Wanted man

The members of the hunting expedition were heading back to the Riders´ cottage in good mood.

Maybe even too good, Ryo thought, as he glanced over his shoulder, once again finding Kame and Jin cheerfully discussing the possibility for the older one to learn shooting from a bow.

Even though those two were dragging the heavy load just as the others did, they didn´t seem to be bothered with it at all. They kept their distance, separating themselves from the rest of their small company, and their voices were no more than whispers, as they laughed over something.

Ryo would not mind if they shared some jokes with them as well, but Cullen was content with those two being further away and Koki was simply too focused on complaining over the heaviest load of them all. Therefore, the black-haired Rider just shrugged and let Jin and Kame have their little private talk.

*

When they reached their refuge, the sun was already touching the horizon and Cullen was the first one to notice that something was weird. Koki and Ryo didn´t pay attention to their older companion, who stopped at the border of woods surrounding the cottage and they just continued toward the barn arguing if it was better to try the elk meat for dinner or to start with the smaller catches.

"Hey! Shut up for a second!" Cullen hissed, making both youngsters turn back to him.

Kame and Jin finally caught up with them as well, looking at the frowning man curiously.

"What is it?" Ryo asked carefully.

"Don´t know, but something´s off," the oldest Rider murmured.

Then Kame touched Jin´s elbow and wordlessly pointed at the corral behind the cottage – Kuro was running from one side of it to another, shaking his head so vigorously that his mane had already turned into a complete mess. His behavior disrupted other animals too, and made them snort nervously, while Ukushi was standing motionlessly in one of the corners, staring at the returnees.

The rifle appeared in Jin´s hands so quickly Kame didn´t even notice when the older one pulled it down from his shoulder. He didn´t need any other sign to be sure that something was not right either.

"Now when you mentioned it, it´s suspiciously quiet around here…" Ryo noted frowning, while Esler got his rifle ready, being the second one to arm himself.

Then something on the ground attracted Kame´s eyes and at that moment, he regretted not carrying any firearm as well, not feeling so secure with just a bow.

"There´s blood in the grass," he announced in a tense voice, which made everyone even more anxious.

"We´ll check the barn," Ryo announced, following the others´ example with guns, as well as Koki, and both Riders set off toward the mentioned building.

Leaving all their catches behind, determined Esler led the way to the cottage with Jin and Kame in his steps. Nothing moved in the closed windows, neither had they heard anything. In quiet cooperation, they burst inside the house, checking the empty rooms, ready to shoot at any time. When they met up under the staircase again, also Koki and Ryo came inside.

"Nothing suspicious in the barn, but Leo´s horse is missing," Ryo informed them, both he and Koki a little out of breath as they rushed around the property.

Then all heads popped up at the sound of some heavy thuds on the wood.

"Hey!! Hey, guys! Is that you?!" the subdued calling was hardly recognizable.

"Ryo, stay down here," Esler ordered. "Others with me."

They rushed upstairs, approaching the sounds coming from behind the closed door with the key in the lock. Esler raised his gun to the height, where one would expect somebody´s head and nodded at Kame. The younger one swiftly approached the door and unlocked it, stepping away at once. The door opened and revealed the reddened face of Jack, who froze at the doorstep, looking inside the barrel of Cullen´s rifle.

"Damn it! Put it down, man!"

"What´s going on?!" Esler asked, lowering the weapon only a little.

"Nick… Message… Leo… Shit!" Jack cursed, desperately trying to gather his thoughts into words.

Behind him, Kame spotted somebody lying on the bed and he went around the helpless Rider to get inside the room, being followed by Esler.

"He was stabbed. I tried, really, but… That wound just doesn´t stop bleeding," Jack finally gathered himself a little for explanation, while Cullen eyed the motionless and very pale Rider.

Nick´s stomach was covered with the thick, dark red bandage, which Kamenashi pulled away. It didn´t look very nicely and the youngster´s quiet curse didn´t let the older man doubt it was serious. Koki peeked inside the room from behind Jin, who stood in the door.

"What…?!" the blonde one breathed out frightened.

"So, once again," Cullen made himself remain composed and not snap at the young Rider, who was leaning over the wall now, his clothes stained with Nick´s blood and his eyes wide. "What happened?"

"Nick brought the message… They´ve got Jane," the youngster announced the most critical information, causing everybody to freeze in shock. "Leo locked me in here so that I couldn´t stop him and set off to Leadville."

"What the hell?!" Koki exclaimed, expressing the loudest reaction of them all.

Jin clenched his free hand into fist, with the other still holding the forgotten rifle, but otherwise the older Akanishi reminded a statue. Esler gritted his teeth, cursing something incoherently, while Kame was trying to process the information and at the same time figure out, if there was anything he could do for Nick.

"Who? Who did it?" the question came from Esler´s mouth as the cold stone.

"That bounty hunter – Harvey and some other gunman. Nick didn´t recognize him," Jack reacted unhappily.

"That fucker again?!" Koki snapped, hitting with his hand the wall next to the room´s door.

"When?" Esler asked another question. "When Leo left?"

"Approximately four hours ago. I didn´t realize what he intended to do, Cullen, really. Otherwise I´d try at least… I´m so sorry…"

"Hey, guys, I´ve found this in the kitchen," Ryo´s concerned voice joined the uptight conversation.

Jin snatched the bloodstained paper from the Rider´s fingers and ran his eyes over it. Then, without any word, he turned on his heels, pushed both Ryo and Koki aside and stomped down the stairs, ignoring Esler calling after him.

Koki picked the paper up from the floor and read it aloud: "We´ve got your girlfriend. Come alone to Slabtown´s Tavern this evening or she will die just as your other friends did, only more slowly. Surrender and she will be free."

The blonde Rider looked up horrified. He, Ryo and Jack looked at Cullen with expectation, while Kame stared at the reddening bandage, torn between the urge to rush after Jin and stay with the wounded Rider. Esler kept silent for a couple of long seconds, before he turned to Kame.

"Koki said you´re capable in this – can you help him?" he asked, pointing at Nick.

"I know some useful medical things, but I´m not a doctor," Kame replied hesitantly. "This is a serious injury and…"

"Can you help him?" Cullen repeated his question harshly, interrupting Kame´s excuse.

The younger one repaid the man´s urgent look for a while, before he nodded seriously: "I will try."

"Fine. Jack – stay by his side and assist with anything necessary. Ryo – you´ll help me to prepare everything for a harsh, fast trip. Koki – make sure that our second Akanishi won´t disappear in the dust alone as well. We will leave together," the oldest Rider emphasized.

Kame was relieved by that statement; he could rely on the others to keep an eye on Jin, as Esler figured out the older one´s possible reaction himself.

"Let´s move!" the temporary leader concluded his orders. "We can cry over the spilled milk later."

*

With all his fingers sticky with blood, Kame finished the last stitch of the deep stab wound in Nick´s side. The bleeding had already stopped, and he really hoped he managed to do it on time, as the Rider´s pulse was already very weak. Just when Kame put aside the needle, which Jack had found in Jane´s sewing kit, the angry voices from the outside reached to them even through the closed window.

"Damn it! Akanishi! Can you stop just for a second?!"

"Let me go!!"

Hastily wiping his hands with one of many bloody towels, Kame straightened up from the table in the kitchen, to where they moved Nick from the upstairs, and then forced the disinfection into the hands of quite pale Jack.

"Clean it up properly, got it?"

He didn´t even wait for the Rider´s reaction and rushed outside. Already in the door, in the dim light of one lantern, Kame could see exactly what he was afraid of – Kuro was waiting right under the veranda, fully prepared for the ride, while just a few feet away, Ryo, Esler and Jin were shouting at each other. Koki was sitting on the ground, massaging his jaw and piercing Akanishi with a not very friendly glare. Jin had just shoved harshly into Ryo, and turned against Esler, but the older man was not an easy nut to crack.

"Calm down!" Esler requested from the younger man, definitely not for the first time.

"I won´t let him kill himself!" Jin snapped furiously, totally ignoring the rifle in the Rider´s hands.

"None of us will, you stubborn idiot! But we cannot just rush there like blind sheep!"

"But we´re wasting time here! I´m going right now!"

Literally pushing the lethal barrel away with a bare hand, Jin turned away from Esler, obviously intending to go for Kuro´s reins. Instead, he almost bumped into Kame, who already managed to get himself between the horse and the upset gunslinger. Saying nothing at all, Kame locked their eyes together. Jin froze and his expression darkened.

"Not even you can stop me," the older one announced hoarsely.

"I´m not trying to stop you, Jin. I only want you to slow down," Kame reacted in the calmest tone that he was able to bring out.

Jin was close to the real outburst, his face stiffened in an almost terrifying expression, the anger and fear for his brother swirling in his eyes. Nevertheless, they had to snap him out of the first impulsive reaction, or the whole situation would turn out to be even worse.

"Kame… Just get out of my way," Jin´s tone was only a little less harsh than the one he used towards the others, but Kame didn´t let it discourage him. Esler, Ryo and Koki – they all stood behind Jin´s back ready to stop him by force, but he didn´t intend to let the situation end that way.

"No. You´re not going anywhere alone," he stated relentlessly.

"He´s my brother and I won´t let him sacrifice himself like this!" Jin gritted through his teeth.

"None of us will," Kame assured him. "We´ll gather everything necessary and set off together. Just wait a little bit and…"

"He left hours ago!" the older one didn´t let him finish the sentence. "He´s probably in the city already! There´s no time to waste!"

"You won´t help him if you´re dead, Jin!" Kame raised his voice as well now. "It´s already dark! One bad root can be enough for you or Kuro to break your necks on the way down!"

Jin took a deep breath, but didn´t argue with him this time. Kame stepped a little closer and squeezed his shoulder.

"You cannot do this alone and you know it. We will get them back, but only together."

Jin closed his eyes, saying nothing. But he was straining himself, Kame could feel it.

Esler approached them with a dark frown: "Even if he gives himself up, they won´t execute him right away," he stated slowly.

"Yeah, why would they bother with kidnapping Jane otherwise," Ryo noted. "They certainly want him alive."

"And Leo knows it too, I suppose," Koki added, still staring at Jin.

"We have some time to help him," Kame finished the persuasion line.

When Jin opened his eyes again, Kame knew they won this ´fight´.

"All right, I get it…" the older one breathed out defeated.

"I hope so," Esler noted ironically. "Sometimes, you seem to be very slow-witted, Akanishi."

Jin´s look toward the man was almost poisonous, but Cullen didn´t seem to be bothered.

"Come and help us prepare everything necessary. You´re the one wasting our time now."

Kame wouldn´t be surprised if some steam came right from Jin´s nose, as Esler with Ryo walked back to the barn. Koki eyed him very coldly, before he followed them as well. Kame slipped with his hand up on Jin´s face and made the older one look at him.

"It will be all right, Jin," he whispered. "We just cannot lose our wits."

The older one repaid his look for a while, before he covered Kame´s hand with his own for a short moment.

"Thank you, Kazu. And I´m sorry…"

"Don´t be. It´s totally understandable you´re worried about him."

"I shouldn´t yell at you though," the other one insisted.

Kame smiled a little: "Don´t worry, Jin, you can´t scare me off so easily."

*

They were all packed and ready in less than an hour. Unconscious Nick was resting upstairs again, still alive, but Kame openly told everyone that the Rider´s condition didn´t look very good. They assigned Jack to stay with him, as the youngster didn´t recover fully yet. Everybody else armed themselves to the teeth, got supplied with torches and anything else that they might use during the dangerous trip through the night woods down to the city.

Nobody talked much about what they learnt; they didn´t even mention their supposedly dead buddies. They didn´t know what could have happened meanwhile, they would just have to decide what to do once they got to Leadville. But one thing was firmly set on their minds – to rescue both Leo and Jane.

And in Jin´s case… Kame thought, as he watched the older one impatiently setting off as the first. It means saving them or die trying.

But just as Jin was determined to save his younger brother, Kame was determined to protect Jin.

***

Along with the dusk, the white tentacles of heavy mist sneaked to the city, blurring the lines of buildings and turning people on the streets into mysterious figures. The day passed on to the dark night earlier than usually and the drizzly weather chased most of citizens to their homes. Thanks to the numbers of lanterns, it seemed as if the sour sparse milk spilled in the air, making the view outside yellow and almost creepy.

Ralph checked each of the dark aisles on the opposite side of the street once again, as well as two gunmen, who were chatting quietly under the veranda, before he stepped away from the window. The warm taproom was much more pleasant environment for that evening than the muddy streets. Or it would be, if not for the pile of broken chairs, a couple of overturned tables, the walls full of marks after gunshots and the pools of blood all over the floor.

His companion didn´t seem to be very bothered with it, though. More than anything else, Mart Duggan seemed to be bored. He sat in the corner, with his booted legs propped over the table, chewing tobacco, which was, according to Ralph, quite a disgusting habit. He had already had the ´pleasure´ to find out about the awful stink from the other man´s mouth every time he got too close to him. The former Sheriff managed to add one more item to Ralph´s list of reasons why he preferred to work alone. Not to mention that their cooperation in general just kept adding more items to that list.

To Harvey´s unsaid relief, Flow gave in and replied all their questions quite quickly, desperately trying to protect his little son. Once they knew the address to which the telegraphist used to deliver certain messages, Harvey intended to check it out, set up a trap and wait for Akanishi to appear, or follow one of his underlings once they would leave the city to find their hideaway. If they followed his plan, maybe it would not work out perfectly, but it would definitely not turn out as such a fucking mess. But of course – Duggan had his head.

Before Harvey could stop him, right after Flow stammered out the words ´Slabtown´s Tavern´, Duggan set off to ´talk´ with the local barkeep. Unfortunately, the old man obviously used to know Duggan in his Sheriff-times and those memories were not of a nice nature.

The barkeep took out the impressive rifle from behind the bar after Duggan started to threaten him. However, he never fired, as the quick-tempered gunman beat him to it, hitting the barkeep´s shoulder.

It was taken care of the old man in the local hospital now, as he was wise enough not to stick his head up above the counter once he fell under it. Right after that, somebody, who looked more like a gorilla than a man, crushed to Duggan as an avalanche. At the same time, three youngsters, who watched the scene from the corner until that moment, drew their revolvers, making all other guests jump up from their chairs and run off to the doubtful safety of the streets.

The following events went on like crazy clockwork. By some miracle, he and Duggan came out from the shootout almost without a scratch, but it didn´t work out so well for the defenders of the tavern. Naturally, Sheriff Watson appeared, alarmed by some thoughtful citizens. After a heated ´discussion´, he retreated to his office once again, fuming in hopeless anger. It was not the first time Harvey was amazed by the fact just how much influence Tabor´s name had.

After that, when they were dragging the bodies out through the back exit, the small group appeared on the back yard. Everything froze as in some stupid scene from a joke for a while, before two young gunmen accompanying a pretty, brown-haired woman took up their weapons. Duggan had literally full hands of corpses at that moment, so Harvey was the one replying them with his guns.

Looking back at it, they were damn lucky that those two tried to cover the brunette. It took just a few seconds to create two more bodies to take care of. The woman was shocked by the unexpected welcome, but despite that she turned out to be wiser, as she tried to escape. But her horse ran wild, stood up on his back legs and threw her out of the saddle.

Duggan was at her, stepping at the brunette´s hand just before she could reach for the hidden gun. And like that, if Flow didn´t make things up, they got their hands on Leo Akanishi´s girlfriend.

They tied up and locked her in one of the rooms, so that they could finally get rid of the piling up bodies. The highest top on that crazy cake was the last Rider – a fair-haired man, who managed to sneak into the tavern, found the room with their captive and he almost got the brunette out of the building, before they bumped into them. After a brief skirmish, Duggan wounded the Rider with the knife, which the man had used to cut the woman´s ropes and Harvey´s face gained a decoration of the long fingernails scratches from Akanishi´s girlfriend.

One would have laughed over the situation, but it was not funny at all.

Only then, finally, Duggan listened to Ralph´s reasoning and they settled everything accordingly. After biding the Rider´s wound, they sent him off with the message, and Duggan picked two men from the Sheriff´s staff to join them on the watch.

"Do you really think he´ll come?" Duggan asked about the third time.

"He will," Harvey stated again, trying not to reveal his annoyance.

"How can you be so sure?"

"He´s not that type to leave someone behind. Definitely not his girl," Harvey said, glancing at the woman in chair right in the middle of the taproom. Jane, her name was, though she didn´t tell them that information, they got it from Flow. She didn´t say a word since the moment they captured her. Harvey had to admit she was brave and on top of that very pretty. It was no wonder that Akanishi fell for her. "I´m just not sure if he comes alone or not…"

"He would be stupid if he really came alone," Duggan reacted mockingly.

"We´ll see," Harvey murmured, not so convinced.

Chasing after Leo Akanishi for some time already, he knew something about the youngster, and that was he treasured his friends. It was quite uncertain how the news about so many of them being dead would influence his behavior…

*

Leo stood in the deep shadow of the oldest brothel in the city, his eyes focused on the dim light in the front windows of the Slabtown´s Tavern. The street was not very lively, and it seemed that everybody avoided approaching the pub building, as if those two gunmen leaning over the pole for horses in front of it were two scarecrows.

They were waiting for him, that much was obvious. But Leo didn´t intend to make it easy for them. There was a secret entrance to the tavern, through the cellar, and if he was lucky, he might slip inside and maybe even find Jane unnoticed.

The young leader was icily calm on the surface, but his heart was shivering. He couldn´t even start imagining what he would do if he lost his girlfriend. Jane turned out to be more important to him than he could ever expect. He´d have laughed on his younger self, which once thought there would be nothing more than a physical attraction and sex between the two of them.

Even though Leo was desperate to save Jane, he was aware of doing that alone was a folly. Under other circumstances, he would have waited for the others, and tried to figure out a plan first. But he just couldn´t stay still knowing that his closest friends were killed by that hunter´s hand. And it was all his fault. If not for the bounty on his head, they would have been safe and alive.

The things went too wrong for him to be willing to drag those, who remained from the gang, to just another mess. So then, he decided to do what he considered would harm them the least – to rescue Jane alone and if he fails… Well, once he won´t be around, the things will calm down eventually. In the end, it was good that most of the manhunt was focused on him only.

Somewhere deep down, Leo knew he was just lying to himself; this ´rescue mission´ was foolish no matter from whichever angle he looked at it. But the most important thing for him was Jane and for all the others to be safe, even if it meant a noose for him. Somehow, he had always anticipated this price for being in the lead of outlaws; it was a dangerous business. Only… he didn´t expect it to come so soon.

Anyway, only he was supposed to be the one paying that ugly price, not the others. And half of them already did that and Leo couldn´t let it happen again. If his surrender meant the safety for others, so be it.

Leo took a deep breath and searched for the shortest way to the opposite side of the street.

Sorry, guys… Sorry, Bro… I couldn´t forgive myself if more of you died because of me.

*

"I still think it´d be much faster to make that dumbass with the knife to lead us there."

Ralph suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Of course, Duggan just had to share his opinion about their tactics once again. If anything, the man´s constant complaints got on his nerves.

"And to walk right to the place where he and his Riders would have an upper hand? Who knows how many more men he has! You agreed with me that this will be a safer way to go," the bounty hunter reminded sourly.

That was the main reason for them to stay in the city, waiting. They were in control there. Akanishi just couldn´t rush with his gang into the tavern and shoot the place up. It was in the middle of Leadville, too close to the Sheriff´s office, and they were expecting him, it would have been too risky. At least Harvey assumed Akanishi would consider all of that. The Riders´ leader might have been young and naive, but he was not stupid. If he was, he would have been dead already.

"Yeah, I did…" Duggan admitted, though lacking any excitement. He pulled one of the guns from its sheath, and started checking the cartridges. "This is just damn boring… Didn´t the ultimatum run off yet?"

"We´ll wait till midnight," Ralph decided, ready to brush off any objections. "We don´t know how fast that guy got to the right place."

"If he did at all," Duggan noted with a gleeful grin. "He might have bled out on the way."

"You think that would be a good thing?" the bounty hunter snapped a little. "We would have to start all over! Only thanks to your damn desire for blood!"

The grin disappeared from the former Sheriff´s face, as if it had never been there: "You´ve got any complaints about my way of doing things?"

"Of course not," Ralph replied in a tone, which didn´t leave any doubts he actually had them.

Duggan put a gun on the table with a heavy thud: "If you have, go to tell them to Tabor!"

Harvey smirked: "We don´t have to agree on everything to cooperate, right?"

The other man kept piercing him with an upset stare for a while.

"Fair enough," Duggan said in the end.

Suddenly, a heavy bang was heard, coming somewhere from the back part of the building. Both gunmen exchanged a short look.

"I´ll go check it," Ralph decided, taking his revolver now too, though he could use only one hand properly, with the other still in the gypsum, and promptly left the taproom.

Nothing moved in the corridor, the space was dark and empty. But the back door was opened. Ralph stuck the gun out first, checking the dark yard carefully. Nothing. Then a thud was heard again, from somewhere near the stables.

The bounty hunter slipped out, hiding himself behind the empty barrels and moved to the other side. He was already too far to react on time, when somebody shut the back door from the inside.

*

Mart Duggan stood up and crossed the space to the main entrance.

"Anything?" he asked, when he opened the door.

"No, it´s all peaceful and quiet here, Boss," a response from one of the guarding men came.

The former Sheriff closed the door again and with a frown, he approached the woman tied up to the chair.

"So… what do you think, sweetie? Did your boy come for you finally?"

The brunette just kept giving him a scornful look of the brown, shining eyes, not replying.

"You must be tough to tame," Duggan snorted amused, spinning the revolver in his hand slowly. Then he suddenly grabbed Jane´s chin roughly. "Don´t think you´re getting away from this, woman," he hissed. "The vermin like you belongs to jail or gallows. If that stupid boyfriend of yours thinks he´s something, when he got his name on the posters, I´ll gladly persuade him otherwise."

Jane didn´t say a thing this time either; she spat right in Duggan´s face instead. The gunman stiffened at first, before he straightened up and slapped her.

"Riders´ little bitch…"

At the second the last word left Duggan´s lips, a heavy wooden board met with his head and sent the man to the floor. After that Jane didn´t give even a piece of her attention to the man lying motionless, she had her eyes only for the young man in black, who rushed to the door and stuck the board under the handle. Only then he ran back to her and shortly pressed his lips against hers in the hasty kiss.

"Leo," Jane breathed out. "You shouldn´t…"

"Ssh…" the Riders´ leader hushed her, taking out the long knife from his high boot. "You can scold me whatever you like later. Now…"

"Hands up so I can see them!"

Leo stiffened at the sound of a harsh voice, with the blade already cutting Jane´s ropes.

"Now, Akanishi, don´t try me. You´ve got your price even dead, she doesn´t," Harvey, who appeared in the taproom, as if he sprang up from the floor, emphasized coldly, stretching the tap.

Very slowly, Leo straightened up and turned to the side to find the barrel aiming at him and upset eyes above it.

"I´ve found your way in, through that cellar. Clever. But too bad for you – not clever enough," Harvey informed him. "Drop that knife and step away from her."

Looking at the face of the hunter, Leo knew the time for games ended and obeyed. The knife hit the floor.

"You just had to try, right?" the bounty hunter noted caustically. "Where are your friends?"

"I´m alone," Leo announced stiffly.

"And I´m supposed to believe that?" Harvey snorted. "Duggan? Duggan! Get up, damn it!"

The other man was already shifting a little, murmuring something inaudible.

"Where are they?" Harvey asked Akanishi again then.

"If they were with me, you would be already dead," the young man reacted simply.

The bounty hunter seemed to be considering his reply for a while.

"Turn around!" he ordered then.

Leo couldn´t help but look at Jane. She was scared now, he could see that. Her eyes were full of worries, as she moved with them from him to Harvey´s guns.

"You´re trying my patience," the hunter growled, lowering the barrel so that it aimed at Jane´s head.

Leo turned around without a word, still keeping his hands up. Duggan had already sat up slowly, brushing the side of his head.

"Fuck…" he cursed and finally noticed Leo. "How did you… get inside? You little…"

"Stop blabbering and tie him up," Harvey interrupted the confused man. "I´ve got him."

Helping himself a little with the table, Duggan stood up.

"Sure," he said with a dangerous shine in his eyes. "But first, I owe this little shit something."

This time it was Leo, who was sent into the land of black emptiness – by the hard fist.

*

When Leo came to his senses, he found his wrists firmly tied up and his jaw tingling. They left him leaning over the side of the bar counter, right next to the pool of dry blood. Seeing it, he gulped down heavily, before he looked up.

Duggan – as he remembered the hunter calling that other gunman – had just finished a glass of some alcohol, with a big patch over his forehead. Harvey was packing up some stuff from the kitchen into a huge backpack. Naturally, Leo was the most worried about Jane and he almost panicked, when he couldn´t see his girlfriend at first, but his field of vision was limited thanks to the sitting position. Leaning forward a little, he could see her partially.

"Welcome back," Duggan snorted, when he noticed the opened eyes of the Rider´s leader. "I hope you feel as sick as me now."

The bounty hunter sent a glance toward him as well: "Good. We can set off right now then."

"What? Can´t it wait till the morning?" the former Sheriff complained. "I´m fucking sick and tired, what´s the rush when we have him now?"

"He might have come alone, but I´m not very eager to sit here waiting for his angry brother and the rest of his friends. There was enough of that bloody mess already," Harvey stated relentlessly.

"Well… All right, that makes sense," Duggan agreed. "Then let´s get rid of the excess weight…"

"What?" Harvey turned to the other man impatiently, interrupted from the packing again.

Leo saw that the gunman headed to Jane, with a gun in his hand and his eyes widened. He furiously struggled to get on his feet, with his head spinning.

"Don´t you dare to touch her, bastard!" he snapped.

"Duggan! What the hell…?!" Harvey moved toward the man first, but then he noticed Leo staggering forward and grabbed him for both arms instead. "Not so fast...!"

"You promised to let her go!" Leo yelled, fighting against Harvey´s grip, overcame by fear for Jane´s life, which lingered on the lethal thing in the upset gunman´s hand.

Duggan looked at him unmoved: "And?"

"You son of a bitch, I will kill you!!"

The youngster raged so much, that Harvey had a hard time to force him down on his knees; the hunter managed it only after kicking under Leo´s knees and choking him a little. Then he turned his attention once again to Duggan, who repaid Jane´s wide look, smirking awfully.

"You said it yourself, Harvey – she doesn´t have any value, so why bother with her?"

Harvey felt seriously disgusted with Duggan at that moment. Not that he himself would not do something pretty ugly from time to time, but that man… He had no honor left at all.

"So… You turned from the protector of law to the heartless killer? She´s just a helpless woman, damn it!"

"Don´t come on me with some pity, they don´t deserve it," Duggan hissed.

"I won´t let you kill her," Harvey stated in an ice-cold voice, feeling how Akanishi still struggled against him desperately. "We may take her along, or leave her in the cell under Sheriff´s surveillance, as assurance that our dear reward won´t fly off. Another murder is not an option here, Duggan."

The gunman seemed to be a little off balance by Harvey´s speech. Then he looked at the brunette again, who couldn´t help but shake a little. And then, to both Harvey´s and Leo´s relief the barrel went down.

"Fine! We´ll drag her along then!" Duggan snapped with more emotions in his voice than Harvey ever heard from him so far.

"But you," the gunman pointed at breathless Akanishi. "Do not even think about running off. First – you would not get far, second – you try anything funny and she will pay."

"I get it!" Leo snapped angrily. "I won´t try anything, you´ve got my word, just let her go!"

"Sorry, kid, we can´t do that," Harvey reacted, pulling him up on his feet roughly. "If you came here without your friends´ knowledge, she´d just run right to them to let them know what happened. And we need to get you to Denver quickly, no obstacles allowed."

Leo gritted his teeth saying nothing. What else could he expected? It was strange enough that the bounty hunter almost really sounded to be sorry.