Corbett stepped quickly over to the hook, took down the keys, then returned to unlock the cell door. “I’ve got a couple of horses in the alley,” he said.
“I appreciate you doin’ this for me.”
“Well, your brother was my friend. I’d like to see the son of a bitch who killed him pay for it. And I figure you’re the one who can make him do it.”
The two men stepped out into the alley, but instead of going toward the two horses that were tied off in back, Pardeen turned and started walking up the dark alley.
“Hey, the horses is over here,” Corbett called.
“I got somewhere else I’m goin’ to first,” Pardeen said with an impatient grunt.
“Where you got to go that’s so important we can’t ride outta here while we have the chance?” Corbett asked.
“The hotel.”
“Why we goin’ to the hotel?”
“You’ll see when I get there,” Pardeen replied. “That is, if you’re a’comin’ with me.”
“Yeah,” Corbett answered. “Yeah, I’m comin’ with you.”
The two men moved silently through the dark shadows of the alley until they reached the hotel. Slipping in through the front door, they could hear the snores of the night clerk who was on duty. Crossing the darkened lobby, Pardeen turned the registration book around so he could read the entries.
“What are you lookin’ for?” Corbett whispered.
“Ain’t lookin’. I found it,” Pardeen replied, also in a whisper. He reached over behind the sleeping clerk and took a key down from a board filled with keys. Re-crossing the lobby, Pardeen started up the stairs with Corbett, still unsure as to what they were doing, climbing the stairs behind him.
Reaching the second floor, the two men stopped for just a moment. A couple of candles that were set in wall sconces lit the hallway in a flickering orange light. The snoring of the various residents could be heard through the closed doors.
“He’s down this way,” Pardeen hissed.
“Who is?”
“The judge.”
“We’re lookin’ for a judge? Why?”
“He’s the son of a bitch that sentenced me to hang,” Pardeen said. “I want to send a message to all the other judges so that if I ever get in this position again, they’ll think twice before trying to hang me.”
They walked quietly down the carpeted hallway until they found the door Pardeen was looking for. Slowly, he unlocked the door, then pushed it open.
The judge was snoring peacefully.
Pardeen pulled his gun and pointed it toward the judge. Then, having second thoughts, he put the gun away.
“You got a knife?” he asked.
“Yeah, I got a knife,” Corbett answered.
“Let me borrow it.”
Corbett pulled his knife from its sheath and handed it to Pardeen. Pardeen raised the knife over the judge, paused for a moment, then pulled it back down.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Corbett hissed.
“I want the son of a bitch to wake up long enough to know what’s happening to him, and and to see who is doing it.”
Corbett nodded.
Pardeen reached down to cover the judge’s mouth with his hand.
“Wake up, you son of a bitch,” he said.
The judge snorted in mid-snore, then opened his eyes. For just a moment there was confusion in his eyes, but when he recognized Pardeen, the confusion turned to fear, then terror. He tried to speak, but couldn’t because Pardeen’s hand was clamped down over his mouth.
“Ha! Bet you never thought you’d see me again, did you?”
The judge tried to speak again, but it came out as a squeak.
“Oh, I guess you’re wonderin’ how I got here, huh? Well, I tell you, Judge. I just killed the deputy and broke jail, and now I’ve come to kill you. What was it you said in court? Something about finding a contrivance or means to suspend me from the ground long enough to break my neck?”
Pardeen laughed a guttural laugh that was without humor.
“Well, this here knife is all the contrivance I need, Judge.”
Pardeen pulled his hand away from the judge’s mouth. The judge tried to sit up, but before he could, Pardeen brought his knife across the judge’s neck. The judge put his hands up to his throat, then, with a gurgling sound, fell back down onto the pillow. He flopped once or twice like a fish out of water, then lay still in a growing pool of
