THE DODGE CITY MASSACRE (A Jess Williams Novel.) (24 page)

             
Justin felt bad because she wasn’t far off about the truth. He and Connor were not very good at drawing a pistol and even if they were, they just didn’t have the stomach to face down gunslingers. Actually, the conversation the both of them were having when Ellie rode up was the fact that they were going to give notice to the town council and the mayor that afternoon that they were quitting, which now they were going to do for sure after hearing Ellie Tillman’s story.

             
Watts looked up at Ellie. “Ellie, you put that shotgun away. I have a much better idea. Do you see those two men rocking in those chairs over there at the hotel down the street?”

             
She looked over her shoulder and saw the two men rocking. “Yes. What about them? They are not the two men who killed my husband. I told you it was Jack Bond and Delbert Fletcher.”

             
“I know, but they are the ones who’ll do something about it. That’s John Bodine and Jess Williams and they are both bounty hunters and damn good ones at that.”

             
“Are they the two men who were here a few weeks ago and killed most of Welch’s hired gunmen?”

             
“That’s exactly who they are.”

             
“Well, I’ll go and talk to them since I’m wasting my breath talking to you two,” exclaimed Ellie, as she turned her wagon around and headed down to the hotel where Jess and John were finally digesting their breakfast. Justin and Connor headed for the mayor’s house to turn in their badges and their resignations. Once that was done, the town would have no law until the town council could convince someone to take the sheriff’s job, which was unlikely to happen for a while.

             
Jess and John watched Ellie ride over and she stopped her wagon in front of the two of them. “Which one of you two is Jess Williams?” she asked.

             
Jess looked at her. “It depends on what your intentions are regarding that shotgun you have across you lap.”

             
“I was going to use it to kill the two men who murdered my husband this morning.”

             
“What was your husband’s name?” asked Jess.

             
“His name was Howard Tillman and Manny Welch has made four offers to buy us out and we refused every offer. I guess that made him mad and that’s why he sent two of his hired guns out and they just opened fire and killed my husband right there on the front porch without so much as a warning.”

             
When Jess heard the name, Manny Welch, he leaned forward in his chair. “Did you say that these two men work for Manny Welch?” Jess asked.

             
“Yes, are you daft or just hard of hearing young man? I didn’t stutter, I said they work for Manny Welch, and I know exactly who they are!”

             
“Take it easy, Mrs. Tillman, I’m not the one who killed your husband,” said Jess.

             
“Don’t you tell me to take it easy young man, just tell me if you are going to do anything about it? Those two worthless deputies the towns paying for ain’t going to do anything about it and they are the ones who sent me over here to see you. I heard you killed a lot of Welch’s men a few weeks ago, so why don’t you kill two more?” asked Ellie.

             
“I’m sorry about your husband, Mrs. Tillman, I really am, but stop taking it out on me and stop yelling at me about it,” replied Jess.

             
Ellie took a moment to calm herself. “I’m sorry, Mr. Williams, I’m just upset about what happened and I didn’t mean to take my frustration out on you.”

             
“That’s okay and I understand how upset you must be. Now, do you know the names of the men who killed your husband this morning?”

             
“Yes, I got a good look at them when they were riding away after they shot my husband. I don’t think they saw me though. Their names are Delbert Fletcher and Jack Bond. I know they work for Manny because they were at our ranch before you came to town the first time threatening to burn us out if we didn’t sell our ranch to Welch. Then, all of a sudden Manny Welch stopped threatening us and began to make offers to buy us out, but none of the offers were worth it. I guess he found religion or something because the threats stopped,  but it seems he went back to his old ways of doing his dirty business today and now my husband is dead.”

             
Now John leaned forward in his chair. “He didn’t find religion, Mrs. Tillman, he found Jess Williams.”

             
“Yeah,” replied Jess, “and he’s about to find me again and he ain’t going to like it. Mrs. Tillman, you go back to your ranch and bury your husband and you leave Manny Welch and his men to me. I’ll make sure you are never bothered by him or any of his men ever again.”

             
“Do I have your word on it, Mr. Williams?”

             
“You can be assured of it.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

              Jess and Bodine walked over to the sheriff’s office only to find it padlocked and empty. They walked over to The Long Branch Saloon where they found Justin Watts and Connor Landon and Jess noticed that neither of them was wearing a badge. They walked up to the bar next to them and ordered some coffee from the barkeep.

             
“I see that neither of you two is wearing a badge. Does that mean you turned them in and quit?” asked Jess.

             
“Yeah, right after Ellie Tillman gave us an earful,” replied Justin.

             
“I know exactly what you mean,” Jess said remembering his conversation with Ellie.

             
“The mayor said he’d like you two to take over the jail and pin badges on. He said the job was yours and you can start today if you like. It doesn’t pay much though,” said Connor.

             
“There is no chance of that happening. I ain’t pinning any badge on my shirt,” Jess stated firmly.

             
“Especially with what I’ve got planned for Manny Welch and his men.”

             
“I don’t want to know, do I?” asked Justin.

             
“No, you sure don’t. Justin, can you point out the two men who killed Ellie Tillman’s husband this morning?” asked Jess.

             
“I sure can and I’ll be sure to let you know if they come to town, but don’t forget to watch for those other three that I warned you about,” replied Watts.

             
“Don’t worry, we’ve been waiting for them,” John said.

             
Justin and Connor finished up with their drinks and when they tried to pay, Jess wouldn’t let them. They thanked Jess and walked out leaving Jess, Bodine and Logan in the saloon. There were no other customers in the place since it was still a little early and the fact that Jess and John were back in town made most of the locals shy away for fear of getting in the middle of a shootout, which was a valid concern. Jess finished his coffee and began to feel hungry, so they headed over to Dottie’s Eats for some lunch.

             
Jess and John walked into Dottie’s Eats and before they even got to sit down, a few of the local townsfolk left money on the table and left. They sat down at a table by the window. The waitress, Mattie Womack, came out from the back and over to their table.

             
“You two sure have a way of clearing a room,” said Mattie, smiling.

             
“I guess so,” replied Jess.

             
Dottie Brown, the owner of the little café, looked through the kitchen window. “Oh no, you two are back in town again,” said Dottie Brown.

             
“Yes, but I still promise not to let any problems happen in here,” replied Jess.

             
“I’m going to hold you to that, Mr. Williams,” replied Dottie.

             
Jess and John ordered a huge lunch. A few of the locals walked in and turned right around and walked back out. A few of them did, however, stay and order lunch. They nodded at Jess as if they approved of what he and John were doing. They were just finishing up with their last cup of coffee when Jess noticed three men riding into town as Mattie brought their bill to their table.

             
“Mattie, do you know those three men?” asked Jess.

             
“Yeah, and they are nothing but trouble. The one on the right is Delbert Fletcher, and the one in the middle is Jack Bond and they are the ones who killed Ellie Tillman’s husband this morning. The one on the left is Taylor Hamm, but he ain’t ever been much trouble. They all work for Manny Welch,” replied Mattie. “I assume that this is not good news, especially by that look I see in your eyes.”

             
Jess smiled at he threw a twenty dollar gold piece on the table to cover their bill and a nice tip for Mattie. “Well, it’s not good news for those three,” replied Jess.

             
Jess and John walked out and watch the three men ride over to The Hanging Tree Saloon. They waited until the three men tied up their horses and went inside. The barkeep and owner, Randy Hunt, was pouring the three of them drinks when Jess walked through the swinging doors. Welch’s three men all recognized Jess and John. They got real nervous at the sight of them, but they figured the truce between Jess and Manny was still in effect. Plus, they figured no one knew that two of the three of them was responsible for killing Howard Tillman earlier this morning.

             
Jess and John walked over to the end of the bar and ordered two good whiskeys. They drank slowly and watched the three men for a while. Jess could see that they were nervous. The three men finished their drinks and started to walk out of the saloon when Jess stopped them in their tracks.

             
“Where do you boys think you’re going?” asked Jess.

             
Fletcher turned to face Jess. “We ain’t looking for any trouble, Mr. Williams. We’re heading back out to Manny Welch’s place.

             
“I don’t think so,” replied Jess.

             
“We ain’t got any beef with you and you agreed to a truce with Manny and I heard you were a man of your word,” replied Fletcher.

             
“I am. Once I give my word, you can depend on it,” replied Jess.

             
“So, we can leave now?”

             
“Nope.”

             
“Why not? You just said your word was good,” replied Fletcher.

             
“It is, and I gave my word to Mrs. Tillman this morning right after she told me that two of you killed her husband and you two on the right were the ones who did it,” replied Jess.

             
“You don’t have any proof of that,” said Jack Bond.

             
“I have all the proof I need. Ellie Tillman saw the two of you riding away after you shot her husband on his front porch.”

             
Fletcher and Bond looked at each other. Neither of them seen Ellie Tillman after they shot Mr. Tillman. They were too busy looking around the ranch for any ranch hands that might have seen them. They never thought to look back at the house as they rode away. “She’s a crazy old lady and she can’t see worth a shit because it wasn’t us,” replied Fletcher.

             
“Well, I believed her and that’s all that matters to me.” Jess looked at Taylor Hamm. “What’s your name, Mister?”

             
“My name is Taylor Hamm and I think these two men are right. They never said anything about killing Mr. Tillman when they rode back to the ranch earlier and a man usually brags about something like that,” replied Hamm. “Besides, Mr. Welch has kept the truce he made with you. He’s made four offers to the Tillman’s in the last few weeks.”

             
“I guess he got tired of waiting,” replied Jess. “Now, move away from these two so you don’t get shot, but I wouldn’t try to leave if I were you.”

             
Hamm didn’t understand what that meant, but he did move about five feet from Fletcher and Bond and he moved in the direction of the swinging doors. Jess looked at the two of them and noticed that they had not removed their hammer straps yet.

             
“I think you boys may have forgotten something,” said Jess.

             
“What?” asked Fletcher.

             
“Neither of you have removed your hammer straps from your pistols yet.”

             
“That’s because we ain’t planning on drawing down on you,” replied Bond.

             
“Plans can change,” replied Jess.

             
Fletcher and Bond could see now that they had no way out of it, so they removed their hammer straps. Jess watched Fletcher and waited for that all too common telltale sign most men had in their eyes just before they reached for their gun and it didn’t take long. Both Fletcher and Bond went for their guns and Jess slicked his pistol out and put a slug into the chest of each of the men before Bodine even got to draw his pistol out of his holster. Hamm actually raised his hands up in the air so as not to provoke Jess. Jess walked over to Fletcher, who was still breathing. Jess put another slug into him and he stopped breathing pretty quickly after that. Jess looked over at Hamm who looked like he was going to soil himself right on the spot; his hands still up in the air.