Slocum and the Warm Reception Read online

  “That was Matt and Luke. They probably thought they could sneak up and shoot you in the back while you were still eating.”

  “So you know them?” Slocum asked.

  She nodded. “Not very well, but I’ve seen them here and there. Usually, they just collect on debts and such for Mr. Dawson.”

  “I’ve heard that name a lot since I’ve been in town. Who the hell is Mr. Dawson and why is he connected to a couple of assholes who tried to take a shot at me when I was still picking supper from my teeth?”

  “It’s best you don’t worry about him,” she replied. “Just do whatever you need to do quickly and put this town behind you.”

  Slocum shook his head. “I’m not about to do that. Not after all the trouble I went through to clean these streets the first time.”

  “You did more than any of us had a right to ask. As for what happened after you left . . . that’s not your fault.”

  “Whose fault was it? What the hell happened anyway?”

  Outside, a horse rode up to the hotel and came to a stop. Since Anna was already mostly inside the barn, Slocum pulled her the rest of the way inside and wrapped his arms around her to keep her in place. Although Anna struggled a little, it was mostly to regain her footing instead of genuinely trying to get away from him.

  “Shh,” Slocum whispered almost directly into her ear. Opening the door a crack, he used a finger to point at the rider that was now climbing down from the horse. “Do you know who that is?”

  “No,” she replied. “Can’t hardly see from here.”

  There was a chance that the rider was just another weary soul looking for a place to rest after coming in from the desert. Then again, judging by the way he stomped toward the Three Star’s front door, it seemed more likely that he had some manner of urgent business inside.

  “Stay put,” Slocum whispered. “I want to take a look.”

  “No,” Anna said insistently. She planted her feet and positioned himself in front of him to act as a barrier between Slocum and the outside world. “He’s probably got something to do with those other two who came after you. It might even be Matt or Luke looking to take another shot at you.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m going to get closer and see for myself.”

  Anna started to protest, but Slocum quieted her the same way she’d quieted him a few moments ago. Pulling her in, he gave her a kiss that quickly turned into a lingering, passionate embrace. Their hands moved along each other’s bodies as if they already knew right where they wanted to go. Her arms cinched in tighter around him and she even moaned softly as Slocum’s tongue found its way into her mouth. When his hands brushed against her hips, she pulled in an expectant breath only to let it out when he pulled away.

  “Come with me,” she said.

  “Stay here. I may take you up on that offer when I come back.”

  “If you come back.”

  “After all that happened before,” Slocum said, “you think someone can just ride up and kill me so easily?”

  “This isn’t like when Jeremiah Hartley was here. This is something different.”

  “Care to tell me about it?”

  Reluctantly, she replied, “Come with me right now and I will.”

  “Sorry, but the longer I wait right now, the less chance I have of getting there and back without being seen. You sit tight and don’t make a sound. Be ready to move the moment I come back. Is there a way we can go that doesn’t take us past that hotel?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then be ready to show it to me real soon.” With that, Slocum gave her a playful swat on the backside as he left the barn with quick, silent steps.

  He stayed low and moved forward swiftly. Slocum kept his chin up and was always careful to stay in as much darkness as he could find. The Three Star was a good size and he could see plenty of movement behind some of the windows that were still lit by candles or lanterns within their rooms. Most of them were on the third floor, which made sense because apparently those were all rented for the night.

  It didn’t take long for him to get to the main building, but Slocum felt a knot in his stomach as if he was about to be discovered. He reached the side of the hotel and did his best not to make any noise as he caught his breath. In those moments, he could hear bits of conversation from inside.

  The rider stood at the front door and had either left it open or was so close to it that his voice carried outside. Of course, it didn’t help that he spoke in a bellowing tone.

  “What room is he in?” the rider asked.

  Margaret answered in a firm, solid tone. “He’s one of my guests. I don’t answer to you.”

  “The hell you don’t, bitch. Tell me what I want to know before I slap that ugly face of yours.”

  When he heard that language directed at her, Slocum leaned in as if to grab the rider, but stopped himself before touching him. He waited to see what would happen next.

  Perhaps Margaret saw what was transpiring behind the rider, because she relaxed a bit as she said, “It’s written on my ledger, clear as day. I’m running a business, not trying to hide anything.”

  “Just tell me, damn it.”

  She crossed her arms and stood her ground. “I’m tired of being shoved around by the likes of you. Just because you’re in good with Mr. Dawson, you and the rest of your ilk think you can do as you please. We’ve survived one mad dog tyrant in this town and we’ll survive another.”

  “I don’t even know what the hell you’re going on about,” the rider snarled as he tromped inside. “What I do know is that you’ll be sorry the moment I—”

  He made it all of three steps before Slocum rushed up behind him, grabbed him by the collar, and hauled him straight back outside. Margaret remained still. A satisfied little smirk crept onto her face.

  But Slocum wasn’t about to stay in that hotel long enough to see it. He’d caught the rider off his guard and pressed his advantage as far as he could by dragging the man outside on his heels. The rider didn’t even get a chance to struggle until he was being forced to the edge of the hotel’s porch and shoved off its side. He yelped when his flailing legs had nothing beneath them, but the sound was cut short when his body landed on the ground and most of the wind was driven from his lungs.

  Standing over the rider like impending doom, Slocum growled, “Who were you looking for?”

  The rider was having a hard time sucking in a breath and his hands slapped frantically at his holster without having the necessary coordination to draw the gun he wore.

  Slocum knocked the rider flat onto his back with a short kick and then dropped his other boot squarely down on the man’s wrist, pinning it in place so that hand couldn’t get any closer to his pistol. “You’re so ready to talk tough to a lady, why don’t you do the same to me right now?”

  “I’ll do more than talk!” the rider swore.

  “Go on, then. Make your move.”

  All Slocum had to do to keep the rider in place was stare directly into his eyes. Pretty soon, the other man lost the head of steam he’d built up thus far. Now that the rider had calmed down somewhat, Slocum asked, “Who were you looking for?”

  “Some fella new in town.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Slocum,” the rider said as he squinted in the darkness at the man directly in front of him. “Somethin’ tells me you know who that is.”

  “Who wants to find him so badly?”

  “Mr. Dawson.”

  “Who’s that?” Slocum asked.

  The rider spat out part of a laugh as he settled in to become a bit too comfortable. “You wanna meet him? Just go on into that there hotel and march up to the third floor. He owns the whole damn thing. In fact, I’ll make the introductions myself. I’d love to see the look on your face when you’re taken apart and tossed out like so much tr—”

/>   Slocum ended the conversation with a punch that was more like a hammer driving the rider’s head into the ground. He leaned down to put all of his weight behind the blow as his knuckles pounded against the other man’s nose. Cartilage was mashed against bone and the back of the rider’s head knocked against the ground, putting the man’s lights out completely.

  The first thing Slocum did was drag the body into the thick shadows alongside the hotel. He then stooped down to check on the extent of the damage he’d done. The rider wasn’t going to be getting up anytime soon, but he wasn’t going to die either. Slocum shook the pain from his hand and hurried back to the stable.

  10

  “What happened?” Anna asked in a hushed whisper.

  Slocum had returned to the stable, finding her clutching the edge of the door as if it was the only thing keeping her upright. “How much could you see from here?” he asked.

  “I saw you grab that man and beat him mercilessly.”

  “It wasn’t as bad as all that.” He shook his hand once more as a jolt of pain lanced through his knuckles. A good amount of blood covered his hand, but he couldn’t rightly say how much of it was his and how much had spilled from the rider’s face. “All right,” he admitted, “perhaps it did seem rather bad from where you stood. There was a reason for what I did, though.”

  “I’d like to hear it,” Anna said as she stood with both hands propped upon her hips.

  “I tossed him around like that so he couldn’t get his bearings,” he explained. “When I spoke to him, his head was spinning so much that he wouldn’t be able to see much of anything in the dark.”

  “And the beating?”

  “That was to make tonight even hazier when he tries to think back on it. If the subject comes up again later, which I’m pretty certain it will, he’ll be hard-pressed to say if it truly was me who knocked him out.”

  She shook her head and looked toward the quiet figure lying sprawled on the ground. “I know you better than that, John. You’re not so foolish to think that makes much sense.”

  Slocum had walked all the way to the rear of the stable and found a narrow back door. Easing it open, he checked outside to find only a cool, rustling breeze waiting for him. “All right, then. He was cussing at that nice woman working the front desk and threatening her. If the asshole rides up and feels free to speak like that to someone, I’m guessing he deserved to get knocked onto his back. How’s that for an explanation?”

  She strode forward and took his bloody hand in both of hers. “At least it’s honest,” she said with a weary smile. “Do you intend on going back into that hotel?”

  “Not tonight. Not until I can get a better grip on what’s going on around here. Have you been in town the whole time since I left?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then maybe you can help.”

  “I can tell you plenty,” she said. “Just not in the dark like this. It’s making me nervous.”

  “Me, too.”

  She led him out through the back door. “Come on,” Anna said. “Your horse will be fine right here.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “Even if that man you hit knows what horse you rode in on, I doubt he’ll be looking to take out any hard feelings on it instead of you.” Turning to look at him over one shoulder, she added, “I don’t live far from here. Perhaps you remember?”

  Slocum felt bad for not remembering. Instead of saying as much, he nodded and allowed himself to be dragged down an alley and across one street. The town was mostly dark apart from a few more torches scattered along the way. As he moved through Mescaline, plenty of memories rushed back into Slocum’s head. Most were just fleeting glances that drifted through his mind like dreams. When he focused on the woman who had a hold of him, he remembered a good deal more.

  One of the things he liked most about Anna was the way she maintained a sunny disposition no matter how dark the night became. She didn’t exactly skip away from the Three Star Hotel, but she managed to glance back and smile at him with genuine warmth. Every so often, she squeezed his hand. When they got back to her little house a couple streets away, Slocum was treated to the lingering smells of freshly baked bread and candle wax. Those scents, while not uncommon, brought back more memories than anything else so far.

  By the time they were inside her home and the door was shut behind him, Slocum felt as if he’d never left. Anna let go of his hand and promptly disappeared into the kitchen. “Sit down anywhere you like,” she called out from the other room. “I’m getting something for that hand.”

  “It’s all right,” he replied. “Maybe just something to clean it off a bit.”

  Anna emerged from the kitchen and stepped into the warm light provided by the candles burning in their holders from a pair of small tables located near the door and on the opposite side of the sitting room. Most of the time, Slocum might feel confined in such close quarters. Being there with her, on the other hand, felt as if the two of them had been shut away from the rest of the world. It wasn’t a bad feeling.

  It was lighter in the kitchen, and as she walked toward him carrying a wet cloth, her long brown hair and trim body were outlined in the soothing glow from the other room. “Let me see that hand,” she said.

  Slocum stood in front of a rocker and held up his cut hand without offering it to her. “It’s fine. Just hand over that cloth and I’ll see to it.”

  “No,” she insisted. When she grabbed his hand, there was no question that she would have her way. Rather than fight her on the matter, Slocum allowed her to fuss over him a bit. “There, now,” she whispered. “Is that so bad?”

  “Not bad at all.”

  “The way you carry on, you’d swear I was trying to saw your arm off. Of course, if memory serves me correct, you never were the sort to sit still long enough to be tended to.”

  “What are you talking about?” Slocum asked.

  Anna dabbed at his hand with the cloth, cleaning away the thicker patches of blood and then gently pressing it against the spots on his knuckles where the skin had been torn asunder. “Maybe your memory isn’t so good after all. When you started butting heads with Jeremiah Hartley, you were cut up, shot, stabbed . . .”

  “I think you’re exaggerating. It wasn’t all that bad.” When she didn’t answer right away, he added, “Was it?”

  “I had to patch you up a few times.”

  “Clean me up maybe,” he admitted, “but that’s only because I let you.”

  Now it was her turn to take the defensive. “You let me? If I was such a pest, then why on earth would you do something like that?”

  She’d pulled away from him, but Slocum grabbed her wrist in a firm grip that was just tight enough to keep her from getting too far. “Because,” he said gently, “I like it when you fuss over me.”

  The hint of anger that had flashed in her eyes disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Anna lowered her head and took hold of his hand so she could resume cleaning it. The cloth was soaked in water and alternated between refreshing Slocum and sending sharp jabs through his cuts. He allowed her to finish her task as he watched the way her hair drifted against the side of her face and how the scant bit of light in the room played off the surface of her moist lips.

  “I can get some bandages,” she said.

  “That might not be a great idea. After all, that would just make it clear as day I was the one who knocked that fella out.”

  “Then you should have thought about that before acting like such a damned bloodthirsty fool.”

  Her words were spoken partly in jest but rang true, and Slocum wasn’t about to say otherwise. Instead, he simply stood quietly and let her work. “There,” she said after a while. “All finished. Looks like it doesn’t need a bandage after all.”

  “You’re real good at that,” he said while getting to his feet.

  She sto
od as well, as if preparing to head back to the kitchen. “You’ve given me plenty of practice.”

  Taking the cloth from her, Slocum tossed it aside and placed both hands upon her hips. “I recall that you were pretty good at other things, too.”

  Ann responded by sliding her fingers through his hair and tossing his hat to the floor. “What do you mean, pretty good?”

  “Guess you’ll just have to remind me.”

  With that, Slocum kissed her. Her body was just as warm as it had been all those times when he thought back to those bloody nights during his first stay in Mescaline. At that moment, he couldn’t recall why he’d been in town apart from being with her. Any unpleasantness drifted away to be forgotten as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the little bedroom near the back of the house.

  “Aren’t you a bit nervous?” she whispered.

  “About what?”

  “About that man knowing you’re the one who hit him.”

  “I won’t have to worry about that,” Slocum replied, “until the morning.”

  “What about those questions you wanted to ask me?”

  Slocum set her down onto a small, creaky bed. Her head was propped upon a short stack of pillows and her limbs draped like the dress that hung off her slender shoulders. “I can’t think of any questions right now,” he said. “Maybe I’ll come up with a few later.”

  After that, he let his actions speak for him. Slocum peeled off her dress and crawled on top of her so he could run his hands up and down the length of her body while kissing her urgently upon her neck and chest. Anna’s breasts were small and supple, capped by dark little nipples that stood erect with the slightest bit of coaxing from his fingers. She sighed and squirmed on the bed, anxious to be out from beneath him so she could start to undress him as well.

  He stood up and allowed her to unbuckle his belt and pull off his shirt. The longer he waited for her to complete her task, the tenser his body became. Anna ran her hands flat against his chest and stomach, hesitating before reaching between his legs. She looked up at him and then eased his pants down, drawing an excited breath when she saw his hard cock exposed before her.