Read Online Bounty on a Baron by Robert J. Randisi - Free Book Online

be paid.”
    “Look,” Dani Boone said, “maybe I’m not doing this right. Maybe I’m not asking nicely enough, but I’m not used to asking for anything.”
    “Maybe you should learn how, then.”
    She compressed her lips and then said, “Maybe I should.”
    Decker walked to the door and then turned.
    “In return for your hospitality,” he said, “if I find the Baron, I’ll question him about your father’s death. Anything I find out, I’ll relay to you. Is that to your satisfaction?”
    She thought a moment and then, not looking happy, said, “I guess it will have to be, won’t it?”
    Decker nodded and left. Outside, he wondered why he had given her such a hard time and why he had gotten a certain amount of satisfaction from it.

Chapter Twelve
    Outside, Frenchie was waiting for Decker.
    “Well?” he asked.
    “If you weren’t so much bigger than me I’d take a poke at you.”
    “And I’d deserve it,” Frenchie said. “But my guess is, if you were that mad, my size wouldn’t stop you.”
    “You’re right.”
    “Did you agree?”
    “No.”
    “What?”
    “I won’t work for her.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because I work for myself, Frenchie. That’s one of the reasons I do what I do.”
    Frenchie hesitated a moment, then said, “I can understand that.”
    “Good.”
    “You want some coffee?”
    “You wouldn’t have something a little stronger, would you?”
    “As a matter of fact,” Frenchie said, “I would.”
    Frenchie took Decker to a tent where there was a five-handed poker game going, and another man watching it. The tent was filled with smoke.
    “What’s this?”
    “This is where we come to relax if we don’t want to go into town.”
    He led Decker past the game to a makeshift three-foot bar in the back.
    “Can’t offer you much of a variety,” Frenchie said, reaching behind the bar. “We’ve got rotgut, and more rotgut.”
    “I’ll take it,” Decker said. He took a swig from the bottle and felt it warm his insides instantly, like liquid fire. He handed it to Frenchie, and the big logger took a huge swallow.
    “So, what’s the story?” Frenchie asked.
    “If I hear anything I think she should know, I’ll tell her,” Decker said.
    “That’s all?”
    “That’s all.”
    “And she went for it?”
    “She wasn’t about to get any more.”
    “She’s one stubborn woman, you know.”
    “She’s hardly a woman.”
    “Well, she ain’t no kid, you could tell that by looking at her.”
    “And just what is she to you?”
    “Mmm, I’m sort of like an uncle.”
    “An uncle who calls her ‘Miz Boone’?”
    “She’s also my boss.”
    “Did she work here with her father?”
    “No,” Frenchie said. “She lived in the East, but she was on her way here when he was killed.”
    “He was dead when she got here?”
    “Yes,” Frenchie said. “She arrived the day after he was killed. They hadn’t seen each other for five years, and they hadn’t parted on the best of terms. This was supposed to be a reconciliation.”
    “I see.”
    “Do you? She feels real guilty about her father’sdeath. She wants to catch the man who did it, and the man who ordered it.” Frenchie leaned on the bar and said, “I guess you figured out by now that I heard you asking about the Baron in the bar. I thought you might be able to help her. When I met you, and heard who you were, I knew you were the man we needed.”
    “You knew—”
    “Look, I don’t care if you help her on her terms, or on your terms. All I care about is that you help her.”
    “Just so you know,” Decker said, “that my main concern is not to help anyone but myself.”
    Frenchie put his huge paw on Decker’s shoulder and said, “I’ll bet even you don’t believe that.”
    “I still think you should let me ride along with you,” Frenchie said.
    It was morning, and Decker was getting ready to ride out. He had the supplies he’d bought at the “general store” plus a few things that Frenchie had thrown