Artie woke to see Dr. Loveless standing on the stool. As Artie's eyes focused he saw that the doctor was holding a filet knife and examining it closely. He watched him until the little man became aware he had regained consciousness and he put the knife back on the tray.
"Ah, Mr. Gordon, welcome back. I thought I might have to start without you."
"Why don't you practice on Voltaire, I don't mind watching."
"That would hardly be fair, Mr. Gordon. After all I have no quarrel with Voltaire," Loveless replied with a wicked grin.
"Well, he can have my share of whatever you have cooked up. My mother did teach me how to share after all," Artie kept his eye on Loveless' hands as he fingered the instruments on the tray.
"I tire of your stalling, Mr. Gordon. Besides, it will do you no good…"
"It won't?" Artie asked feigning innocence.
"No, Mr. Gordon. You can't stall nearly long enough to allow Mr. West to get here. Not from where I sent him," Loveless giggled.
"What have you done with Jim?" Artie demanded straining at the ropes.
"Ever the gallant partner, eh, Mr. Gordon? Facing certain death and yet you still value that partner of yours life over your own. Really that will be your undoing."
"Just tell me what you did with Jim," Artie demanded as he continued to struggle against his ropes.
"I sent him to a little weigh station forty miles from here. From there I've left a trail of clues back here to you."
"Loveless, you're despicable."
"Oh that's only part of the game, Mr. Gordon. He will have several stops to make before he gets here. You just need to hope he gets here in time," Loveless snickered.
"In time for what?" Artie wanted to know.
"In time to watch your slow and excruciating demise of course. I have had it with your and Mr. West's meddling and I intend to stop it once and for all," Loveless glared at him.
"A simple letter would have done the trick," Artie shot back.
"Oh no, this way is much more fun for me."
"There you go with the you, you, you again. It's always about you. Don't you ever get tired of being the center of attention?" Artie retorted.
"Never, Mr. Gordon. I enjoy it immensely if the company is right."
"Voltaire turn that crank at the end of the table, we need to raise Mr. Gordon up a bit," Artie nervously watched as he raised the table up from the floor.
Loveless had Voltaire exchange the stool for a bench. He walked up and down the length of the bench, watching his captive sweat. He reached over Gordon's body and grabbed a long metal pipe with two prongs sticking out of one end. He held it up in front of Gordon's face. He pushed a button on the device and a blue light arced from one prong to the other. Loveless grinned manically as he kept the current running.
"Nifty little light show you have there," Artie tried to sound bored.
"This is a little device that I stumbled on in my travels. I believe it's used for keeping cattle in line. However, I made a few of my own modifications," he laughed.
"Oh I'll just bet. Knowing your twisted little mind you probably increased the output twenty times," Artie glared.
"Only ten fold, Mr. Gordon. This little device could kill within seconds if I increased it that much. I don't want you to die too quickly."
"Oh no we wouldn't want that now would we?" Artie replied sarcastically.
Dr. Loveless glared and pulled the pipe away from Gordon's face. He paused and gave him a crooked grin.
"Why don't we see what happens when I do this…" Loveless smirked.
He took the pipe and shoved it into Artie's still healing ribs. He pushed the button and for once Artemus was glad he was tied down. Artemus' body arched and he bit his lip to hold back the screams. Loveless held the button for a few seconds before releasing his hold. Artie's body continued to convulse for a moment before stopping.
"Quite the handy little device, wouldn't you say, Mr. Gordon?"
"Oh I don't know, Loveless, I've had worse," Artie replied through clenched teeth.
"And you will get far worse before I am through with you, Mr. Gordon. But you do remember my fondness for electricity. I hardly think I am finished with this little toy."
"Oh but of course not. No sense in letting me miss out on any of your fun. What do you say you let me shove that thing into you for a while," Artie spat. His reply was another stab to his ribs followed by more shocking pain and flashes of light before his eyes.
Jim pulled his tired steed to a halt at the weight station and slid from the saddle. He had ridden his horse hard all night to reach the station on time. He ran into the station and to the counter.
"Ain't no one ever in that much of a hurry for a beer at this time of day," The man said as he wiped a beer mug with a small towel.
"I'm not thirsty. You should have an envelope for me," Jim said breathlessly.
"What's yore name?"
"West, James West," the man reached under the counter and brought out an envelope.
Jim tore into the letter and willed his nerves to die down. Mr. West, if you are reading this then you made it to the checkpoint on schedule. The gentleman at the weigh station will provide you with a fresh horse; I wouldn't want anyone to say I didn't play fair. Your next stop will be back in Kansas City. Now, now, Mr. West, don't get upset you must play this game by MY rules. When you get back to your hotel go to Mr. Gordon's room. There you will find your next destination. And Mr. West, you have one hour less to get back than I gave you to get here. I will be notified once you leave. If I were you I'd hurry…Mr. Gordon's health seems to have taken a turn for the worse. L
Jim looked at the man behind the counter who told him his saddle had been switched to another horse and his horse would be sent back to the livery stable in Kansas City. He ran outside and mounted the horse and took off at top speed. He was very tired and hungry but he pushed that aside, his partner needed him. About halfway back to Kansas City, his horse threw a shoe. Jim rode him to a farm. He dismounted and knocked on the door. After a hurried exchange he traded his horse for a fresh one and the farmer told him about a short cut back to Kansas City that would save him almost four hours.
"Hit him again, Voltaire!" Loveless shouted excitedly as he jumped up and down.
Voltaire shifted the brass knuckles on his hand and again hit Artemus. Artemus was secretly thankful that somewhere between his third and fourth blackouts, or was it the fifth, Loveless had moved him to a different room. He was in a sparse room, the only thing in it was the large ring suspended from the ceiling that Artie was currently tied to and the chair that Dr. Loveless was sitting in. Voltaire had stripped his outer shirt off and his undershirt was covered in sweat. Loveless had been having Voltaire use him as a punching bag for Lord only knows how long.
Artie silently prayed Voltaire would tire or that the pain would become too much and he would pass out again. But Loveless; however, seemed to have other ideas. Every time Artemus seemed like he was about to pass out from the abuse Love less would order the beatings to stop and he would either take him back to the cage and hang him there or just leave him hanging here. He was extremely grateful he had lost all feeling in his arms long ago. James, where are you? Artemus thought, I'm doing the best I can here, pal but you'd better hurry. If I don't get to collect on that steak dinner you still owe me I just might never forgive you.
Jim arrived at his friend's room and had the latest clue in his hands. He was to go to the clerk at the hotel across the street to get his next clue. Damnit this is it! Jim screamed inwardly. I'm done playing by that demented dwarf's rules. It's time we started playing by MY rules. He tossed the note onto the bed and stormed across the street. He marched over to the clerk and grabbed him by the collar.
"Okay, here is how this is going to go. I'm here to pick up a letter you are holding for James West. You will do your part and give me that letter but you are also going to tell me where to find the demented little idiot who gave it to you," Jim growled as he unceremoniously dumped the clerk back behind the counter.
"He…here you a…are, sir," the clerk stammered as he handed him the letter.
"Now suppose you tell me where to find the man who gave you this."
"I tell you that and I'm a dead man by tomorrow morning."
"Don't tell me and you'll be a dead man in thirty seconds," Jim snarled as he pulled his gun out and held it to the man's chest.
"That little man is evil, pure evil. Go ahead and kill me. It can't be any worse than what he promised he'd do to me."
"How about if I promise you can get far away from him before he knows you told?" Jim countered.
"How can you do that?"
"I'm a Secret Service agent. If you go to this address," Jim scribbled on the back of the envelope, "hand them this and they'll help you," the clerk considered his words.
"I guess dead is dead no matter how you look at it," he sighed and led Jim to a room behind the counter.
"You promise you can deliver on this?"
"I'll take you there myself on the way to my partner if that will loosen your tongue any."
"All right, but you're not going to like it. The doctor has been leading you on a wild goose chase to buy him some time."
"Buy him time? For what?"
"I told you that you aren't going to like it."
"Do I need to shoot you now? Talk!" Jim shouted as he shoved him up against the wall.
"Okay, okay, do you know where the old fort is outside of town?" at Jim's nod he continued, "Where the armory was located you'll find a small opening in the ground. I heard that's where he is. He's hiding under the fort. He's got this whole place carved out for himself. At least that's what I heard."
"What does that have to do with Dr. Loveless sending me all over hell's half acre to buy time?" Jim asked quickly losing his patience.
"That's the part you aren't going to like. He's using the time before you find him and your partner to torture him," the clerk hung his head.
"He WHAT?!?" Jim shouted as she shoved the clerk into the wall.
"I wanted to tell you, sir, honest I did. But I didn't know what you looked like so I had to wait for you to come find me. Ever since your partner disappeared when he first went to your train alone he's had him there and from what I hear he's been working him over pretty good. That big man that works for him can do a lot of damage," this Jim knew only too well.
"All right, let's go."
They rode to the edge of town to what appeared to be an abandoned shack. They entered the shack and Jim led him over to a trap door in the floor. He pulled it open and they descended the stairs. Jim showed his identification and was waved through. After making sure the clerk was in good hands, Jim quickly left and rode back to the train to pick up some of Artie's gadgets. He was upset that he lost some of the precious four hours he had won by taking the short cut. He hurried to the lab and retrieved several items and hurried back to the horse.