Now Playing: Last Job
New to these parts? To start the story from the beginning click
Episode One concluded
with:
The banker nodded
his head, opened the right hand drawer of his desk and took out a pistol.
“Start running.”
Brooks pulled his bandanna over his nose and fled from the bank. He ran around
the corner and mounted his strawberry roan as Conklin shouted, “The bank is
being robbed!”
Tully galloped off as the banker fired at him. The shot came close. An angry
Tully Brooks considered returning fire and killing the snake, but that didn’t
seem right. This was, after all, easy money.
Episode Two
***
Red covered the sky like blood on a
battlefield. Rance Dehner crouched in a maze of bushes on a small knoll and
contemplated the irony of sunrise. Poets rhapsodized over the beauty of dawn.
For the detective, dawn was the time when he often caught up with and arrested
a fugitive. Or killed him.
Dehner
hoped this morning’s confrontation would end in an arrest. Two previous
encounters with Tully Brooks had involved gunplay and both had ended with
Brooks getting away. But the detective had gained a respect for his opponent,
who was one of the wiliest crooks he had ever chased.
Dehner had to devise a plan
quickly. Tully was breaking camp. The outlaw had just saddled his horse and
seemed to be checking his work to make sure the saddle was secure.
In one
sudden movement, Tully ripped his rifle from its boot and fired in the
direction of the detective. “Good morning, friend,” Tully yelled as he levered
the Henry. “You’re too late for breakfast!” He fired again.
Dehner
rolled as shots ricocheted around him. On his stomach, he yelled, “You’re a
lousy cook anyhow, Tully!”
“Rance?!”
The outlaw yelled back.
“Yeah.”
“You’re one
stubborn cuss!” The outlaw ran to the other side of his horse, using the animal
as a shield. He knew his opponent well. Rance wouldn’t shoot the animal.
“You’re
right, Tully. I am a stubborn cuss. If I was a gentleman, I’d have a better job
than this one! Give up, Tully!”
“You know I
won’t!” Brooks slipped the Henry back into the boot. “Let’s take a morning
ride!” Tully quickly mounted the roan, spurring his steed into a fast gallop.
Dehner ran
down the knoll to where his bay was tethered. He rode the horse cautiously up
the small hill and then down the slope. Once they were on flat ground, Dehner
raked his spurs against the horse and began a fast pursuit.
Two ribbons of dust trailed behind Tully’s
horse. Dehner kept his bay at a fast, steady gallop. Tully was pushing his
horse hard, riding toward a mountain where he hoped to get lost among the caves
and large rocks.
Tomorrow: Episode
Three of Last Job
