Several days later, while at his usual spot in the saloon, Angel Eyes was thinking it was about time for another tryst with Emma. He was getting very used to having a regular sex partner for free.
"Are you Angel Eyes?" A well dressed man wearing a wide brimmed hat that obscured his face stood before him, interrupting his reverie. Unlike the bumpkin of several days past, this one looked like he could pay his fee.
"Yeah," he replied. "What can I do for you?"
"I need to talk about a job for you," the man began.
"So talk," Angel Eyes said in a bored voice, as he lit his pipe. His clients weren't always this hesitant.
"Not here," the man said emphatically. "One never knows who's listening. We need to meet elsewhere to talk privately."
"All right," the hired gun agreed. "Are you new here?"
"Just rode into town," the other man affirmed.
"I'll meet you at thw old shack in front of an abandoned mine about a mile and a half out of town on the southern road," Angel Eyes told him. "Say, in about two hours?"
"I'll be there." He turned and left the saloon, keeping his face turned away from the other patrons.
Angel Eyes went to the window to watch the man leave, looking to see if there were others waiting out there for him. The man mounted a horse and rode away, apparently alone. Still, he'd not take any chances.
Fifteen minutes after the man had left, he slipped out the back door of the saloon and retrieved his horse from the livery. He rode out to the shack, taking a circuitous route cross-country, arriving well ahead of the appointed time.
After hobbling his horse out of sight from those on the road, the hired assassin settled in to wait behind an old wagon that screened him from view. Seating himself on an abandoned wooden crate, he smoked his pipe to pass the time.
Angel Eyes remained alert, monitoring his surroundings to make sure no others were coming to bushwhack him.
The man arrived right on time, his eagerness apparent. He silently watched him for a few moments as the other man tethered his horse to a tree, then started looking around nervously.
The hired gun stood up silently, gesturing to the man. "Over here."
After the man joined him behind the wagon, Angel Eyes said, "So what's the job?"
The man gathered his wits; it wasn't every day that one talked to a paid killer. He then said, "While playing poker, I got cheated out of the money I had saved to buy a new house for my wife. The man who won was relentless and didn't care when I told him what I needed the money for. It turned out he was a professional gambler - a card sharp."
"Seems to me you shouldn't have sat down with a experienced gambler if you weren't that experienced yourself. And you shouldn't bet any more than you can afford to lose," Angel Eyes observed
"So you won't take the job?" the other man asked.
"I didn't say that," the hired gun said. "I'd say this is a two hundred and fifty dollar job." Giving the client a meaningful look, he added, "Payable in advance."
"Why so much?" the client whined. "And how do I know you won't just ride off with my money and not do the job?
Angel Eyes was close to losing his temper at this point. But he could use the money, so he decided to give the man another chance.
Fixing him with a baleful stare, he said in a cold voice,"I'm the best in the business. I can do this without getting caught and without implicating you. You could always hire a two bit saddle tramp or try to do it yourself, but the odds are you'd get killed yourself or get caught." Snorting in disgust, he added, "And when I get paid, I always see the job through."
"A-all right," the other man said. "You've convinced me." Opening his wallet, he counted out two-hundred and fifty dollars, then handed it to the hired gun.
"I'll get this done within the next two weeks, depending on whether I have to track him." About to turn away from the other man, he added, "Give me a description of him and where you last saw him. And what's his name?*
The client provided the information, then said, "His name is Jesse Bannister "
Angel Eyes had been counting the money, but flicked his eyes up at the mention of Jesse. He kept his face expressionless as the man turned away, his business concluded.
The assassin quietly drew his gun, then fired two rounds into the man's back. Rolling him over, he saw that his would-be client was still just barely alive.
Leaning close, he growled, "Jesse Bannister is my best friend. You picked the wrong man to kill him." Raising his gun again he said, "You lose," then put a bullet in his brain.
Angel Eyes knew if he hadn't killed him, he'd have just gone to another hired gun who would have taken the job.
He bent down and went through the man's pockets and got another hundred bucks. There was nothing else he wanted, so he threw a tarp from the old wagon over the corpse. He figured it would be discovered in a few days, but that no one would really care.
Going over to the man's horse, he led it over to where his own horse waited. He went through the saddlebags and found another fifty bucks. He slapped the horse on the rump and it ran away from the road.
Angel Eyes whistled contentedly as he rode away. Four hundred dollars without having to do a thing to earn it. While riding along, he thought of how he'd first met Jesse Bannister, when they both were in their early twenties.
He'd still been a bounty hunter then, using his real name, William Sentenza. He'd hung out in the saloons between jobs, much as he did now, which was how he'd met Jesse. Jesse had earned Angel Eyes' loyalty and respect when he'd provided him with an alibi when he was a suspect in one of his earlier kills. Since that time, the two men occasionally did favors for one another, each helping the other to get out of jams.
Jesse had given him the idea of becoming a hired gun instead of a bounty hunter: it made more money and he didn't have to deal with lawmen. Angel Eyes had eased into being a hired gun by taking jobs in between bounty hunting. Soon, he'd stopped being a bounty hunter altogether and ceased using his real name. It had been Jesse who had suggested the moniker, Angel Eyes, because of his intense stare.
When he got close to town, he ended his woolgathering. He decided he would seek out Emma for the evening. And no sooner than he'd had the thought, he saw her in front of a house on the outskirts of town.
Seeing no one nearby, he stopped his horse in front of her. "Tonight?" He leaned over to gently squeeze her hand.
"I'll be there," she replied, smiling up at him.
As he squeezed her hand, she noticed a small spot of fresh blood on his shirt cuff. She did not ask him about it, however.
He moved on to the livery, satisfied that his plans for the evening were set.