Chapter 10
By seven, the estate agent had the papers for the real estate transaction in Jarrod's hands at his office. While he was waiting, Jarrod drew up a separate agreement that Shane would leave town, and he wrote up a consent to a divorce decree in Sandra's favor. Jarrod didn't know if he'd ever have to use either one of the side documents – and he was pretty sure the agreement for Shane to leave town was unenforceable - but it was enough that Shane knew he had them. If Shane wanted his money, he would have to sign them.
Then it was just a matter of waiting for eight o'clock and Shane to come. While he waited, Jarrod decided he'd better keep a gun handy to protect himself, just in case Shane had something other than a property deal in mind and tried something faster than Jarrod could do anything about other than shoot back. Jarrod remembered he hadn't protected himself and his wife from Cass Hyatt. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.
He made sure his handgun was loaded at about twenty minutes until eight. It was still light outside, but it would be dark in another few minutes. Jarrod took a look out his window, not looking for Shane. Looking for someone else, or actually two someone elses, and he saw them. They were across the street, sitting in the chairs outside the barber shop there. The failing light was putting them into the shadows. Shane would never know they were there. That was the plan.
Before he sat back down, he fetched a bottle of scotch from the refreshment table he had across the room. He sat down at his desk, his left hand on the bottle of scotch, for later, for after. In his right hand he held the revolver, not gripping it too tightly. He didn't want his hand to cramp up. He sat relaxed in the chair, the gun in his lap but ready, watching the door, listening for anything there might be to hear out in the hall. The sun was sinking fast now. It was nearly eight. It was getting dark. He lit a lamp.
He didn't let his mind stray. He didn't let his concentration drift. He didn't think about how it had come to this, waiting for the man to come up to his office, either to complete the deal or to kill him. He didn't know which one it was going to be, but he was ready for either one.
For now, he waited.
At a minute or two after eight, the wait was over. Jarrod heard the footsteps coming up to his second floor office. He moved the bottle of scotch farther away and out of his hand, but tightened his grip on the handgun in his lap with the other hand. In a moment, Buster Shane came in the door and stopped.
"So," Jarrod said. "Do you have any questions, or are you ready to complete this deal?"
Buster said, "You got me over a barrel."
"No, not exactly," Jarrod said. "I'm gonna give you some money you need and you're gonna give me some land and a couple things I need, and Sandra needs. Then you're going to go back out that door and head for the train station. You're not gonna think about me anymore, or about Sandra, and we're not gonna think about you. All over in the next half hour, Buster. All done in the next half hour."
Buster hesitated, but he said, "I know what you're doing. I know what you did ten years ago. You may be able to get rid of me, but you can't get rid of what I know."
"And you're wrong," Jarrod said. "You've always been wrong. If she gets a divorce, Sandra may very well marry someone else, but it won't be me."
Jarrod moved turned the papers in front of him around and pushed them to the side of the desk closest to Shane. Shane looked down at them, but didn't come closer.
"I know you feel like you're losing here, and in a way you are, but in a way you're winning big," Jarrod said. "The door is gonna close on the past, all of your past, and you're gonna ride away from it with money in your pocket that isn't there right now. Sign, Buster," Jarrod said, holding the pen out to him. "Sign, leave town, and all your troubles are over."
Shane still just stood there. He didn't even hear them come in behind him until Nick said, "Sign, Buster. It's the best deal you'll ever make in your life."
Jarrod knew he was covered now. He let go of the gun, but kept it in his lap. "There it is, Buster. My back-up, and they will back me up for keeps. Even if you were to sign all these papers, take my money and then come back to get me, they will be there. If you kill me, they will come for you. You really have only one way out, and it's a damned good way. Sign these papers, take the money, go get on the train, ride out of town and never look back. No perjury charges, no more prison, no big Barkley brothers breathing down your neck, no wife to be responsible for. You're a fool if you don't take this deal and ride away."
"Big fool," Heath added.
It worked. Shane reached for the pen and started signing.
Jarrod signed where he needed to sign and handed over the money for the land. Shane looked happy – momentarily – until Nick laid a friendly hand on his shoulder and said, "Now, Buster my friend, we go to the railroad station and buy you a ticket out of here."
"I need to go get my stuff," Shane said.
"No, you don't," Heath said. "We picked it up for you. It's down there with our horses."
"I wish you well, Buster," Jarrod said, "and I never plan to see you again. If I do, or if you turn up on the streets of Stockton or in my home or office in San Francisco, you'll face perjury charges, or worse yet, you'll face my brothers here."
Nick and Heath gave Buster happy grins. Nick said, "Let's go."
Jarrod watched them go and breathed a sigh of relief. He got up slowly, put his gunbelt on and slipped his handgun into the holster. The papers for the land transaction and the side agreements he locked in his safe in the alcove. Then, he fetched his hat and went down to A.K.'s Court.
Sandra was singing now, one of those heart-tugging Stephen Foster tunes. The place was full but quiet while she sang, except for a poker game going on quietly in the back. A.K. behind the bar gave Jarrod a look, and Jarrod smiled. A.K.'s look changed to surprise. Jarrod walked over to the bar and ordered a scotch.
"You look awful happy," A.K. said as he poured.
"I have reason to be, and so do you," Jarrod said. "Buster Shane is on a train on his way out of Stockton, for good."
Now A.K. looked more surprised. "How did you pull that off?"
"A little bit of carrot, a little bit of stick, to paraphrase a cartoon I once saw," Jarrod said. "A little reward, a little threat."
A.K. shook his head. "Are you sure he's gone for good?"
Jarrod smiled a little. "It was a big stick."
Jarrod stood and sipped his drink, waiting there until Sandra finished her songs and came over to him. He smiled, and said, "Buster is gone. He won't be back. You can file for divorce anytime you want."
Sandra breathed like she hadn't taken a breath in a week. "Oh, Jarrod – "
She wanted to jump up and kiss him, but she knew not to, not in front of all these men who probably believed they were having an affair and would come to believe that they had gotten Buster out of the picture again so they could carry on.
But the rumors died out again, just as they had ten years ago, when Jarrod did not return to A.K.'s Court after that night. He did get a divorce for her, but after it was granted Jarrod was never seen with her again. In fact, he saw her only once or twice on the street before about a year later, the newspaper reported she had married A.K., he was selling the Court, and the two of them were moving off to Kansas City.
Buster Shane was never seen in Stockton again and no one there even knew where he had gone. No one particularly cared, either. Nobody was waiting to see what he would do anymore, the least of all Jarrod. The waiting concerning Buster Shane was over and done.
The End
