“C'mere, Jimmy.”

Donovan and Jimmy approached the bed. Rodrigo pointed to something on the map.

“This town is called Casa Madera. It is the one you want.”

Donovan pointed. “It's kind of close to Mexico City.”

“That's why it has so much money,
señor
,” Rodrigo said.

“And what about law?”

“That you will have to go in and see for yourself,
señor
.”

“That'll be my man Jimmy's job,” Donovan said. “But if they put out the word they been hit, how long before some troops from Mexico City can make it there?”

“You will have two hours,
señor
. Perhaps more.”

“Okay, that's good.”

Jimmy put his hand on Donovan's arm.

“Two hours is cutting it close.”

“Don't worry,” Donovan said. “We'll be fine as long as you do your part.” He looked at the Mexican. “Let me have that map, Rodrigo. Why don't you go over to the cantina and have a drink on me. We'll be there soon.”

“Sí, señor,”
Rodrigo said. “A drink sounds very good.
Muy bien
.”

Rodrigo put on his shirt and boots and hurried from the room, as if he thought all the tequila would be gone before he got there.

Donovan turned to Jimmy.

“You got questions?”

“Yeah, I got questions,” McCall said. “I thought we were coming to Mexico to split the money.”

“We are,” Donovan said, “but we're gonna get a little more before we do that.”

“You want me to scout a Mexican town? I'll stick out like . . . well, a gringo in a Mexican town.”

“Don't worry about that,” Donovan said. “Mexico is filthy with gringos.”

“So this is why you didn't want to get rid of the other men yet,” McCall said. “One more job.”

“One more,” Donovan said, “then you'll have your money and you can go back to your kids.”

“Is this on the level, Andy?”

“On the level, Jimmy. Now why don't we go and get somethin' to eat?”

“Yeah,” McCall said, “okay.”