Angrily, Annabella stormed into the ramshackle dive that passed for a saloon in this town. If they weren't in there, she had no idea where to look for the missing men, but that didn't mean she was going to give up. She'd foolishly assumed everything was exactly as planned when Chris and Buck left town that day three weeks ago. She'd even been lucky enough to have the others occupied enough that no one took notice of her departure. She'd almost been sorry to have to leave before Buck got back, but there was no way a farewell scene would be to her advantage. No, skipping out to meet her partners as they had planned was the only logical course of events. Little did she dream those two would have had the nerve to cheat her out of her share and leave her waiting at the rendezvous point.

Well, they weren't going to get away with it. There was too much at stake here – all that money, not to mention her reputation. She could well imagine the bragging they would be doing about conning the expert. Cheating her out of her hard earned share of the prize. The fact that she had planned to do the same to them was irrelevant. She was the brains of the operation while they were no more than hired muscle. Dime a dozen hoods she could find anywhere. Even in a town like this – wherever the hell this was.

She scanned the room, looking for familiar faces and was pleased when she spotted one. Not the one she was looking for, but a suitable replacement. Toliver was a decent conman himself. Not terribly sophisticated or adept at the long play, but handy for a front man or similar supporting character. Quick with a gun, excellent in a fight. And, not the worst looking companion to travel with. No Buck Wilmington, but close, and without that annoying streak of morality. Plastering a grin on her face, she made her way over.

"Lester Toliver. As I live and breathe. Didn't expect to be running into you again, especially not out here."

"When the law is after you, you do all kinds of things you wouldn't normally consider. I imagine that's what brought you here Bella."

God, how she hated that abbreviation. "Let's just say I'm looking for someone. Don't suppose you've seen Harlan Davis or Cyrus around, have you?"

"Not in these parts."

Damnation. They must have headed south. Nothing else made sense but to get out of the territory, if not the country. She supposed she'd have to send some telegrams with the increasingly faint hope of finding them.

"Aren't you going to offer to buy a lady a drink?"

"I would if there was one here."

Annabella laughed loudly. "Could always count on you to not sugar things up. How 'bout I buy you one instead? You can entertain me with what you've been up to lately. Any interesting games in play?"

They took a table near the back and spoke quietly for close to half an hour, each lying to the other about their escapades, and each knowing the tales were false. It was the way business was done.

"Tell me Lester, have you got anything interesting going right now?"

"Maybe. I think I'm going to have some money coming to me soon. Why? You have an idea?"

"I do if you'd like a share of some serious cash. You help me track down Harlan and Cyrus and it will be well worth your time. I betting this is more than whatever you might be expecting from any game you'd be doing here."

Standing, he put his hat on and took her hand. "Perhaps we should discuss this in private. Lots of eager ears in here." He led her toward the back entrance and out to the alley way. A strong glare from him chased away a lingering drunk, leaving them in privacy.

She was about to offer her best 'come hither' smile when she saw the ice cold look in his eyes.

"Guessing you haven't heard about Harlan and Cyrus being dead, have you?"

She took a half step back. Dead? No. That wasn't possible. She'd been chasing ghosts?

"Ambushed on that little job outside of Four Corners. Damn woman, how stupid are you? Going up against Larabee and his bunch the way you three did. You need a small army to move in on that town now."

Being called stupid by this oaf did wonders to bring her back to reality. "Yes, if you plan a head-on attack. But we were smarter than that."

"Yeah, you guys were brilliant. So much so that your boys didn't ever make it back to town. Not alive anyway."

"How do you know this?"

"From people in town when their bodies were brought back. It was a set up sweetheart. They were on to you, and them boys of yours paid the price. Way I hear it, the only reason that Wilmington fella and all his friends didn't come after you was that a couple his buddies were hurt, and he needed to stick around."

It was a poor silver lining to her cloud but it was better than none at all. Even if the whole plan had fallen to pieces, at least she wasn't being hunted down. It only made sense that by now they'd all figured out what had really happened, and the thought that Buck and likely a few others were tracking her had definitely been a concern. It sounded like they weren't. Or if they were now, they weren't close behind.

"Well," she turned on the southern charm, "looks like the two of us will have to come up with a new scheme. What about this game you have running now? Any way I can help make it more lucrative?"

"Oh sweetheart, you're already a part of it." Before she could register what he'd said, his weapon was drawn and aimed at her. "There's a bounty out on your head, and I aim to be the one to collect it."

"Don't be ridiculous. You know I am worth far more to you as a partner than as a bounty."

"Really? You figure you're worth $10,000 to me?"

She stared, flabbergasted by the sum. "That's ludicrous. The law would never put that kind of bounty on someone like me. Someone is lying to you."

"Not the law. This one is personal."

He wouldn't. He couldn't. "Buck Wilmington could not be offering ten thousand dollars. The bunch of them together couldn't come up with one tenth of that, even if they sold everything they owned. Hell, that whole town couldn't."

"Didn't say it was them. Money is guaranteed. Don't know where it came from, and don't really care. Oh, and this isn't a dead or alive kind of deal. She doesn't want you alive."

She? Katie McHenry wanted revenge for an operation gone bad? That didn't make sense. She wouldn't squander money that way.

"Look, whatever Katie is offering, I'll find a way to make more for you. Let's not be foolish about this. We'll just tell her you killed me and collect. We can use that to bankroll all kinds of ideas."

"Wrong. I told you – personal. A message comes with it. 'Nobody hurts my boy and walks away from it.' He looked her in the eye. "I ain't stupid enough to lie to Maude Standish."

She only just had time to register that he'd said hurts and not kills before the shot was fired.

M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7

The End