J.A. Johnstone - The Loner - Crossfire

“Am I wanted for anything?” Conrad asked as he buckled on the gunbelt and felt the familiar, comforting weight of the Colt revolver in the holster. He had discarded the cravat but still wore the suit. Its dark color made it easier for him to blend into the shadows outside the big estate belonging to Dex Lannigan.

“No, no charges have been brought against you yet,” Turnbuckle said. “The police merely want to question you about the shooting at the Kimball mansion. But you can’t expect to disrupt such an affair and have bullets whizzing around the heads of the most important people in San Francisco without getting into trouble for it.”

Frank said, “The shooting wasn’t our idea. Lannigan’s men started that particular ball.”

“That may well be true. Still, I expect complaints to be filed against Conrad, at the very least.”

“But not by Lannigan.”

Turnbuckle shook his head. “No, despite what you said he threatened, he won’t go to the police. He can’t stand to have the authorities delving too deeply into his business, even his personal affairs.”

Arturo had accompanied Turnbuckle from the hotel when he found out the lawyer was engaged in an errand for Conrad. The four men stood in deep shadows under some trees along the street a block away from the Lannigan house. Ling Yuan was scouting around in an attempt to find out just what sort of situation they were facing.

Arturo said, “This fellow Lannigan probably has at least a dozen hardened killers in there to protect him and his family. You can’t hope to simply break in and take the children from him.”

“Ling Yuan said we could get as many men from Diamond Jack as we need,” Conrad replied, “but that’s too dangerous. We can’t risk the children being hurt in an all-out battle like that.” His mouth twisted in a grimace. “Anyway, I’m not sure I trust Diamond Jack anymore, if I ever did. He knew where the kids were, and he didn’t tell me. He was using me to kill Lannigan, so his hands wouldn’t be dirty.”

“He’s a crook, after all,” Frank said. “Can’t expect the hombre to be doing something out of the goodness of his heart.”

“Maybe not, but I still don’t like it.”

Turnbuckle pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his forehead, even though it wasn’t a particularly warm night. In fact, the air had a slight chill in it, made worse by the dampness of the fog rising from the bay. “If you don’t intend to attack the house, what are you going to do?”

“I was thinking that if Frank and I can get in there and get our hands on the kids—”

“You’ll be charged with kidnapping and sent to prison, more than likely,” Arturo said.

Conrad shook his head. “The woman really seemed to care for them. I think we can persuade her to tell the truth. If she’ll admit to the deal she made with Pamela, and to the deal Lannigan made, the police won’t have anything against us. The twins are my children, and I have a right to them.”

“What will wind up happening is the whole thing will be thrown into the courts,” Turnbuckle said. “The children won’t be turned over to you immediately, Conrad. This is going to take time.”

“Well, at least they won’t be living with a criminal like Lannigan anymore,” Conrad said. “And eventually everything will come out and they’ll be with me.”

“I wish I had your faith,” Arturo said. “In my experience, most often anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

“Not tonight,” Conrad said with grim determination.

Before they could discuss the situation further, Ling Yuan came trotting out of the shadows. “There is a carriage house in back,” he reported without any preamble. “Something is going on in there. I believe a team is being hitched to a vehicle, and several horses are being saddled as well.”

Conrad bit back a curse. “Lannigan’s not forting up here. He’s about to make a run for it.”

“So it appears to me,” Ling Yuan agreed.

“We have to stop him.” Conrad felt a sense of desperation growing inside him. “Where’s he going to go?”

“Lannigan has a hunting lodge in the mountains east of here, on the other side of the bay. He must think he and his family will be safer there.”

“It’s not his family,” Conrad snapped. “Claudius, you and Arturo stay here. Ling Yuan, take Frank and me to this carriage house.”

Arturo began, “Sir, are you sure you should—”

“I haven’t come this far and gone through so much to let them slip away from me now.” Conrad’s voice trembled a little from the strain he felt. “Not when I’m this close.”

“Then we’d best not waste any time,” Frank said.

He and Conrad followed Ling Yuan toward the rear of the estate that sprawled across a hillside overlooking the bay. The view would be pretty during the day, but there was nothing much to see at night. The fog blotted out the lights of the towns on the other side of the water.

A brick wall surrounded the house and its grounds, much like the one around the Kimball mansion. Ling Yuan led Conrad and Frank to a wrought-iron gate in that wall. On the inside was a drive made of crushed stone that ran to the carriage house. Yellow light glowed through the windows.

Suddenly the big double doors in the front of the carriage house swung open. Light slanted out onto the drive. Two men on horseback trotted out, followed closely by the team pulling an enclosed carriage.

“They’re coming!” Conrad said. “We have to stop them.”

“Best split up,” Frank said. “We’ll wait on opposite sides of this gate. Once they get it open, we can jump the carriage before it goes through.”

That sounded like a good idea to Conrad. He motioned for Ling Yuan to go with him. They hurried to the left side of the gate and waited with their backs to the brick wall while Frank went to the right side and did likewise.

Hoofbeats pounded along the drive, coming closer. Conrad drew his gun. Chances were, Winifred Lannigan and the children were inside the carriage, so he and his companions would have to be very careful. They couldn’t just blaze away at Lannigan’s men. The risk was too great that a stray bullet might hit one of the twins. Every shot was going to have to be painstakingly aimed.

The men on horseback rode well ahead of the carriage. When they reached the gate, one of the riders swung down and went over to the wrought-iron barrier. A big key rattled in the lock, and with the creaking of hinges, the two sides of the gate swung outward.

Conrad moved fast, darting through the opening and taking by surprise the man who had unlocked the gate. The gun in Conrad’s hand rose and fell, thudding down on the man’s head. He collapsed, out cold.

Still mounted, the second man was ready for trouble. Muzzle flame spouted from the revolver in his hand. Conrad felt the heat of the bullet pass his face.

Frank’s gun roared, and the man on horseback cried out, clutching his shoulder as he swayed in the saddle. The horse bolted, dumping him.

Inside the carriage, Dex Lannigan roared, “Run them down!”

The driver did his best to follow that order. He whipped the team into a hard gallop, making the carriage lurch back and forth as it barreled along the drive. Conrad thought about shooting one of the lead horses and piling up the team, but the carriage might overturn and crash. He couldn’t risk it.

Several riders had been following the carriage, and they spread out to the sides, opening fire as they galloped toward the gate. Conrad and Frank returned those shots without having to worry about hitting the children.

One of the gunmen spilled out of the saddle with a hole bored in him, a slug from Frank’s .45.