Robert Randisi - Bullets & Lies

“That’ll make him mad,” Hampstead said, “won’t it?”

Roper, Dexter, and Bando didn’t pay any attention to him.

“You can see how many men he’s got, too,” Bando said.

“However many men he lets me see,” Roper said, “he’ll have double.”

“That’s the formula,” Dexter said.

“All right,” Roper said. “That’s what I’ll do. The rest of you wait here, watch for any surprises. Dex, you better go in the back and tell Prince and Templeton to stay alert.”

“Okay, boss. You be careful.”

“Kilkenny’s a pro,” Roper said. “He’ll give me the same courtesy I gave him.”

“I hope you’re right,” Bando said.

Roper walked to his palomino and mounted up.

“Boss.”

Kilkenny didn’t look at Fergus, the man who had spoken, but he said, “I see him.”

“When he gets here,” Fergus said, “we can kill him. That’ll leave them without a leader.”

“If you touch your gun while he’s here, I’ll kill you myself, Fergus. Understand?”

“No.”

“That’s okay,” Kilkenny said. “Just so long as you hear me.”

“I hear you.”

“Good. Pass the word. Nobody touches their gun while he’s here.”

“Okay, boss.”

Kilkenny watched Roper approach and waited.

“He’s what?” Kilkenny asked.

“Dead,” Roper said. “Westover died.”

“Well, shit. Why didn’t that lawyer come back and tell me that?”

“I told him to stay at the house. I figured I’d tell you myself.”

While Kilkenny digested the information, Roper looked at his men. There were six of them. That meant there were at least six he couldn’t see, maybe more. Kilkenny had said he had more than a dozen, but there was no telling how many more. Roper was going to have to figure a dozen as a minimum.

“So what do you think we do now, Roper?” Kilkenny asked.

“Well, I’ve got an idea,” Roper said. “But I don’t know if you’re going to like it.”

“Try me.”

Roper looked at him and said, “Why don’t we all go home?”

63

Roper rode back to the house and dismounted.

“What’d he say?” Bando asked.

“He’s coming in,” Roper said.

“Jesus,” Harwick said, burying his head in his hands.

“Hey, lawyer,” Roper said, “you might as well go inside.”

He didn’t have to be told twice. He got to his feet and ran inside.

“Let’s spread out,” Roper said.

“Boss, there should be more than two of us in the back,” Dexter said.

“I agree, Dex, but why don’t you get up on the roof somehow. Maybe you can move freely up there.”

“Right.”

Dex went inside.

“All right, the rest of us better spread out, make every shot count. If we fire accurately, we can turn a superior group.”

“How do we play this, boss?” Fergus asked.

“We kill everybody there but the lady who’s payin’ the bills,” Kilkenny said. “Got it?”

“Got it, boss.”

“Let the men know.”

“Yep.” He started away.

“And Fergus?”

He stopped. “Yeah?”

“You’re leadin’ the men in.”

“Yes, sir!”

Fergus hurried off to relay the orders to the men.

Kilkenny was going to go in last, to mop up. He doubted his men would be able to get Roper. That would be his job.

He settled back to watch.

“Why is he still comin’ in?” Bando asked Roper. “Didn’t you tell him the man payin’ the bills is dead?”

“I told him.”

“And?”

“It didn’t seem to bother him.”

“Why the hell not?”

Roper looked at him. “My guess is it wasn’t Mr. Westover who was paying him.”

Bando looked surprised. “Mrs. Westover hired him?”

“Apparently.”

“And now she wants us all dead.”

“Yep.”

Bando shook his head. “Mean lady.”

“Here they come!” Wilkins said.

Roper saw them, riding abreast with their guns drawn.

“They’re making a mistake already,” he said.

“Handguns,” Bando said.

“Right.”

“What?” Hampstead asked.

“They need to get close.”

Bando tossed Roper a rifle, brandished his own. Hampstead and Wilkins were already holding theirs.

“There’s only four of us,” Hampstead said.

“Seven coming at us,” Roper said, “probably more in the back.”

“There’s only three of us back there,” Hampstead pointed out.

“That’s why we have to start firing first,” Roper said.

“First?” Hampstead said.

“Now!”

They opened fire.

Kilkenny watched and shook his head. To think that he should have had to tell his men to use their rifles made him sad. He’d had to hire too many locals, and they were idiots. He hoped that Striker would know better when he and his men came in from the back.

In addition, the old soldiers were firing their weapons with entirely too much accuracy. He had been led to believe that they had hardly touched guns since the war.

As he watched his men fly from their saddles as if plucked by an invisible hand, he decided he was going to have to settle for the first half of his payment. It was his own damn fault. He’d known about Roper from the beginning. He should have made sure he had more reliable men. He wouldn’t make that same mistake again.

He was going to have to run away to face Roper another day. But not until he checked on Striker’s progress.

Roper and the men on the porch were able to fire many times before any of Kilkenny’s men got close enough for their pistols to pose a danger. By the time a few bullets struck the house and broke some windows, most of the men were on the ground. In the end there were only two left, and they turned their horses and rode off as a hail of bullets continued to come from the porch.

“Sally!” Roper shouted. “Take Wilkins and get to the back of the house!”

“Right, boss.”

Roper remained on the porch with Hampstead, just in case another wave of men came, but that didn’t happen. He heard gunfire from the back and hoped they were having as much success there as he’d had in front.

And then it was quiet.

64

Kilkenny circled around to the back. Striker and his men had apparently been smart enough to use their rifles, but they were still riding in on men who were firing from cover and, once again, with way too much accuracy.

This job was a mess. Kilkenny had learned a valuable lesson here. Too much money can make you ask not enough questions.

Striker came riding up to him while the battle was winding down.

“Boss, this ain’t right. I thought we were facing men who—”

“I know,” Kilkenny said, cutting him off. “We didn’t get all the information we needed, Striker.”

“So what do we do, boss?”

“This job is over,” Kilkenny said.

“What about Roper?”

“He’s a worthy opponent,” Kilkenny said. “There’ll be another day.”

And with that, the two gunmen turned their horses and rode away as, behind them, the sound of shooting ceased…

Bando came back to the front of the house and said to Roper, “All over, boss. Looks like Kilkenny’s gone.”

“That was too easy,” Roper said.

“Well, Prince took a bullet in the shoulder,” Bando pointed out, “and Templeton got nicked on the arm.”

“Anybody else hurt?”

“No.”

Slowly, the other men came back around to the front of the house. Wilkins was letting Prince lean on him, and he set the Secret Service man down on the porch steps. Roper took a look at the wound.

“You’ll be okay.”

“Yes, sir,” Prince said, wincing. “It’s not too bad.”

“I’m going to go inside and talk to Mrs. Westover,” Roper said. “Keep an eye out, in case Kilkenny decides to get sneaky, but I really think he decided to cut his losses. His men weren’t very smart to come riding in with their pistols in their hands instead of rifles.”