“What interest does he have in you?”
Blinking at the turn in the conversation, Lester replied, “I stole a horse.”
Nick shrugged. “It must have been a real good horse or it must have belonged to a real wealthy man for Kinman to step in.”
“The horse is dead,” Lester squeaked.
“And so are we, if Kinman has a say in the matter.” With that, Nick pulled Lester forward just enough for him to be able to maintain his own footing at the edge of the grave. He didn’t, however, allow Lester enough space to feel comfortable.
“I know…” As Lester started to talk, his heel slipped backward and down a bit into the grave. After wobbling and waving his arms, he managed to catch his balance just long enough for Nick to pull him forward again. “I know what Kinman is capable of. The man’s crazy. He’s a cold-blooded killer.”
Although he didn’t say anything to that, Nick pictured the faces on those dead Chinese piled outside of Hale’s door. He also pictured the grim smile on Kinman’s face when he’d had an opportunity to put down a few more Chinese just to put a few more dollars into his pocket.
“The only reason I’m still alive,” Lester continued, “is because I told him about this place.” Seeing the scowl that came onto Nick’s face, Lester winced. “I didn’t have no other choice.”
“What do you think Kinman will do when he sees this hole instead of the treasure he was expecting?” Nick asked.
“Probably shoot me.”
“Which is a damn fine alternative to what I have in mind.”
“All I want is to get the hell away from here. All I did was steal a horse and that was over a year ago. I’d serve jail time like I was supposed to, rather than hand myself over to a monster like Kinman. Hell, that rancher down in Texas has probably got himself worked into such a lather that he’ll gut me when he gets ahold of me.”
“You stole that horse in Texas?”
Lester nodded.
Shaking his head, Nick said, “They would’ve strung you up no matter when they caught you. Even I knew better than to steal a horse from a Texan.”
“Well, if they string me up in Texas or if I get buried in that hole, I’m dead either way.”
“Now you’re using your head. You forgot one thing, though.”
Lester thought about that for a moment before asking, “What?”
“I’m the only one who has any use for you while you’re alive.” Seeing Lester’s eyes dart back in the direction from which they’d come, Nick added, “Now that we’re at this spot and there ain’t nothing but an empty hole, I doubt Kinman will be too pleased. Even if you track down those jewels for him, what do you think your chances are of getting away alive?”
“Not…too…good?”
Nick squinted and then grinned. “I see. He offered you a piece of the reward if you two managed to bring me in, didn’t he?”
Lester thought of plenty of ways to answer that question. Unfortunately, every one of them required him to appear much more collected than he could manage under current circumstances.
“It’s all right,” Nick, said. “I figured as much. Just ask yourself one thing, though. If Kinman is such a big, bad bounty hunter, why didn’t he just come after me himself? After all, he did have plenty of time riding with me back in Rock Springs.”
The dazed expression on Lester’s face made it clear that he wasn’t able to come up with very much. “I guess he wanted to be sure,” he replied in a wavering tone that wasn’t even enough to convince himself it was the truth.
“I’ll bet he’s plenty sure when he’s shoving you around,” Nick said. “He must still be sure that you’ll do what you’re told if he let you come all this way on your own.”
“He’s gotta be watching us.”
“Probably, but…” Nick motioned toward the uprooted grave and said, “…there’s not much left for him to see here. If we get moving now, though, we could get a head start. I know a few shortcuts through these parts that’ll put him so far behind us he’ll never catch up.”
Lester’s eyes widened as some of the color drained from his face. “You mean run away?”
“Why not? You’d rather take your chances with a bounty hunter? Those assholes aren’t much better than the law. The only difference between them and the jackasses who wear badges are whether they take their bribes above or below the table.”
“You really think we could make it?”
“I know a little something about staying ahead of bounty hunters and I’ve slipped out of Kinman’s sights more than once.”
“He doesn’t even think you realize he’s a bounty hunter.”
Nick grinned proudly and said, “My point exactly.”
Lester started to think some more. He also started to slide backward into the open grave, which seemed to influence him a lot more. “Fine, fine. I’ll join up with you, but I want your word that I’ll go free after it’s over.”
“I’m not a bounty hunter,” Nick said, “so rewards don’t mean much to me.”
“And all I can do is take you to where my cousins might be. I don’t know for certain whether they’ve got them jewels or not.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Reluctantly, Lester lowered his head. “It’s a deal.”
Nick felt something brush against his gun belt and he reflexively backed up a step. It was Lester, offering his hand across the few inches that separated them. Nick shook Lester’s hand, thinking about how he could most effectively put the other man to work in the little time before Kinman caught up with them. As he started to weave a plot in his head, Nick couldn’t help but think that Barrett would have been proud.
Suddenly, Lester’s grip tightened around Nick’s hand like a set of iron tongs and before Nick could pull his arm away, Lester was pulling him forward. Since Nick had shifted into a sideways stance to put his gun farther away from Lester, his shoulders were in line with one another. That made it even easier for Lester to sidestep while pulling Nick forward.
Nick felt as if he was falling through molasses. He could see Lester moving aside, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Nick’s other arm flapped behind him like a donkey’s tail. His front boot skidded against the ground for an inch or two, which was just enough to carry Nick to the edge of the grave.
After another shove from Lester, Nick pitched around at an awkward angle and toppled into the hole. He landed solidly upon the lower half of Barrett’s coffin. When he looked down at the body of his friend, he swore he could hear Barrett laughing at him.
Once he’d gotten his feet beneath him, Nick climbed out of the grave. His gun was already in his hand and his finger was touching the trigger on the off chance that Lester was waiting for him up top.
He wasn’t.
Even though there wasn’t anyone in sight, Nick had a pretty good idea where to look. He turned toward the spot where they’d left the horses just in time to see Lester snap his horse’s reins and charge straight toward him. Nick took aim with his pistol, but his shoulder hit the ground, knocking his aim off center.
Lester twisted in his saddle to look back over his shoulder. Seeing the gun in Nick’s hand, he ducked down low over his horse’s neck and let out a sharp yell as he dug his heels into his horse’s sides. The animal bolted forward and dragged Kazys by the reins along with him until Kazys finally managed to pull free.
Nick got to his feet, straightened his arm and sighted along the top of his pistol. He wouldn’t have had any trouble whatsoever in dropping Lester’s horse, but the rifle shot that tore a piece out of his right ear was enough of a distraction to affect his aim.
“Son of a bitch!” Nick shouted under the blast of his own pistol.
Wheeling around to face the direction the rifle shot had come from, he dropped to one knee. He saw Kinman riding over the ridge that led back down along the path to the gravesite. The bounty hunter still held his rifle to his shoulder and was taking aim again as Nick fired.