The Lawman

Chapter Thirty-three

Before meeting Gilberto and Raquel at the cantina, Juan, Martinez and Orlando went to the hotel to secure three rooms. Gilberto and Raquel would each have their own, while the three men would be forced to share one.

While waiting for their rooms, Juan went through the register and saw Decker’s name. This was the news he gave the bandit leader and his sister, now.

“Then he is here,” Gilberto said.

“How much further will we have to follow him to find the man he seeks?” Raquel asked. She looked at Juan and asked, “When did he arrive?”

“Yesterday.”

She looked at her brother.

“If he is not leaving today, then he has found the man he is hunting for.”

“Here, in this town?”

“Yes.”

“Then we have them both.”

“All we must do is identify the man,” Raquel said, “and then we will no longer need Decker.”

“Identifying the man should not be difficult,” Gilberto said. “He will also be a gringo, and there are not many here.”

“The sheriff,” Juan said.

“What?” Gilberto asked.

“The sheriff is a gringo.”

Gilberto and Raquel exchanged glances.

“The three of you move about the town and find out what you can about the sheriff. What his name is, when he came to town, when he became sheriff and anything else that you can,” Raquel instructed. “You will find us at the livery stable.” They looked to Gilberto for confirmation, but she snapped, “Go!” and they moved.

“Why the livery stable?” Gilberto asked his sister. He had been looking forward to sleeping in a real bed.

“Gilberto, we will have to stay out of sight so that Decker does not see us.”

“If he is staying at the hotel—”

“Yes. We will have to stay somewhere else.”

“There is nowhere else.”

“Then we will camp outside of town,” Raquel said. “If he sees us it will ruin everything. I don’t want him to see us until the last moment of this life.”

“And it will be my pleasure to kill him,” Gilberto said.

“And mine to watch.”

When Moran left his office he saw the three men leaving the cantina. They were strangers, and Moran had been a lawman long enough—and enough times—to distrust strangers. He watched their progress as they crossed the street and then suddenly split up.

He decided to follow one of them and see where he would lead.

His instinct was more one of self-preservation than anything else. The phrase “bounty hunter” had only recently been brought up, and now there were three strangers in town. True, they were Mexicans, but Mexicans could collect a bounty just as well as gringos.

With the direction his thoughts were taking this morning, it definitely was time to start moving again.

San Louisa had now lost all of its charms.