*********

Vin and Chris exchanged a glance as they approached the mob of almost two dozen people.

“Mr. Larabee,” the telegraph operator greeted nervously. “I... we would like to thank you and your men for all you have done in the last few days and as a token of our appreciation, we’d like you to accept this.”

One of the women stepped forward and handed the gunfighter an expensive bottle of bourbon. Chris stared down at the gift and lifted his eyes to the worried faces watching him.

“Mr. Larabee, we aren’t too proud to beg.” The men and women behind the speaker began to nod vigorously. “We have families that need protecting. We are willing to put together and pay you to stay... please.”

Larabee glanced at Tanner.

Chris turned back to the crowd. “I wish we could stay, but we can’t.” The gunfighter offered the bottle back.

“No. Please keep it. It is thanks for what you have done while you’ve been here.” The people nodded their agreement.

Larabee’s head bobbed and then he and Vin turned and headed for the saloon.

“They’re scared,” Vin muttered.

“They have every right to be.”

**********

The scar-faced assassin climbed the stairs of the boarding house. Most of the rooms were empty. Silently, he moved down the corridor and stopped outside a room. Scanning the hallway carefully, he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Quickly, he looked around and spotted a saddle sitting on the ground. O’Brien rushed across to it, took out a knife and began to saw through one of the straps. Not all of the way though, but enough to ensure that it would tear after the rider pushed the horse a distance. O’Brien smiled, satisfied with his work.

Quietly, he opened the door and slipped back into the hallway. He continued up the corridor to a closed door that was only a couple of doors up from Chris and Vin’s room.

“Barwick?”

The door opened. “Get in here!” The man who had hired Lester, Godwin and O’Brien ushered the only one left standing into the room. Hastily, he checked the hallway and then closed the door.

O’Brien frowned. Barwick appeared nervous. That was dangerous. “Have you got my money?”

“Three thousand now and the rest once it’s done. My employer thought that was fair.” O’Brien nodded and thrust his hand out.

Barwick turned and walked to the dresser. He opened the drawer. O’Brien approached silently, taking a piece of cord from his pocket. Barwick had become a liability!

**********

“Well?” Chris asked as Nathan, Josiah and Ezra joined the rest of the group.

“Nothing.”

Nathan eyed Vin.

“I’m fine, Nathan.”

Jackson doubted that. The healer knew that the influenza assailing Vin’s body was reaching its climax. No doubt the tracker was feeling dreadful, but like Chris, Nathan understood his friend’s need to be involved.

“How long have you been awake?”

“About twenty minutes.”

“In another hour, I want you to go back up and lay down.”

Surprisingly, Tanner didn’t argue. He was out of bed and wanted to be, but the illness really was taxing him. He felt weak and his joints were aching. At the moment, his headache was a dull annoyance and his fever just bearable, but he understood how quickly that could change.

“If the scar-faced man is going to act, he’s going to have to do it shortly,” Buck commented, his eyes roving the over-crowded room. People were staring at the Seven. Their leaving had become the topic of conversation with everyone.

“But who hired him?” J.D. asked.

Vin didn’t say anything. He couldn’t shake his belief that it was Badden. It was more than the fact that he thought he had seen her and had tasted the poison. He had a feeling, and the young tracker had learned to trust his instincts.

Larabee’s eyes flicked to Tanner. You still think it’s her?

I know it is.

Chris frowned. Normally, he would back Vin’s instincts one hundred percent, but this time he just couldn’t. “Any word from Tentafield?”

“Not yet.”

“Let’s spread out,” Buck suggested. “We aren’t likely to find this guy sitting around in here.”

“Aright. Keep your eyes peeled, but, boys be careful.”

“I need to get something from our room,” Nathan commented.

“I shall accompany you, Mr. Jackson.”

“Here, put this upstairs,” Chris stated, pushing the bottle of bourbon across to the healer. “A gift from the people of Peter’s Gap.”

“Expensive.”

“They’re desperate.”

“I don’t blame them.”

Ezra picked up the bottle and he and Nathan left.

**********

O’Brien exited Barwick’s room and pulled the door shut. He beckoned the four men who were waiting at the top of the stairs. He had offered them and their fifth friend money to help him. Normally, he only worked with Lester and Godwin but both men were dead and O’Brien knew he couldn’t handle all of the Larabee Gang in the time he had. If he paid this lot, it would still leave him with plenty. Besides, he hoped to be riding out of Peter’s Gap within the next couple of hours. If everything went as planned, it should be within the hour.

Without a word, O’Brien handed each of the thugs he had hired a hundred dollars from his recently filled pocket.

“You know what to do?”

“Yeah.” The group smiled. For a hundred dollars they’d kill a thousand men!

A fifth man came racing up the stairs. “Two of them just left the saloon and it looks like they’re headed this way!”

O’Brien smiled and nodded. “Take care of them.” With that, the assassin thrust a hundred dollars at the last man and then rushed to the end of the hall and exited via the hidden set of steps that Vin had discovered. O’Brien had other things he needed to be doing.

The five thugs melted into a couple of rooms and closed the doors... to wait.

**********

Just as Buck was suggesting that he and J.D. go to one of the other saloons, David Flynn, the youngest deputy, came rushing into the room.

“Mr. Larabee!”

“What is it, Kid?”

“I can’t find Sheriff Brewer and... you’ve got to come and see!” The young man’s face was white, his eyes wide.

Vin and Chris exchanged a glance. “What is it?”

“The woodshed behind the church... I... I can’t find Sheriff Brewer and...”

“Alright, son, we’re coming,” Josiah stated. Vin started to rise.

“You stay here and rest,” Larabee suggested as he stood up. Vin frowned. He didn’t like the idea of Chris being out of sight.

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Josiah assured the other man. The preacher said it sincerely, knowing how seriously Vin was taking the business with Badden.

“Watch your back,” Vin murmured.

“Yell if ya need us,” Buck called after Josiah and Chris.

**********

Chris and Josiah followed the young deputy who kept turning around and urging them to hurry. The boy stopped outside the large woodshed and pointed inside. Chris stepped forward and grimaced. Hanging by the neck from the roof was a young man. Death was never a pretty site.

“It’s the drunk that tipped his drink on Ezra,” Josiah stated, stepping into the old shed. “Someone killed him to stop us getting any answers out of him. Kid, go and find Brewer.” The deputy nodded vigorously and shot out of the shed. “We better cut the poor soul down.”

The pair lowered the body to the ground and searched for some form of identification.

“Nothing. He‘s been dead a while,” Josiah added, covering his nose with his hand.

Chris rose to his feet and directed his attention to the interior of the shed. “Take a look around. We might find something to identify the killer.”

**********

Nathan and Ezra climbed the stairs. Yet another group of citizens begging them to stay had stopped them on their way to their room.

Both men were deep in thought. Neither felt comfortable deceiving the innocent people of Peter’s Gap. Worse, they felt uneasy doubting Vin, but they had little choice in both cases.

“I almost hope Badden is alive,“ Ezra muttered. Nathan sighed and nodded.

As the healer passed a door on his left, something caught his eye. Nathan paused and stepped closer. The door was slightly ajar.

“What is it?“ Ezra asked.

Jackson’s eyes widened. Abruptly, he pushed the door open and rushed in, dropping beside the prone figure on the ground.

“Nathan?”

“Ezra, get my bag! Someone’s tried to strangle him. He’s still alive!”

Ezra jogged down the hall and hurried into his and Nathan’s room. Standish dropped the bottle of bourbon on the bed and reached for the medical bag on the floor in the corner. As the young man was rising to his feet he heard clambering behind him. Startled, the gambler turned. All he saw was a blur as three men rushed him, knocking him backwards. As Ezra went down, he spotted others in the hallway.

“Nathan! Look out!”

**********

Chris had very sensibly suggested that Vin stay in the dry and relatively warm saloon to rest. Larabee may understand his friend’s need to be downstairs and involved in the search, but did so within reason. The gunfighter had exchanged a quick glance with Wilmington before he left the room. Buck had understood and accepted the responsibility. Vin was ill and Chris had placed him in Buck’s care. It wasn’t a patronizing act, but one that was the result of genuine concern for their ill companion.

“..., don’t your reckon, Vin?“ Buck and J.D. glanced at each other. Vin had become very quiet since the others had left. J.D. had tried to get his friend involved in conversation, but Tanner had been so deep in thought that he had failed to answer.

“Vin?” J.D. prompted again. Tanner started shaking his head. “Vin?”

The young tracker couldn’t dismiss his suspicions. It was Badden. He could feel it. She was after Chris. Without a word, Tanner rose to his feet.

“Vin?”

He had to speak to Chris. For some reason, he had a very, very bad feeling. Something was wrong. Vin strode toward the door.

“Vin? Where the hell are you going?! Vin?!”

“Buck?” J.D. asked as the scoundrel stood up.

“Come on, J.D. We have to go with him.” Buck rushed across to the barman. “Tell Chris we had to leave.” The barman nodded wide-eyed. Buck paused. “On second thought, don’t worry about it. Vin’s going over to the woodshed anyway. Come on, J.D.”

Vin strode down the street, headed for the shed behind the church. He had to speak to Chris. He had tried to do this Larabee’s way, but he couldn’t. Badden was behind this! He just knew it.

Abruptly, the livery hand came rushing up to the tracker, waving his arms frantically. “Hey, fella! It’s your horse! It’s down. I tried to get it up but...” Vin didn’t wait to hear any more. He sprinted straight to the stables. Not Peso! Not the poison! If Badden had laid a hand on Peso, she’d pay for it!

**********

Jackson heard both his friend’s muffled cry and the thundering of boots. Nathan drew his knife, twisted and started to rise to his feet in one movement. Two men rushed into the room. Nathan threw, the knife finding its mark in the middle of one of his attacker’s chests. The other tackled him. Nathan catapulted backwards but he lost his footing and stumbled back over the figure on the floor. His head smashed against the edge of the dresser with a sickening smack. Jackson collapsed to the floor. The man above him raised the piece of wood he had in his hand, but he paused. It was obvious that Nathan was out cold, blood seeping from a cut at the side of his head.

Nathan’s attacker glanced back at his companion who had a long knife decorating the middle of his chest. Shoving the unconscious man roughly, the thug rose to his feet panting. “Damn nigger!” He moved to his friend and bent over him, but his companion was beyond help.

“Bastard.“ As O’Brien’s hired thug stood up, he noted the sound of a violent struggle a few doors up. Rushing to his companions’ aid, he found that Standish was putting up one hell of a fight. The regulator had already dispensed two and had the last up against the wall. The wood wielding man raced in and slammed the board against the back of Ezra’s skull. The regular collapsed to the floor in a heap.

“Thanks,“ the other man muttered.

“Come on. Get them on their feet,” the wood wielding assassin growled, indicating their two companions on the floor.

The second man lashed out at the unconscious gambler with his foot.

“Leave him! We need to get the fire started.”

“Where’s Dave?”

“That damn nigger killed him, Jack!” The pair pulled their groggy companions to their feet and dragged them out into the hallway.

**********

Josiah and Chris wandered around the building.

“It’s large for a woodshed,” Chris murmured.

“Doesn’t look like anyone’s been in here for years,” Josiah muttered, picking up an old crate and glancing into it. The dust was inches thick. Cobwebs covered everything.

Josiah spotted a chain and lock on the ground just inside the door. The preacher picked them up. “Must have been locked up. Someone’s used one of those big sets of pliers to cut through the chain.”

“So what was the young deputy doing back here if no one has used it in years?” Chris asked moving further back. Larabee’s mind began to review the incidents that had taken place in Peter‘s Gap. The sign had been thrown on him after he had been called to see Brewer. Was Brewer involved in this in some way? Had he been involved in setting the Seven up?

Chris stopped walking, staring at the very end of the room. In the back corner was a corral. “Looks like it was a livery at some stage.”

Josiah smiled and moved back to the middle of the room. “I must tell J.D. He thinks that James is buried here somewhere.”

“Someone killed the drunk so we couldn’t identify who hired him.”

“Look’s like it.

Chris raised his hand and wiped cobwebs out of the way as he moved toward the rear of the wooden structure. He glanced down. The dust here had been disturbed.

“Someone’s been down here recently.“

“Yeah?“ Josiah asked, wandering up behind his companion.

Chris moved forward cautiously, his eyes darting from side to side. Unexpectedly, his leg struck a low wire. A tripwire!

“Josiah! Get down!“ Larabee threw himself to the side, knowing he had set off some sort of trap. There was a swishing sound. Larabee’s eyes widened. As he fell, he was slammed in the middle of the back and catapulted forward! Pain exploded through his body.

*********

Vin raced into the livery and headed for Peso’s stall. His eyes widened and then narrowed. Peso was on his feet!

A horrible feeling washed over him. Chris? His best friend was in trouble.

Abruptly, his neck prickled. Vin recognized the acid bubbling in his stomach as a warning. His instincts were alerting him to danger. As the tracker twisted back toward the door to rush to his friend’s assistance, he heard a swish. A rope dropped around his neck and was pulled taught. Vin grabbed at it desperately. The cord tightened further, cutting into his skin.

Vin lifted his leg and reached down for the knife in his boot, but he was yanked viciously. Tanner swung around. Behind him was a man with a long scar on his right cheek. The assassin grinned at the struggling tracker. O’Brien threw the end of the rope over a beam and then he tugged on it with his full body weight.

Vin was wrenched again. He gasped for breath. His congested lungs started to burn. Again he lifted his leg and tried to reach the knife in his boot. His fingers brushed the handle. Black spots appeared in front of his eyes.

O’Brien yanked one more time, lifting Tanner’s body so that his toes were only just touching the ground. Vin had been too weak to pull back against it. Burning red flashed in front of Tanner’s eyes. His body started to sag. The noose pulled tighter. He was hanging!