The Lawman

Raquel gave her brother an amused look.

“I also heard about this town. What you heard about San Louisa is that they have a new whorehouse there, with high-class girls. That is what you want to go there and see.”

Gilberto shrugged.

“You must admit, it is as good a place as any to look next.”

“Yes,” Raquel said with a sigh, “I must admit that. How long will it take us to get there?”

“Three days.”

“We had better get some sleep, then,” she said. “We will have to start out early in the morning.” She laid back on her blanket, then propped herself up on her elbows and asked, “How is your leg?”

“My leg is fine,” he said tightly. “Go to sleep.”

He ignored the leg as much as possible, even though it hurt much of the time. When he did think of it, it was only in terms of paying Decker back.

Gilberto put his head down on his saddle and thought about the money Decker was after.

First they would find him, then wait for him to find the man he was looking for. After that they would kill him, take the man and turn him in themselves for the reward.

Gilberto had no qualms about turning the man in. After he all, he was a gringo.

Chapter Twenty-six

Decker was starting to think he would never find Red Moran when he heard a story. It was about a man and a woman who opened a “private” whorehouse in a small town in the southern part of Mexico.

The woman was a beautiful red-haired American, and the man—also a gringo—had become sheriff of the town.

It takes a lot of money to set up a private operation like the one he was hearing about. He was two days’ ride from the town of San Louisa, and decided to check it out.

Chapter Twenty-seven

The mayor of San Louisa was presiding over a meeting of the town council. The five men seated at the table with him were all merchants in town. They were also frequent customers at the new Crystal’s Palace.

“I say we must talk to the sheriff and his…his woman,” the mayor was saying. “San Louisa should be prospering for being the site of their new and very successful business. Do any of you agree?”

The owner of the hotel agreed, because he was no longer getting any of Red Moran’s money. In fact, Moran was getting his money when he went to the Palace.

The other four men, however—who owned the hardware store, the general store, the cafe and cantina, and the dress shop—were still getting their share of Moran’s money.

Moran shopped at both the hardware and general stores, he and Crystal ate at the cafe and Crystal bought her dresses at the dress shop.

The mayor’s proposal was being voted down, four to two.

The mayor decided to work on the owner of the cafe, Hector Dominguez.

“Hector, what will happen when senor Moran decides to put in a kitchen, or starts serving liquor? Where will you be then? Not only will you not be getting any of his money, but you’ll be losing money”

Suddenly Hector decided to change his vote, but that still left the council at a three to three deadlock.

There was one member of the council who was not present, however, but the mayor didn’t figure he could count of him for his vote.

The other member was Red Moran.

That night in bed Crystal passed on some information she had heard from the dress shop.

“Mrs. Mendez, the owner’s wife, was telling one of the other women that there was a special meeting of the town council today.”

“There was?” Moran asked. “I wasn’t informed about that.”

“That’s because you—and I guess me—were the subjects of the meeting.”

“Is that a fact?”

“Red, the town is getting tired of seeing us get rich and them not getting some of it. The mayor made a proposal that the council talk to us about it.”

“And what was the council’s vote?”

“Three to three.”

“Deadlocked, so nothing will happen.”

“Maybe not, and maybe the mayor will eventually get one more member to go his way”

“So what? Then they’ll come and talk to us and we’ll say no.”

“And then what happens? You don’t want to make enemies here, Red. We’ve got a good thing going and we don’t want to mess it up.”

“Stop worrying. We’re not going to mess it up. What could they do? What could the mayor do. He’s a silly little man who thinks he’s really got some authority. He can’t do anything to us.”

“He could turn you in.”

Moran looked at her and rubbed his jaw.

“That strutting peacock,” Moran said, as if his feelings were hurt by the possibility. “When he needed a sheriff he came to me, and I’ve done a good job.”

“That’s when you were just sheriff, and you were spending your money around town. Now it’s reversed. The merchants in town are spending their money here, and getting nothing back. The women in town are starting to complain.”

“I’ve been thinking about serving liquor,” Moran said, changing the subject. “While the customers are waiting, they could be spending money drinking.”

“Boy, wouldn’t the town fathers love that.”

“Never mind what the town fathers want,” Moran said, taking her into his arms. “They’re all hypocrites, anyway. They spend as much time here as anyone.”

He took Crystal into his arms and said, “Pretty soon, baby, if we want, we’ll be able to buy this town.”

She grinned and said, “Would that make me a town mother?”

Chapter Twenty-eight

When Decker rode into San Louisa he was surprised.

For a town with the hottest new whorehouse anywhere, it did not look very prosperous.

Decker passed by the whorehouse, and saw that other than the sign above the entrance, it looked much like any of the other buildings in town. He wondered what it looked like on the inside.

Later, when it opened, he’d find out.

As he turned his horse in at the livery he realized that he was starting to feel the anticipation he felt whenever he was closing in on his prey. He still had no concrete evidence that Moran was in town, but his instinct told him that he was.

And he had rarely gone wrong trusting his instincts.

As he had done in other towns when he was checking into the hotel, he looked through the register. He found what he was looking for three weeks back.

Red Moran had registered at the hotel.

“I hope you enjoy your stay senor,” the clerk said, handing him a key.