Lindsay Buroker - Flash Gold

“I’ve not been having an overly intelligent week, no.” She tried to buck him again. If she could get the lummox off her long enough to dig into her pocket… “What now? Someone’ll see the flashing gold through the window if we let it sit there all day.”

“Gotta tie you up.” He shifted, lifting his head to peer around.

Yes, she just needed her arm free for a second. “There’s rope in the other room.”

“You’re being a little too helpful for my tastes, girl.”

Erp, she had best not be too obvious. Dumb as he seemed, he had caught her. “You’ve got me. What am I supposed to do? You’d prefer me to bite and kick?”

He laughed. “Actually, I do like a feisty wench.” The hand tightened around her neck, and he leaned back. “Get up.”

That was all Kali needed. Under the guise of getting her feet under her, she slipped the smoke nut out of her pocket. She held her breath, closed her eyes, twisted it, and thrust it over her head at the man.

“What are you-” His words ended in a series of coughs.

His grip loosened, and Kali tore away. The smoke nut dropped to the floor. She sprinted for the door, knowing she had to be out of the room before the needles shot out. She planned to run down the stairs and grab her rifle, but she turned the corner and crashed into a second man on the landing. She twisted away, trying to wiggle past, but his arm wrapped around her.

A snap sounded, and projectiles pinged against the wall inside the office.

“Son of a whore!” the man she had run from cried.

Footsteps thundered toward the landing. Kali tried to pull free of her captor. Her knuckles bumped against the hilt of a knife.

A gun fired over her head, the report pounding against her eardrum.

“Out of my way, you hairy hog!” She yanked her captor’s knife free.

A hand clamped onto her wrist before she could do anything with it. “Miss Kali, you ran into me . I’d be obliged if you didn’t eviscerate me.”

For the first time, she tilted her head back to see the face of her captor. Cedar gazed down at her, an eyebrow cocked. He released her, and she turned to check the doorway behind her. Smoke poured out, but it did not obscure the man sprawled across the threshold. Blood drained from a bullet hole in his temple.

In addition to the smoke billowing from the office, golden pulses of light escaped too. Cedar stepped past Kali to peer inside. She watched his gaze settle on the glowing brick. She had heard many tales of good men turning on one another over a lucrative vein of ore. And her father’s last batch of flash gold was worth far more than a productive claim.

“Pretty,” was all Cedar said.

“The gold or the man?” Kali stepped over the body to close the box and return it to its niche in the floor, though it hardly seemed safe there now.

“The gold. When it comes to aesthetics, my tastes don’t run toward men. Especially dead ones.”

“I thought he might have a bounty on his head that would make him attractive to you.” Kali stepped back onto the landing and peered over the railing. “You didn’t bring the sack of heads did you? Though it’s hard to tell at the moment, I like to maintain standards, and there are certain items I don’t care to have in my workshop.”

Her words sounded inane to her; she was delaying the question she needed the answer to: what was he going to do now that he had seen the flash gold?

“Mind if we talk a spell?” Cedar asked.

“Have a seat.” She glanced at the carnage in the office. “If you can find one that’s not broken.”

Cedar walked down the stairs and sat on the bottom step. Kali hesitated, her emotions tangled inside her. Despite what he had done, relief at seeing him rose to the top of the mess. Thinking she must be crazy, she joined him on the bottom step. His size and the confines of the staircase forced their shoulders to touch. She clasped her hands between her knees and stared at the floor.

“I’d like to explain my actions…further,” Cedar said.

“No need. I got the gist.”

“You were correct in your guesses. I learned of the five-thousand-dollar reward for your capture and came seeking you personally.”

She gawked at him. “Five… Five thousand dollars? For me?”

“For you. For that.” He waved in the direction of the office. “I knew a prize like that would draw every pirate and claim-jumper in the north. I was hoping it would draw Cudgel Conrad.”

Not familiar with the name, Kali shook her head.

“Murderer, thief, whiskey peddler, gangster.” His jaw tightened. “And the man who killed my brother.”

“Ah. Is that…” She hesitated, remembering the abrupt way he had withdrawn from her personal questions that first night in the tent. Figuring he owed her this explanation, she pressed on: “Is your brother the one you spoke of who disappointed you by not being perfect?”

A faint nod. “Andre had been a Mountie less than a year. At that time, Cudgel was relentless in our piece of the mountains. My brother figured to take him down, but he insisted on licking him by the rules of the law. Maybe if Andre had been scrappier and reckoned more like a gangster….” Cedar prodded a whorl on the wooden stair tread. “It doesn’t matter now. He was a good man, and Cudgel killed him. Cudgel killed a lot of others who didn’t deserve it. I aim to kill Cudgel.”

“I can tell you’re serious by the number of times you’re saying his name,” Kali said gently.

Surprise flashed across his face. She smiled tentatively, not certain if teasing him had been the right choice. She did not want to belittle him, just to lighten his mood. And to let him know…she forgave him.

After a long moment, Cedar snorted softly. “Yes, I don’t like to hunt a man across the country without having his name fixed in my mind. Repetition is good for memorization.”

“So, you want his head. And these others you’ve been collecting are for…?”

“I swore I’d find Cudgel and avenge his death, but I didn’t want to be restrained by regulations and procedures-that’s what got Andre in trouble. So I found mentors and trained at fighting and shooting. I started collecting bounties on other criminals so I could fund my quest. I got good at it.” He shrugged. “But I keep missing Cudgel.”

“I’m sorry,” Kali said.

“Don’t be. Please. I didn’t come looking for that. I just wanted to explain and…apologize for using you. I wasn’t expecting you to be so…someone who I, ah…well, who’s…”

She watched with bemusement as his fingers groped in the air.

He finally said, “When it comes to fighting and such, you’re as fine as cream gravy.”

“Gravy?” She rubbed her lips to hide the smile. He must not compliment women very often. “Well, now, those are nice words, thank you, but there’s no need for flattery. Unless you’re trying to win me over? Did you still want me to modify your rifle? If so, you just have to promise not to tell anybody about…” She tilted her head back toward her office.

Cedar blinked. “I don’t care about any of that. Well, a little about the rifle, but if I’m a flatterer, it’s because I want you to come with me.”

This time Kali blinked. And stared. “ With you? To be permanent bait until this Cudgel bloke comes along?”

“No, to be my partner.” He fished in a pocket, pulled out a sack, and dropped it in her hand. Coins clinked. “That’s half of the money from the ones I just turned in, and there’s another five hundred if you come with me to Dawson to drop off the pirate captain’s head. A couple more bounties after that, and you’ll have as much as if you’d won the race. I owe you that much at least.”