Free A Gathering of Widowmakers (The Widowmaker #4) by Mike Resnick

wrong," said Nighthawk. "So did he."
    "Did you do the other two?" asked the second man, gesturing toward the other dead human and the Lexonian.
    "Yes."
    "You must have had one hell of a grudge against them," said the man.
    "Can you think of any other reason to kill someone?" replied Nighthawk.
    "One."
    "Forget it," said the first man. "This is the District . There's no law here, no bounty hunters, nothing. Besides, he's an old man."
    "He's an old man I've never seen here before, and suddenly Hairless Jack Bellamy is dead. Take a good hard look at him. Have you ever seen him before? Ever see his face on a Wanted poster?"
    "I don't give a damn if he's one of us or one of them," said the first man. "I just want to know why we can't divide the spoils."
    He reached down toward Bellamy's pocket, then froze when he heard the click of Nighthawk's pistol.
    "Show a little respect for the dead," said Nighthawk.
    "You didn't have much respect for him when he was alive," said the man.
    Nighthawk made no reply but simply stared at him, and the man slowly straightened up.
    "Come on," said his companion. "Let's go."
    "He's an old man and there are two of us."
    "There were three of them ," said the second man, indicating the bodies, "and one of them was Jack Bellamy. Let's go."
    "All right," said the first man unhappily. He turned to Nighthawk. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"
    "I'm the guy who's not going to let you pick Jack Bellamy's pockets."
    "Have you at least got a name?"
    "I've had a lot of names in my life," replied Nighthawk, "Out here on the Frontier people change names the way they change clothes."
    "You got any I'd know?"
    "Maybe one—the Widowmaker."
    "The hell you are. I heard there's a new Widowmaker on the Inner Frontier, and he's a young guy."
    "Talking people like you out of suicide has aged me," said Nighthawk.
    "Suicide?" asked the second man.
    "Your friend's inching his hand toward a gun he's got tucked in the back of his belt," said Nighthawk. "He's got about two more inches before I have to send for another airsled."
    The first man froze.
    "We're through talking," said Nighthawk. "Start walking."
    "We're on our way," said the second man quickly, keeping his hands in plain view, well out from his body. "We don't want any trouble." As he passed Nighthawk, he stopped and added, "If you're smart, you'll get the hell out of the District before anyone knows you were here."
    "I've got a little more business to conduct," replied Nighthawk. "As for what happened here, we'll let it be our little secret."
    And it would stay their secret, Nighthawk knew, for five minutes at the outside, which was just what he wanted. The more people talked about the Widowmaker being on New Barcelona, the sooner the word would get back to Jeff.
    Kinoshita showed up a few minutes later with a trio of airsleds. He and Nighthawk hefted Bellamy's huge body onto one, then loaded the other two sleds.
    "Where to now?" asked Kinoshita. "The spaceport?"
    "First we'll stop at a police station and have their identities officially confirmed. Then we can apply for the reward. Even if Jeff doesn't hear what happened, he'll be keeping an eye on who's claiming the biggest rewards, if only so he'll know not to go after men who are already dead."
    "Yeah, he checks the list every couple of days," confirmed Kinoshita.
    "Of course he does. I trained him. And if he sees a few hefty ones claimed on New Barcelona, he'll start looking into it, just as I would."
    Nighthawk fastened the three sleds together. They floated some three feet above the ground, and he guided them as he began walking.
    "You know," said Kinoshita, walking alongside him, "it occurs to me that the police aren't going to be very happy to see you. They had an unspoken agreement, and you broke it. Some of the residents of the District may even blame them for not stopping you."
    "If the killers come out of the District looking for the cops, they're going to have to respond by going into the District looking