Gunsmoke and Spies 2

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Lee held Amanda's hand tightly as he led her down the boardwalk, following the bald man with the red rose. Sauntering along in front of the storefronts with antiques proudly displayed in the front windows, the man gave no indication that he was anything more than one of the many tourists there that day. But as he fit the description of their contact and no one else around did, Lee continued to follow him.

Slowly making his way down through the many buildings he stopped at several displays, apparently reading the description cards. Despite their mission, Amanda found herself being somewhat drawn into the many exhibitions. Silently she wished the boys were there. They would love some of the exhibits she was being treated to. But the boys and her mother were on a camping trip. They thought she was scouting locations for a new documentary.

In one window, was displayed an orange and gold satin dress with a sort of popcorn looking adornment on the bodice. A small placard proclaimed it to be the dress of Kitty Russell, the famous saloon owner and later wife of Matt Dillon. Though the cuffs were a bit frayed and the color was a touch faded, Amanda could see that it must've been an expensive dress at the time. On the wall next to the dress was a faded black and white picture of a beautiful woman with a beauty mark on her right cheek. Amanda didn't need to be told who she was.

Next to that window, was a man's brocade vest in vibrant colors of red, gold and black. The placard in front of it stated it had belonged to a man called Sam Noonan, reportedly the head bartender at the famous, or infamous, depending on how you looked at it, Long Branch saloon. The vest was large and Amanda got an image of a tall man with perhaps dark hair and a handlebar mustache, polishing the bar and serving cold beer, while the beautiful red headed owner looked on in her orange satin dress.

As the tour continued the bald headed man made a stop at a rack of glassed off rifles and handguns. One of the latter had a small sign beside it stating it had belonged to none other than the famous Matt Dillon, who had been the Marshal there for many years.

In the building next door was a black, high wheeled buggy with a reclining canopy. A small sign, in front of it, named it the vehicle verified to be used by Dodge's first doctor, and the only doctor for a hundred miles, for 20 years or more, Galen Adams.

Amanda was enjoying the history that she was now passing through and wanted more than anything to see even more but Lee was pulling her along urgently. "He's moving again," he whispered.

As the man stepped into the replica of the old Dodge City church, Lee pulled Amanda to a stop and pressed close to her. "Give it a minute." He whispered. "Let's make sure no one else goes in."

Amanda nodded and took the opportunity to give Lee a hug, all in the name of their disguise as a honeymooning couple, who decided to do a tour of the old west.

Lee didn't object to the hug. As a matter of fact, he didn't seem to notice as he intently watched the church. Finally he gave Amanda's hand a tug. "Come on."

Casually they meandered down to the church and stepped up onto the small porch and into the equally as small sanctuary. "Guess they didn't have too many devote Christians back then." Lee commented when he took in the tiny size of the structure.

"Guess not." Amanda agreed as she nodded towards the front of the church where a man stood near the cordoned off pulpit, supposedly studying the architecture. "There's our contact."

Lee took another glance around them. "Watch the door." He told Amanda as he walked down the aisle to stand beside the man at the front. "Nice day out." He remarked without really looking at the stranger next to him.

"It is if you like a chance of rain." The man replied. "I myself prefer calmer seas."

Lee nodded. The recognition codes were correct. "What do you have for us?" He turned his head and once again scanned the building.

"I don't." The man answered, hazarding a glance in Lee's direction. "Your contact does. Give him a call when you get back to your hotel room. But be careful. I don't think they're onto him, but they know something's in the wind."

"My contact?" Lee turned and gave him a blatantly puzzled stare. "I thought you were my contact."

"Nope." The man answered. "Just a friend of his. Your partner back there has his number. Give him a call. He'll explain."

Lee started to ask another question but he heard Amanda calling him in her fake Texas accent as she hurried down the aisle. "Ricky Joe, I think maybe we ought to go and get us a seat at that little show at the Long Branch, don't you?"

Lee looked up to see four women and two young girls enter the little church chatting amiably among themselves and viewing the glassed off artifacts near the door. "Yeah, honey, I guess we oughta." He smiled at her. Glancing back behind him, he saw his contact had disappeared out the side door. Gripping Amanda's hand, he led her down the narrow aisle and back outside.

"What'd he say?" Amanda asked, as they walked.

"He said he wasn't the contact. Said we'd already met the man and he had given you a card." Lee said quietly, constantly watching the people around them. Something was up. He could feel something was wrong but he didn't know what.

"Me?" Amanda looked confused before it dawned on her. "Matt Dillon." She whispered as she dug her hands into the pocket of her skirt. "He gave me his card when we were up at the cemetery, remember?" Pulling out the small blue card, she handed it to Lee.

On the front, printed in plain bold lettering was the name Matt Dillon, US Marshal. On the back was a phone number and two words. "Be careful."

"Lee, I don't understand." Amanda whispered. "Why didn't Mr. Dillon just talk to us while we were up at the cemetery? No one else was around."

Lee shrugged, still swiveling his head around. That feeling of something being wrong was getting stronger. "I don't know, Amanda. He probably saw something or someone we didn't." He told her as he suddenly reached for her hand and began to pull her along. "But I do know something's not right around here. Come on, let's go."

TBC