“That’s what I figured,” Sam said. “I just wanted to hear you say it. Enjoy the beer.”
“Thanks,” Coffin said, raising the mug to Sam, “I will.”
Sam walked back to the bar and stood next to Jubal.
“Is that Coffin?”
“That’s him.”
“What was that all about?”
Sam sipped his beer and said, “Just establishing the rules, that’s all.”
“Rules?”
“Yeah,” Sam said, “remember that, Jube. Every game has rules, you just have to establish them.”
“I’ll remember.”
“And,” he added, “remember that there’s always somebody around to break them.”
“Coffin?”
“No, Coffin’s a pro and will go by the rules,” Sam said.
“It’s usually the goddamned amateurs who muck everythin’ up.”
“Like today?”
“Exactly like today.”
At Dude Miller’s house Evan was watching Serena prepare dinner. Actually, he was helping her.
“I’m not used to doing this,” he said, trying desperately to peel potatoes.
“You’re doing fine.”
She was cutting several chickens into pieces and when she finished that she sat down and helped him peel the potatoes.
“I’m not used to cooking for so many men,” she said.
“We all eat the same way.”
“But not the same amount.”
She fell silent and looked pensive, so he left her alone with her thoughts. Eventually she would speak her mind.
“Tell me about Sam,” she finally said.
“I’m here and you want to talk about Sam?” he asked.
“You really know how to flatter a guy.”
“I’m just interested.”
“All right,” he said, “What do you want to know about him?”
“His reputation.”
“Serena,” Evan said, “you’re going to have to be more specific.”
“Is he really a killer?” she blurted.
He stared at her for a few moments, then said, “We all killed someone today, Sam, Jube, and me.”
“You know what I mean,” she said. “Is his reputation so…so fearsome that seven men—seven men—had to try and kill him today?”
“There isn’t one of those men who would have had the courage to face him alone,” Evan explained. “That’s their problem, Serena.”
“But his reputation—”
“A reputation is like gossip,” he said. “It starts at one end of town and by the time it gets to the other end it’s grown into something entirely different.”
“Is that true of Sam?”
“Look,” Evan said, “I’ve seen Sam maybe three or four times in the last I don’t know how many years. I know as much about him as you do, because I’ve read and heard the same stories.”
“But you’re his brother,” Serena said. “You know him’the real him.”
“The real Sam McCall is what you see; Serena. Judge him on that, not on anything else.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Satisfied?”
She smiled and said, “Yes.”
“Good,” he said, smiling, “now maybe we can talk about me.”
Dude Miller insisted on coming downstairs to dinner and was assisted by Evan and Jubal. Serena had also invited Ed Collins to come by and eat with them.
“I heard what happened today,” Collins said.
“Who could help but hear?” Miller said. “It sounded like a war.”
“So what do you boys plan to do now?” Collins asked over dinner.
The McCalls exchanged glances and in that moment silently chose Evan as the spokesman.
“We plan on finding out who killed our parents.”
“You don’t believe that your father did it himself?”
“No,” Evan said.
“You boys hadn’t seen your father in a long time,” Miller said. He seemed intent on playing the devil’s advocate.
“That don’t matter,” Jubal said. He couldn’t restrain himself. “Pa wouldn’ta done that.”
“I agree,” Dude Miller said.
“Well, so do I,” Collins said. “How do you plan to go about it?”
“We don’t rightly know that, Mr. Collins,” Evan said.
“Please, call me Ed. Anybody who’s planning on making a move on Lincoln Burkett is a friend of mine.”
“We didn’t say we were moving on Burkett.”
“You don’t have to,” Collins said. “Anything dirty that’s happening in this town, Lincoln Burkett is behind it, take my word for it.”
“You fellas haven’t been able to convince the Town Council of that, have you?” Sam asked.
“Not a chance,” Miller said. “They’re blinded by what they think Burkett can do for this town.”
“They don’t realize what he’s going to do to it,” Collins said.
“And what’s that?” Evan asked.
Collins sat forward and momentarily forgot about Serena’s delicious chicken and potatoes dinner.
“He wants to put this town right under his thumb,” he said, his face reddening, “and once he’s done that he’ll sethimself to grinding it under his heel. Before long, he’ll want to change the name of the town.”
“Well,” Jubal said, “hopefully not until we’ve made it live up to its old name.”
“Well,” Collins said, “take my advice and concentrate your efforts on Lincoln Burkett.”
Later, in his hotel room, Evan wished that Collins was basing his opinion on more than just a personal dislike for the man. Still, he tended to agree with the man, moreso because of the attempt on Sam’s life. Even if Burkett hadn’t sent them after Sam, Burkett’s men must have thought they’d be doing their boss some good by killing him, and since Sam and Jube and Evan himself were only in Vengeance Creek to look for their parents’ killer, there had to be a connection.
The presence of Coffin only underscored Burkett’s involvement in his parents’ death. If Burkett had nothing to do with it, there wouldn’t be any reason for him to worry, and there wouldn’t be any reason for him to import a professional gun. He certainly didn’t need Coffin to strengthen his hold on the town. His only obstacles were Miller and Collins, and he’d already demonstrated that he had the right kind of men to handle them.
He decided to go to sleep. All the thinking was giving him a headache. What he had to do tomorrow was find himself a poker game. He was always able to think clearest with a deck of cards in his hand.
In his room Sam was also thinking about Burkett’s possible involvement in the death of his parents. What he couldn’t figure out was why Burkett would need to kill his parents after he’d already taken their ranch from them. What possible harm could they have done him then?
Sam knew that Evan had already talked to Burkett but figured maybe he should take a ride out there himself tomorrow and pay his respects.
In his room Jubal McCall was just plain restless. He thought their best bet to settle this was just to ride out to Burkett’s’to his parents’ ranch—and kill the man.
He knew his brothers would never agree to that, but maybe he ought to surprise them and just go and do it himself.
Serena Miller couldn’t sleep. Something had happened that she had never expected. With the arrival of the McCall brothers she found herself attracted to two of them. Actually, she was attracted to Evan, but she was intrigued by Sam. After the attempt on his life today there was an aura of danger about him. She still could not believe that someone thought it would take seven men to kill him. How could one man command that much respect—or that much fear?
She wished she knew him better, but she doubted that there would be enough time.
Dude Miller was excited.
He believed that the attempt on Sam McCall’s life had set in motion a series of events that would result in the end of Lincoln Burkett. There was no way Burkett was going to come out on top of the McCall brothers—not all three of them. Sam McCall was, of course, the most dangerous of the three, as evidenced by the fact that seven men had been sent by somebody to kill him. The fact that his brothers had saved him just proved how tough the three of them would be to beat.