Free Cowboy Girl Annie by Fay Risner

Not even for an
iced doughnut you bought me,” Jake complained.
    “ I don't either, but we haven't got a
choice. Sooner or later, we won't be able to out run that mean
hombre. He'll get us for sure if it's on his own terms. We got to
set a trap and catch him before that happens,” she
reasoned.
    So Cowboy Girl Annie, bold as Annie
Oakley, and Skinny Jake, reluctant as always since he didn't expect
them to come out of Annie's plan alive (what ever it was), walked
in broad daylight in plain sight to the bakery. Any of Big Ed's
stooges watching for them couldn't miss spotting the pair out in
the open.
    “ There just ain't anything smart
about what we're doing if you ask me,” griped Jake as they made
their way through the park full of people during a tennis
match.
    Cowboy Girl Annie grinned at him.
“That's why I didn't ask you.”
    “ I'd feel a whole lot better if I
knew exactly what you have up your sleeve,” Jake
declared.
    “ No you wouldn't,” Annie said as they
crossed the street.
    Jake stopped in front of the bakery.
“Just so you know if you get me killed. I'll never forgive
you.”
    “ That sounds right enough. I wouldn't
forgive me either if you end up dead,” Annie said, patting Jake on
the back.
    As they entered the bakery, Jake
whispered in her ear, “Somehow that sentiment is not very
reassuring.”
    This time Annie ordered the
doughnuts and paid for them. Jake braced himself nervously on one
foot then the other as he watched out the large plate glass window
for Big Ed and his men to show up.
    Annie joined Jake and handed him his
sack. They stood a few minutes at the window as if they were just
watching people that passed by the store.
    Jake squeezed her arm and nodded
down the street. Big Ed's car slowly cruising on the
street.
    Annie turned to the clerk as he put
another row of glazed doughnuts in the showcase. “Hey,
Mister.”
    The clerk straightened up. “Yeah,
what do you want?”
    Annie pointed out the window. “You
mind calling the cops. I see some tough guys coming this way. Word
on the street is there is going to be a showdown as bad as the one
that happened in the O K Corral. I have a feeling the gun fight is
happening quick like in your alley again.”
    “ Not if I can help it,” the man said,
already dialing the number.
    Jake opened the door for Annie. They
stepped out in full view of Big Ed's car as if they had nothing to
fear.
    Jake and Annie causally walked
around the side of the building as Big Ed and his goons drove by.
For all to see, it looked like two homeless people out for a
leisurely stroll. No way could Big Ed miss seeing the two thorns in
his side he and his men had been searching for.
    “ So far so good, Jake. Everything is
going as I planned,” Annie whispered as she looked back at the gray
sedan following slowly behind them.
    “ I just wished I knew what this plan
was and how it was going to end especially for me and you. I have a
bad feeling it's not going to be in our favor,” complained
Jake.
    “ You sure don't have much faith in me
or my plans,” Annie groused.
    “ I can tell you they tend to be
dangerous, and that makes me nervous,” Skinny Jake quipped as Annie
grabbed his arm and steered him down the alley behind the
bakery.
    Big Ed's car pulled over to the curb
and parked across from the alley opening. Jake flinched while he
listened to all four car doors bang shut.
    With their feet sticking out in full
view of the car, Annie and Jake sat down with their backs against
the far side of the dumpster.
    “ You sure you want us to have our
feet out in the open where Big Ed can do target practice on them?”
Jake complained.
    “ He's got to be able to see exactly
where we are. I don't know about you, but as long as I have a
choice, my feet is about all I want him to see of me,” Annie
explained.
    “ If I had a choice' I'd be back in
our hiding spot, but you didn't give me a choice,” Jake
groused.
    Big Ed and his goons walked across
the street. As soon