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  Tascosa, New Mexico ... a town in which many a man played a double game, watching, waiting for an explosion of violence that would signify the end of a lawless intrigue.

  Into Tascosa, hunting a back-shooting killer and a gang of counterfeiters, rode Big Jim Rand, the relentless manhunter. With him came Benito Espina, the busiest pickpocket north of the Rio Grande.

  Also figuring in this suspense-filled battle of wits were the smiling, unscrupulous Mace Carrick, and Rowenstock, the shrewd and implacable lawman, and Shelley, the undercover gun who, in the moment of crisis, had good cause to be grateful for the intervention of Big Jim.

  BIG JIM 6: KILLER’S NOON

  By Marshall Grover

  First Published by The Cleveland Publishing Pty Ltd

  Copyright © Cleveland Publishing Co. Pty Ltd, New South Wales, Australia

  First Smashwords Edition: September 2017

  Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information or storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

  This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book

  Series Editor: Ben Bridges

  Text © Piccadilly Publishing

  Published by Arrangement with The Cleveland Publishing Pty Ltd.

  Chapter One

  Five Hundred Longhorns

  Milo Haven, marshal of Devlin’s Peak, examined the picture placed before him by the brawny ex-sergeant of the 11th Cavalry. It depicted a flashy, sardonic, fair-haired man with a thin moustache and pale eyes, and the lawman did not need to examine it at great length; the face was all too familiar to him.

  “Sure,” he grunted. “He was here a little while back. Got run out of town by a couple dozen het-up citizens—and I can’t say as I blame ’em.”

  “This same man?” prodded Jim Rand. “You’re dead certain?”

  “It’s a good picture,” said the marshal. “Looks like it was drawn by an expert.”

  “That’s true enough,” nodded Jim. “An artist name of Tully in a town called Burnett Junction.”

  “Well,” shrugged Haven, “it’s the same hombre. Your artist friend did a fine job. Like a photograph it is.”

  “You said he was run out of town?” asked Jim.

  “He was a cardsharp,” Haven recalled. “I’d have arrested him—only my nose is kind of sensitive. I can abide havin’ rustlers or killers in my jail—even horse-thieves. But nothin’ smells as bad as a cardsharp.”

  “Could you remember which way he rode?” demanded Jim.

  “Eastward,” said Haven. “He was forkin’ a sorrel colt. Now how about him, Rand? What’s his real name, and why are you huntin’ him?”

  The big stranger re-folded the sketch, stored it away in a pocket and helped himself to the chair opposite the marshal’s desk. While he busied his brown fingers with the building of a smoke, Haven subjected him to an appreciative scrutiny—appreciative because this large and formidable man looked to be all of six feet five inches tall. As well as being formidably tall and hefty, Jim was handsome, in a sun-browned, dark-haired, square-jawed way. He spoke quietly, but with an air of authority. He dressed simply, his clothes strictly utilitarian, never ostentatious. One noticeable detail, however, was the butt of the long-barreled Colt .45 holstered at his right hip. The grips were of ivory. It was a handsome weapon, and had been presented to him by his sidekicks of the 11th, together with a fine new Winchester ’73, at the time of his mustering out of the regiment.

  “He called himself Jenner when he shot my brother in the back,” Jim explained. “That was in San Marco, a place far south of here, and quite a few months ago. I’ve been hunting him ever since.”

  “Too bad his description wasn’t circulated,” frowned Haven. “If I’d known he was wanted for murder, he’d be sweatin’ in one of my cells this minute.”

  “They’ve circulated bulletins on Jenner,” Jim assured him, “but there are always a few towns that get overlooked.”

  “Sure,” nodded Haven. “Like this town, for instance. We’re kind of small and out of the way.”

  “Just how long ago was he here?” asked Jim.

  “The trail will be cold,” muttered Haven. “It was a little more than three weeks ago.”

  “Cold trails can be warmed up,” Jim retorted. He scratched a match for his cigarette, got to his feet. “We’ll move out right away. Thanks for the information, marshal.”

  “You said ‘we’?” prodded Haven. “I had a hunch you were travelin’ all by yourself.” He got up, ambled to the open doorway and stared out at the town’s sun-bathed main street. The horse tethered to the law office rack was a magnificent black stallion. Beside it stood a nondescript burro, and beside the burro lounged an undersized, untidy Mexican with flat chest, stooped shoulders and buck teeth, as unappealing a specimen as Haven had ever laid eyes on. “Rand—that sawed-off little Mex—he ain’t your sidekick, is he?”

  “It’s a fact.” Jim paused in the doorway, grinning wryly. “Where I go, he goes.”

  “That’s hard for me to believe,” declared Haven. “I mean—uh—a big, upstandin’ feller like you, taggin’ around with the likes of him. I wouldn’t trust him any further’n I can spit, not from his looks.”

  “You wouldn’t want to trust him, believe me,” drawled Jim. “He’d steal the Bible off a preacher, the whisky from a drunk, the milk from a baby. I’ve always figured the first folks Benito ever stole from were his own mother and father—when he was around two years old.”

  “Well, damnitall,” protested Haven, “if he’s that much of a low character, why do you let him ride with you? Ain’t you particular?”

  “My trouble,” sighed Jim, “is I have a sense of obligation. The Mex once saved my life, which means I’m beholden to him. And I once saved his life, which means he’s beholden to me.”

  “I’d call it even-Stephen,” argued Haven. “You paid each other off.”

  “Well,” shrugged Jim, “maybe someday I’ll shake him off. Meantime, thanks for the information.”

  “Welcome,” grunted Haven. “And I sure hope you catch up with Noyes.”

  “With ...?” frowned Jim.

  “Noyes,” said Haven. “That’s what the tinhorn called himself while he was tryin’ to sharp all the poker-players of Devlin’s Peak.” He raised a hand in farewell. “Luck to you, Rand.”

  “Muchas gracias,” Jim acknowledged, as he descended from the porch.

  He strode to the rack, untethered the charcoal and stepped up to leather. Benito Espina yawned, scratched his belly and, with much grunting and grimacing, pulled himself astride the burro.

  “We go, eh?” he enquired.

  “We go,” nodded Jim.

  “Again the north,” guessed Benito.

  “East, this time,” said Jim, as he nudged the black to movement.

  “A change of direction,” Benito commented. “Well, it was become—how you say—monotonous—always travelling north.”

  Out of Devlin’s Peak rode the burly ex-cavalryman and the runty Mex, as contrasting a pair as could be found anywhere in the sun-baked territory of New Mexico. How much did they have in common? Very little. Nothing—except a mutual sense of obligation, the compelling recollection that Big Jim had once awaited a slow and painful death from the lethal bite of a rattlesnake; the wound had been in the small of his back, inaccessible to himself, but not to the little Mex on the plodding burro who had ridden in seemingly out o
f nowhere and, in the nick of time, went to work with a knife and successfully treated the snake-bite. Jim Rand could never forget that incident, any more than Benito Espina could forget that he had once felt the rough, unfriendly touch of a hangman’s noose about his unwashed neck and that, but for the violent intervention of Big Jim, he would certainly have been lynched.

  Eastward rode the avenger and his small shadow, still seeking the elusive back-shooter.

  ~*~

  Three days later, a quartet of well-dressed riders visited the CG ranch of Quinn County in the cattle country east of Devlin’s Peak. They ambled their mounts unhurriedly towards the network of pole corrals situated some two hundred yards from the imposing home of the Gardner family, and neither the ranch-boss nor his foreman were on hand to call a greeting. The only man in evidence at this mid-morning hour was a tousle-haired, easy-grinning young man in blue levis. He was slim, long-legged and boyish, and he was straddling a top rail of the horse corral when the four strangers reined up to speak to him. Politely and affably he answered the questions fired at him by the bearded man in the black broadcloth suit.

  “The boss? No, sir, he ain’t here. I don’t reckon he’ll be home before Thursday. He had to go to San Miguel, him and the foreman, Mr. Haines. And the boss’ wife and Miss Molly—they went along, too.”

  “That’s unfortunate,” frowned the man with the long black beard. “I was hoping we could talk business.”

  “Business?” The young man eyed him eagerly. “Hey now, what’d you say your name was?”

  “I didn’t,” smiled the bearded man. “But it’s Baggot—Archer Baggot—and these are my associates. We represent the Haywood-Todd Combine. You’ve heard of it, of course?”

  And the young cowhand, who was always sensitive about his ignorance of the wide world beyond Quinn County, nodded and said, “Oh, sure.”

  “I suppose every cattleman in New Mexico knows the Haywood-Todd Combine,” drawled Baggot. “We’re the biggest stock-purchasing outfit west of Chicago.” He turned in his saddle, stared away towards the northern horizon where part of the CG herd was dimly visible. “Too bad your boss is away. I’m due in Denver very soon, so I can’t afford to wait.”

  “To—uh—to wait for what?” blinked the cowpoke.

  “To purchase the CG herd,” said Baggot.

  “Every prime steer,” grinned the barrel-chested Sam Williams.

  “Only the best stuff,” offered Marvin Emhart. “And we pay top prices.”

  “Well—hold on now!” breathed the cowpoke. His eyes shone; his mind was turning over fast, calculating, tallying. “Mr. Gardner’s only running about six hundred and fifty head right now, but five hundred of ’em would be prime—plenty prime—the best beef you ever saw ...”

  “Son …” Baggot’s tone became somewhat patronizing, “there’s no point in you bragging of the quality of the herd, if we can’t negotiate a purchase. My outfit pays cash on the barrelhead, and we move fast. We don’t waste time, or ...”

  “My name’s Pat McNear,” offered the cowpoke, “and Mr. Gardner left me in charge of the whole shebang. Yes sir, Mr. Baggot, that’s the truth. I’m boss, while Mr. Gardner and the foreman are gone. You want to buy five hundred head of prime beef—for cash? Bueno. I’m ready to talk a deal.”

  The strangers exchanged thoughtful glances.

  “You have authority to act on Mr. Gardner’s behalf?” demanded Baggot.

  “Told you so, didn’t I?” chuckled Pat. “Just you wait till I saddle a horse.”

  A few moments later, accompanied by Pat McNear and a half-dozen CG hands, the four strangers rode to the north quarter of Gardner range to inspect the cattle grazing in a sheltered basin. For some thirty minutes, Baggot rode among the steers, checking, assessing, noting their prime quality.

  The youthful and eager Pat McNear had not exaggerated. This was high class stock, and Baggot admitted as much.

  “Best I’ve seen since we arrived in Quinn County,” he told Pat.

  “Damn right,” grinned Pat. “And we’re ready to cut out the best five hundred in the bunch—if you’re willin’ to pay eleven per.”

  “Eleven dollars a head?” frowned Baggot.

  “Mister,” said Pat, “you already agreed this is prime stock.”

  “But you’re asking a mighty stiff price,” protested Baggot. “I was thinking eight dollars, fifty cents, and I’m sure you’ll agree eight and a half per head is a very fair ...”

  “Eleven dollars per head,” said Pat, with a complacent grin. “Take it or leave it.”

  “You and your friends will help us run them to the river?” asked Baggot.

  “Be glad to,” nodded Pat. “Wouldn’t take us more than an hour.”

  “All right.” Baggot shrugged resignedly and reached into an inside pocket of his coat.

  “But I’d have to wait and get your check paid into the bank, wouldn’t I?” frowned Pat. Now that the deal was almost clinched, some of his confidence was leaving him. He had locked horns with these smart-talking city-men over the purchase of five hundred head, and successfully. Now, when it came to the more formal business of arranging payment and signing a receipt, he felt somewhat out of his depth. “Maybe I ought to check with Mr. King. He manages the bank, and ...”

  “Mr. King appreciates the time-saving of a cold cash deal, I’m sure,” drawled Baggot. “Checks have to be cleared, but cash talks fast, Mr. McNear.”

  And, while Pat’s eyes bulged, the bearded man produced a wad of banknotes thick enough to choke a horse. Simultaneously, Williams dismounted, perched on a flat rock and began scribbling on a pad of paper.

  “This will do as a combination of receipt and bill of sale,” he assured Pat. “All we’ll need is your signature.”

  “You can sign your own name, I presume?” prodded Burch, blond-headed fourth member of the group.

  Pat roused from his shock long enough to fix a glare of resentment on the dandified, sardonic Burch. It just happened that he had an antipathy for men who favored flowered cravats, fancy vests and showy jewelry.

  “I can write my name, mister,” he growled. “I ain’t ignorant. Four whole years I spent in school, and I can read and write as much as I want.”

  “Congratulations,” grinned Burch.

  “Come sign this, young feller,” called Williams.

  “Well ...” began Pat, as he dismounted.

  “He’s cautious,” observed Baggot, with a good-humored smile. “By Godfrey, the owner of this spread certainly left a good man in charge.” So carelessly that it took Pat’s breath away, he tossed the wad of bills to Emhart. “Here. Count out the necessary and pass it over to our young friend.”

  “Five hundred head at eleven per,” muttered Emhart, as he deftly flipped notes from the wad, “makes five thousand, five hundred. Here you are, son. Fifty-five hundred of the best. Go ahead. Check it.”

  He rolled the rustling banknotes, handed them to Pat. The young cowhand counted them carefully, stuffed them into a pocket of his levis and then hunkered beside Williams to read and sign the document of sale. A moment later, he was swinging back into his saddle and yelling to the other Gardner riders to start all the prime stock moving. Baggot and his associates remounted and, during the short journey to the fording place on the Canadian, rode point with Pat. It seemed all participants in the deal were more than satisfied. The Haywood-Todd Combine had acquired five hundred top-grade steers. The CG ranch had made a profitable sale.

  By twelve-thirty p.m., the herd had been hustled across the broad river at its most shallow section. Baggot’s herders, a half-dozen taciturn hombres patiently patrolling the far bank, then took over. When Pat McNear and his fellow-employees threw a final glance backward, they saw the herd following the river-bank northward, with Baggot and his associates helping the drivers to keep the bawling beeves moving at steady speed. A gnarled old veteran named Doan then remarked, “Them city-fellers sure bought ’emselves a passel o’ prime stock. Best critters ever raised on CG
range.”

  “Sure enough,” grinned Pat. “And I’ll tell you somethin’ else. They didn’t get ’em cheap. I held out for a right fancy price.”

  “Glad to hear that, boy.” Doan hooked a leg over his saddlehorn, began rolling a cigarette. “When old Clem Gardner left you to boss CG all by yourself, I was afeared you’d do somethin’ foolish.” With all the candor of the not-so-young, he added, “Old Clem never much admired you. Only reason he put you in charge is his woman and Miss Molly bullied him into it—what with you wantin’ to hitch up with Miss Molly and all.”

  “I know it, Doan. I know it,” shrugged Pat. “Mr. Gardner don’t have much confidence in me. But, by golly ...” he grinned and patted his bulging hip-pocket, “this’ll change his mind pretty damn quick.”

  “You call it a right fancy price,” muttered Doan, as he lit his cigarette. “Just what’s your idee of a right fancy price?”

  “Eleven dollars a head,” announced Pat.

  The old cowhand twisted in his saddle, blinked at him in genuine astonishment.

  “Holy jumpin’ Jezebel! That much?”

  “I held out for higher than the rulin’ market price for this year,” chuckled Pat, “and got it!”

  “Boy,” breathed Doan, “you’re gonna be the apple of Clem Gardner’s eye. Won’t be no more arguments. He’ll be glad to let you hitch up with Miss Molly—and I gotta say you must be seven times smarter than I ever thought.”

  “Right friendly of you to say it,” Pat acknowledged.

  Three quarters of a mile upriver, Baggot called a halt and dispatched one of the herders to ride to the summit of a rise and scan the terrain to the southwest. When the rider returned, he reported, “They’re all out of sight—headed back to the ranch, I guess.”

  “Fine,” nodded Baggot. “You know what to do now. Turn the herd and push ’em east.”

  And so, by mid-afternoon, the five hundred plodding beeves were moving eastward and clear of the boundaries of Quinn County. The purchase had been a triumph for Baggot—more so than was realized by the jubilant Pat McNear. All four men were in good spirits, and the man who now called himself Burch was moved to remark, “You sure got a good thing going for you. Like taking candy from a baby, I call it.”