Hunted [The Flash Gold Chronicles] (2 page)

“No problem.” Sebastian removed his hat and
bowed as deeply as he had for Kali, though he paused on the way up
to scowl at the hole in the beaver fur.

“Cedar,” Kali said. “This is Sebastian.” She
put enough emphasis on the name to make it clear this was
The
Sebastian. While she had not shared much of her past
with Cedar—being fool enough to get betrayed by a con man was
nothing to be proud of—he knew Sebastian was the reason bounty
hunters, pirates, and other opportunistic thugs were calling upon
her now.

A silent moment passed as Cedar studied
Sebastian from boots to top hat.

“Want me to kill him?” he asked.

The offer didn’t surprise Kali so much that
she dropped the rifle, but she did fumble it. He
was
kidding, wasn’t he?

“Uh, pardon?” Sebastian glanced back and
forth between them.

“I don’t know,” Kali said, meeting Cedar’s
eyes over Sebastian’s head. “Is there a bounty out on him?”

“I could check. After I kill him.”

Sebastian raised a hand. “Are we joshing? I
don’t have a bounty on my head. I’m a law-abiding citizen.”

“Yes, apparently swindling women isn’t
against the law,” Kali muttered.

“We could tell the Mounties it was a
mistake,” Cedar said. “I’ve taken out enough criminals for them
that they wouldn’t likely arrest me.”

“Who
are
you?” Sebastian asked.

“I’m her—”

“Beau,” Kali blurted before Cedar could say
business partner.

Then she groaned inwardly, hating herself for
the ridiculous impulse. She did not respect women who played games
instead of simply speaking the truth, and here she was, trying to
look good for Sebastian. Like a woman who
could
get a man
with teeth and hair, thank you very much.

“Yes,” Cedar said, deadpan. “Yes, I am.”

“You?” Sebastian asked with insulting
skepticism. “You’re courting
her
?
Why
?”

Cedar strolled inside, not-so-accidentally
bumping Sebastian with his shoulder on the way past, and joined
Kali. Despite the hat shadowing his face, she caught the glimmer of
amusement in his eyes. Good. She was relieved. He always seemed to
tolerate her wit, if she could call it that, but he had never
intimated that they should have a relationship that was anything
but professional. Oh, there were days when she thought he was
trying to impress her, but the couple of times she had hinted that
they might go have a drink at the dancing hall, he had rejected the
idea, pointing out that she would be unwise to attend such public
venues, given the bounty on her head. She had not had the courage
to suggest a private dinner.

“Because,” Cedar said, wrapping his arms
around her from behind, “I’d be a fool not to.”

Something clunked against her collar bone. A
rock. It dangled on a chain around his neck. She had never seen it
before and could not guess why he might wear such a thing. Well,
she’d ask later. Now, thanks to her big mouth, she had a part to
play.

Kali leaned against Cedar, enjoying the
startled expression on Sebastian’s face despite herself. Even
through the layers of clothing that separated her from Cedar, she
could feel the hard muscles of his chest and arms. He spent a lot
of time training to be a capable bounty hunter. The evidence of
that training felt nice. All right, more than nice.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to kill him
for you?” Cedar asked. “It’d be worth going to jail if it made you
happy.”

Sebastian coughed. “Er, I’ll just, uh. I’ll
go now. Yes.” He backed out the door. “My offer’s still good if you
change your mind Kali!”

The door thumped shut so hard it bounced open
again.

A couple of seconds passed before Cedar
released her, and she found herself wishing he wouldn’t, but he
stepped away, arms dropping. The cold air against her back made her
aware of his absence.

Kali turned to face him. “That was...” Nice
of you, she thought. Pleasant. Something we should do again without
silly pretexts or ex-beaus looking on. “Scratchy,” she said
instead. “I hope you shave that stubble before entertaining the
ladies at the dancing halls. And why are you wearing a rock like
it’s a diamond?”

Cedar’s brows arched.

Kali closed her eyes. She was an idiot. “I
mean, thanks for, you know. Helping.”

“You’ve told me enough about what he’s done,”
Cedar said. “Reckon I wouldn’t mind tormenting him some for you,
though I do need to retract my offer of a killing. I must find
Cudgel Conrad and avenge my brother before I do something that
could see me hanged or jailed for years.”

“Understandable.” Despite all her threats,
she could not find it in herself to wish Sebastian dead anyway. She
wasn’t the sort to kill folks, making it strange that she’d
partnered up with a bounty hunter, but Cedar’s deal had been too
good to resist, and she did not have so many allies that she could
turn them away.

“And this—” Cedar lifted the rock and spun
it, “—is a lodestone. I won it gambling. It’s supposed to bring
luck.”

“If the previous owner lost it gambling, it
can’t be that lucky.”

“True, but the chain is silver. I can always
sell it.”

Ah, yes, speaking of monetary matters... “Did
you find Koothrapai?” she asked, naming a
deserter-turned-murderer-and-rapist who had come to Dawson to
escape the law. Normally she left the scouting of targets to Cedar,
but the thug had wandered past her shop, and she had recognized him
from the newspaper.

“Yes,” Cedar said.

“And did you...?” Kali glanced at his
sword.

“Yes.”

“And collected the reward money?”

“Yes.”

She waited. This was the point when he
usually handed over her share. He did not.

“We’re not splitting this one?” Kali asked.
It was understandable, since she had done little to help this time,
but Cedar had stipulated a fifty-fifty cut when she first agreed to
work with him, modifying his weapons and making useful
criminal-thwarting gadgets.

Cedar hesitated before answering. “I did not
have need of your services to take Koothrapai down.”

“True, but I did alert you to the man’s
presence in town.”

“Which began a three-day hunt, during which I
had to traipse all over the valley after a man who served as a
scout and knew how to hide his tracks and fight when cornered.”

“Yes, but you like those activities.”

“I do. My argument is that your portion of
the work was not commensurate with a fifty percent cut.”

Kali propped her hands on her hips. “Really.
Did you use any of my smoke nuts?” she asked, naming the
shrapnel-flinging smoke grenades that were one of her trademark
inventions.

He hesitated again. “Yes.”

“See, I helped. You just tracked him down.
It’s not my fault it took you three days. A trained hound could do
that job.”

His nostrils flared and his eyes grew flinty.
Even before that, Kali regretted her words. He was her only friend
here—one of her only friends in the world.

She rubbed her face. “I’m sorry, but I need
money to build my airship.”

“Perhaps,” Cedar said, “in this instance, a
nominal finder’s fee would be suitable.”

She closed her eyes, glad he was too mature
to lash out at her life’s work the way she had at his. Or maybe she
wished he would. It was hard knowing she was the childish one.

“A finder’s fee?” Kali asked, glad she
managed a reasonable tone of voice. She almost gave in out of hand,
but if she accepted those terms once, might he not try to press
them on her every time? If so, it could take her years to reach her
goal. “You said we were partners who would split everything
fifty-fifty. I came along because you seemed like the best bet for
earning the money for the parts and raw materials that can one day
get me out of this frozen-eight-months-out-of-the-year hell.”

“Is that the only reason you came with me?”
Cedar asked, surprising her. That wasn’t what he was supposed to
latch onto.

“What?” she asked. Was he trying to derail
her argument? “Of course that’s why I came. What other choice did I
have? You cost me any chance of winning that dog sled race and
getting my airship money that way.”

“I see.” He sounded disappointed in her.

And that made her bristle more than the
money. “I can’t order what I need if all I’m getting are ‘finder’s
fees.’ Once I have everything I need, I’ll help you for free while
I’m building my airship. That’ll take months. And, listen, if you
haven’t found Cudgel in that time, I’ll help you hunt him down.”
She tried a smile. “By air.”

Cedar’s eyebrows disappeared beneath the brim
of his hat. There, that had him intrigued. “Perhaps,” he said, “but
I’m hoping we won’t need that much time. When I was turning in
Koothrapai’s head, I ran into an old comrade who gave me a
tip.”

He gripped her arms. His eyes burned with an
intensity that had not been there during their argument.

“On where to find Cudgel?” Kali asked.

“Possibly.” Cedar noticed his grip and
released her. “One of Cudgel’s trusted men, John Wilder—or Wild
John as he goes by—just registered a claim up river. His head is
worth a couple hundred dollars, but more importantly: when he’s
around, Cudgel’s never far off.”

Kali forced a smile, trying to show she was
happy for him, but her first thought was that he’d have little
reason to stick around and work with her once he’d completed his
quest. “Think he’s here, trying to get rich?” she asked. He was
probably waiting for her to say something encouraging.

“Must be.” Cedar nodded. “Your old beau is
right.”

She winced. She did not want that word
associated with her and Sebastian.

“Big finds were made here last year,” he
said, “and folks’ll be flooding the town this summer. The
population’s already growing.”

“I know. This is all new. My mother’s people
had a camp here when I was a girl. Nothing short of gold would make
men stupid enough to build a city on land that turns into a swamp
when it thaws. I used to—er, wait. You were standing outside,
listening to our conversation?” That meant he had heard those
insults. The last thing she wanted from him—or anybody—was
pity.

“Ah. Well...” Cedar removed his hat and
scraped his fingers through his tousled black hair. “When I heard
the gunshot, I ran over to check on you. Thought bandits might have
invaded the shop. Then, when I figured that wasn’t the case, I
wasn’t sure if I should walk in or not.”

“Oh.”

“Are you game to help with Wilder?” he
asked.

“Yes,” Kali said, glad to change the subject.
“You want to go out and check on his claim, see if he’s about?”

“Yes, but claim jumpers are a problem up
here, aren’t they? Folks might get suspicious if we’re roaming
about, peering about people’s properties.”

“You think someone is going to mistake me for
a claim jumper?” Kali patted her overalls, causing tools to clink
and clatter.

“You, perhaps not. But it’s possible folks
might think me...” He touched the scar on his cheek.

“Menacing?”

“Dangerous,” Cedar said.

“Dangerously menacing?”

“I’m not menacing. Villains are
menacing.”

“You cut people’s heads off, Cedar.”

“I cut
villains’
heads off.”

“Which is a menacing practice,” Kali
said.

“A noble one. I help bring peace and justice
to the world.”

“Menacingly.” She bit her lip to keep a grin
from sprawling across her face. She much preferred it when they
were not arguing about anything serious.

Cedar stuffed his hat back on his head and
glowered at her from the shadows it cast over his face.

“Yes, exactly. That’s menacing.” Figuring he
might not appreciate further teasing, she switched the topic. “So,
what’s the plan for investigating this Wild fellow’s claim? Want me
to pack a bunch of tools and parts in case we need to do anything
creative?”

“Wouldn’t you do that whether I wanted to or
not?”

“Well, yes.”

Kali looked around, already figuring how much
she could stuff into a packsack. She eyed the airship model,
wishing she could bring it along, not because it would serve any
purpose but because it would be fun to fly it out in the open. Best
to lock it up in her hidden, booby-trapped flash-gold vault though.
No need to tempt the world.

“After you pack,” Cedar said, “let’s head
over to the claims office and see what piece of land your Sebastian
filed.”

Kali had turned toward her workbench to
gather her gear, but she tripped over her feet at this last
comment. “What? Why?”

“He offered you a job, didn’t he? His claim
might be close to Wilder’s since they filed at similar times. We
could pretend to work for him while spying on the other man.”

“I don’t want to work for him, I want to
shoot him.”

“Perhaps we’ll have a gunfight with Cudgel’s
men and he’ll get caught in the crossfire.”

“Cedar... This isn’t a good idea. We can’t
trust him.”

“We don’t have to. We shouldn’t have to stay
there long.”

Kali sighed. “Fine.”

Glass clanked outside the door.

Kali frowned. Was someone out there listening
to them?

Before she finished the thought, Cedar had
run to the doorway. He stepped outside and paused.

“Someone there?” Kali asked.

“They were.”

She joined him outside before liquid-filled
bottles hanging from ropes attached to an eave. The rudimentary
“thermometer” had come with the warehouse. The various
liquids—mercury, coal oil, Jamaica Ginger extract, and Perry Davis
Painkiller—froze at temperatures ranging from forty to seventy
below zero, thus providing an indicator of the severity of a winter
day. With the warmer spring weather, none were in danger of
freezing now, and the contents sloshed inside the bottles, as if
some wind buffeted them—or someone had bumped into them.