Chapter One—Shootout at Randolph Grey’s Home

     Rob walked slowly into the room, gun in hand, ready for any threatening move by the four men, whose names he did not know, of course. They all stood there, looking at him, obviously waiting for their chance. He glanced quickly at Robin and she was staring at him like…she was looking at a ghost. Rob didn’t have time to chat with her. But inside, he was in angst, his heart on fire…there she is…how long I’ve wanted to see her… He had to put her aside for the moment. He couldn’t let her distract him.
     “Sounds to me, fellers, like you were fixing to have some fun. I’m really offended that you didn’t invite me,” he said.
     “Who are you, sir, and what are you doing in my house?” Mayor Randolph Grey demanded.
     “Before we get further introduced, fatso—and I don’t know who you are, either—I want to relieve those four nice gents over there of any unwanted hardware. Or at least unwanted from my point of view.” Rob aimed the gun in the direction of Grey’s hired henchmen. “Thumb and forefingers, fellows, guns over here. Nice and slow. I’m sure you know the procedure.”
     Rob was standing with a couch in front of him, about 10 to 15 feet away from the rest of the people in the room. The four men did as ordered, slowly removing their guns from their holsters and tossing them in Rob’s direction. He nodded.
     “Thanks, guys, I feel a lot better now.” He looked at the mayor, who was standing just behind Robin.  “Sounds like you’ve got quite an operation going on in this town, fat man. Racketeering, prostitution, kidnapping—it didn’t sound like Miss Morrow was here voluntarily—I don’t know what the law against causing a bank run is, but I’m sure there is one…let’s see what else did I hear? Well, that’s enough to get you a few hundred years in prison.” Rob paused and then, as another thought hit him, he smiled. “Incidentally, I deposited $60,000 in the bank today so that should finally take care of your bogus bank run.”
     Grey’s face turned red as a beat. Rob thought he was going to have apoplexy. His eyes burned with malice.
     Rob continued. “Oh, I guess I could add to the charges intent to rape. That might get you a rope.”
     Grey grunted. “You can’t rape a whore, mister. Not if she likes it as much as this one does.” Rob glanced at Robin, a puzzled expression on his face. She grimaced, looking at him, almost pleadingly.
 
     Oh, I can’t let him think…

     “Rob, I’m—“ she started, but Grey interrupted.
     “Shut up, whore,” he said to her. Then back to Rob. “You sound like you think you know the law, though I doubt you do. Then you should know that illegally entering private property is a crime for which I will prosecute, you can count on that.” He looked at Robin. “You act like you know this man. Who is he? He seems reluctant to tell us.”
     Robin was still looking at Rob. He had to keep his eyes scanning the five men, holding them at bay. She spoke softly, “He’s Rob Conners.”
     That got a reaction. A couple of the men behind the table men sucked in their breath. John Jones narrowed his eyes at Rob. And Randolph Grey’s eyebrows shot up. “Rob Conners? I thought he was dead.”
     Rob was exasperated. “Why does everybody keep thinking I’m dead? I’m very much alive, thank you, and I’m going to take you five men into the sheriff and let him lock you up. I’m sure Miss Morrow will press charges and maybe a few dozen other people in Whitewater will want to as well.”
     Grey grunted again. “Mister, let me give you a piece of advice. I’ll be generous. You turn around and walk out of here, right now, and I’ll let you go. Otherwise, I’m pressing charges for breaking and entering. You’ll never make your charges stick.”
     Robin spoke, “He owns the sheriff, Rob.”
     He gave her a look, a mixture of disgust and perplexity. “Who is this toad?”
     Robin almost smiled in spite of her predicament. That’s the Rob I remember. “He’s the mayor of Whitewater, Randolph Grey.”
     “Ah. Two-bit power hungry politician. What a surprise.”
     “Did you follow us from town, Conners?” This from John Jones.
     “Yeah. Buddy, you left a trail a blind man could follow at midnight.”
     “Where were you?”
     “I was waiting for Miss Morrow to come out of her shop--”
     “Looking for a good lay, I’m sure,” Grey sneered, interrupting. “She’s the best in Whitewater. I’m sure there are a number of men who will testify to that.” Robin groaned. “In fact, I understand she was the most in demand in New York before she moved here…”
     Robin couldn’t stand it any more. “NO! That’s not true!”
     But Grey didn’t stop. “Oh, but that’s what I heard, and I have very good sources. So she isn’t cheap, Conners, in fact, she’s also the most expensive in town. I doubt you could afford her.” He was trying to either anger or confuse Rob into letting his guard down or making a mistake.

     Rob didn’t really understand. New York? Most expensive in town? Has she been working for that Madame? It sounded to me like she hadn’t started yet…but maybe she has…and now he’s going to take all the money…well, I only knew her 24 hours…maybe I didn’t know her at all…

     Rob was exasperated now. “How do you know what I can afford, fatso? I’m an outlaw, remember? I make my living—or used to—by stealing from scumbags like you and giving to innocent little lambs…like myself.” Robin almost smiled again. “But enough of this. Robin, go find some rope. We’re going to tie all these jokers up, and if the sheriff in Whitewater doesn’t want them, I’ll take them to Fort Tyler, if necessary. I know some folks there and I don’t really think they like this kind of human garbage.”
     Robin nodded, and started to move, but then her eyes focused on something behind Rob, got real big, and said, “Rob! Look out!”

     When Rob walked into the room, Robin stared at him. He…he’s alive…oh…oh, my…he’s alive! What…how…And then an inward grimace… Was he listening to what was being said?…Does he think…?
     His first few statements, recorded above, indicated that he heard it all. Oh, what will he think of me?…anybody, anybody but Rob…
     Robin listened to the conversation, contributing when asked, her eyes riveted on the man she thought she would never see again, the man who had never left her thoughts for long, the man she had been trying for months to force out of her thoughts…he’s here…he’s alive…he came for me…he thinks I’m going to work for Sophie…but I’m not…why, Rob? Why now?…But what would I do if he wasn’t here?... Her heart was rending and still her major concern was…what does he think of me?…oh, he knows, the one man in the world I wouldn’t want to know…but I didn’t, Rob, I didn’t…his eyes…what do his eyes say?…he won’t look at me…
     But then, he spoke to her, asking her to go get some rope. She started to move, as if in a trance, and then she saw something, and yelled out to him….

     Rob knew from a glance at Robin that someone was behind him. Probably with a gun. At least, it’s always a good idea to assume that. And that’s what he did in this case.
     What most people do when someone is behind them in a situation like this—and because most people do it, too many of them die—is simply whirl around in place and try to get off a shot. That’s way too slow. What Rob did, and what he had always done, was pivot on one of his feet and turn that way. Not much faster, but he ended up a foot or so to the left (in this case) of where he had been standing.
     And it saved his life. He saw a fat woman—Gloria Grey—and she fired a gun at the spot where he had been standing. The bullet missed him and hit one of the three gorillas who had been with John Jones. Rob fired and put a bullet between her eyes, and then did the next thing a person should do—move again. He dove to the floor, and once again, it saved his life. Jones had pulled a derringer from inside his coat pocket…I should have thought of that, it would have served me right if he had killed me…The little gun went pop!, but since Rob was already on the way down, the bullet flew over his head. Jones never got off a second shot as Rob put a bullet in his heart. Grey’s man slammed back against the wall, dead before he hit the floor.
     When the firing started, the other two men with Jones, since they no longer had their guns, hit the deck to avoid flying bullets. Once Rob shot Jones, he was lying on his stomach, but he could see Robin and Grey. The mayor hadn’t wasted any time. He had grabbed Robin and was holding her from behind, and he had a knife at her neck. All Rob could see of him were his eyes and forehead above Robin’s right shoulder. Well, he could see his knife arm, too, of course. Robin was grimacing. Rob saw her close her eyes and swallow, and then look at him. The best he could read her eyes, they said, “Help!”…

     Robin had never seen Rob in action with a gun before. She had heard of his reputation, but that was all. She saw Gloria Grey come into the room with a rifle and point it at Rob with the obvious intent of shooting. That’s when Robin shouted to him. She was amazed at his lightening reflexes and reaction. A shot rang out, but he had already pivoted. His gun belched smoke and hit Gloria Grey in the head. She grunted, her head snapped back, and she dropped the rifle and fell backwards to the floor. Rob was already moving when Jones fired the derringer. He missed but Rob didn’t.
     By that time, however, Robin was in a bind of her own. Almost literally. She cried out about the same time Rob fired at Jones; Randolph Grey grabbed her from behind and put something sharp to her throat. She started to struggle, but then realized he had a knife pressed against her skin. She went still and the mayor began to speak…

     “Enough, Mr. Conners. You will leave my premises immediately or I will cut Miss Morrow’s throat. Incidentally, thank you for shooting that pig of a wife of mine. I’ve been tempted to do it for a long time, but politicians need to keep up appearances, as I’m sure you know. And this will play very nicely into my hands. You, already a wanted murderer, break into my house, threaten me, want money, kill my wife and one of my associates, and flee. You’d better run fast, because the sheriff and a posse will be after you soon.”
     “Nice, fatso,” Rob said, still on the floor aiming his gun at the mayor—and Robin. “You have it all figured out, don’t you.”
     Rob couldn’t see Grey’s lips, but the mayor’s eyes crinkled up which meant he had smiled. “I think I hold all the cards, yes. Now, leave, or Miss Morrow dies. I’m giving you a chance. You should be grateful.”
     Rob held the gun steady, still pointing it at Randolph Grey. “Well, you give me no choice,” he said. He slowly stood up as if to leave.
     Robin’s heart fell. No, Rob…you can’t leave me…again…please no…
     But Rob spoke, his gun having not moved and his eyes never leaving the mayor. “Hey. You fellers behind the table. What do you think about a man who would hold a knife at a woman’s throat and threaten to kill her if he doesn’t get his way?”
     After a moment, one of them responded. “Well, don’t rightly cotton to an hombre like that, but he does pay our wages.”
     “What would you do if he weren’t around any more?”
     “I reckon we’d ride on out of here and try to find somebody else to pay us.”
     “Good enough for me…” And with that, Rob fired his gun…

     Robin jumped and heard the bullet whiz past her ear. She heard a cry behind her and in a moment, the grip on her from behind loosened and the knife fell away from her throat. A second or two later, there was a thump on the floor.
     She turned around and looked. Randolph Grey was on his back on the floor, a bullet in his forehead. Not going any place any time soon. Or ever again.

     Rob stood for a moment, gun smoking, then walked over to Robin, pistol still in hand, just in case. “Are you all right?” he asked her.
     “Yes. Yes,” she said, taking her eyes off Grey and looking at Rob, searchingly. “Rob...how?”
     "Just a minute.” He spoke to Jones’s two men, who were still on the floor behind the table. “Ok, you fellows can get up. Get your guns and ride out of here, and if I ever see your ugly mugs around here again, I won’t be happy about it.”
     The two men stood up. One of them said, “Thanks for letting us go.”
     “You’re just the hired help. But it would be nice if you men would find something decent and honorable to do with your lives.”
     “We’ll check into it,” Gorilla 2 said. They walked over, picked up their guns, and with a final nod of their heads, they walked out of the room.
     Rob glanced at Robin, then looked down at Grey. “Well,” he said, “it appears that the old Mayor Grey just ain’t what he used to be.” And Robin couldn’t help but giggle at that. Rob…that’s my Rob…
     He knelt down and searched Grey’s clothes. “Let’s see if this slob has anything of value…”
     “You’re going to rob him?” Robin asked him.
     “Well, that’s my name, ain’t it? Besides, I don’t really think he’ll miss it. And you might recall, I’m pretty good at borrowing from fat slobs. Ah…” Rob found the wallet and pulled it out. “There’s a nice wad in here.” He looked up at Robin. “How much protection money did he take from you over the months?”
     “Well, let’s see. He started in October…that would be…five months…$750.”
     Rob had been counting. “There’s $1100 in here.” He handed it to Robin. “Here. What he owes you, plus extra for your trouble.”
     “Rob, I can’t take this.”
     He looked at her, a little exasperated. “What do you think he’s going to do with it? He took it from you. It’s yours by right of earning. Now take it. If you don’t want it, give it to your favorite charity. I’ll open one tomorrow in my behalf.”
     She took the money, smiled, and didn’t argue with him any more.
     Rob stood up. He and Robin looked into each other’s eyes. He read a little bit of despair in hers. Neither of then seemed to know what to say for the moment. Then, he glanced around and said, “Well, I guess we better go report this to the sheriff.”
     Robin touched his arm. “Rob…”
     He looked down at her again.
     “You heard…” she said, timidly.
     “I heard.”
     “Will you let me explain?”
     He nodded. “You heard me out when I explained why I was an outlaw. It’s the least I can do.”
     Robin lowered her head. “Grey…he started the bank run. You heard him say so. I owed the bank for my business. My Aunt Martha owed on her house. The bank had to take all our money to meet the demands of those who wanted their money.” She looked around, agony on her face. “Rob, he was lying. Grey. I never, never did what he said. New York. Here. None of it. He was going to make me.” She looked up at Rob, tears in her eyes. “I never worked at Madame Sophie’s. Please believe me.”
     Rob looked at her for a few seconds, his face hard, as if trying to decide whether to believe her. Then his face softened, and he grinned at her, a grin that melted Robin’s heart. “Well, I’ll tell you something, Robin.”
     She searched his eyes. “What?”
     “If you were doing it, I’ll bet you were the best and most expensive in town.”
     “Ohw! How dare you…” But he started laughing, and Robin couldn’t help herself. She started giggling, too.
     Rob reached for her, pulled her to himself…and her giggles turned into tears. Tears of indescribable joy.

     They rode slowly back to Whitewater. “Rob, what happened?” Robin asked him.
     “What do you mean, ‘what happened?’”
     “I thought you were dead. That’s what we heard.”
     “When? You’re not the first who’s told me that. What did you hear and when did you hear it?”
     “It was soon after we…parted. I heard one day that you had had a shootout with somebody, who was it, Slade?”
     “Yeah, Rip Slade. Up in Dry Gulch.”
     “Yes, that was it. Then the very next day, a report came in that you had robbed a stagecoach up there, killed a woman, and run off. The sheriff went after you with a posse and killed you.”
     Rob was nonplussed at this. “Didn’t they recognize it wasn’t me?”
     “Well, you—or whoever it was—fell over a high cliff and hit the rocks pretty hard. By the time the posse got down to you—him—the coyotes had gotten to the body and it was pretty well unrecognizable. But everybody thought it was you because when the man robbed the stage, he shouted something like, ‘I’m Rob Conners, and I’m the best,’ or something like that.” She paused. “I figured you had finally just…snapped. Losing your wife and ranch, on the run, the shootout with Slade…I never had any doubt it was you. I believed you when you told me you’d never be an outlaw again. That’s why I thought you finally just, well, went over the edge. Lots of people who knew you thought the same thing.”
     “Wow,” Rob muttered. “No, Robin, when I killed Rip Slade, I left Dry Gulch and headed for the hills. I just wandered around for a little while, not really wanting to leave this area. It had been my home all my life. But I was a wanted man, so I had to go. I wanted to come see you so badly, but I couldn’t. So I decided to head north. Before I did, I ran across that big Indian encampment. All those Indians getting ready for the attack Whitewater.”
     “You did? You found them?”
     “Yes.” He told her the whole story, how he found the camp, reported it to Ft. Tyler, scouted for them. “I saw you in the camp with the other white women. Geez, that almost tore me up because I thought you’d never get out of there alive. But then, one night, there was a big brou-ha-ha, in the camp. Teepees catching on fire, bullets going off, horses stampeding. I guess that was when you made your escape.”
     Robin smiled. “Yeah.” She told him, briefly, the story of her escape. He couldn’t help but laugh.
     “That was you that caused all of that?”
     “Yeah.”
     Rob laughed again. “I don’t guess I’m surprised. But I couldn’t have done it better. No way.”
     “Well, I almost didn’t get away. The horse I was escaping on got spooked by a bear, so I lost him. I had to walk. Some Indians spotted me and then fortunately a man from Whitewater—“
     “Yeah, I know all about that.”
     "You do? How?”
     He looked at her and smiled. “I’m a pretty good shot with a rifle.”
     Now it was Robin’s turn to be amazed again. “That was YOU?”
     And Rob laughed again. “Yep. Although I sure was jealous of that feller you were riding with.”
     She smiled. “Sam Burke. He was—is—a nice man.”
     They had arrived at the sheriff’s office. “We’ve got some more catching up to do,” Rob said, “but first things first.”
     Robin stopped. “Rob. The sheriff…I mean, can you go in here?”
     He couldn’t figure out what she meant, then chuckled. He hadn’t told her yet that he had been pardoned by the governor. He smiled at her. “It’s ok. I’ve got something to spring on that rat.”
     They dismounted and went into the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Morris Bernstein was there. He knew Robin, of course, and he looked at Rob suspiciously.
     “Don’t I know you?”
     “Let’s get this settled right now,” he said, and took the pardon letter out of his pocket and gave it to him. He started reading it.
     Robin asked me, “What is it?”
     “A pardon letter from the governor. Because of the help I gave the army in the Indian matter, the commanding officer of Fort Tyler asked the governor to give me a pardon and he did.”
     “Oh, that’s wonderful, Rob!
     “Yeah. A real burden off my shoulders, as you can imagine.”
     Bernstein handed Rob the letter, and he didn’t look terribly pleased. “All right, Conners, good for you. Is there something you wanted?”
     “Yeah, I want to run for mayor, since the town needs a new one now.”
     “What are you talking about?”
     So Rob told him and Robin added a little here and there in support and confirmation.
     “You’ll find four bodies in Grey’s study, unless some other buzzard beats you to them.”
     Bernstein didn’t look none to happy about that at all. “Well, I’ll go out there, but don’t you leave town, Conners. This is going to take some serious investigation before I can clear you. Four bodies. That’s not a small thing.”
     “Sheriff, Mayor Grey made it perfectly plain that you know exactly what is going on here and that you’re either getting a cut of it, or turning your head the other way. My suggestion to you would be that you spread it around that Mayor Grey and his wife died heroically in a shootout during a robbery attempt. They killed two of the men who were trying to rob them. Bury them with full honors and put the mess behind you, because if the stink of this thing gets out, some of the smell is going to come back to this office. Is that what you want?”
     Bernstein was rubbing his jaw, considering what Rob had said.
     “Rob,” Robin said. “Is that the right thing to do? I mean, look at all the horrible things Mayor Grey was doing.”
     Rob sighed. “I know Robin. But it’s over. Grey is dead. The protection racket is finished. Nobody knows what happened out there but you and me, and Bernstein here can really make a mess if he wants to.” He looked at her. “I suspect Grey made an…arrangement…with a certain…lady down the street. Maybe it would be better if that didn’t have a chance to get out.” Of course, he meant Grey’s deal with Madame Sophie about Robin. Robin could deny it all, of course, but there would be a lot of people who would believe she had worked there just because they’d want to believe it. Some people are just like that.
     Robin thought about Aunt Martha. I wouldn’t want any of that to get back to her… “Yeah. I guess maybe that’s the best way.”
     Rob looked back at Bernstein. “Sheriff?”
     He sighed. “Ok, Conners, we’ll play it your way. You’re right, with Grey dead, it’s over. He paid me to look the other way, but I’m glad the….is dead. I think the folks that were being extorted from will figure out soon enough that Grey was behind it. That is, when his thugs don’t show up for the payments any more.”
     Rob nodded. “I won’t tell and Robin won’t, either.” He glanced at her with a quick smile. “Will you?”
     She smiled in return. “No. I don’t like that pig getting a hero’s burial, but I think I can swallow that to keep from raking up a lot of muck.” Especially on me…
     “I’ll take care of things, Conners,” Bernstein said, and headed out the door.
     They watched him go and then Rob said to Robin, “Are you hungry? We’ve got some catching up to do.” Then he added hastily, “If…you want to, that is.”
     “Oh!” she replied. “Yes, of course I do. And yes, I am hungry.” Then she remembered something. “I was going over to some friend’s house tonight. And they’ll be worried.” She smiled at him. “I’ll go tell them that something has come up. Where are you going to be?”
     “I’m staying in the hotel. I’m a little hungry. Killing people does that to me,” and he grinned.
     “Rob!”
     “Meet me in the hotel diner, unless you get a better offer.”
     She smiled. “I’ll be there in a little while.”
     He watched her as she rode off. Oh, she’s so beautiful…can I be so lucky again?…Is she going to want me?….

     And as Robin rode towards Julia Harris’s house, where she was to have spent the evening. Oh, he’s back…I can’t believe it…he’s really alive…but…is he going to want me? I mean, the thing with Sophie…does he really believe me?…I think he did…but that doesn’t mean he’s going to want me….