West Texas Kill by Johnny D. Boggs Read Free Book Online Page B

became quiet, looking at him with vacant eyes.
    â€œThat’s a hard thing to see, ma’am. I’m taking you back to Texas, ma’am. Back to Terlingua.” He helped her to her feet. “But you listen to me, ma’am. You ever speak a word of what you just saw, and I promise you you’ll wish you were back with them hombres.” He pointed at the smiling Lo Grande.
    He left the woman standing, as he walked back to the table. The whore stood there, weaving, her eyes on the Rangers on the floor, but not really seeing the dead men, not really seeing anything.
    â€œI guess that settles things,” Savage said.
    â€œ Muy bien, mi capitán .” Lo Grande spooned some grapefruit into his mouth.
    â€œI’ll take the woman and those bodies back.” Savage picked up the revolver he had left on the table.
    â€œYou will be a hero in the eyes of all Tejanos.” He spooned another slice of grapefruit.
    â€œMaybe. But I don’t reckon it would look right if I brung back just two dead Rangers and a whore.” Turning, he thumbed back the hammer of the Merwin Hulbert, and shot off Leoncio’s right ear. The black-bearded man screamed, dropping to his knees, putting his right hand over the bleeding, mangled cartilage. Before Lo Grande could swallow the grapefruit, Savage had turned, cocked the .44, and leveled the long barrel an inch from Lo Grande’s head.
    The woman was yelling again.
    â€œÂ¡No!” Lo Grande yelled, making frantic gestures at his men. “¡Pare! ¡Pare! ¡No es nada! ¡Espere! ¡No importa!” The men froze, guns halfway out of their waistbands, sashes, or holsters. The woman screamed. Leoncio toppled onto his side, writhing in pain, kicking, spreading blood across the sod floor.
    The woman fell silent. Rangers poured into the doorway.
    â€œIt’s all right,” Savage said. “Isn’t it, Lo Grande?”
    â€œ Es muy bien ,” Lo Grande said. For a Mexican, Savage thought, Juan Lo Grande looked mighty pale.
    â€œDoc,” Savage called out. “Demitrio. Load poor Magruder and Smith on their saddles. We’ll take them home for burying. Bucky, fetch the woman. That’s the whore from Terlingua. Taw, you take that one-earred greaser. He’s our prisoner. That suit you, Lo Grande?”
    â€œSí ”, the bandit said.
    â€œThen we’ll be taking our leave. Don’t try anything.”
    â€œ Buen Viaje . ” Lo Grande lifted his tumbler of tequila, but the glass shook in his hands. “Hasta la vista , los rinches.”
    â€œ Adiós. ” Slowly, never lowering the Merwin Hulbert, Hec Savage backed to the door.

CHAPTER FIVE
    For the past year, Hec Savage had called the presidio on the bluff overlooking the Rio Grande and the Chihuahua Trail home, but when the massive L-shaped adobe fort came into view, it didn’t look inviting. It never did. It merely made Savage feel older than his forty-seven years.
    He led his men, the Terlingua prostitute, and his prisoner off the dusty road and through the open gate into the adobe citadel. Squawking chickens and barking dogs ran across the compound as Savage wearily swung down from the saddle, handing the reins to a young Mexican boy.
    A bald man in plaid trousers and a red bib-front shirt exited from a side building. He wiped the dirt off his spectacles with a yellow bandana before he made his way to Savage, nodding greetings as other Rangers passed. Suddenly he stopped, staring as Demitrio led a pair of bay geldings behind him, two bodies wrapped in canvas draped over the saddles.
    â€œWho are they?” the man asked.
    â€œSmith and Magruder, Lieutenant,” Demitrio said without stopping.
    â€œDamn.” Shaking his head, Ranger Lieutenant Ray Wickes resumed his journey across the compound, glancing at the Terlingua whore and the Mexican outlaw, but focusing on Hec Savage.
    They shook hands, though neither was glad to see the