Read Online MacCallister: The Eagles Legacy: The Killing by William W. Johnstone, J. A. Johnstone - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: William W. Johnstone, J. A. Johnstone
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offer, Francis, but I’ll be all right.”
If the ranch had not made Duff any money yet, his gold mine had, though he had never shared with any of these men the secret of the mine. He knew that the other ranchers had speculated that he may have come from a wealthy family in Scotland, and though it was not true, Duff did nothing to dissuade them from that belief. The fewer people who knew about the mine, the better off he would be.
At that moment, one of the employees of the club came into the parlor. “Gentlemen,” he said. “Dinner is being served.”
As Duff went in for dinner at the Cheyenne Club, a few blocks away in the Eagle Saloon on Fifteenth Street, Tyler Camden was playing a game of Ole’ Sol. Actually, he would have preferred to be playing a game of poker, but no one would play with him, for he was known to have a vicious temper. Last year, he’d killed a man in a poker game after the man accused him of cheating. Of course he had been cheating, but he couldn’t let the accusation go unchallenged. Quicker than anyone could react, Camden had reached across the table, grabbed the man by his shirt front, lifted him up, and plunged his knife in through the man’s ribs. Quick and silent. The man was dead before most of the people in the saloon even knew what had happened.
The man Camden had killed had made the mistake of saying, “Where I come from, cheaters get shot.”
Others at the table had heard him say that, and while that wasn’t a direct threat, the quickly assembled court had declared it sufficient justification for a case to be made of self-defense.
There was a very strong rumor that Camden had also stabbed a man down in Colorado last year, and though neither of the two men he had killed were known to be gunfighters, they were, nevertheless, victims, and that was enough give Camden the reputation of someone to be feared.
Camden counted out three cards, but couldn’t find a play. The second card of the three was a red nine. There was a black ten on one of the stacks where he could have used the red nine, but the nine was one card down, and thus, useless to him.
Or was it?
With a shrug of his shoulders, Camden slipped the red nine out from under the black queen, and played it on the black ten.
Dingus Camden and Lee and Marvin Mosley came into the saloon then, and seeing his brother playing solitaire, Dingus walked over to him.
“Me and Lee and Marvin is goin’ to take the cars over to Laramie,” Dingus said. “They got some new sportin’ girls in at the Rocky Mountain House. You want to come along?”
“Nah,” Tyler said. “I reckon I’ll spend a little time with Libbie.”
“She done told you she didn’t want nothin’ to do with you,” Dingus said. “Why don’t you come along with us?”
“She’ll come around,” Tyler said.
“All right, but you’re goin’ to be missin’ out on a good time,” Dingus said. “All right, boys,” he said to his two cousins. “The next local is no more’n half an hour from now. Let’s go.”
Tyler watched them leave, then thought about Libbie. He had seen her go upstairs with a cowboy about half an hour earlier and had tried to get her attention, but she wouldn’t look at him. He wasn’t worried, though. Once she was through with the cowboy, she’d have to come to him. He had already intimidated everyone else into staying away from her, so if she wanted to make a living with her whoring, she would have no choice but to accept him.
And it was damn well going to be on his own terms, too. He would see to that.
Examining the cards he had spread out on the table, he found a needed black five. It didn’t matter where it was, it was where he was about to put it that counted.
Camden had just played his card when he heard laughter at the top of the stairs. Looking up, he saw Libbie coming down the stairs, arm-in-arm with the cowboy who had taken her up.
“I tell you what, darlin’, that was just a real fine time me ’n
If the ranch had not made Duff any money yet, his gold mine had, though he had never shared with any of these men the secret of the mine. He knew that the other ranchers had speculated that he may have come from a wealthy family in Scotland, and though it was not true, Duff did nothing to dissuade them from that belief. The fewer people who knew about the mine, the better off he would be.
At that moment, one of the employees of the club came into the parlor. “Gentlemen,” he said. “Dinner is being served.”
As Duff went in for dinner at the Cheyenne Club, a few blocks away in the Eagle Saloon on Fifteenth Street, Tyler Camden was playing a game of Ole’ Sol. Actually, he would have preferred to be playing a game of poker, but no one would play with him, for he was known to have a vicious temper. Last year, he’d killed a man in a poker game after the man accused him of cheating. Of course he had been cheating, but he couldn’t let the accusation go unchallenged. Quicker than anyone could react, Camden had reached across the table, grabbed the man by his shirt front, lifted him up, and plunged his knife in through the man’s ribs. Quick and silent. The man was dead before most of the people in the saloon even knew what had happened.
The man Camden had killed had made the mistake of saying, “Where I come from, cheaters get shot.”
Others at the table had heard him say that, and while that wasn’t a direct threat, the quickly assembled court had declared it sufficient justification for a case to be made of self-defense.
There was a very strong rumor that Camden had also stabbed a man down in Colorado last year, and though neither of the two men he had killed were known to be gunfighters, they were, nevertheless, victims, and that was enough give Camden the reputation of someone to be feared.
Camden counted out three cards, but couldn’t find a play. The second card of the three was a red nine. There was a black ten on one of the stacks where he could have used the red nine, but the nine was one card down, and thus, useless to him.
Or was it?
With a shrug of his shoulders, Camden slipped the red nine out from under the black queen, and played it on the black ten.
Dingus Camden and Lee and Marvin Mosley came into the saloon then, and seeing his brother playing solitaire, Dingus walked over to him.
“Me and Lee and Marvin is goin’ to take the cars over to Laramie,” Dingus said. “They got some new sportin’ girls in at the Rocky Mountain House. You want to come along?”
“Nah,” Tyler said. “I reckon I’ll spend a little time with Libbie.”
“She done told you she didn’t want nothin’ to do with you,” Dingus said. “Why don’t you come along with us?”
“She’ll come around,” Tyler said.
“All right, but you’re goin’ to be missin’ out on a good time,” Dingus said. “All right, boys,” he said to his two cousins. “The next local is no more’n half an hour from now. Let’s go.”
Tyler watched them leave, then thought about Libbie. He had seen her go upstairs with a cowboy about half an hour earlier and had tried to get her attention, but she wouldn’t look at him. He wasn’t worried, though. Once she was through with the cowboy, she’d have to come to him. He had already intimidated everyone else into staying away from her, so if she wanted to make a living with her whoring, she would have no choice but to accept him.
And it was damn well going to be on his own terms, too. He would see to that.
Examining the cards he had spread out on the table, he found a needed black five. It didn’t matter where it was, it was where he was about to put it that counted.
Camden had just played his card when he heard laughter at the top of the stairs. Looking up, he saw Libbie coming down the stairs, arm-in-arm with the cowboy who had taken her up.
“I tell you what, darlin’, that was just a real fine time me ’n
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