Slocum and the Diamond City Affair (9781101612118) by Jake Logan Page A

was cooled enough to drink what he wanted. No reason to let him develop colic or have an upset. Slocum slept close by on some loose hay.
    Before sunup, he ate some food he bought from a vendor who squatted in the street. Then he saddled and rode on southwest. Late that day he’d be in the border town and find the prospective buyer.
    He came off the hill and descended to the border town. Jacals crowded the hillside and the small checkpoints sat side by side straddling the International Line. He reined up at a stable on this side of the border, put King in a stall by himself, and set out to find some dinner.
    Moments later he took a stool at the counter in a diner and ordered the special from a potbellied waitress. She acted like he was special until a big man in a suit came into the café all out of breath. He sat down beside Slocum.
    â€œIra Moulton,” he said and offered him his hand. “I’m thinking you must be O’Riley. Is that my stallion?”
    â€œYes, but my name’s Slocum. I’m helping out O’Riley. He and my friend Rosa are over east looking for the mare that Ike Clanton’s bunch stole.”
    The man whistled through his teeth. “Did they steal the stallion too?”
    â€œYes, from the stables in Tucson.”
    â€œI wondered why it took him so long to get down here. I just got the word that someone with a great horse had stabled him. O’Riley wired me over a week ago that he was in Tucson and coming this way. He never answered any of my wires to him.”
    â€œHe was with me looking for the horses.”
    â€œYou must be tough. I don’t know many men who messed with the Clantons and lived to talk about it.”
    â€œThey’re killers and all that, but maybe the old man’s smart. Ike’s an idiot. I left him screaming after me.”
    â€œIs the horse sound and all that?”
    â€œYes. I made damn sure of that. It may take a day or so for us to find the mare.”
    The big man under the silk-bound, brimmed hat nodded. “You work for O’Riley?”
    â€œNo, he couldn’t afford me full-time. I’m doing this as piecework.”
    â€œCome work for me. I can afford you.” He twisted on the stool and looked Slocum up and down. “You may not be impressed, but anyone steals a horse back from the Clantons needs to work for me.”
    â€œNo, thanks. I need to get back and find the mare.”
    â€œTake a day of rest. Come down to my hacienda and we’ll have a few drinks, get you some pussy, and you can sleep in tomorrow.”
    â€œSounds like heaven. You leave that invite open. I get that mare, I’ll be back and take you up on it. Give me a receipt for the horse’s delivery and how you will pay O’Riley for him.”
    â€œYou don’t trust me?”
    â€œI trust you fine. But it ain’t my money.”
    Moulton nodded in approval. “I understand. You’re very thorough.”
    The man found a piece of paper in an inside coat pocket and wrote on the back of the letter the amount and the fact he had not paid the agreed price to Slocum but would do so on O’Riley’s demand.
    â€œI’d sure like the mare too,” Moulton added.
    Slocum put the letter in his vest pocket. “We’ll work on it next. I need to borrow a good horse. I’ll return it with the mare. I had to leave mine behind after I stole King from Ike just before the races.”
    Moulton laughed. “I can see him red faced now. I bet he screamed at your back.”
    â€œLike a pig caught under a gate.”
    â€œI have a fine horse you can keep when you finish dinner. One of my men will deliver it here to you.”
    â€œThanks, but I only want to borrow him.”
    The man shook his head to dismiss his concern about the gift. “Does O’Riley even know who he’s hired?”
    â€œI don’t think so, but I almost felt sorry for him when I met him in Diamond City, and