parents it had simply been a spare room. Somehow Evan doubted that Lincoln Burkett would have any spare rooms in the house when he was finished.
This room had been lined with bookshelves, which were now only half filled.
“Mr. McCall,” Burkett said. At least, he assumed the man behind the desk was Burkett. He was a big man in his sixties who, in his youth, might have rivaled Sam McCall in size and girth. Now there seemed to be more belly than the man would have liked. “Evan McCall, I presume.”
“That’s right.”
“You can leave, Gear,” Burkett said to the other man. To Evan he said, “Please, sit down.”
Evan moved to a cushioned chair and sat in it, his hat in his hand.
“I’m Lincoln Burkett,” Burkett said, somewhat unnecessarily, at this point. “May I offer you a drink?”
“Some good sherry, if you have it.”
“Of course I have it,” Burkett said, and Evan thought, I knew you would.
Burkett poured two snifters of sherry and handed one to Evan over the desk. He then sat in his leather chair with the other glass in his hands.
“Your brothers are not with you?”
“No.”
“You are the spokesman, then?”
“You could say that.”
“Well, tell me how I can help you.”
“You can tell me about the…sale of this house.”
“What is there to tell?” Burkett said. “I made your father an offer and he took it.”
“An offer?” Evan said, leaning forward. In spite ofhimself he was growing angry. “That broken-down adobe hut for this ranch?”
Burkett laughed, which raised Evan’s temperature even higher.
“I assure you, Mr. McCall, it was not broken down when I made the deal. It was a fine-looking house. Your father expressed an interest in moving to a smaller house. If it is broken down now, well…”
“Still, I don’t see how anyone could have exchanged this ranch for any house, even-up.”
Burkett put his glass down on his desk and spread his hands helplessly.
“What can I tell you, Mr. McCall? That was the deal your father and I made.”
Evan put his glass down so hard on Burkett’s desk that some of the sherry spilled.
“Bullshit!”
“Now look—” Burkett started, but Evan stood and cut the man off.
“Nobody can tell me my father agreed to a deal like that…not of his own free will!”
“Are you suggesting that my purchase of this house and this land was not legal, sir?”
“I’m saying it wasn’t on the up and up,” Evan said. “It couldn’t have been.”
“I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, Mr. McCall, but someone must be giving you bad information —”
“I suppose it wasn’t you who had some of your men beat up Dude Miller the other night?”
“Mr. Miller was beaten up?” Burkett said, looking surprised. “I hadn’t heard that. I hope he wasn’t severely injured.”
“As if you really care.”
“Now, Mr. McCall,” Burkett said, standing, “if you’regoing to become abusive I’m going to have to ask you to leave my house.”
“Your house!” Evan said, rising to his feet in disgust. “You stole this house, Burkett, and my brothers and I intend to prove it.”
Burkett’s hand came up and he was holding a Navy Colt in it that must have come out of his desk. It was a pretty big gun to keep in a desk drawer. Evan assumed that when Burkett produced it he intended to impress someone.
Evan was impressed, and he was angrier than before, this time at himself for being caught flatfooted like that. Sam wouldn’t have allowed that to happen.…
“Please,” Burkett said, “leave.”
“I’m leaving,” Evan said, moving toward the door, “but you haven’t seen the last of me.”
“Don’t make threats, McCall,” Burkett said, dropping his polite act. “You’re in no position.”
“I’m not making threats, Burkett, I’m making a promise. If my brothers and I find out you had anything to do with my father’s death—”
“Oh, so now I’m a murderer?” Burkett demanded, cocking the hammer on the Colt.
Evan stared at the barrel of the Colt and said, “I don’t know—suppose you tell me.”
There was a tense moment as the two men stood that way, and then Burkett slowly let the hammer on the Colt down.
“I haven’t had anyone beaten up, I didn’t have anyone killed, and I bought this house legally. If you want to prove otherwise, be my guest.”
Evan put his hat on and left, too angry for words.
Riding back he thought maybe he should have let Sam come. Maybe when Burkett went for the Navy Colt, Sam would’ve seen the move and killed him.
Maybe, if Burkett had been facing Sam McCall instead of Evan, he never would have gone for the gun.
As the front door closed on Evan McCall, Burkett put the Navy Colt away and left the room. He walked down the hall and opened the first door he came to.
“Could you hear all that?” he asked Coffin.
“I heard.”
“That was Evan McCall.”
“I said I heard. What do you want me to do?”
“Eventually, I’ll want you to kill Sam McCall’maybe even all the McCalls.”
“Eventually?”
“I don’t want to jeopardize my standing in this community, Burkett said, “not just yet. I want to watch them for a while.”
“I get paid, whether I kill them or not.”
“Of course,” Burkett said. “For now take a room at the hotel and keep yourself ready.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s all…for now.”
Coffin shrugged.
“It’s your money.”
“It’s my money,” Burkett said, “my ranch, and my town. Soon everyone will know that.”
When Evan returned to town he found Sam and Jubal waiting for him at the Miller house.
“What happened?” Jubal asked as Serena led Evan into the parlor.
“You don’t look like it went real well,” Sam said.
“Remember what a good idea I thought it was if I went alone?”
“Yes?”
Evan related his conversation with Burkett word for word, then watched his brothers and waited.
“So?” Sam finally said.
“Is that all you can say?”
Sam shrugged.
“So you made an ass out of yourself. It happens to us all at some time or another. I’m sure this wasn’t your first time?”
“And it won’t be your last,” Serena said.
“I woulda killed him,” Jubal said.
“You probably would have got yourself killed,” Sam said. “Evan did fine.”
“I started airing my lungs and got caught flatfooted,” Evan said. “That wouldn’t have happened to you.”
“I’ve been known to cuss my head off a time or two,” Sam said.
“He was lying, you know,” Serena said. “About everything.”
