Gunsmoke and Spies 7
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"You're watching that red head awful close, Saldez." With his thinning, greasy blond hair, placidly long face and dull brown eyes, Cash Hayworth looked as dense as he usually was. But every so often he picked up on things. Like the attention his boss was currently paying to the beautiful saloon owner. "What's so interesting about her, besides her looks, that is?"
Saldez' black eyes followed Kitty as she made her way up the stairs to Doc's office. He refrained from a reply, until she had entered and closed the door behind her. "She is de woman of de Marshal here." He smiled lazily, making his scarred face even uglier in Hayworth's opinion. Just as bad as his heavily accented way of talking.
"So?" Hayworth knew about the famous Dodge City lawman, but he wasn't overly concerned. Dillon knew nothing about them.
"So, I tink it best we keep an eye on Dillon." Saldez nodded towards the jail, where Matt was just coming out onto the boardwalk. "He don' know we're here, but he don' miss much either. He becomes problem, we take his woman. He'll heel like a trained dog, we got her."
"Aw," Hayworth scoffed at the idea. "He ain't gonna be no trouble to us. He don't even know we're in town. And even if he did, he'd have no way of knowing what we're up to. I'm telling you, Saldez, it's that Stetson we gotta be concerned with. We should've just gone ahead and shot him and his missus yesterday instead of just spooking their horse. It'd a taken care of everything."
Saldez turned and gave his taller partner an irritated frown. "Si, it would take care of getting de attention of dat Marshal. De one you say don' know nothin' about us." He growled. "Accidents happen, my friend, but murder does not."
Hayworth dropped his head and nodded. "Guess I didn't think about it like that. Okay, so we keep an eye on Dillon. But I still think Stetson's a bigger threat. He ain't here just cause he likes the scenery. And I don't buy him marryin' that brunette. She's damn pretty and all but from what I heard, Stetson ain't the marryin' kind."
Saldez shook his head at his partner's denseness. "Hav' you seen him look at her?" He was trying to keep his voice and his temper down. "Dat Stetson, he love her like Dillon love dat red head." Suddenly a thought came to him and an evil grin lit his face. "Dat's it!" He exclaimed, black eyes sparkling with glee. "I know how to keep both de men off us."
As before, Cash Hayworth suddenly had a moment of inspiration and he picked up on his boss' meaning instantly. "We take em' both." He returned Saldez' grin.
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Amanda was still asleep when Kitty entered Doc's office and, no surprise to her, Lee had already left, leaving Amanda in Doc's care. "How is she doing?" Kitty inclined her head towards the bedroom.
"Ah, she's just fine, Kitty. I think she should stay in bed a couple more days, but I doubt she'll do it. She reminds me of a certain red head I know, stubborn."
Kitty grinned. "Why thank you, Dr. Adams. I'll take that as a compliment."
"Wasn't meant to be." Doc mumbled, shaking his head as he shuffled over to the stove. "Want some coffee?"
"Yeah, I'll take a cup." Kitty answered.
"Can I have a cup too?" Amanda asked from the bedroom doorway.
Turning, Doc and Kitty saw that she was up and dressed, her hair neatly brushed and tucked up in a soft bun. "Young lady, what do you think you're doing?" Doc asked he stepped over and took Amanda's arm, guiding her to the chair in front of his desk. "I thought I told you to stay in bed."
"Yes, sir," Amanda answered, "you did. But I can't just lay in there. I need to find Lee and see if he's alright. Oh, Kitty. That's a really pretty dress you have on. I like that orange satin and the top is so pretty and unusual. Oh, I don't mean bad unusual. Just different. Look, Dr. Adams, I have to find Lee. I have to know that he's okay. I mean if he's not okay then I wouldn't be okay and of course if I'm not okay then…"
"Amanda," Kitty stepped over to her, somewhat amused at how many words she could say in one breath. "Your husband is with Marshal Dillon and they are working on finding Saldez. Trust me, he is just fine. And I doubt he would want you worried about him."
Amanda looked up into Kitty's blue eyes and saw honesty and kindness and somehow she knew she could trust her. "Alright." She said softly. "But I'd still like to see him."
"Your wish is my command." Lee spoke from the doorway as he came into the office. "Morning, Amanda. Sorry I wasn't here when you woke up, but… I…"
"I know, Sweetheart," she gave him a grateful smile as she rose and rushed into his arms. "I'm just glad you're here now."
"Your husband and I were wondering if we could take you two ladies to breakfast this morning." Matt spoke as he came in behind Lee and stopped beside Kitty. "You too, Doc, if ya want to come." He grudgingly invited.
"Oh, no," Doc shook his head with a scrub of his mustache as he headed for the door. "I have no desire to sit in on some love fest between you all. Besides, I've already had my breakfast and I have some calls to make. Now that you're here, Mr. Stetson, you can take charge of your wife so I can go see some really sick patients." Donning his hat and his jacket, he grabbed his bag and left without another word.
Matt and Kitty exchanged conspiratorial grins as Lee and Amanda looked a little confused and worried. "Did we upset him?" She asked worriedly. "We didn't mean…"
"Oh, don't worry about, Doc." Kitty chuckled. "His bark is a lot worse than his bite. He's not mad."
"Nope, just perpetually grumpy." Matt added as Kitty lightly swatted him on the arm. "So what do you ladies say, breakfast sound good?"
"Does to me." Kitty agreed.
"Me too," Amanda nodded, taking Lee's arm. "I think I'm actually hungry."
As the foursome made their way down the stairs and headed to the restaurant, Saldez and Hayworth stood in the alley quietly watching.
"What'cha think?" Hayworth asked his sullen companion.
"I tink we wait. De lawmen won' be wit them always. Dey be alone sometime. When dey are, we take them."
TBC