Skull Moon

Longtree raised an eyebrow and stood up very slowly. "Maybe. But even if you live, you'll spend your days as a hunted man. Killing a federal officer is a serious offense, Gantz. The law'll hound you to an early grave."

Gantz said nothing. The barrel of his carbine was still pointed at Longtree's head. He licked his lips.

"If you're gonna shoot, then shoot!" Longtree shouted in his face. "Pull that trigger, boy! Shoot, goddammit, shoot!"

Gantz looked uncertain. He lowered the carbine, smiling. "Never said I was going to."

Longtree made like he was going to holster his pistol and then brought it up in a vicious arc, cracking Gantz along the side of the face with the butt. Gantz went down with a cry, blood running from a gash in his cheek. Longtree pulled the carbine from him and kicked him in the ribs.

"I could have you back in prison for this, Gantz." He ejected the shells from the rifle and tossed it in the woods. "Do it again and I will."

Gantz sat up, moaning and pressing a trembling hand to his wound. "You sonofabitch," he gasped. "You didn't have to do that."

Longtree ignored him, lighting a thin cigar. "Why are you here?"

"To get that animal. To get the bounty."

Longtree spat in the dirt next to him. "All you're going to do is get yourself killed, hear? If you're smart, you'll haul ass out."

"No law," Gantz murmured, "against hunting a dangerous animal."

"Nope. But there is one against endangering the life of a federal officer."

"I didn't mean nothin'."

"Keep out of my way, Gantz. If you fuck with me again, I'll kill you deader than deerhide."

Gantz nodded.

Longtree untethered his black and climbed back on, riding off. He knew this wasn't at an end. Not by any stretch. He had a killer beast on his hands. A sheriff who was a violent drunk. And now Gantz.

There'd be some dying before this mess was wrapped up.

26

"Get your clothes on, Nell," Sheriff Lauters said. He didn't watch her dress; he gave any woman that much respect, even a prostitute. "You, too, Reverend. It turns my stomach some to see you in the flesh."

Claussen was beyond embarrassment. He was mortified. There was no color left in his once ruddy face. His self-righteous pomposity had crumbled to ash. He was a beaten, broken man whose filthy little secrets had been exposed and this by the man he despised most.

"Sheriff…" Nell began.

"Just get out of here, child, and don't let me catch you plying your trade around a house of worship again. Understand?"

She nodded. Her blue eyes tearful as if she'd been caught in the act by her father.

"Forget about what happened here today," Lauters instructed her. "Forget about seeing me, forget about the reverend. Nothing happened here today. Got it?"

She nodded, sobbing.

"Now, git!"

Nell took off down the stairs, not looking back. Lauters knew she'd say nothing of this. Not ever. If she did, she'd be in serious trouble and she knew it.

Claussen was sitting on the bed, staring at his hands. They shook. As did the rest of him. Lauters just glared at him for a moment, not bothering to mask the disgust on his face. He took off his sheepskin coat and hung it on the door.

"My Lord," Claussen whimpered. "My Lord."

"Shut the fuck up," Lauters snapped. "You and God have parted company, Reverend. And being that this probably isn't the first time you've done something like this, I'd say you parted company some time ago."

Claussen said nothing more, he sobbed, his entire frame shuddering.

"Jesus wept," Lauters said. He fished out his tobacco pouch and wedged a chunk of chew between his cheek and gum. He polished his badge and took it off, setting it on the nightstand by the bed.

"Now I'm no more a man of the law than you are a man of God," he said.

"Sheriff, I-"

"Shut up," Lauters said. "How long have you been deceiving the good people of your church?"

"Not long, I swear. Sin overcame me-"

"You piece of shit," Lauters grumbled, taking the reverend by the shirt collar and tossing him to the floor. He tried to get up and Lauters kicked his legs out from under him.

"When you were a man of God," Lauters began, "I had to take a certain amount of guff from you. After all, it isn't proper to strike a man of the cloth. But now that you're just a sinner like me, there's no reason not to."

He hooked his arm around Claussen's elbow and pulled him to his feet.

They stood eye to eye.

Lauters spat in his face and the reverend only trembled. "Sinner," Lauters said, slamming a fist into his belly. Claussen doubled over with a gasp. Lauters grabbed him by an ear and pulled him back up, striking him in the face with one massive closed hand. Claussen stumbled over a chair and went down, blood streaming from his broken nose. Before he could rise or even recover, Lauters was on him. He grabbed the back of his shirt and planted his knee in the reverend's face.

Claussen's head shot back and struck the wall. He slid down into a heap.

"You turned my wife against me," Lauters said.