The Stranger from Abilene

Chapter 20

But Shad Vestal did not pull the trigger. Something was wrong. He eased down the Colt’s hammer. Better to kill Clayton later, he thought, on the Southwell Ranch.

Vestal smiled. Yeah, why not? The plan dawned on him with crystal clarity. First, gun the old man, then Clayton. Next, blame Clayton for Park’s murder. The man from Abilene thought he’d found the man he’d been hunting and killed him. It was so simple.

He even knew how the newspapers would play it. Brave ranch foreman Shad Vestal, they would say, caught Clayton in the act of trying to violate helpless Mrs. Southwell. Enraged, Clayton went for his murderous revolver, but Shad Vestal was faster on the draw. Now the frontier is rid of yet another mad-dog killer and would-be rapist.

Then the clincher: Mrs. Southwell, at present heavily sedated, will inherit the Southwell ranch and all of her dead husband’s business interests.

Vestal felt like giggling in sheer joy. The plan was so perfect . . . so faultlessly rounded. A thought occurred to him then. Why not kill Clayton now and take him back to the ranch draped over his horse?

He shook his head. No, that was too messy.

Suppose he met someone on the trail, Kelly maybe? He would have some explaining to do. He’d get out of it, of course, but why take the chance?

No, he’d follow the plan as it had come to him, take Clayton back to the ranch and kill him there.

Vestal rammed his foot into Clayton’s ribs.

“Get up, you,” he said. “We’re riding.”