Shoot Angel! (16 page)

The arm moved again and the
long tongue of the whip snaked forward. It curled across
Angel
’s
shoulder, snapping cruelly down his back, laying open shirt and
flesh alike. The pain was sharp, bringing forth a gasp from Angel’s
lips. He fell back, knowing that there wasn’t far for him to
retreat, and realizing that he was going to have to do something
quickly, else he was going to end up like Birdy—cut to bloody
ribbons!

‘
I
ain’t even got
warmed up yet, Angel,’ Trench grinned. He was enjoying himself.
Having a hell of a time. And he laughed even more when Angel
apparently slipped and went down on his knees. Trench contemplated
the bowed figure, the sight of Angel’s broad, exposed back
promising an excellent target. Trench jerked back his arm, bringing
the bloody lash back to him. That was when Angel moved, faster than
Trench could follow. Angel’s left hand came up from somewhere
around the top of his left boot, and Trench was certain he saw
something flash in the pale dawn light. His mind was still
deliberating on what might have caused the flicker of light when
the cold Solingen steel blade of Angel’s knife penetrated his
throat, cutting its way deeply into the tender flesh. There was a
second of numbness, then awful, deep-down pain. Trench, still not
quite realizing what had happened, released the whip and clamped
both hands to the rigid thing protruding from his throat. He began
a blind, mindless cry of animal fright and agony, repeated when he
became aware of the torrent of blood surging from his throat. He
gripped the handle of the slender knife and yanked it free, tearing
the wound even more in the process. But he was too late. The damage
had been done. He was already beginning to choke on his own blood,
coughing raggedly, spewing a pink froth from his jerking mouth. He
fell back against one of the stationary cattle wagons. One of his
feet went over the edge of the platform and he pitched forward,
slamming face first to the platform. Blood spread out from beneath
his jerking body in watery fingers, soaking into the soft
boards.

Frank Angel climbed to his
feet. He retrieved his gun, picked up the knife Trench had dropped
and returned it to its sheath in the side of his boot. He turned
and saw Amos Cranford, still down on the platform, watching him
with vacant eyes. Angel stared at the man for a long moment.
Cranford didn
’t say a word.

Heavy footsteps pounded along the platform.
Angel stood and waited for them to reach him.

The local lawman was in the
lead. He was a tall, capable-looking man in his early forties. A
taut, keen face, browned from a lifetime unde
r the sun. His dark hair was
gray-flecked, but that didn’t fool Angel. The man was probably as
dangerous as the sawn-off scattergun he was carrying.

‘
You
stand right where you are, boy,’ the marshal said. He ran a quick
eye over the scene, taking in the still figure of Trench and the
prone Amos Cranford. Then he glanced back at the tall, rangy young
man with the boy’s features in a face that bore the experience of a
lifetime. ‘Appears to me, son, you got some fast talking to
do.’

Frank Angel put away his gun.

‘
Marshal, let me show you something,’ he said and reached,
with his left hand, for the badge in his belt, thinking that he was
having to take the damn thing out so often of late it might be
easier to wear it on a length of cord around his neck. ‘I think
this will do most of my talking for me.’

The marshal took the badge and
studied it. He raised his eyes to Angel
’s face, sighed, and lowered the
scattergun.

‘
So
what can I do to help?’ he asked, and Angel knew it was
over.

As quickly as that.

‘
This
report reads like an eyewitness account of a massacre!’

Angel, feeling awkward in a new
dark suit, sank back in the leather armchair, and watched the
changing expression on the Attorney General
’s face. Billowing clouds of cigar
smoke rose to the ceiling of the spacious room that was the office
of the Attorney General, the man responsible for the control of the
department which managed all aspects of law enforcement for the
United States.

‘
My
God, Frank, did you leave anybody alive down there in
Arizona?’

‘
Only
those who weren’t doing their damndest to kill me!’ Angel replied
with rather more force than he had intended.

The Attorney
General
’s
eyebrows lifted a fraction, the only indication that he had noticed
Angel’s insubordination. He immersed himself in the lengthy report
once more, refraining from further comments. After a long and
awkward silence the older man put down the sheaf of
papers.

‘
You
were sent originally to bring back Harry Culp. First you get mixed
up with that mess at Butler’s Station and the Reece gang. Then you
move on to Liberty and start in on another fracas. To cap it all
Harry Culp ends up dead anyway.’

‘
I
hope you noticed
that the money Culp took has been returned, sir,’ Angel pointed
out.

‘
So
has a record of all the dead men involved.’

Angel sat upright.
‘Am I right to
assume I’m on the carpet over all this, sir?’

The Attorney General made a great ceremony of
relighting his cigar. He glared at Angel across the desk.

‘
You
can assume what you like, Mr. Angel.’

Anger rose in
Angel
’s
face.

‘
Let
me point something out, sir. I didn’t go looking for trouble at
Butler’s Station. The situation wasn’t my doing. I just became
involved. What was I supposed to do? Ask to be excused because I
had pressing business? I don’t think I would have got away with it.
It was just the same in Liberty. I happened to come along at the
wrong time—or right time—depending on how you look at it. I didn’t
ask to be thrown in jail—sir!’

A hint of a smile touched the
corners of the Attorney General
’s mouth as Angel reminded him of the
incident of his time spent in Liberty’s jail and labor
camp.

‘
No, I
must agree there, Frank. You didn’t ask to be put in jail. But you
were!’ The last words were delivered with relish. ‘Still, it does
no harm to see things from both sides of the fence—or bars in your
case.’

‘
It’s
something I won’t forget,’ Angel said, and thought: neither will
you, you son of a bitch, sitting there having a quiet chuckle, and
I wish that damn cigar would choke you!

The Attorney General leaned back in his seat,
his face relaxing.

‘
All
right, Frank, we’ve both had our say. I’ve chewed you out because
I’ve been chewed out. You’ve had your go at the bone, called me a
son of a bitch under your breath, so let’s consider the matter
closed.’

Angel sighed inwardly.

‘
Thank
you, sir.’

‘
Amos
Cranford will be going to trial next week. I have no doubt that
he’ll hang. A US marshal is looking after matters in Liberty until
the mess there is sorted out. It’s going to take some time to
uncover all of the details relating to the schemes Cranford and the
late Sheriff Sherman had organized. I’ve had a report that most of
the men in that labor camp have been set free.’

‘
A
little late for Birdy.’

‘
Birdy? Oh, the man who helped you. Yes. Pity about that.’
The Attorney-General glanced at a paper he had picked up. ‘You’d
better take a few days off. By the looks of you a good rest is
indicated. But stay in Washington. You’ll be required to give
evidence at Cranford’s trial. It’ll be a help to us now that we
have Sherman’s written confession to use, Lucky it wasn’t damaged
in the explosion. Good thinking on your part, Frank. In the event
it was providential.’

‘
Sometimes I do use my head,’ Angel remarked.

‘
Yes …
sometimes,’ the Attorney-General conceded. ‘Even in the line of
duty. Now get out of here and relax. And try and do it without
wiping out half of Washington. May I suggest that you consider
inviting a certain young woman out for dinner? It would be a
personal favor to me, Frank. Miss Rowe has been somewhat agitated
because of your extended absence. Go and reassure her that you are
sound in wind and limb.’

Angel knew he was forgiven. The
Old Man actually giving his blessing to a physical union with
Amabel Rowe was comparable with Moses receiving the Ten
Commandments
—it was no less than an act of God! Angel stood up and made
to leave before the Attorney General had a brainstorm and changed
his mind.

‘
Oh by
the way, sir, I forgot to give you this,’ Angel said, dropping a
folded paper on the desk.

The Attorney General opened the
paper and read it.
‘What is this, Frank?’

‘
Doctor’s bill, sir. For medical attention I received in
Liberty.’

The Attorney General rattled the paper.

‘
You
expect the department to pay it?’

Angel,
halfway through the door, glanced
over his shoulder.

‘
Why,
of course, sir.’

‘
One
good reason?’

‘
Injuries received … ’

‘
Yes?’

‘
…
In the line of duty … sir!’ Angel said, and got out fast,
before the Old Man found something to throw at
him.

The Angel Series:

Find Angel!

Send Angel!

Trap Angel!

Hang Angel!

Hunt Angel!

Kill Angel!

Frame Angel!

Stop Angel!

Shoot Angel!

Warn Angel!

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Frederick H
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