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Learning to Improvise…
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Chris absolutely hated waiting. It wasn’t something he did well, nor did he have any desire to do ever be good at it. But he understood the necessity of giving Vin and Ezra time alone. He marshaled what little patience he could lay claim to and settled in to wait after Buck and JD had left.
Chris had managed to pass the time by seeing just how rattled he could make Maude Standish without ever moving a muscle. He smirked internally, not giving any outward sign of just how much pleasure he’d gotten out of doing nothing more than staring at her for nearly an hour. Chris was amused that she’d moved as far away from him as the cell would allow. Like I couldn’t shoot her between the bars. From here it wouldn’t even be a challenge.
He let her see his calculated look as he considered the angles, and just where he’d place his shot. Chris waffled between inflicting something very painful but not fatal, and a truly lethal shot. It didn’t bother him that she was a woman. He’d long since come to the realization that ‘weaker sex’ was a misnomer. The gunslinger had little doubt about her ability to be as mean or vindictive as any man, maybe more so.
Chris’ hand tightened on his the walnut grip of his colt when the door opened, muscles in his legs shifting to launch himself from his chair if need be. He relaxed marginally when Ezra and Vin stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind them. Maude stood immediately, eyes darting toward Ezra.
"I trust you have come to deliver my emancipation from this miserable cage."
Ezra arched an eyebrow, jade green eyes just as cool and unaffected as the stone whose color they favored. "No." He smiled slightly. "I am here to retrieve Mr. Larabee so that a discussion as to how the rescue from your financial predicament can be accomplished."
Her eyes narrowed. "You have a plan?"
"I do."
Chris nodded to himself, not surprised that Ezra would have a solution, although he was astonished that he would have managed to do so in such a short time frame. Somehow he expected Ezra to need more time than just an hour to come to grips with everything that had been said in the saloon. Chris made eye contact with Vin, silently asking if everything was okay. The corners of Vin’s mouth barely lifted, while he gave Chris an almost imperceptible nod. The gunslinger breathed a little easier.
Maude’s hands curled around the bars of her cell. "And am I to be privy to this plan?"
"All in good time, Mother." Ezra raised two fingers to the brim of his hat. "All in good time. For the moment, there is no need to involve you. I believe it would be best for all parties involved if you were to remain where you are for the moment."
The gambler redirected his attention to Chris. "Mr. Larabee, if you would be so kind as to join us in the saloon."
"I’ll be there in a minute, Ez."
"Very good." Ezra nodded and executed as neat an about face as Chris had ever seen.
Vin followed his lover out the door with only a passing glance toward Maude. It was enough to let her know he was still furious with her. The conwoman released her hold on the bars, backing up a step.
Figure Vin will be shadowing Ezra for awhile though. Not that I can blame him there. Not real keen on leaving Ezra alone with is mother…ever. And while she’s in town, I figure Ezra’s got a second shadow.
Chris rose to his feet. He smiled nastily at Maude. "What I said earlier ‘bout picking the lock or trying to escape still goes."
He briefly wondered if it was wrong to find pleasure in seeing her pale before dismissing the thought. There were times in his life when he’d capitalized on his reputation as the ‘bad element’, but none of them ever made him feel as good as this one. Not like she don’t deserve to be scared shitless. After what she suggested to Ezra earlier, she’s mighty damn lucky Vin didn’t skin her alive. Was tempted to gut shoot her myself. Still am tempted.
Maude recovered enough composure to glare at him. "There is no need to continue threatening me."
"Mrs. Standish, I get the feeling you have a real short memory." Chris’ soft tone belied the venom in his voice. "I aim to see to it that you don’t forget your place in this town while you are here."
"My place?" She stiffened noticeably.
"Yep." Chris shifted his weight and stance, allowing the menace he normally controlled to flow naturally. "You came here begging for help…and beggars don’t get to be choosers."
Her eyes flashed. "A beggar? I never—"
"The hell you didn’t." Chris cut her off easily. "And just so we understand one another…The minute you do anything to jeopardize this town, or harm Ezra in any way, I’ll personally see to it that you get a permanent plot of land right next to the church. Figure six feet or so ought to work." He copied Ezra’s two-fingered salute before leaving.
Chris made sure to lock the door behind him. Not so much as a means of keeping her in, but as a way of ensuring everyone else stayed out while he and the others were talking in the saloon. So far no one had noticed that Maude Standish had become a guest in the jail and he rather hoped to keep that way.
He knew her ego was such that she probably didn’t want anyone else in town to become aware of her location, but that she was also enough of an opportunist to make use of someone blithely walking in. Chris had been around Ezra long enough to understand the intricacies of dissimilation. He’d told her not to pick the lock or try to escape, knowing full well Maude would see nothing untoward about convincing some unsuspecting, good Samaritan want-a-be from releasing her.
Chris walked toward the saloon, eyes and ears making note of what was going on in town as he did so. He was pleased the place still seemed quiet, although it felt somewhat off to have so much turmoil so close at hand and not have any of it reflected in the surrounding community. It was easy to overlook the fact that while the town was a central player in the routine and schedule of the seven peacekeepers, the peacekeepers activities did not always play a central role in the day to day lives of the townspeople.
Chris stepped into the saloon. The room was just as empty as it had been earlier. Count your blessing where you find them my mother used to say. I’m thinking the place being empty definitely counts. Don’t need an audience that’s for damn sure.
Buck and JD were seated next to one another. The younger man looked a bit anxious but not overly so. Josiah sat next to Buck, rubbing his right hand as though it pained him. Chris was guessing the one partition in the church the big man had mentioned needing to replace had been torn out. The gunslinger winced wondering if Josiah would be needing Nathan’s services later.
Nathan occupied the seat next to Josiah. He wasn’t aware the healer had made it back to town, but given how late it had gotten, Chris really wasn’t surprised to see him. There was no need for Nathan to stay at the village. Chris knew Maude’s presence in town had nothing to do with the village and he expected Nathan would corroborate that fact.
Vin and Ezra sat together, in their usual seats, leaving the head of the table open for Chris. The gunslinger sat down. "Last time we all met it was to identify a problem and then gather information."
For Nathan’s benefit, since he was the only one who didn’t have the basic information from the conversation with Maude, Chris added, "We spoke to Maude, and it seems she’s here to raise some funds to cover a debt. And the guy she owes isn’t exactly an upstanding citizen, nor is he the type to take no for an answer."
Nathan raised his eyebrows. "How much?"
"Fifteen thousand." Chris grimaced still trying to figure out what the hell she could have spent that kind of money on. "Probably more by now given the interest rate being charged."
Nathan whistled and shook his head in disbelief. "That’s a hell of a lot of money."
"That it is." Chris agreed. He glanced toward his long time friend. "Buck and JD…why don’t you bring everyone up to speed on what you found out since it validates Maude’s story." He held up a hand halting JD’s words before the sheriff could start. "Just hit the highlights, JD."
JD nodded. To his credit the younger man didn’t take offense he simply did as Chris ordered. Ezra, Vin and Josiah did not appear surprised by what JD reported, looking more resigned and disappointed than anything else. Nathan frowned heavily when Buck chimed in with his suppositions about Maude’s attempt to swindle the townspeople, but did not comment.
When JD and Buck finished, Chris looked askance at Nathan. The healer sat up a little straighter. "All’s quiet at the village. Not a whisper of trouble on that end." Nathan sighed. "Guess Maude was busy enough here in town."
"Small favors." Josiah offered with a grim smile.
"Ezra, you said you have a plan?" Chris asked quietly, letting the gambler take control of this meeting.
Ezra nodded. He ticked off the points on his fingers as he began speaking. "Allowing Mother to abscond with money from the good people of Four Corners is obviously not an option. And it is decidedly unlikely that we could acquire that amount of cash through any legal means. Even if we could, staying ahead of the interest being charged is nigh onto impossible. That effectively eliminates the option of simply paying off her debt."
Chris nodded. He’d expected that. He could see similar looks of acceptance from everyone at the table. No way I’m paying off her damn debt any way. Would sooner feed her to the wolves.
The gambler curled his hand into a fist and started ticking off points again. "The nefarious gentleman Chris alluded to earlier, Mr. Vuocolo, engages in what is essentially illegal so it might be possible to see to his arrest. Unfortunately that option would require Mother to testify, an event I consider as unlikely as snow in July. Since his crime took place outside our jurisdiction, it would have to be handled in Denver. According to several associates I have in that fair city, Mr. Vuocolo has enough friends in all the right places so as to make being convicted impossible."
Chris was mildly embarrassed that he hadn’t even thought of arresting the man. Despite working as a peacekeeper he still wasn’t used to having the law on his side. He knew Buck would say he’d lived so long being a law unto himself that he didn’t immediately recognize someone else’s authority. Chris wasn’t sure Buck was wrong about that.
Ezra again fisted his hand, before ticking off points again. "Eliminating Mr. Vuocolo from the picture…shall we say, permanently, is not a viable option. None of us are cold-blood executioners. And in any event, according my associates, he rarely leaves Denver. So it will be men in his employ that we will have to face. Eliminating them will only result in his sending more."
JD huffed out a breath in obvious impatience. "We can’t pay him off, we can’t arrest him and we can’t kill him. What’s left?"
Ezra smiled widely. "We kill Maude."
Josiah sat up straight, back rigid. So did Buck. Nathan and JD looked aghast. Chris could read the same surprised hope and dark pleasure in Vin’s eyes as he knew was mirrored in his own. Wasn’t expecting Ezra to say that.
Ezra chuckled. "If you could see your faces."
JD scowled and slapped the table. "That wasn’t funny, Ezra."
The gambler waved a hand in a dismissive gesture, sobering quickly. "I did not mean literally. We need to convince the men coming after Mother that she is no longer worth coming after. To wit…dead."
"Like when we ran the wagon of the cliff loaded with dummies to fool Wickes." Buck grinned, rubbing his hands together gleefully.
"Something a bit more effective I hope than that ruse proved to be."
"Aw, Ez, it would have worked if the ladies had just been willing to lay low for a while." JD pointed out. "Not our fault those guys saw them running around town."
Vin grinned wolfishly. "Then, ta pull this off means Maude can’t ever come back here, don’t it?"
Ezra tipped his head in acknowledgement of that fact. The corners of Chris’ lips twitched as he fought a grin to match Vin’s. He didn’t like this plan as well as killing Maude for real, but he could definitely see the benefit. He wasn’t going to shed any tears over her having to stay away forever.
"How do you intend to fake her death?" Josiah asked. The big man had relaxed marginally since finding out Ezra hadn’t meant to genuinely kill his mother.
"The how is less important than the when." Ezra commented. "It has to be done when Vuocolo’s minions are present to witness it."
"But we don’t know when they’ll arrive." Nathan protested. He gave Ezra a hard look. "Or do we?"
"We do."
"More from your ‘associates’ in Denver?" Chris asked dryly.
"Quite." Ezra smiled, winking at him. "I look for them to appear in two days time. Which unfortunately does not leave us much time to plan our little drama."
Chris pursed his lips. Two days would be when the next stage arrived. He and Vin traded a look. Chris sent another one toward Buck. Someone would definitely be keeping an eye on it when the stage pulled in to town.
"Still didn’t say how we were going to fake her death." Josiah pointed out.
"The men following my mother believe she came here with the intent of retrieving money with which to pay her debt. While we know her actually having any funds to be false, we want for the men following her to believe that she did in fact have the money to accomplish the Herculean task of paying Vuocolo."
"Why?" JD frowned.
"Because then they are more likely to believe that she was killed in a robbery attempt. A robbery attempt that will be very public." Ezra smiled. "Mother’s efforts with the townspeople will work in our favor there."
"How?" Buck shook the way a wet dog might, clearly not following Ezra. Chris could sympathize. Ezra’s logic was like watching a snake move, not a straight line in sight.
"Because, my dear Mr. Wilmington, half this town already believes my mother is here to invest money for friends. They will readily accept that she was robbed simply because they believe she has something worth stealing."
Chris nodded, understanding that point. It was times like these he was very glad Ezra was on their side. The man could see all the angles and points the others over looked.
Ezra shrugged one shoulder. "An added bonus is that should Vuocolo’s men speak with any of the townspeople, they will hear the same thing you and JD did today. They will likely draw the same conclusions that you did, assuming she was attempting to swindle people out of their money, perhaps that she even succeeded to some extent. In any event, unlike with the good ladies of Wickes Town, I think it best that we not enlist any help from the townspeople. The less they know the better. It will be better and more believable for them to mourn her passing honestly."
"If we’re not getting help from anyone else who’s going to rob Maude?" JD frowned, looking confused. "I mean, it can’t be one of us. Too many people know us around here, and you said you wanted it to be public so…"
Ezra grinned. "No one needs to actually rob Mother. It jus has to SEEM that way."
The gambler reached out to lightly caress Vin’s cheek, hand moving to ghost over his ear, brushing back Vin’s long hair. Vin shivered, blue eyes darkening almost immediately in response to Ezra’s touch. While Chris didn’t object to the obvious display of affection, nor did he notice any of the others looking offended, he didn’t think this was the time or place. There was too much that needed settled first. He was about to snap at Ezra that he and Vin could play after they were done when a coin suddenly appeared in his fingers as though Ezra had pulled it from his lover’s ear.
The gambler smiled slyly, making the coin suddenly appear in his other hand. "Illusion, JD, nothing but illusion."
"And how do we create this robbing illusion?" Nathan asked, looking dubiously at the coin Ezra held between two fingers.
"An ad in the paper will inform the good citizens that Maude Standish is in town seeking investment opportunities for well-to-do friends, further adding to the con she has already begun. The ad will invite all interested parties to attend a meeting for more information. Since there isn’t much going on of late to constitute excitement in town at the moment, I have no doubt such a meeting would be well attend by those genuinely interested as well as by the casually curious."
Ezra paused and looked askance at Josiah. "I think the church will be a good place to hold the meeting. Certainly more appropriate than the saloon, and it is the only other building in town with enough room to hold the curious such an ad will likely draw."
The big man nodded. "The church would be a good place."
"Excellent." Ezra idly walked the coin he held across his knuckles before pocketing it. "No one would expect Vin or Chris to attend such a function. Vin’s dislike for crowds is well known, and Chris isn’t the sort to have patience for what he regards as ‘foolishness’. So their absence will not be remarked upon. I will explain the importance of that in a moment."
Ezra’s gaze went to Buck. "You will be assigned to keep watch on the rest of the town," Ezra looked toward JD, "because JD will be attending the meeting as a precaution. Just doing is duty to ensure it is a peaceable gathering."
Ezra tipped his head toward Nathan. "You will also be at the meeting. Just another curious soul wondering what all the fuss is about, and as back up for JD."
"Now…that leaves only Josiah." Ezra smiled at the former preacher. "You are a natural choice to escort my mother to this meeting. Most of the town is familiar with your previous feelings of admiration for her. And it will lend credence to the course of events that need to take place."
Ezra pointed to Nathan and JD. "The people who show up will begin to get restless when Maude does not show up exactly on time. A lady never shows up on time…Ever. So you will calm the crowd, explaining that you will go see what could be holding up Josiah and Maude."
Ezra tipped his head toward Chris. "There will be gunfire heard from the hotel where Maude is staying. Broken furniture. Smashing glass from one of the windows. Fleeing horses. Josiah will be found unconscious, rendered so by the phantom assailants. Maude will naturally have attempted to prevent the theft, tried to defend her fallen paramour, and be ‘killed’ during the ensuing struggle. Nathan will, of course, pronounce her dead, and tend to Josiah’s ‘injury’."
Ezra waved a hand toward Chris. "No one will think Chris was the one doing the shooting. Everyone will assume he was drawn to it as one of the peacekeepers of this town. His showing up in response to it will be substantiated by statements made by JD, who will naturally be inundated with questions from the townspeople who are likewise drawn to the commotion."
Ezra tipped his head toward Vin. "Likewise, no one will suspect Vin to be the one fleeing. Particularly not if he isn’t riding his own horse, wearing his distinctive capote, and it is dark enough to obscure his features."
Ezra grinned. "And the beauty is that he only need ride out of visual range, change clothes and come back as himself. A very short turn around time, which will allow him to be on hand before anyone even realizes he left. And people will expect Vin to be on hand since he would be the logical choice for Chris to send after the fleeing felons. Track them down as it were."
Ezra chuckled. "Losing his own trail…oh the irony of that." Vin slanted an amused look toward his lover, but didn’t comment.
"So we pretend to shoot Maude—" JD began, only to be cut off by Ezra.
"No." Ezra corrected. "I’m thinking we will have her die of a broken neck or perhaps strangulation. Less bloody for one…and if we need for her to pretend to be a corpse, we can do so far more easily."
Ezra ran a thumb over his lower lip. "The shots are meant to assist in the drawing of a crowd sufficient to establish Mother’s demise. While someone might be smart enough question the fact that Mother was not killed by a bullet, I seriously doubt anyone will even notice. If they do, the shots can be explained as being from Josiah’s gun, an act of defense. Or as coming from Chris in an effort to halt the perpetrators of this horrible crime."
The gambler tapped an elegant finger against the table, nodding to himself. "Yes, a viewing would be in order. As her only living relative it will be incumbent on me to make the arrangements. And with Mother already in her Sunday best, so to speak, my friends can point out to me in my grief stricken state how appropriate it would be to bury her in that. Eliminates the need to have another woman dress her for burial as propriety and common practice warrant."
Ezra bit his lip. "We will have to make sure Vuocolo’s men see her at some point. Seeing is believing after all."
"And how are you going to make her look dead?" Nathan queried, looking honestly curious.
"Makeup will be sufficient to make her look appropriately pale. And Mother is well versed in remaining motionless when the situation calls for it. With one or more of us always standing by, more than a cursory look from our marks will not be needed or permitted."
Buck whistled. "Damn, Ez, you thought all this up mighty damn quick."
Ezra arched an eyebrow. "The planning is nothing, Buck. Execution will be everything."
Chris nodded. "Plans don’t often survive encountering the enemy…leastwise not very long."
"Indeed." Ezra’s eyes flickered over the table. "Every one understands the part they are to play?"
Several nods answered him. "Piece of cake, Ez." JD stated with confidence. Chris sincerely hoped the younger man’s statement would be an accurate description.
"What will you be doing?" Josiah asked. Chris realized for the first time that while lining everything out, Ezra hadn’t mentioned his own role.
"I will be at the meeting, like any dutiful son should be." Ezra smirked. "The commotion at the hotel will draw me as well as the rest of the town. I can be the catalyst there if need be to get them moving. Of course, I will naturally be distraught over the unexpected and brutal demise of my mother." Ezra placed a hand over his heart, a very believable expression of complete devastation on his face if one overlooked the twinkle in his green eyes.
"You think Maude will play along?" Chris asked, seeing her acquiescence as a potential stumbling block.
"She will agree." Ezra stated with a smile. Chris found himself wondering if his own smile held that sort of understated confidence blended with outright ruthlessness to see his will done. After a moment, he decided it did.
He nodded. "All right then. Let’s set this in motion."
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