“What do you mean not yet? What are we hanging around here for?”
“We’re goin’ to wait until Baker gets back.”
“What? Are you crazy?”
“No,” Fargo said. “Think about it. If we leave now, the sheriff and Baker will form a posse and come after us.”
“So? We need to put as much distance between us and this place as we can.”
Fargo shook his head. “No, not yet.”
Baker opened the door to the sheriff’s office, then hung his hat on the peg. When he saw Wilcox sitting in the chair, leaning back against the wall with his hat pulled down over his eyes, he chuckled.
“Damn, Wilcox, you better be glad it was me caught you sleepin’ and not Ferrell,” Baker said. “Get your lazy ass up and make a few rounds.”
When Wilcox made no move, Baker started toward the desk. “Didn’t you hear me? Come on, get your ass out of that chair.”
When Baker reached the desk, Fargo Ford suddenly jumped up from the other side of the desk.
“What the hell are you doin’ up here?” Baker shouted in alarm. That was as far as he got before Fargo brought a hammer down on his head. So severe was the hammer blow that the head of the hammer sunk into Baker’s head, allowing blood and brain matter to ooze out around the point of the blow. Baker fell, instantly dead, across his desk.
“Now we’ve got only one more person to take care of,” Fargo said. “Sheriff Ferrell.”
“Well you better get ready ’cause here he comes now,” Ponci called from the window.
“Quick, get out of sight,” Fargo said. He pointed to Baker. “Get him behind the desk.”
The others moved Baker’s body down behind the desk; then they hurried quickly into the back. Fargo went to the door, then stepped to the side so that as the door opened, he would be hidden. He raised his hammer and waited.
“I got the telegram off,” Ferrell said. “We’ll prob’ly get an answer sometime this after ...” Something about Wilcox’s still form alerted him, and he stopped in mid-sentence and started for his pistol.
He never reached his gun. Once again, Fargo made use of the hammer, hitting Ferrell so hard that the hammer made a popping sound as the sheriff went down.
“Now,” Fargo said. “We can go down the alley to the livery, get ourselves some horses, and get on with our business without worryin’ about the sheriff or anyone else.”
“And just what business would that be, other than gettin’ the hell out of here?” Casey asked.
“The same business we come into town for in the first place,” Fargo replied. “Since we didn’t get the money before they put it on the stage, we’ll get it now.”
“How the hell are we goin’ to do that? The stage left three hours ago.”
“Yeah, well, you can go faster on a horse than you can on a stage. Besides, come noon they’ll be stoppin’ at Pajarito for an hour or so to change teams and eat. We’ll be caught up with ’em by then, and we can hit’em just as they reach the top of Cerro Pass.”
“Yeah,” Dagen said. “Yeah, they won’t be suspectin’ anything. That’s a damn good idea.”
“So, Dagen, does that mean Fargo’s our leader again?” Monroe asked jokingly. “Or do you still want to lead us onto the gallows?” He laughed.
“That ain’t funny,” Dagen said. “I told you, that ain’t funny.”
“Get your guns and let’s get out of here,” Fargo said, using the ring of keys to open the weapons locker. There, the men found their holsters and pistols, and quickly they put them back on.
“Damn, this feels good,” Ponci said. “I don’t mind tellin’ you, I was feelin’ plumb naked without my gun.”
Casey laughed. “Ponci, don’t be talkin’ about you bein’ naked. You want to give the rest of us nightmares?”
The others laughed.
“Hey, back when Ponci was a butcher, you think he got naked with them cows?” Dagen asked.
“Only with them pretty young calves,” Monroe replied.
More laughter.
“You know too much about pretty young calves, if you ask me,” Casey said.
More laughter.
“What are we hangin’ around here for? Let’s go!” Dagen said as he started toward the front door.
“Not that way,” Fargo called out.
“Why the hell not?”
“You want the whole town to see us? Out the back door, then down the alley to the liver y.”
“Yeah,” Dagen said. “Yeah, I see what you mean.”
The five men left the back of the jail, then darted up the alley. Not one person saw them leave the jail.
Behind them lay the town’s entire law-enforcement contingent ... all dead.
