Chapter Twenty-Five

Waiting until dark had been hard for Turner--as a matter of fact it had been one of the most difficult things he had ever done. Knowing that Will was in that brothel, that men could be forcing him even as Turner sat hidden in the woods and waited, was nearly more than he could bear…

But even his considerable temper hadn’t overridden his good sense. Turner was good at killing but Thompson knew he was coming and coming at them in broad daylight probably wouldn’t have ended well for Turner. Plus now Thompson and his men would be more on edge, more apt to panic and make mistakes. They’d seen Fred and Vince and the more time went by with nothing happening, the more time they had to think and wonder about just what Turner was going to do to them. 

The answer was simple. Turner was going to kill them. All of them. Every last man who had had the nerve to ride up on that mountain today was going to die at his hands. Thompson Caudill’s reign was over. 

Turner left Bernice in the woods. He didn’t worry about tying her up because he knew she wouldn’t move. She would stay right in that spot until he came or she heard him whistle. 

Slipping quietly as a shadow, Turner went around the back of town, staying low and out of sight. He took cover behind a watering trough when he saw the sheriff walk out of a nearby home, “You just keep an eye out for him, sir and ma’am. He’s a dangerous man and we need him off our streets and made to pay for what he did to those innocent men,” the sheriff warned as he stood in the glow of their kerosene lamps. 

Turner growled low in his throat and clenched his fists. Innocent men his ass. Those men had been prepared to stab him in the back--there wasn’t a damn thing innocent or honorable about a man who would do that. Turner might be a lot of things but he’d never killed a man without looking in his eyes first. 

The sheriff made his way down the road and out of sight and Turner continued on his path toward the brothel. It was his hope that he wouldn’t have to kill the lawmen in order to save Will but if it came to that then Turner would do what had to be done…. They weren’t any kind of lawmen that anyone would come avenging--hell Turner didn’t think they were even legal law men. Simply a shield for Thompson to hide behind.

Turner stopped and bent down when he saw the two men standing guard at the back door of the brothel. No doubt there were more around front and inside. As a matter of fact, Turner had no way of knowing how many men Thompson had lying in wait for him. 

What he needed was a distraction. 

***

“Thompson! The goddamn saloon is on fire!” 

Thompson leapt from his desk has Jasper ran into the office, “What the hell are you talking about?” he demanded. Thompson raced to his window and looked outside. Sure enough flames were shooting out of the windows of his beloved saloon. 

Cries rang out as people tried to collect buckets of water and save the surrounding buildings. Thompson clenched his fists, “How?!” 

“Someone threw lit bottles of whiskey and rags through several of the windows, sir.” 

“Turner!” Thompson bellowed. 

“No one saw him, sir.” 

Thompson didn’t care if no one had seen him, he knew that Turner was responsible. Thompson had sent Turner a message in smoke and fire and now Turner was returning it. 

“Find him!” Thompson roared. “Get Timothy, Creedence and the lawmen and find that bastard! He’s in this town and I want him dead!” 

***

Turner slipped up the back steps of the brothel and made his way inside easily enough. Everyone was too distracted by the chaos and fire down the street to pay any attention to one person moving about. 

He had to find Will. Once he knew Will was safe, he could hunt down Thompson and the rest of those bastards. 

A brothel girl stepped into the hall as Turner made his way down it and her eyes widened, “You’re….”

She never finished her statement. Turner clamped his hand over her mouth, put a knife to her throat and shoved her back into the bedroom she’d come out of, “Don’t make me kill you,” he growled. 

Her blue eyes were wide with fear as tears left trails in the paint on her face. She nodded and Turner released his hold before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. 

Will was in 10B on this floor and Turner knew that Thompson’s office was on the floor above. Turner went to room 10B and tried the door only to find that it was locked. He pressed his ear against it and heard someone moving inside. 

He blew out a breath, counted to three and kicked the door, breaking the frame and sending the door crashing open. 

He froze instantly as the man with his pants around his ankles and his cock in Will’s ass turned his head and stared at him with shock. Turner had never felt a rage like the one that boiled up in his blood. He had always had a bad temper, had always been prone to violence and rage but this…this was an entirely new level of blood lust. 

Will was tied to that bed like some sort of sacrificial lamb and while it was too dark to make out details, Turner knew he was in bad shape. Without a word, Turner pulled his knife and strode across the room. 

Dead man stumbled backward and tried to escape, merely tripping over his trousers as they twisted around his feet. He fell on his ass and Turner brought his knife down. Over and over he drove that blade into the man until he no longer cried out or squirmed with pain. 

Sticky with the stranger’s blood, Turner ran to the bed where Will lay. He cut the ropes binding his man to the posts, “Come on, Will!” he urged. It would only be a matter of moments before someone came running after the sound of the door crashing in and the man screaming in pain. 

There was no response from Will. 

Thinking maybe Thompson had drugged him, Turner shook him hard, “Will!” 

Still nothing. 

Only an eerie silence. 

The sounds of chaos from outside seemed to vanish. 

Turner looked down at Will lying so still in the bed. He could make out the blood, the bruises, the fact that Will’s face was nearly unrecognizable. 

“Will, please wake up….”Turner was surprised by how small his voice sounded. 

He put his fingers under Will’s nose and prayed to feel breath wash against them. There was a long moment of nothing just before a gunshot boomed inside the room. Turner yelled in pain as the bullet slammed through his lower leg. It went through without breaking bone but the pain drove him to his knee. 

“I got the bastard!” he recognized Timothy’s voice. “I got him!” 

Turner turned slowly to see Timothy standing in the doorway with a smug grin on his face, “I always knew I’d be the one to knock you down a peg or two,” he sneered. 

Turner nodded, “And I always knew I’d be the man that killed you.” 

Timothy frowned and Turner threw his blood covered knife. It stuck deep in the front of Timothy’s throat and the man’s gun clattered to the floor. He grabbed the knife handle and ripped it out which sent his blood gushing from the gapping wound. 

Turner watched him fall to the floor and heard more footsteps coming. He had to get away from this room, away from Will. If there was any chance that Will was alive, and Turner had to believe there was, then he sure as hell didn’t want someone coming in here and firing shots that might kill him. 

Turner shoved himself to his feet and limped quickly out into the hall. The two town deputies rounded the corner and took aim at Turner. Turner pulled his .45. He fired two shots, one hit its mark and sent a deputy falling to the ground but the other went wide. A bullet struck the wooden wall just above his head and Turner saw the sheriff coming from the other end of the hall. 

Quickly, Turner leapt over the balcony. He grabbed the velvet that draped over the edge and swung to the floor below as the sound of tearing fabric filled his ears and gunshots showered all around him. 

Grunting with pain, Turner hit the floor and rolled behind the bar. The second floor served as a relaxation area complete with drinks and poker so men could relax while the waiting for the women, or Will, to have time for them. 

“Get down there and get him!” Thompson’s voice boomed from the second floor. 

Turner saw him run into Will’s room and knew he had to get up there. He was going to run from behind the bar but gunshots hitting the thick oak had him staying in place. 

Thankfully it seemed that everyone other then the lawmen attempting to kill him had cleared out of the brothel. Clearly they weren’t too eager to die for Thompson Caudill. 

Turner fired two blind shots over the bar and then addressed his leg which was bleeding quite badly. He pulled his bandana off his neck and tied it tight over the bullet wound. Then grabbed his rifle off his back. He heard the footsteps approaching as the two lawmen whispered back and forth. 

Turner blew out a long breath and then leapt to his feet. He yelled with rage as he came storming around the bar. 

The lawmen were shocked by his sudden show of suicidal rage and Turner took advantage of that. He fired shots as quickly as he could from the old Winchester Repeater. 

All ten bullets found a nice soft home of flesh and blood. The lawmen went down hard. Turner set his sights for the staircase, knowing that Thompson was in that room with a helpless Will. 

He was nearly to the stairs when a bullet grazed his arm. Turner growled and turned quickly seeing that Creedence and Jasper had come running up from the first floor. 

“There’s that son of a bitch!” Jasper yelled. 

Turner dove to the side just as they fired more shots. He tipped a table and took cover behind it. Turner threw his rifle to the side and glanced upstairs. He heard Jasper and Creedence taking cover behind the bar and cursed. He didn’t have time to get into a gunfight with these two bastards while Thompson was alone with Will. 

Turner pulled the dynamite from pouch and struck a match he dug out of his pocket. He lit the fuse and watched the fire work its way down. Turner poked his head over the table and threw the dynamite with all his might. It bounced off the back wall and clattered to the floor behind the bar. 

“What’s that?!” Creedence yelled. 

“Aww shit!” Jasper called. 

Turner smiled, ducked down, covered his ears and felt the concussion of the blast as the dynamite blew and wood, glass, bottles, whiskey and blood rained down over the room. 

Turner didn’t even wait for the air to settle before leaping to his feet and running as quickly as his wounded leg would allow up the staircase. Turner was certain that Thompson didn’t have any more men coming. If he had they would have showed up already. 

The time had come for Thompson to pay for all he’d done to those Turner loved… and if Will was dead… then Thompson would pay a lot more slowly. 

Turner pulled his .45 and entered the room, stepping over Timothy’s dead body.  Thompson had Will pulled half out of the bed and was using him as a shield to hide himself. Will’s body was limp and lifeless as his arms flopped and his head lolled down on his chest. 

Thompson clicked his tongue and pressed the knife he was holding tighter against Will’s neck, “He’s breathing but just barely. You drop that damn gun, Turner, or I’ll fix that real quick."

A/N: Oops I did it again... I just can't help myself.. i love the cliffhangers ;) Hopefully you don't hate me too badly and feel free to share your frustrations and vent below in the comments.......