Double The Bounty

Chapter XXII

Decker, Felicia, and Rebecca made Bell’s Crossing just before noon the next day. The state of turmoil was still very much in evidence.

“Something happened here,” Decker said.

“What?” Felicia asked.

“That’s what I want to find out. Let’s find the sheriff’s office.”

They found the sheriff’s office, and Felicia was told to stay outside with the horses, which she bitterly resented.

Decker and Rebecca walked in and found the office crowded.

A man with a badge stood behind his desk talking to five other men. Decker listened carefully.

“Matt, you take five men and ride north. Sam, take five and go south—” And so on. It wasn’t hard for Decker to figure out that he was listening to a posse being deployed.

When the men had their assignments and began filing out, the lawman noticed Decker and Rebecca.

“Can I help you folks?”

He was in his fifties, from all appearances, and Decker didn’t think he had too many more posses left in him. For one thing, his hands were showing sign of arthritis.

“Maybe you can—”

“I hope this won’t take long. I got a killer to catch.”

“A killer?”

The sheriff nodded.

’Fella came into town yesterday, bold as you please, and held up the bank.”

“And he killed someone?”

“An old woman, the bank manager, and my fool deputy.”

“An old woman?”

“Sounds funny, don’t it? Well, this is even funnier. The old woman, Mrs. Maxwell, she whipped out a derringer and plugged the jasper.”

“How bad was he hit?”

“Not bad enough. He did all his killin’ after that.”

“Sheriff, what did this fella look like? Did you have a witness?”

“Sure did—the bank teller. Fella tried to kill him, too, but missed. The teller said he was Brian Foxx. You hunting this killer?”

“I am.”

“And you, miss?”

“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.”