Free the Bounty Hunters (1953) by Elmore Leonard Page A

away.
    You could've left Warren there.
    Between the mescal and that saloon whore he'd find out a hell of a lot.
    What'd they look like?
    Like anybody else. Lew shrugged. They weren't carrying signs.
    What!
    Lew reconsidered. One of them looked army.
    A lot of people were in the army. What does that look like?
    He had an army pistol holster on him'
    You're about as much good as Warren.
    What did you want me to do, go up and ask 'em for their cards?
    There're enough rum-bum rurales you could have asked!
    How would they know?
    Because they live in Soyopa and talk to people' those two aren't bringing the bodies into Soyopa 'cause they don't know anybody here! Why didn't they haul them to Rueda or Alaejos? They're just as close.
    Oh' .
    Oh, Lazair mimicked him. He rolled a cigarette then, idly, considering what this could mean.
    Lew said, Maybe we shouldn't of hit that wagon string. There were too many of 'em' all from Soyopa.
    Lazair said nothing.
    Now, Lew went on, people right in the village have got kin and close friends to pray over and wonder about' and maybe they'll wonder so long they'll figure something out.
    How much they hate the Apaches, Lazair said. That's all the figuring they'll do.
    I don't like it.
    I didn't ask you to like it! You don't get paid for your smiles!
    Maybe those two Americans'll figure out something'
    Goddamn it shut up, will you! I can't think with you crying in my ear!
    Two Americans suddenly appear with the bodies. They must have had a reason for coming down here. They stumble onto the ambush and know exactly where to cart the bodies; they knew they were from Soyopa, Lazair thought. Hell, if they knew where they were from, then they knew who they were! Why? Maybe one of the Mexicans had something on him that told what his village was. What are you getting so excited about? Probably a couple of saddle tramps looking for greener grass. Just mustered out of the Army. Maybe they heard about the scalp bounty and thought it was worth a try. You son of a bitch, you've got fourteen men with you and you worry about two. But all of a sudden people were starting to pop out of nowhere. Like the man they ran into just before the ambush who wanted to join the band. Well, the ambush was his test. He came out all right. If he had backed down, he'd have been left with the dead. Sure, he turned out all right. He thought now: And maybe he saw them. He must have come down the same way.
    He called over to the cook fire, Frank!
    The man was a shadowy figure crossing the camp area, taking his time until finally he appeared out of the dimness in front of the fire at the edge of the tarp awning. Frank Rellis had changed little. Dirtier, that was all.
    What?
    When you were coming down from Contention, did you see anybody?
    Did I see anybody?
    Two Americans.
    What the hell kind of a question is that? Rellis said.
    Lazair swung on Lew irritably. What did they look like!
    One was a little taller than medium size, thin in the hips and put his boots down hard like a horse soldier. A young fella with red hair. The other one had a mustache, light-colored. He was stringier than the other fella and seemed taller. He looked peaceful enough, but his coat bulged a little like he had a six-gun under it.
    Rellis said instantly, A soldier mustache?
    Lew said, Yeah, and the other one had an army holster on his side.
    Where are they?
    Lazair looked at Rellis curiously. You know them?
    Where are they?
    Soyopa. They found those dead Mexicans and brought 'em in, Lazair said watching him closely. I asked you if you knew them.
    I don't know. Maybe I do. One of them sounds like an old friend. Maybe I ought to go to Soyopa and find out for sure. He walked away before Lazair could ask him anything else.
    Lazair watched him go back to the cook fire. The hell with it, he thought. Getting anything out of that son of a bitch is like pulling teeth. If it was something to worry about he would have said something. He looked at Lew Embree. You want a