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that long?”
“Because I told the sheriff to tell Sloan that the man coming to see him would pay him five hundred dollars just to wait for the letter.”
“Not bad pay just for waiting around.”
“That’s why I figure he’ll still be waiting there when you show up.”
“So, how much do I get paid for delivering the letter?”
“Same as I’m paying him to wait, five hundred dollars. That’s on top of your normal pay. But you have to make sure you hand the letter to him personally and no one else, and you make sure that he reads it before you give him the money, understand?”
“Sir, for five hundred dollars, a man can understand a whole lot.”
“Good. I knew I picked the right man for this job.” Carter walked over to the counter where the brandy was and picked up a small envelope, which was sealed in wax with Carter’s personal stamp in the wax. He walked over to Hanley and handed him the envelope. Then Carter pulled another envelope out of his back pocket. “The sealed envelope is the one you hand personally to Tim Sloan. The other envelope has one thousand dollars in it, five hundred for you, and the other five hundred for Sloan. Hand him the five hundred but only after he reads the letter.”
“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what the letter says, are you?”
“No, but it’s pretty important to me. I trust you to make sure that you get it to him.”
Hanley finished his brandy and stood up. “Consider it done, Mr. Carter.”
“I already did.”
Hanley walked out and headed for the barn to get his things and saddle up his horse. His horse was a liver chestnut, which was close to the same color of the wood in Carter’s study room. He took exceptional care of the horse and the truth was he liked the horse more than he liked most people. Hanley realized that a good horse could mean the difference between life and death sometimes especially on the trail. It was early in the day yet so Hanley figured he might as well get a head start to Holten. He didn’t really care what was in the envelope he was to give to Tim Sloan. Hanley was a simple man and he knew how to follow orders. He had a job to do, and he would simply do it without question. He did, however, figure it must be pretty important since Carter was paying a whole lot of money just to have it delivered. And paying a man five hundred dollars just to wait around for a letter was pretty much unheard of. Hanley saddled up and headed out.
Carter sat down in one of his big leather chairs and sipped on his fine brandy. He had a grin forming across his lips that only he and his innermost dark side could really understand. He hadn’t told Hanley what the letter to Tim Sloan said in the envelope although he could remember it by heart. He recited it again in his head and the evil grin grew a little wider.
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    Jess left Carter’s store and walked back to Smythe’s General Store. Jim had just finished waiting on the customers that Jess had steered over to him. Jim had a smile on his face for the customers, but as soon as they left, the smile quickly evaporated. “Are you out of your mind? Carter’s going to be pissin’ blood an’ shittin’ nails when he hears about this.”
    “You leave Carter to me.”
“And how about his two dozen or so hired guns?” “I’ll deal with them also. Here’s all you need to worry
    about. Have Tony from the livery come over and get my horse and tell him to take good care of him.” Jim nodded. “Good. Now, I need to buy some shotgun shells and I also want a couple boxes of .45 cartridges. I have a feeling that I’m going to need them before this is all over.”
    “I got lots of ammo. I haven’t been selling much lately.”
“I’m going to take a little look around town and maybe pay a visit to the saloon.” Jess pulled the shotgun out of its back sling, checked it to make sure both barrels were loaded, checked his pa’s Colt .45 Peacemaker in the front of his belt along with his pistol and headed