The men were just finishing their breakfast when Marcus Kincaid came into the office.
“Kincaid,” Sherman said. “What are you doing here? I thought we weren’t supposed to be seen together.”
“Sherman, what are you doing?” Kincaid asked. “I was just told that you killed Marshal Sparks yesterday.”
Sherman cut open a biscuit, then lay a piece of bacon on it. He closed the biscuit and took a bite.
“Well, did you?” Kincaid asked, his voice high pitched and agitated because Sherman hadn’t answered him.
“Did I what?”
“Are you deaf, man? I asked if you killed the marshal?”
“Yeah, I did. Now, I’m the marshal,” he said with a wave of his hand, and the others with him laughed.
“This has gotten out of hand,” Kincaid said. “Our deal is off. Do you hear me? Our deal is off. Nothing is worth this. I’ve changed my mind, let Kitty sell her horses. In fact, I own the loan contract to her ranch and I’m going to give it her.”
“Huh uh, it isn’t that easy, Kincaid,” Sherman said. “I’ve already lost too many good men for you to back out now. You hired me for this little adventure. We’re not pulling out.”
“Oh, yes you are. You are fired. Do you understand that? I want you and all of your men to leave, now!”
“I expect Matt Jensen will be bringing in Kitty Wellington’s horses today. When she does, I intend to be here, waiting for him.”
“Why? I told you, our deal is off. I’m not paying you one more cent.”
“Do you have any idea how many of my men Jensen has killed?”
“I don’t care how many of your men Jensen has killed,” Kincaid said. “I told you that I want you to leave, and I mean now. If you don’t, I will contact the sheriff in Silver City.”
“Will you now?” Sherman asked.
“Oh, yes, I most definitely will do that,” Kincaid said.
Sherman pulled his pistol from his holster and, without another word, shot Marcus Kincaid.
“What?” Marcus gasped, shocked and disbelieving. He staggered back a few steps, then collapsed.
Burke walked over to look down at him.
Sherman took a swallow of his coffee. “Is he dead?” he asked, giving the question no more emotion than if he had just asked if it was raining.
“Yeah, he’s dead,” Burke said. “What will we do with him?”
“Drag him out in the street and leave him there,” Sherman said. “Someone will come along and take care of it.”
“Damn, Colonel, ain’t this the fella that’s supposed to be payin’ us? How we goin’ to get paid now?” Burke asked.
“Five hundred horses at one hundred dollars each, is fifty thousand dollars,” Sherman said. “You think that’s pay enough?”
“Fifty thousand dollars? Wow. I didn’t know there was that much money in the whole world.”
“We’ve got to earn it though. We’re going to have to take the herd.”
Burnett shook his head. “How are we going to do that?” he asked. “We tried it last night, remember?”
“I made a mistake,” Sherman admitted. “We attacked them on their ground, and they were dug in and waiting for us. And even if we had taken the herd, we would have had to bring it in. Now they are going to bring the herd to us, and when they do, we will be ready for them.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
“Mr. Gilmore?”
George Gilmore looked up from his desk and saw one of the soiled doves who worked at the Sand Spur. He remembered her from Millie’s funeral, and knew that her name was Jenny.
“Yes, Jenny, can I help you?”
“I know that Millie came to you once when she needed help, so I thought, I mean, with the marshal being dead and all, well, you might be the best one for me to tell.”
“Tell what?”
“All of the posse men are down at the saloon right now,” Jenny said. “Mr. Gilmore, they plan to ambush all the riders from Coventry Ranch when they come in. They plan to kill them all, then take the herd.”
“Oh, surely, they won’t do anything like that,” Gilmore said, trying to assuage young woman’s fears.
“You don’t know these men,” Jenny said. “Last night I saw them kill Marshal Sparks in cold blood. And this morning they killed Mr. Kincaid.”
“Kincaid? They killed Marcus Kincaid?”
“Yes, sir, they were in there talking and laughing about it. Mr. Gilmore, Prew works for Conventry on the Snake. He—he has always been very nice to me. I wouldn’t like to see anything happen to him. Or to Mrs. Wellington either, her being so nice to Millie and all.”
