“Yours too?” he asked with a surprised look on his face. “My train got stopped not too long ago. Then again, with all that’s been happening, it’s kinda hard to say just how long I been here.”
Nick had spotted the gun in the man’s hand the moment the guy entered the room. Now all he wanted was to position himself between the gun and the Chinese woman before they were introduced to each other in a violent fashion.
“That one dead?” the man asked as he nodded toward the body lying half in and half out of the house.
“Yeah,” Nick replied.
“Good.” Without another word or even a shift in his expression, the man brought his arm up an inch or so and fired a shot into the Chinese woman’s head. “You carry the heavier of the two and I’ll split the reward with you.”
Nick wanted nothing more than to draw his gun and put that killer down like the mad dog he was. He kept himself in check, though he was shocked at what he’d just seen. Although the other man’s gun arm had been fast, what had caught Nick off guard even more was the complete lack of expression on the gunman’s face. He killed that woman as if he was just stretching his arm, before Nick could do a damn thing about it.
Unfortunately, it was too late to save either of the Chinese people lying on the floor. Their killer was obviously in on whatever insanity was going on in Rock Springs, which made Nick want to play along to see what more he could do than just take a shot at this one man.
The man nodded and grinned when he saw Nick stoop down to heft the Chinese man’s body over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about splitting the reward. There’s plenty more of them Chinese runnin’ about.”
“I’d like to know who I’m splitting it with.”
“Name’s Alan Kinman. Pleased to meet ya.”
TWELVE
After taking a few odd turns and cutting through a couple of alleys, Nick found himself walking straight toward the Central Mining Company. Kinman led him there as if he’d been born and raised in Rock Springs. Whenever shooting sparked up along the way, Kinman didn’t even flinch. As they got closer to the raging fires, he seemed to revel in the heat.
Nick followed Kinman’s lead right up to the mining office’s front stoop. Once there, Kinman dropped the Chinese woman’s body onto the boards as if he was delivering a sack of grain. Although Nick wanted to follow suit, he couldn’t force himself to be so disrespectful. He was quick about it, but he set the man down gently and shut his eyelids.
“We got two more for ya,” Kinman shouted into the office.
In response to that announcement, a tall man with dark bushy hair walked outside. His face was decorated with a slender mustache and a sprout of whiskers just beneath the middle of his bottom lip. He smiled as if his teeth were a bit too big for his jaw and nodded approvingly when he saw the fresh kills piled upon his porch. “You sure as hell do, Alan. I’m starting to think you’re trying to wring me of every dollar I got.”
“You don’t wanna pay, you’d better let me know right now, because I intend on heading right back out after this.”
The man stuck a few fingers into the pocket of an expensive pearl gray vest and dug out a wad of bills. “I got you covered for a while longer,” he said as he peeled twenty dollars off of the wad. “Who’s your friend?”
“Don’t know,” Kinman said. “I didn’t ask.”
“I’m Nicolai,” Nick said in a clipped tone, hoping they didn’t pry any further.
They didn’t.
“Francis Hale,” the man in the nice suit said. “I’m the founder of this feast. I take it you’re new to town?”
“Just arrived.”
“Not by train, I know that for damn sure,” Francis said smugly.
“I’m passing through on my way to Cheyenne,” Nick said. “I won’t be staying long.”
“Just collecting on some easy money, eh? Well, just know that you’re lending a hand to a hell of a good cause. The folks who think they can slap some damn Chinese devils into a spot that used to be filled by an honest Christian will remember what’s been happening here in Rock Springs. Once the Federals try to get here with the next shipment of them Chink bastards, they’ll be begging for the way things used to be.”
Nick glanced over to his right, where Kinman was standing. The rough-looking man rubbed a hand over the harsh stubble on top of his head. Dirt was smeared upon his scalp and face, but wasn’t thick enough to mask the annoyed expression that showed up as he rolled his eyes.
“He can make all the faces he wants,” Francis said, pointing at Kinman. “He don’t live here. He don’t know how many good men gave all their good years to work in these mines, only to have their livelihoods stripped away on account of some slant-eyes who’ll do it cheaper.”
“You really think the Federals will listen to this?” Nick asked. Although he’d been expecting to catch some hell for the question, Nick wanted to see how Francis would deliver his answer.
Surprisingly enough, Francis grinned and said, “They will when they try to ship in their troops and replacement workers on a stretch of blown-up track. And they sure as hell will take notice when the only Chinese that’re left in this town are the dead ones piled up behind this very building.”
“If you’re done with your speech,” Kinman said, “then we’ve got some more bodies to collect.”
Francis nodded and held onto the edges of his vest like a politician posing for the camera. “I won’t stand in your way. Just be careful, because Sheriff Young is out with the rest of the fucking Chinese sympathizers to make our job harder.”
Turning his back to the mining office and leading Nick into the street, Kinman looked over and grumbled under his breath, “Them sympathizers he’s talking about would be the Fire Brigade and they’re mainly out to douse the flames that the assholes on Hale’s payroll got started.”
“What about the rest of what he was saying?” Nick asked.
Kinman led him down the street a way before glancing over at Nick. “You’ll have to refresh my memory. Hale talks an awful lot and if he ain’t talking about money, I ain’t listening.”
“I wouldn’t let him hear you say that,” Nick told him. “He seems like the sort to get upset when he hears his men bad-mouthing him that way.”
After letting out a quick grunt of a laugh, Kinman said, “I’ve only been in town for less than a day and I sure as hell ain’t one of his men. I was on an eastbound train just like you that got stopped. Only reason I got off is because Hale was shouting that there was money to be made.”
“That’s a hell of a lot better than the reception I got,” Nick told him. “All I heard was gunshots. How’d you get your train moving again?”
“I didn’t. Hale stopped us and fed everyone his line about the mining companies and the Chinese. There was one fella who meant to come here, so he got off. I figured I was close enough to my destination that I could ride my horse the rest of the way if it meant earning some money while I was here. After that, Hale gave the word and his boys cleared the track.” Kinman lowered his voice a bit as he asked, “That ain’t how it happened for you?”
Nick shook his head. “The tracks are blocked off and guarded by armed men. I had to fight through those assholes just so the train could pass.”
“And you didn’t ride along with it?”
“Nah,” Nick replied with a forced smirk. “I always did have a weakness for fireworks.”
“You want my opinion, I’d say you made a hell of a good choice. There’s some real money to be made here.”
“Ten dollars a head for killing Chinamen? I can think of a lot easier ways to make a lot more money.”
“What about a thousand dollars for blowing those Federals to hell?”
Whether he was thinking about collecting the money or not, Nick couldn’t help but be startled by that. “A thousand?”
