THE DODGE CITY MASSACRE (A Jess Williams Novel.) by Robert J. Thomas Page B

have one more ear left and after that, I’ll start with your kneecaps. If you stall long enough, you might have to draw your pistol sitting down, but you will draw it eventually. By the way, which hand is your fastest, the right or the left?”
                  “My right hand, why?”
                  Jess slicked his pistol out again and shot the man in his left elbow. “Jesus Christ, what the hell did you do that for?” cried out Larry Frost.
                  “Well, you said you use your right hand to draw, so I didn’t want to shoot you in that elbow and you only had one left so that’s the one I picked. Now, which kneecap do you prefer, the right or the left?” asked Jess, nonchalantly.
                  Larry Frost finally came to the realization that there was no way out of this now so he did the only thing he had left to do. He went for his pistol. He never got it out of its holster before two slugs from Jess’ pistol slammed into his chest and he fell on top of his dead partner. Jess replaced the spent cartridges while John Bodine walked over to Frost and dug through his pockets and removed twenty dollars.
                  Jess looked at him with a funny look. “John, let the dead rest in peace.”
                  “Hey, a bet is a bet. Besides, he ain’t going to need it anymore and it’ll pay for a good bottle of whiskey and then some.”
                  “I suppose you’re right, he sure ain’t going to spend it,” replied Jess, as he walked over to take a drink out of the glass Bodine had poured him.
                  Logan Whipple was staring at Jess with a look of amazement. “Mister Williams, I hope you never have a reason to be pissed off at me. I’m not sure if you’re crazy or just plain mad at the world.”
                  “I’m not mad at the world, Logan, just the bad men that are in it.”
     
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
                  Taylor Hamm rode straight back to the Welch ranch after delivering the message and the two thousand dollars to Jess Williams. He went into Manny Welch’s office to inform him that Jess agreed to the truce as long as none of Welch’s men tried to bother him or John Bodine or anyone else for that matter. Manny Welch told Hamm to get all the men together in the bunkhouse for a meeting.
                  About an hour later, Manny Welch walked over to the bunkhouse. He informed every one of his men that they could go into town and to the saloons, but that they were forbidden from starting any trouble with anyone. They could defend themselves, but only if someone started a fight with them. He told him that anyone violating this rule would be fired on the spot.
                  After he walked out, his men went about their usual routine. Taylor Hamm and Heath Durrand began to play cards with two other men, Lee Thomas and Hank Cullom. Hamm was dealing the cards and the men were digging into their pockets for money.
                  “So, how did that Williams fellow seem when you made him the offer from the boss?” asked Durrand.
                  “Well,” replied Hamm, “I don’t think he really wanted to agree to it, but his partner wanted the money, so he obliged him.”
                  “I still don’t agree with the truce. Some of those men he killed were really close friends of mine,” said Durrand.
                  “Maybe, but he warned me that if any of us messed with him he would come out here and kill the boss and burn the place to the ground and I believe he would surely do it. He’s one crazy son-of-a-bitch,” replied Hamm. “It is kind of a shame though.”
                  “What do you mean about it being a shame?” asked Durrand.
                  “Well, before I left town, I talked to Randy Hunt at The Hanging Tree Saloon and he