Kill Crazy (6 page)

“I have to go back into town tomorrow anyway, for 'tis some business I have with the bank. So I asked her to have lunch with me.”

“When you asked her, did you say it was because you had to be in town tomorrow, anyway?”

“Aye, for that is the truth of it,” Duff replied.

Gleason shook his head in exasperation. “See now, Duff, that's exactly what you don't want to say. It makes it look like your main purpose for coming to town is so you can do some business with the bank. But a woman likes to think that you're comin' into town just to see her.”

Duff thought about Meagan's comment about him being “such a romantic” and realized then that this was what Elmer was talking about. He chuckled. “What can I say, Elmer? 'Tis a way you have with women that I don't have.”

“I know, but I'm tryin' to bring you on, iffen you'd just listen to me.”

“Now, Elmer, sure 'n' if you know all there is to know about women, would you be for tellin' me why I've any need to know? I've but to ask you when confronted with a problem too big for m' wee brain to wrap around.”

Gleason smiled broadly. “That's what I'm here for.”

 

 

At that moment, five miles outside of the town of Chugwater, six men were sitting around a fire, over which two rabbits were cooking.

“While you was in town, we rounded up the horses we're goin' to need,” Johnny said. “But we got to keep 'em tied up good tonight, 'cause if they was to get loose, like as not they'd go on back to where we took 'em from.”

“I ain't never been to Chugwater,” Al Short said.

“Ain't none of us been there,” Johnny said, “which is why I chose it to rob. Won't nobody know anything about us. Except now Emile has been there.”

“What's the town like?” Calhoun asked.

“They got a good restaurant in town,” Emile Taylor said. “It's called the City Cafe. They got a good hotel too, called the Antlers Hotel. We could be eatin' a meal of steak and taters, fresh-baked bread, maybe some apple pie, then spend the night in a bed. Instead, we're out here fixin' to eat rabbit, then go to sleep on the ground. How come that is?”

“I told you why,” Johnny said. “I don't want us to be seen in town.”

“Why not? We ain't done nothin' yet.”

“Not yet. But tomorrow we are going to hold up a bank. If we was to go in there now and folks get a good chance to look at all of us, then tomorrow, once we hit the bank, ever'one is goin' to remember seein' us. That's why I told you not to do anythin' that would get you noticed while you were in town.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Nobody noticed you, did they?” Johnny asked.

“No, I kept to myself. Didn't do nothin' but have a drink and case the bank like you said.”

“Where is the bank?”

“It's the Chugwater Bank and Trust on Clay Avenue, halfway between First and Second Street.”

“Did you check for an alley?”

“Yeah, there's an alley right behind the bank. All we have to do is follow it north, and we'll be out of town within a minute.”

“And you're sure nobody noticed you? I mean, you didn't start drinking and do something dumb, did you?”

“Why? What have you heard?” Emile asked, nervously.

“I haven't heard anything,” Johnny replied. “Is there somethin' I should have heard?”

Emile thought of his run-ins with Kennedy and the Scotsman.

“No, nothin' happened,” he said. “I was just wonderin' why you was askin' is all.”

“Looks like the rabbits is done,” Johnny said. “Let's eat.”

Chapter Nine

In Chugwater, Meagan Parker had a light supper then took a cup of coffee out onto the balcony and stood there for a moment, enjoying the coolness of the evening. She lived in a small, but very nice apartment over her place of business. In her shop downstairs, a nearly finished blue dress was fitted to a dress form. Meagan was making the dress based on a woodcut Mrs. Guthrie had brought to her.

“I cut this picture out of the
San Francisco Chronicle
,” Mrs. Guthrie had said when she'd approached Meagan about the dress. “And I think it is the prettiest thing I've ever seen. Do you think you could make me one that looks just like it?”

“I'm sure I can, Juanita. What color do you want?”

“Oh, I don't know. What do you think would be nice?”

“I have some blue velvet that I think would work perfectly. And it would bring out the blue of your eyes, beautifully,” Meagan had said.

Mrs. Guthrie had beamed, and touched her hair. “Then by all means, make it blue.”

That had been four days ago, and Meagan was nearly finished with the dress. She had promised it by tomorrow, and she intended to have it done by then, even if it took her all night. Besides, she had other plans for tomorrow. Tomorrow she was having lunch with Duff MacCallister.

She smiled as she recalled what Vi had told her Elmer had said to Duff about her.

“She's all sass and spirit, with a face as brown as all outdoors, and yeller hair as bright as the sun. She's as pretty as a newborn colt and as trustin' as a loyal hound dog. Why, she could capture your heart in a minute if you would but give her the chance.”

Meagan was giving Duff every chance she could. She was a pretty girl, and there had been men in her life, men who had shown interest in her. But not until she'd met Duff MacCallister had she found the man who she really wanted to show interest.

When Meagan Parker was twelve years old, both of her parents had been killed in a riverboat accident. She could still remember the pain and sorrow of their loss. And the fear, the absolute, mind-numbing fear of being alone.

What would happen to her?

She needn't have worried, because even though her grandmother had already been very old, she'd stepped in and raised Meagan as if she were her own. Meagan and her grandmother had had a wonderful relationship, and when her grandmother had died, three days after Meagan's nineteenth birthday, the pain and sorrow had been as great as it had been when her own parents had died.

Meagan had been in college at the time, and although losing her grandmother had been a terrible emotional blow to her, it hadn't been a financial blow because she still had the money that had been left to her by her parents, over which her grandmother had been a good steward. And by selling her grandmother's house, she had added to her coffer. As a result, she'd been able to finish her education without experiencing any financial burden at all.

She had gone to college to be a schoolteacher, but her grandmother, who had been a seamstress, had taught Meagan how to design, cut cloth, and sew women's clothes. It was a skill that Meagan had picked up easily, and one she enjoyed.

“I know you are studying to be a teacher and teaching is a good thing, but it is also good to have something to fall back on,” her grandmother had told her. “That's why I think you should learn how to sew. Folks are always going to need clothes.”

What Meagan especially enjoyed was creating original dresses and gowns. She had a great talent for it, and as it turned out, that advice may have been the most valuable thing Meagan Parker's grandmother had left her. She had come to Chugwater to be a schoolteacher only to learn when she arrived that another woman had already been hired. She'd been about to return to St. Louis when she had been given the opportunity to buy a dress emporium, and she'd had just enough money left over to do that. Contrary to the popular belief that women had no head for business, Meagan had an acute business sense and the Ladies' Emporium was one of the most profitable business establishments in Chugwater. Her business acumen was not only manifested by the success of her shop, but also by the fact that she was valued and respected member of the Chugwater Association of Business Owners. It had been, before Meagan became a member, the Chugwater Association of Businessmen.

And now Meagan was extending her business holdings by investing in the cattle Duff was raising. It, too, had proven to be a very good investment, but she hadn't done it for the economic return. She had done it because it ensured a physical connection between them.

She was looking forward to the luncheon engagement with Duff tomorrow, and wondered if she was doing the right thing by not pressing him into more of a commitment.

“Meagan, you need a better understanding of men,” Vi had told her. “They are cowards when it comes to women. I know, I know—I would be the last person to call Duff a coward about anything, Lord knows he has proven his bravery enough times. But all men have a weakness when it comes to advancing their relationship with women. They have to be led into it.”

She thought of Duff, and wondered what he was doing and what he was thinking about at that very moment.

 

 

Duff was in bed at that very moment, but Meagan would not be happy if she knew what he was thinking. Because he was thinking about the young woman he had met at Fiddler's Green today. She had looked so much like Skye McGregor that it had nearly taken his breath away. He knew that looks weren't everything—there had been much more to Skye than her flaming red hair, bright blue eyes, and slender curves. Skye had been intelligent, with a well-developed sense of humor, but most of all, she'd had a good heart. He had never met another woman like her.

Until he'd met Meagan.

That's funny
, he thought. Although Meagan looked nothing like Skye, anytime he thought of another woman who most reminded him of Skye, he didn't think of the girl he had met in the saloon today, even though she looked so much like Skye that they could be sisters.

No. He thought of Meagan.

 

 

The next morning, Johnny and Emile Taylor, Clay Calhoun, Bart Evans, Julius Jackson, and Al Short were going over their final plans.

“When we go in, we'll ride down the alley until we get to the back of the bank. Al, you stay outside with the horses, and remember, these is all stole horses, so we don't have any idea how they are going to act, so you damn well better hang on to 'em tight, so that they don't get away. The rest of us will go around the bank so that we come in through the front door. After we do our business, we'll leave the bank by going out through the back door.”

“Why don't we go in through the back door too?” Evans asked.

“More 'n likely the back door will be bolted shut from the inside. We can go out through it, but can't go in through it,” Johnny explained.

“Say, Johnny, how much money do you reckon there is in that bank, anyhow?” Jackson asked.

“I figure there's at least thirty thousand,” Johnny said. “That means you boys can split up fifteen thousand between you. 'Course, it might be more.”

“What do you mean, we can split up fifteen thousand between us? If there's thirty thousand, why ain't we splittin' it all up?” Short asked.

“We done been over that,” Johnny replied. “Me 'n' Emile are the ones that got the idea to rob this bank. And we're the ones that put ever'one together. You know'd that, comin' into this job.”

“Johnny's right, Al,” Evans said. “This was what we all agreed to when we come into the job.”

“All right, all right,” Short said, waving his hand. “I don't think it's none at all fair, but iffen ever'one else is willin' to go along with it like this, I am too.”

“What's one fourth of fifteen thousand dollars?” Jackson asked.

“Three thousand, seven hunnert, and fifty dollars,” Evans said. I done figured it all out.”

“Three thousand dollars? That ain't bad,” Jackson said. “Truth is, it's more money 'n I've ever had before.”

“More money 'n I've ever had, too,” Evans said.

“If you boys stick with Johnny 'n' me, you'll have lots of money,” Emile said. “This here bank is just the first one we got planned out. We got lots of 'em planned out after this.”

“Let's get into town,” Johnny said. “I want to get there right soon after the bank opens.”

 

 

Mrs. Guthrie was checking on her dress when Duff walked in through the front door of the Ladies' Emporium.

“Mr. MacCallister,” Mrs. Guthrie said. “What do you think of the new dress Meagan is making for me?”

“Sure now 'n' I've never seen a more beautiful dress, Mrs. Guthrie,” Duff said. “And 'twill look even better worn by a beautiful woman such as yourself.”

Mrs. Guthrie laughed. “I'm not so old that I can't tell when a man is spreading it on thick. I'll be wearing the dress and if Mr. Guthrie himself recognizes it as new and gives me a compliment, then I'll be satisfied. Meagan, if you don't mind, I'll just pay for the dress now so that when you finish it all I have to do is pick it up.”

Meagan smiled. “I never turn down an early payment,” she said.

Mrs. Guthrie gave Meagan a bank draft as payment, and when she left the store, Meagan laughed.

“My, my, Duff, you may be a Scotsman, but it's the Irish blarney you are spreading.”

“Aye, but 'tis no harm to make a lady feel good about herself.”

“I see. And you know all about women, do you?”

“I make no such claim, lass, but 'tis no need for me to know everything because Elmer does,” Duff replied with a chuckle, recalling the conversation with his foreman yesterday.

“And just what makes you think Elmer knows all about women?” Meagan asked.

“He told me he knows. And he wouldn't be for lying to me about such a thing now, would he?”

Meagan laughed with him.

“Now, that's funny. Vi told me that if I needed to know anything about men, all I have to do is ask her.”

Vi Winslow was a widow who owned Vi's Pies. She and Elmer Gleason had been “keeping company,” as Vi described it.

“Sounds as if they are perfect for each other,” Duff said.

“Didn't you say you were going to the bank this morning?” Meagan said.

“Aye, I'm going to have to move some money from my business account into my personal account.”

“Good, then we can walk down to the bank together. This is a pretty large draft. I'll just deposit it.”

 

 

Down at Fiddler's Green at that moment, Cindy Boyce was counting out the money she had received in tips from the male customers the night before.

“Mr. Johnson, if it's all right with you, I'm going to walk down to the bank and make a deposit,” she said.

“That's fine by me,” Biff replied. “I think that is very smart of you.”

“You had better watch out for Cindy, Biff,” Nell said. “As many tips as she gets, and saving money the way she does, she might just wind up buying you out.”

 

 

Duff and Meagan were the only other customers in the bank when Cindy arrived, and she smiled broadly at Duff.

“Hello, Duff,” she said, brightly.

“Hello, Cindy,” Duff said. Then, seeing the questioning look on Meagan's face, he introduced them.

“Meagan, this young lass is Cindy. I do nae know her last name, but 'tis a new girl for Biff, she is.”

“It is nice to meet you,” Meagan said. She looked at the rather revealing dress Cindy was wearing, then added, “And if you find yourself in need of a new dress, I own the Ladies' Emporium.”

“Yes, I know your place,” Cindy said. “It is right next door to Fiddler's Green, isn't it?”

“Yes, it is. And speaking of the emporium, I need to get back to it,” Meagan said.

“I can nae leave just yet,” Duff said. “Mr. Welch isn't finished with the transfer.”

“That's all right. Just don't forget that we are having lunch together.”

“Not to worry, lass. As soon as I'm finished here, I'll be callin' for you with bells on m' toes,” Duff said.

“Good-bye, Mr. Welch,” Meagan called to the teller who had handled her transaction.

“Good-bye, Miss Parker,” Welch called back.

“She is your lady friend, is she?” Cindy asked after Meagan left.

“You might say that,” Duff replied.

“She is a very pretty woman.”

“As fair as the Scottish thistle, she is.”

“Thistle? You mean, like a sand spur?”

“Nae like a sand spur. The thistle is the national flower of Scotland, a purple bloom.”

“Oh.”

Suddenly the front door of the bank was pushed open and five masked men wearing long, tan-colored dusters, barged in. All five were brandishing pistols.

“Here, what is this?” Welch shouted, and bending down, he came back up with a shotgun in his hand.

The shortest of the six robbers shot him, and Welch fell back with a bullet hole in his forehead.

“Don't shoot! Don't shoot!” Bernie Caldwell, the other bank teller, shouted. He stuck his hands into the air.

“You!” the short one said to Duff. “Take your gun out and drop it into the spittoon.”

Duff hesitated, and the robber grabbed Cindy and pulled her to him, putting his gun to her head.

“Do it now, or I kill the woman!” he shouted. “Use two fingers.”