Rot & Ruin (Rot & Ruin, #1)(110)

men laid a heavy hand on her shoulder.

Benny darted through the shadows until he could see the big bonfire on the other side of the wagon. Working quickly, he opened the satchel and removed a few items that he hoped he’d live

long enough to use, and then he tossed the bag with a slow underhand pitch, straight into the fire. It struck the center of the blaze and kicked up a huge tower of sparks, but when the men

in the crowd turned to see what had happened, Benny was already back into the darkest corner of shadows, totally invisible.

“What the hell was that?” demanded Charlie.

“Nothing, boss,” said one of the bounty hunters. “Log shifted in the fire.”

Nix took that moment. She suddenly bent forward and grabbed the handle of her knife. She pivoted as fast as she could, and Benny saw a flash of steel and then the guard to her left suddenly

bent double and let loose with a terrible cry of pain. The other one had been looking at the bonfire and turned at the sound, but Nix spun toward him and then he was falling, the knife

buried in his chest.

Charlie bellowed in surprise and fury, and swung the gun back toward Nix and pulled the trigger.

His shot sounded like an entire barrage of artillery, because at the same second that he pulled the trigger, all of the firecrackers in Joey Duk’s satchel exploded. The sudden sound made

Charlie jump, and his shot tore through Nix’s hair rather than her head.

The night was filled with a thousand sharp cracks, and all of the men ducked and dove for cover, thinking they were under armed attack. They whirled and fired in every direction, filling the

air with louder bangs as shotguns and heavy pistols spat fire and hot lead. A dozen bullets ripped jagged holes in the sheet-metal sides of the wagon beside which Benny crouched, and he bent

and rolled beneath the wagon, feeling the shudder as the barrage continued to tear at wood and metal.

Nix tore her knife free, rushed at the pen rail, and tried to leap over it, blade high, to stab Charlie, but the big man swatted her out of the air. The blow caught her on the shoulder, and

it was so shockingly powerful that Nix went flying. She hit the ground and slid five feet. Her knife went spinning out of her hands.

Benny saw this from where he lay, and the sight of Nix falling made something snap in his mind. He rolled out from under the wagon and ran around behind it, circling the camp at a dead run

to come up on Charlie from the shadows.

The bounty hunters were still firing, and someone’s shotgun pellets struck the flanks of a massive Clydesdale in the corral. The huge draft horse screamed and reared up, throwing all of its

two thousand pounds of muscle and bone against a tethering line that snapped like cotton twine. The Clydesdale’s flailing hooves struck another horse, and soon the whole pack of draft

animals were screaming and kicking and tearing loose. They charged across the camp, spooked by pain and the continual popping of the firecrackers, scattering bounty hunters who dove for

sudden cover. One man was caught in a moment of indecision, shifting right and left half a dozen times before his last moment of choice ran out. The herd of horses ran him down and ground

him into the mud. Benny saw the Hammer trying to make a grab for them, but one of the animals rammed him and sent him flying into Joey Duk’s burning tent. The Hammer landed hard, but

instantly began screaming and thrashing as he rolled out of the fire. The mud and the rain put out the flames, but he lay there, smoking and dazed.

The twelve-year-old was pushing the children over the rail. She was the last one over, and they raced together into the darkened woods, but as they fled, Benny realized he was on the very

path that Nix had told them to take. He tried to dodge behind a tree, but the whole pack of kids saw him at once … and screamed.

Charlie whirled, thinking that one of his men had circled to block the kids.

He stared straight into Benny Imura’s eyes, saw all nineteen of his captives fleeing past him into the shadows.

Charlie Pink-eye’s face darkened with a brutal rage, and he raised his pistol.

And Benny Imura raised his own.





53


“LIFE JUST KEEPS GETTING MORE AND MORE FUN,” GROWLED CHARLIE Matthias.

“BENNY!” Nix screamed, but the Hammer moved behind her and wrapped an iron arm around her throat. The other bounty hunters laughed, knowing that a bad night was suddenly about to become

more entertaining.

“If you think getting shot is fun,” Benny said, “then you’re going to die happy.”

Charlie laughed. “Boy, maybe your brother might have pulled off that kind of banter, but it doesn’t carry the same pop if your voice cracks while you’re talking trash.”

The gun was heavy, but Benny forced his hand to stay firm. Charlie appeared to be unimpressed. The rain was thinning, and the last of the firecrackers banged and then went silent. Benny

licked his lips, tasting mud and cold sweat.

“If you’re going to pull that trigger, pup, do it while you still have some balls.”

“I’ll pull it,” said Benny, stepping forward in what he hoped was an aggressive move. Charlie merely looked amused. “But I want to know something first.”

Charlie grinned and looked around at the other bounty hunters. Most of them were trying to round up the horses, but a handful had stood to watch the fun. Now they were pointing guns at Benny