After letting out a quick grunt of a laugh, Kinman said, “I’ve only been in town for less than a day and I sure as hell ain’t one of his men. I was on an eastbound train just like you that got stopped. Only reason I got off is because Hale was shouting that there was money to be made.”
“That’s a hell of a lot better than the reception I got,” Nick told him. “All I heard was gunshots. How’d you get your train moving again?”
“I didn’t. Hale stopped us and fed everyone his line about the mining companies and the Chinese. There was one fella who meant to come here, so he got off. I figured I was close enough to my destination that I could ride my horse the rest of the way if it meant earning some money while I was here. After that, Hale gave the word and his boys cleared the track.” Kinman lowered his voice a bit as he asked, “That ain’t how it happened for you?”
Nick shook his head. “The tracks are blocked off and guarded by armed men. I had to fight through those assholes just so the train could pass.”
“And you didn’t ride along with it?”
“Nah,” Nick replied with a forced smirk. “I always did have a weakness for fireworks.”
“You want my opinion, I’d say you made a hell of a good choice. There’s some real money to be made here.”
“Ten dollars a head for killing Chinamen? I can think of a lot easier ways to make a lot more money.”
“What about a thousand dollars for blowing those Federals to hell?”
Whether he was thinking about collecting the money or not, Nick couldn’t help but be startled by that. “A thousand?”
“And for becoming a man wanted for disrupting government process or whatever the hell else they try to call it once it’s done. Basically, you’d be taking a bullet for Hale once folks start spreadin’ the blame around.”
“Is that kind of heat worth a thousand dollars?”
“It is if you do it right,” Kinman said. “The way I got it figured, we might not even be spotted before this thing is done. The money will still be ours and we’re the hell out of this shit hole.”
“We?”
Holding out his hand, Kinman nodded once and said, “Sure. You got a stomach for this.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“First of all, you got off that train of yours when everyone else had to have been shaking in their boots and crying for mercy.” As Kinman took a breath, a distant rumble marked the collapse of a building in another part of town. “Second,” he said without so much as looking in the direction of the rumble, “the way you hefted that body over your shoulder. It shows you ain’t the squeamish sort.”
“I’ve worked with plenty of dead folks.”
“Yeah. I just bet you have.”
Pausing for a moment, Nick said, “I’m a mourner.”
“A what?”
Even though there was a more official and complete explanation, Nick let it slide with, “It’s like an undertaker.” Once that was said, Nick took a more careful look at the hand Kinman was still extending to him. His fingers were curled around a messy wad of money. Nick snatched it from him and worked his fingers through the bills. His half of the money was all there. As much as he wanted to toss it into the street or even back into Kinman’s face, Nick shoved the cash into his pocket.
“Oh, I see,” Kinman said. “So, do most undertakers see folks get shot right in front of them?” Glancing over at Nick as they walked another couple of paces, Kinman waited before answering his own question. “I didn’t think so. Whatever your line of work is, I’d say you’re the man I’m looking for. At least, for the hour or two it’ll take to get this cakewalk over and done with.”
“You call this a cakewalk?” Nick asked.
“For me and you? Sure. For them…” Kinman said as he nodded ahead to where a small group of people was huddled, “…not hardly.”
Nick could tell the group had already seen him and Kinman coming. There were four of them crammed into a small alcove between a laundry and a store displaying men’s suits. All of them were Chinese and dressed in black or gray pants with simple white shirts. Two were children and the other two were a man and woman who’d positioned themselves to try and keep the little ones from view.
Kinman walked with his hand resting upon his holstered gun. His arm looked relaxed, but the muscles from his shoulder all the way down to his fingertips were as tense as bowstrings. Nick knew that much because he’d walked that same way plenty of times and could recognize it in someone else. If he had any doubts, all Nick had to do was look at the hungry sparkle in Kinman’s eyes.
“See what I mean?” Kinman whispered. “Plenty of money to be made here.”
Nick reached out to hold him back with an outstretched arm. As soon as Kinman’s eyes snapped toward him, Nick said, “Let me take these.”
“Sure,” Kinman replied. “We was gonna split the money anyhow. Better make it quick, though. They already seen us comin’.”
Nick’s eyes darted up and down, left and right before centering back upon his main target. In the space of a few heartbeats, Nick had sized up as much as he could regarding the people around him, what could go wrong and routes that could best be used for escape. Even as he was looking for all of those things, Nick could feel the other man getting more and more anxious beside him.
“Stand back,” Nick said as he stepped forward and in front of Kinman. Drawing his pistol, Nick took aim and fired a shot as he moved toward the Chinese family cowering at the mouth of the narrow alley.
Nick’s shot punched into the wall several inches to the left of the Chinese man’s head. Fixing his eyes upon him, Nick rushed forward with his gun held in front of him and his chin stuck out even farther. Sure enough, it was the Chinese man’s first impulse to take a swing at Nick with a balled fist.
Even though the punch had some strength behind it, there wasn’t nearly enough to put Nick down. Nick snapped his head back just long enough to get a look behind him. Kinman was standing a few paces back to watch the show. When Nick looked back at the Chinese man, he hissed, “Hit me again.”
The Chinese man was so stunned that Nick wondered if he even understood English. Either the man understood just fine or he was fighting mad, because he quickly took another swing at Nick.
As that punch glanced off his jaw, Nick got a better look at the rest of the family as well as the spot they were in. The opening between the buildings could barely be called an alley. It was so narrow that the two children were just able to squeeze into it. The Chinese woman looked as though she might be able to squeeze through, but the man would have a bit more trouble.
“Run,” Nick said as he gave the Chinese man a punch that wasn’t much more than a tap on the chest. “Find somewhere to hide and don’t come out till this passes over.”
“You will shoot,” the Chinese man said.
“Just over your heads as you go.” He could feel Kinman’s patience wearing thin, so Nick made some noise by slamming his shoulder against the wall, adding, “I could have killed you already. Just hit me, run and make it look good.”
The Chinese man looked past Nick at Kinman. That was enough to spur him on, and he delivered a chopping blow to Nick’s stomach that legitimately doubled him over. From there, the man shoved his wife in front of him so they could both throw themselves into the narrow alleyway.
As he straightened up, Nick saw Kinman moving up next to him. Nick acted as if he didn’t know where the other man was so he could pass off his next move as an accident. He let out a few vicious curses, stepped back and knocked into Kinman along the way. Bringing up his pistol, Nick stepped back and fired into the alley. His first shot hissed straight down the alley and well over the family’s heads. His next shot tore through the side of one building and his third sent a bunch of splinters flying from the other wall.