roof of the cafe, or one of the buildings just left or right of the cafe. As long as Frank stayed under the awning, he was safe from the sniper.
'I knowed you was yeller, Morgan. I'm challengin' you to stop all this talk and step out here and face me.'
'Hook and draw, Calvin,' Frank said easily. 'You can see me.'
'You're yeller. I knowed all along you was yeller. Told everybody I'd prove it.'
'And you're a loudmouth son of a bitch,' Frank said without raising his voice.
That got to Calvin -- if Calvin was his real name, which Frank doubted. The man tensed, and Frank could see his expression change.
'You'll pay for that, Morgan.'
'How? You going to have your buddy on the roof shoot me in the back?'
'Take him, Lou!' the man on the roof shouted. 'Take him now. He's on to us!'
Calvin/Lou hesitated for just a second, then grabbed for his pistol.
Frank shot him twice just as he was clearing leather. He placed his shots fast but carefully, knocking both legs out from under the man. Jerry's shotgun boomed, and there was a scream from the gunman on the roof.
'Oh, my ass!' the sniper squalled. 'You done ruint me. Oh, sweet Baby Jesus!' Then he fell off the roof, crashing through the awning and landing on the boardwalk.
Frank took a quick look at the man. His ass was a bloody mess. He had taken both barrels of Jerry's scattergun in the butt. He had landed on his belly on the boardwalk, and the wind had been knocked out of him.
Jerry stepped out of the alley, a six-gun in his hand. 'Watch him,' Frank said, pointing to bloody butt. Then he walked over to the fallen man in the dusty and now bloody street.
'Calvin, or Lou?' Frank asked him.
'Lou. You bastard! You done broke both my legs.'
'That was my intention.'
'Damn your eyes!'
'Lou what?'
'Lou Manning.'
'Well, well, now. I have a dodger on you over in the office. Another five hundred dollars in my pocket.'
'That's an old dodger. It's a thousand now.'
'That's even better. How about your buddy over there?'
'Bud Chase. He ain't got no money on his head. You gonna get me a doctor, Morgan?'
'I see him coming now. Was that you prowling around outside my house this morning?'
'Huh? No.' He groaned in pain. 'I don't even know where you live, Morgan. I wish to God I'd never seen you. Where is that damn sawbones?'
'Taking a look at your buddy's butt. He's got two loads of bird shot in his ass.'
'To hell with Bud's butt! My legs is busted, goddamn it.'
Doc Bracken came over and looked at Lou's wounds. 'Neither leg seems to be broken, but you won't be doing much walking around for a while.'
'I really hurt something fierce, Doc,' Lou said. 'Can you give me something for the pain?'
'When we get you settled in the jail,' the doctor told him.
'How's the other one?' Frank asked.
'Very uncomfortable,' Bracken said with a half-smile. 'And he's going to be even more so when I start probing around for those shot.'
Frank waved at some men. 'Get these two over to the jail,' he told them. He looked at Doc Bracken. 'Unless you want them in your office.'
Bracken shook his head. 'Jail will be fine. Neither one of them are in any danger of expiring. Your jail is getting full, isn't it, Marshal?'
'I'll have two cells left after these two are booked.'
'Ummm,' Doc Bracken said. 'What happens if your jail gets full?'
'I'll chain prisoners outside to a hitch rail.'
Bracken gave him a hard look. 'And you would too, wouldn't you, Marshal?'
'Bet on it.'
The doctor chuckled. 'I think you'll be the best marshal this town has ever had, Morgan. Providing you live long enough, that is.'
'Thank you, Doc. How soon can I ask these two a few questions?'
'A couple of hours, maybe. Probably longer. I'm going to sedate them heavily. I'll let you know.'
