“Foxx killed my brother in Arizona. I’m looking for him.”
“Well, he rode north out of town, but it got dark soon after. This is the first chance I’ve had to get a posse together. I don’t hold out much hope of catching him, so as much as I hate bounty hunters, mister, I wish you luck.”
With that the sheriff pushed past them and went outside. Decker and Rebecca followed.
“Now what happened?” Felicia asked. She hated having to be filled in last.
“One of the Foxxes was here and held up the bank,” Decker said. “He killed three people, including an old woman who shot him first.”
“An old woman killed him?”
“She hit him, but she didn’t kill him.”
“Then he’s traveling hurt.”
“Seems like. The question is, is he traveling alone, and which way did he go?”
“We’re farther behind than we figured,” Rebecca said. “We stopped for the night, but after what happened here you can bet Foxx didn’t.”
“That’s a possibility. The sheriff said he rode north out of town. Let’s see what we can find.”
They mounted up and rode out of the north end of town.
Since Decker was the professional manhunter, Rebecca and Felicia left it to him to search the ground for signs.
They headed south a ways, came to an incline, and rode up until they came to a stand of brush which even the women could see had been crushed down.
“Pretty clear now what happened,” Decker said.
“Want to explain it to us less fortunate people who don’t have your insight?” Rebecca asked.
“The man who robbed the bank switched to the south after he hightailed it from town, and then he met his partner who was waiting for him here.”
“They didn’t want to be seen together,” Rebecca said.
“Or,” Felicia said, “one didn’t know what the other one was planning.”
“Now, how do you figure that?” Rebecca asked.
“I’ve read everything there is to read about Brian Foxx,” Felicia explained. “This job was pulled too close to the others, and it was sloppy. Foxx plans better than this. I’d say that if we’re dealing with two men, one was the planner, and he had nothing to do with this job.”
“She may be right,” Decker said, “much as I hate to admit it. What if one brother did all the plan-ning and the other brother got tired of it?”
“So he decides to pull a job on his own while his brother waits up here,” Rebecca said. “If that’s the case, there’s a very unhappy brother out there.”
“I’d say two,” Decker said. He was kneeling on the ground and got up to show them the bloodstains on his fingertips. “One’s mad, and the other one’s hurt.”
“Well, they’re farther ahead, but maybe they aren’t traveling as fast,” Rebecca said.
“Only one way to see if we can catch them,” Decker said. He mounted up and said, “Let’s get moving.”
Chapter XXIII
“Sit still!”
“Then take it easy!”
Brian, still angry, was being unnecessarily rough as he tried to patch the hole in his brother’s side.
“You’re lucky it was a small-caliber gun.”
“Who the hell would have expected an old woman to shoot me?” Brent said, shaking his head in wonder.
“You’ve got to suspect everyone. That’s what I’ve always tried to tell you.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re always telling me. Well, this time I told you.” Brent reached over and grabbed the sack. “Let’s see how much we got.”
“How much you got doesn’t matter,” Brian said. “It was a fool play.”
“I tell you what,” Brent said, buttoning his shirt. “If you don’t want half, you don’t have to take it.”
“I don’t want it,” Brian said, standing up. He used water from his canteen to clean his brother’s blood from his hands. He wished he could wash away the responsibility he felt as easily. He’d turned his brother into a bank robber, and now he’d come to this.
Well, he thought, maybe I made him a bank robber, but he made himself a fool. All he had to do was
“Fine, then I’ll keep it all.”
Brent reached into the sack and pulled out a handful of bills.
“What the hell—”
“What’s the matter?” Brian asked.
Brent was frantically pulling another handful of money out.
“That little son of a bitch!”
Brian walked over to where his brother was sitting and immediately saw what the problem was.
He started laughing.
“What the fuck are you laughing at!”
“You,” Brian said. “You hold up a bank and take one in the side from a woman, and you end up with a bag of one-dollar bills.”
“Son of a bitch!” Brent said, throwing the sack as far as he could.
“You’re lucky if you’ve got five hundred dollars there. That sure as hell isn’t worth getting shot for.”
The Foxx brothers traveled another two or three hours, but then Brian noticed a waxy look coming over Brent’s face and saw that his brother’s side was covered with fresh blood.
“Hold up,” he said, grabbing the reins of Brent’s horse.
“What is it?” Brent asked. It came out as almost a gasp.
“That bleeding’s not stopping. We’ve got to get that bullet out.”
“It’s a tiny little bullet, Brian,” Brent complained, but Brian knew how much discomfort and pain the “tiny little bullet” was causing his brother.
“We’ve got to get you to a doctor in the next town.”
“What if there ain’t a doctor in the next town?”
“Then we’ll let a vet do it.”
“Brian—”
“Don’t argue with me on this, Brent. I’m not gonna haul your ass all over the countryside because you’re too stubborn to have a bullet removed—even a tiny little one.”
Brent shrugged and said, “You’re the boss.”
“Now that,” Brian said, “is the biggest joke I’ve heard all day.”
Chapter XXIV
“Where do you figure they’re heading?” Rebecca asked.
