Cotton's Devil (9781101618523) by Phil Dunlap Page B

has to be angry enough to call you out.”
    â€œAnd then I’m supposed to take him down?”
    â€œNot exactly. I’ll be taking care of that end of things.”
    â€œWhat’s in it for me?”
    â€œTwo thousand dollars cash money.”
    â€œWe goin’ there together?”
    â€œNo. I’ve some business to finish before I get there. You’ll have to use your own judgment as to how much pain you bring to the sheriff. Just don’t shoot him.”
    â€œHow’re you gonna know I’ve done what you’re askin’ if you aren’t there?”
    â€œI’ll know, all right. I got eyes and ears taking note of every move you make. I don’t want you trying to kill him until I get there. I just want him to have plenty of reason to want you dead.” Sanborn shook a bony fist at Hogg. His nod sealed the deal.
    â€œI’ve heard tell Burke ain’t too easy to kill. Didn’t you send another bounty hunter after him? He never came back, did he?” James Lee Hogg lifted one eyebrow and gave the judge a wry grin. “You likely got a story on his demise in one of them clippin’s spread all over your desk.”
    â€œI have no idea whether he’s dead or alive. Ain’t important now, anyway. Never felt Thorn McCann was all that reliable, but, at the time, I was forced to rely on him,” Sanborn said.
    â€œWhat if I come up against resistance from Burke’s family?”
    â€œHe doesn’t have any family. Believe me, I’ve looked high and low for some relative—a brother, cousin, uncle—anyone I could kill in retribution for Burke shooting my only son, Billy.”
    â€œAnd the well came up dry? There’s no one?”
    â€œNot that I can find. Now, that don’t mean he hasn’t taken up with some woman of recent. If he has, kill her. I’m none too particular who falls to your gun, Hogg. Just as long as it has a devastating impact on that murdering badge-toter.”
    â€œHow come I have to wait for you to get to town?”
    â€œI
must
be there to see it!
Absolutely must!
And as many men can attest, I’m not a good man to cross.”
    â€œThat’s plain enough for me. I’m goin’ to need sometravelin’ money, though, and enough for a hotel room when I get there. You say he’s in Apache Springs, New Mexico Territory?”
    Sanborn reached down into a lower desk drawer and drew out a tin box. He opened it and pulled a stack of bills from it. One of the two hinges was rusted through, nearly causing the top to break free. He pulled off several bills and handed them across the desk to Hogg.
    â€œThat’s right, Apache Springs. Here’s fifty dollars. That ought to get you food, room and board, and ammunition sufficient for your journey.”
    Hogg took the money with a greedy grin on his scarred and deeply lined face.
    â€œShould be. Well, then, I reckon I’ll be off to do the job McCann couldn’t. I’ll send you a telegram when I got him good and riled. That way, it’ll give you time to come up with every penny of my money so I don’t have to wait around after you give me the go-ahead to kill him.”
    â€œOne more thing, Mr. Hogg. You’ll not be working entirely alone when things get serious,” Sanborn said.
    â€œI don’t need no help. I can take that sheriff.”
    â€œYou’ll take the help and be glad for it. I guarantee.”
    â€œWho is this so-called helper?”
    â€œYou’ll be given that information at the proper time.”
    â€œWhat’s the matter with now?” Hogg growled.
    The old man said nothing as he drilled the gunslinger with a glare that could have killed a rattler.
    Feeling unfairly chastised, Hogg scooted his chair back, stood with a frown, grabbed his duster from a peg, and left his dusty surroundings in favor of some sunshine. He stood for a moment to acquaint himself with the small,