Bounty on a Baron

Royal Flush

“Your chit for Parmenter,” the sheriff said, handing it to Decker.

“I’ll take him over to the undertaker. Have you got any new paper in?”

“Don’t let any grass grow under your feet, do you?” the lawman said. “Well, as a matter of fact, I got some paper on the Baron.”

“On the Baron?” Decker said, surprised. “He’s a killer, but he’s usually careful enough to avoid drawing paper.”

“Well, not this time,” the sheriff said. “He gunned down a kid, a twelve-year-old boy.”

“What? He’d never take a job like that. Not on a boy.”

“That mean you don’t want any part of the reward? Or do you just not want any part of the Baron? Be an interesting matchup, you gotta admit.”

Decker looked at the figure on the poster the sheriff handed him. Ten thousand dollars. He unfolded the poster and stared at the picture. The Baron had been plying his trade as a hired killer for more than seven years without ever having made a mistake that Decker knew of. He guessed that the old saying was never more true.

There’s always a first time.