Sam’s voice trailed off suddenly, and Jubal noticed a funny look in his eyes.
“What is it?” Jubal asked. “You just thought of something, didn’t you?”
“Cougars,” Sam said.
“What about them?”
“A cougar’s lair is usually a sort of cave, the inside of a rock formation.”
“Ain’t no mountains around here, Sam.”
“No, but there’s that lair Pa and I tracked that cat to,” Sam said. “Pa would know that I’d remember that.”
“You think that’s where he left us a message? In a cougar’s lair?”
“It’s as good an idea as any,” Sam said.
“Do you remember where it was?”
“Gimme a minute,” Sam said, looking around. He wasn’t really looking around, though, as much as he was looking inside himself.
“I think I’ve got an idea,” Sam said. “Let’s mount up and try it.”
“I’m game,” Jubal said, “but what do we do if that cat is there when we get there?”
Sam grinned and mounted up.
“We’ll do just what Pa did,” Sam said. “I just hope I’m almost as good a shot as he was.”
Chapter Nineteen
John Burkett found Coffin drinking a beer, sitting alone at a table in the saloon.
Actually, Burkett wasn’t looking for Coffin, but he recognized him as soon as he entered the saloon. He bought himself a beer and carried it over to Coffin’s table.
“Mind if I sit?”
Coffin looked up.
“Burkett, right?”
“That’s right.”
Coffin didn’t say anything after that, which John Burkett took as no objection to him sitting.
“I understand my old man gave you the go-ahead.”
“What go-ahead is that?”
“To kill Sam McCall.”
Coffin smiled a humorless smile.
“Just like that, huh?” he asked. “Kill Sam McCall.”
“Well, you can, can’t you?”
“Sure I can,” Coffins said, “and he can kill me just as easily.”
“You saying you can’t take McCall?”
“I’ll tell you what I told your father, boy,” Coffin said, “that’s what we’re going to find out.”
“What about his brothers?”
“Secondary concern.”
“Huh?”
“They are only a concern of mine if I kill McCall. If he kills me…” Coffin’s voice trailed off and he shrugged.
“What happens if Sam McCall won’t fight you?”
“He will.”
“But what if you won’t? Will you shoot him in cold blood?”
“I have never shot a man in cold blood in my life, kid.”
“I didn’t say you did,” Burkett said, “but if McCall won’t draw, that’s what it will be. If that happens you’ll go to jail.”
“I thought your old man owned the law in this town,”
Coffin said.
“Hah!” Burkett said. “My old man will be the one to insist that the sheriff arrest you. He won’t be able to let you go free after you’ve shot Sam McCall down like a dog.”
Coffin frowned at John Burkett. He knew the kid was playing a game, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.
“What’s your angle, kid?”
“I know how to make sure Sam McCall fights you.”
“How?”
“Kill one of his brothers,” John Burkett said, “preferably the gambler, Evan.”
“Why him?”
“Because I want the other one.”
“Why?”
“That’s between him and me,” Jubal said. “Meanwhile, if you kill the other one Sam McCall will come after you.
Then when you kill him you can claim self-defense, for sure.”
Coffin stared at his beer. He knew McCall would fight him if he called him out, but there was a chance that he wouldn’t, especially since McCall knew he was working for Burkett. Refusing to fight him would be a way for the man to give Lincoln Burkett another headache.
“I’ll tell you what,” John Burkett said. “I’ll make it easy for you. You kill for money, right?”
“Sometimes.”
“I have some money,” Burkett said. “I’ll pay you to kill Evan McCall.”
“What?”
“How much do you want?” Burkett asked. “A hundred? Two hundred? No, a man like you would charge more than that, wouldn’t he? What’s my father paying you for Sam McCall?”
“That’s between him and me.”
“All right,” John Burkett said, “A thousand. I’ll pay you a thousand dollars to kill Evan McCall.”
Coffin studied the young man for a few moments and then said, “Pay me up front and you have a deal.”
Burkett smiled and stood up.
“I’ll go to the bank right now.”
“I’ll be waiting right here.”
John Burkett left the saloon, happy as a kid on Christmas morning.
Sam reined in his horse, and Jubal looked at him eagerly.
“Is it near here?”
“I think so,” Sam said. “Come on, it can’t be much farther.” Jubal hoped not. Sweat was running down his back, and his shirt was sticking to him.
“I hope there’s water near this cat’s lair,” he said, half to himself.
When John Burkett returned to the saloon he was happy to find Coffin still sitting there. It looked like he was even working on the same beer.
Burkett approached the table and dropped a white envelope down on it. Some of the other men in the place looked over curiously, but when they saw that whatever was taking place was happening at Coffin’s table they quickly averted their eyes.
“There’s your money,” Burkett said. “Do it…now.”
“Sam McCall’s out of town.”
“Evan McCall is over at Dude Miller’s store, mooning over Miller’s daughter.”
“She’s pretty enough to moon over,” Coffin said. “Tell me, what will you do if Evan McCall kills me?”
“That can’t happen,” John Burkett said, and then stared at Coffin and asked, “Can it?”
Coffin laughed softly and said, “Not hardly.”
“When Sam McCall comes back to town and hears that you killed his brother, he’ll come looking for you for sure.”
Coffin picked up the money, stood up and stuffed the envelope into his shirt.
“I won’t be hard to find.”
“Just a few minutes more, Evan,” Serena said, apologetically. “I’m just helping Pa with his inventory.”
“Take your time, Serena,” Evan said. “I’m not in a hurry.”
Evan was looking over some of the items on Dude Miller’s shelves when Coffin entered.
“There you are,” Coffin said.
“You looking for me?”
“I’m looking for a McCall,” Coffin said, “and I guess you’re it”
“I’m…what?”
“I’ve decided to kill a McCall today,” Coffin said, just as Serena came through the storeroom door.
“Are you crazy?” Serena asked him.
Coffin turned to her and touched his hat.
“No, ma’am,” Coffin said, “I’m just doing what has to be done.” Coffin looked at Evan and said, “I’ll be waiting for you outside, McCall.”
“And if I don’t come out?”
“If you don’t come out,” Coffin said, “I’ll come in here and get you. If I do that, the place might get damaged. Heck, the little lady might even get hurt.”
With that Coffin turned and walked outside. Evan took out his gun, checked the loads, and slid it back into the holster. He eased it in and out a few times, just to be sure it wouldn’t stick.
“My God,” Serena said, “you’re not going to do it, are you?”
“Do what?” Dude Miller asked, entering the room.
“What’s going on?”
“Coffin has called Evan out,” Serena said. She looked at Evan and said, “Isn’t that what they say, he ‘called you out—?”