“And what duty might that have been?”
Trammel looked away. The deputy was trying to get him to talk about his past. “I’d prefer not to say.”
“Prefer doesn’t play into it, Trammel. I’d prefer to be in bed right now, but instead, I’m here talking to you with two dead men on the floor. I’d prefer not to have to explain to Old Man Bowman how two of his kin got beaten to death in The Gilded Lilly last night. And I sure as hell would prefer not to have to deal with them when they ride into town looking to kill you for what you did to their people.”
“It was a fair fight. Legal, too. You can ask anyone who was here.”
“Already have,” Earp said. “Got statements from ten people on my desk back at the jail right now. All of them said you were provoked. All of them saying the Bowman boys refused to leave. They all say that drunkard Hagen started it, too. That true?”
“Will and Ty said he was cheating,” Trammel said. “I don’t know if he was or if he wasn’t. He didn’t look like he was, but I wasn’t watching the whole game, either, so I can’t swear to it.”
“You were in the lookout chair, weren’t you?”
“And all I saw was Hagen get drunk and lose a lot. The boys were mad he bluffed them for the pot with nothing more than aces and eights. They accused him of cheating. I don’t think he was, but like I said, I can’t swear to it.”
Earp considered that for a time. “Hagen lives here, doesn’t he? Upstairs?”
“For the past month.”
“Anyone ever accuse him of cheating before?”
“Nope.” Trammel winced as he shifted the rag from one wound to the other. “He seems to win most of the time, but not enough to rankle anybody. He gets drunk mostly, and needs help up to bed, but until tonight, he’s never caused any trouble. Polite enough to the girls. Pays them extra when he uses them, which is often enough. Always pays his rent bill on time, too.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I would’ve thrown him out on his ear if he didn’t. Miss Lilly doesn’t take kindly to people who owe her money.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Earp admitted. “She’s a kindly woman for the business she’s in, but I’ve never known her to lose money without putting up a fuss.” He looked at Trammel again. “You really have to beat those men to death tonight?”
Trammel had seen this line of questioning before, where the topic drifts elsewhere, only to snap back to what the questioner really wanted to know. Not too long ago, Trammel was the one on the other side of the table asking the questions.
He took the rag from his head and looked up at Earp. “I’ve seen you in plenty of scrapes like this one since I’ve come to town. Never saw you stop to crack open a Bible and read verses at them until they saw the light.”
“Never claimed to be a preacher, Trammel. But I’ve got the law on my side. You don’t have anything except Lilly’s good graces and a room somewhere out back. That’s not going to be enough when the Bowman clan comes to call. I think a man of your experience knows that.”
Trammel was beginning to get tired of all the talking. “You arresting me, Deputy, or running me out of town?”
“Neither.” Earp crossed his arms and kept his eye on the door. “It was a fair fight, just like you said, and I’ve got no reason to lock you up. But there’s been plenty of talk about you since you came to town, Trammel. You know that. You’ve kept your head down as much as you can, but that just makes people talk all the more. I’ve heard you were a policeman back in New York. I’ve heard you were a Pinkerton man, too. Some say you came here by choice. Others say you got thrown out of New York, though accounts on that score vary.”
Trammel looked up at Earp, feeling the old rage beginning to stoke in his belly again. He didn’t want another fight, but he could feel one might be coming. “Guess the only opinion that matters is yours, Deputy.”
“What I say doesn’t matter,” Earp said. “But what you do next matters a hell of a lot. I know you’re loyal to Miss Lilly. You should be. She’s a good woman who has been good to you. Now I think the time has come for you to repay the favor. The Bowman clan is going to come looking for blood, and a lot of good people are going to die when they do.”
“People like you?”
Earp smiled for the first time in the year since Trammel had known him. And it wasn’t a nice smile. “No, I won’t die. But others will. Some more Bowman kin. You, too.”
“Not likely,” Trammel said.
“They won’t come at you head-on, but sideways,” Earp went on. “Maybe they’ll go after someone close to you, someone more vulnerable, like Miss Lilly. I wouldn’t like that. And I have a feeling you’d like it even less.”
Trammel put the rag back on his wound. This time he didn’t wince. “No, I wouldn’t like that at all.”
“Which would lead to more killing,” Earp said. “You get paid to enforce the peace in here, but I get paid to enforce the law everywhere. I don’t have anything against the Bowman family. Their ranch is good for the town and, on the whole, they don’t cause as much trouble as some people in this town. But I don’t want to see them dead any more than I want to see you dead. I might not know much about you, but I think you know what you have to do next. If not for your sake, then for Miss Lilly’s well-being.”
Trammel knew. He had known it the second he’d realized both Bowman boys were dead. He just didn’t say it because saying something had a way of making it real. He didn’t want this to be real, but it was. It was as real as it got. He had to leave town. He had to leave the first real home he had ever known. “I’ll be ready to leave by sunup.”
Earp nodded once. “Best way all around. Just don’t tell anyone where you’re going. Not me and not Miss Lilly.”
Trammel wasn’t going to tell anyone anything. “I know what I’m doing.”
“I remember you came in here on the coach,” Earp went on. “You need a horse? Provisions?”
“I’ve got a horse in the livery and enough money to buy what I need if the store’s open in time.”
“Ben Hurly opens his shop early,” Earp said. “Best hit him up first. I’ll tell him to expect you.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a box of cartridges, and placed them on the bar. “This is for that fancy Winchester I hear you keep in your room. You’re going to need them.”
Trammel already had enough ammunition, but he appreciated the gesture all the same. “Thanks.”
Earp pushed himself off the bar and began walking out of the saloon, slow and easy. Over his shoulder, he said, “And you’re taking Hagen with you.”
Trammel stood before he realized it. “What? Why?”
“The Bowman family will want his scalp as much as they want yours. I’d arrest him for disturbing the peace and inciting violence, but the old man would only kill him as soon as I cut him loose. Best if you two ride off together. Save everyone
