Lara's Wild West Adventure
A tribute to a great heroine

Chapter Ten - An Old Enemy
Britches was sitting on the bed, rubbing her face, when the door opened. The first person inside was big, burly man, about forty, and when he glanced at her, Britches felt a chill at the expression on his face. A real tough guy, just like she'd seen in the movies.

"That her, Dugan?" the man asked.

"Yeah, Max," replied her captor. "All wrapped up in a cute little package."

A second man came through the door, dressed in a flight suit and carrying what looked like a machine gun of some kind. This one was younger, but quite alert, his eyes and weapon swinging to check all the corners of the room.

"You have any trouble?" Max asked Dugan. "Anyone see you?" He crossed to Britches and looked down at her.

"Nah," replied Dugan. "I waited 'till she was alone. It was no big deal."

"No big deal, eh?" Max replied. Suddenly he grasped Britches by the chin and turned her head sideways. "So why does she look like she's been beat to a pulp?" Max let go and turned to look back at Dugan. "I told you not to hurt her."

"Well, uh…"

"No, let me guess," Max snarled. "You just couldn't keep your hands to yourself, could you? I warned you, Dugan." Faster than Britches would have thought possible, Max pulled a small automatic pistol from under his jacket. "I told you what would happen next time, didn't I?" He lifted the gun and Britches saw the man in the flight suit swing his weapon to back Max's play.

Dugan paled and threw up his hands. "Wait, Max!" he pleaded. "It wasn't like that at all."

Max cocked the gun. "Say goodbye, Dugan. I've had enough of your screwing around."

"Wait, Mister," Britches blurted out.

Max paused. His head swung toward her. "Yeah?"

"He…uh…" she stammered, nervous at the man's gaze. "He didn't try to rape me or anything like that. I…uh…I tried to escape and he…uh…well, he hit me."

"Girl's right, Max," pleaded Dugan.

Max turned to face him. After a few seconds thought, he eased the hammer down on the gun and shoved it back in his coat. The man with the machine gun lowered his weapon, too, but remained alert.

"Okay, Dugan," Max said. "I ain't gonna ask how she tried to escape. I'm just gonna assume it was something dumb on your part." He turned to the man in the flight suit. "Ned, ask our guest to step in, would you?"

"Right away, Mister G," the man in the flight suit replied, and he went to the door.

        * * * * *

Lara and Spade watched the third visitor enter the cabin. The instant the door closed, they were up and running.

Spade pulled his big .45 auto from his belt. "Head to the window," he suggested. "See if you can tell how many are inside. I'm gonna make sure no one else is around."

Lara nodded and drew her pistols. Moving cautiously, she crept to the front window and stood next to it. She peered carefully around the window frame, but caution was unnecessary; the window was completely covered by the curtain inside. She'd only been standing there a few seconds when she heard Britches' voice.

        * * * * *

"Mr. Mansfield?" Britches' mouth dropped open in disbelief as she instantly recognized the new arrival, a portly, well-dressed man. "What are you doing here?"

Mansfield's head snapped around at the sound of her voice and his face went white when he saw her. 'I…uh," he said in surprise and turned to Max. "What's this, Max? She's not supposed to see me. Confound it, this ruins everything! How can we let her go after she's seen me?"

"Who said anything about letting her go?" Max replied. "You can't ever let 'em go. It's not smart."

"Not wait a minute," Mansfield protested. "I'm not going to be a party to murder. What the blazes are you thinking, Max? I just want to collect the money from her old man. I didn't hire you to kill anybody."

Max shrugged. "Goes with the territory, Mansfield. If you want to avoid the gas chamber."

Without conscious thought Britches got to her feet. "Why are you doing this, Mr. Mansfield? We thought you were our friend." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ned swing his gun toward her, but she ignored him. "You were until you stole money from people who trusted you."

"You don't understand, Julie," Mansfield replied.

"I understand, all right," she shot back. "I understand you used your position to embezzle almost a hundred thousand dollars from our company. You should've gone to prison, but Daddy let you resign when you promised to pay it back." Oblivious to the others, she stabbed him in the chest with her finger. "But you didn't even do that. You ran!" She looked him in the eye. "You weasel! You dirty, stinkin', filthy, weasel!"

She drew her arm back to hit him, but Max grabbed her wrist. "Okay, kid. We get the idea. Now go sit down and shut up like a good little girl."

She turned on him, wrenching her arm from his grasp. "And what about you, Mister? This man hired you to kidnap me, is that it?"

Max shrugged. "It's business, kid. We're gonna collect five mil from your old man. Strictly business."

"What about me?" spoke up Dugan. "When do I get my cut? I took all the chances."

Max turned slowly to face him and Britches could see the disgust on the Max's face. "You want what's coming to you, Bill?" His voice was soft, but there was no mistaking the steel in it. "Is that right?"

Dugan paled, but stood his ground. "That was our deal, Mr. G. One hundred K, payable on delivery."

Max nodded. "Correct. That was the deal." He reached in his coat and for a second Britches expected to see his gun. But what Max pulled out was a wad of money, which he handed to Dugan.

"See, Bill? " he continued. "One hundred thousand. I'm a man of my word. Do you want to count it?"

Dugan waved a hand. "Uh, no, Mr. G. I'll take your word for it."

"Good." Max smiled, but there was not a hint of warmth in it. "Is that your maintenance truck outside?"

Dugan nodded.

"All right. Drive the truck back to your quarters and act like nothing has happened. In a few days you can quit and no one will suspect you had anything to do with it."

"What?" Dugan almost shouted. "Are you kiddin'? I ain't stayin' one more minute. I'm outta here, 'fore the law comes sniffin' around." Without waiting for a reply, he headed for the door and yanked it open.

        * * * * *

Lara Croft stumbled quickly backward, startled by the sudden opening of the door. Had the man been looking in the right direction, he would have seen her. But fortunately he wasn't. Lara scooted back to the corner of the building, where she promptly collided with someone.

"Easy," said a voice. "It's me."

Lara breathed a sign of relief at the sound of Spade's voice. "Confound it, Spade," she hissed. "Don't do that. I almost shot you."

There was a low chuckle, but Spade said nothing as they watched the man heading for the little truck parked nearby.

"I think know him," Lara whispered to Spade. "He was in the hall outside my room last night. Is he a custodian or something like that?"

"He supposed to be a temporary," Spade replied softly. "He was hired to…"

A second man emerged from the building and followed the first. It was the pilot.

"Hey, Bill," he called.

The maintenance man turned. "What?"

"Mister G. doesn't like it when people walk out on him."

"Well, that's just too bad. I could care…"

A bright orange flash lit the night and the staccato bark of the automatic weapon tore at Lara's ears. At least three rounds punched into the maintenance worker's chest. Blood spurted everywhere and the man pitched over backward and lay still. The pilot calmly walked over to the man and stooped down. Lara saw him pull something from the man's hand, but had to duck behind the building when the man in the flight suit turned back in her direction.

For a moment Lara didn't move, a little stunned by the sudden unexpected violence. She felt a hand on her arm.

"You okay?" Spade asked from behind her. Lara could hear the concern in his voice.

She whirled on him, angry that he had seen her in a moment of weakness. "Of course, I am, Mr. Spade," she whispered fiercely. "You think I haven't seen men die before?"

"I've seen men die, too, Miss Lara," he replied. "But that was combat. Not like this. This was…" he hesitated and Lara was startled at the look on his face. "This was just plain murder. It…uh…it takes a little getting' used to."

His simple admission of his own feelings dissipated her anger in a hurry. That this man, so sure of himself most times, could admit his own frailty somehow made him seem a bit taller in her eyes.

"Mr. Spade," she said, "I think it's time we clean out this bloody rat's nest. Don't you?"

        * * * * *

Britches was startled by the sudden burst of gunfire from outside. She wasn't the only one.

"Now see here, Max," sputtered Mansfield. "This is going too far. I…uh…I'm think I'm going to be sick." Hands across his middle, he headed for the back door of the building and stumbled outside. A few seconds later she heard him throwing up.

Max glanced at Britches. "You're right, kid. He is a weasel."

A moment later Ned came back in, the machine gun in his hand.

"There ya go, Mister G," he said, handing Max the wad of money. "One open account has been closed."

Max nodded. "Well done, Ned. Put him in his truck and drive it into the mineshaft. By the time someone finds him, we'll be long gone."

"No one's going anywhere," declared a familiar feminine voice. Britches whirled to see Annie standing in the doorway, her pistols at the ready. Kneeling below her, the low cover, Spade had a big automatic in his hand.

"Everybody just stay right where you are," Spade said. There was no mistaking the tone of his voice. "You, with the Uzi, put it on the floor, slow and easy."

Britches glanced at Ned, seeing him weighing his options. There weren't any good ones. Ned's back was to them and he had no chance at all.

"C'mon, fella," Spade called. "Put it down or I'll think you're gonna do something stupid."

Ned extended the weapon slowly with two fingers and placed it on the floor.

"The other one's got a gun, too," Britches called. "Under his coat."

"All right, Mister," Annie said, facing Max. "Open the coat, let's have a look."

Glaring at Britches, Max pulled the front of his jacket back, revealing the holster under his left arm. A moment later his automatic joined the Uzi on the floor.

"Are you all right, Britches?" Annie asked.

"Better now that you're here," Britches replied, getting up from the bed. She crossed the room to join Annie and Spade. "These men were going to…"

"What's going on?" said a voice behind her.

Britches turned to see Mansfield in the doorway, his face pale. Everyone else turned, too.

Except Max. He grabbed Britches just as she passed him and pulled her to him, his left arm around her neck. At the same time, his other hand pulled his second gun from the holster in the small of his back and pressed it against her head, just in front of her right ear.

"Change of fortune, my friends," he gloated. "Now be so kind as put your weapons on the floor." His face hardened. "Or else I'll be forced to blow this young lady's brains all over the room."

Spade didn't hesitate. He put his gun on the floor and lifted his hands away from it.

"You, too, lady," Max snarled. "You think maybe you're Calamity Jane or something? You think you can shoot me standing behind her? Think again. Even if you get lucky, the girl's dead. Put 'em down, right now!"

Annie seemed to accept the reality of the situation and Britches' heart sank when Annie put her pistols on the floor and stepped away from them. Now what? What was Max going to do?

"Pick up your gun, Ned," Max said. "Keep those two entertained while I think about what to do."

But Ned didn't move. He was staring open-mouthed.

"What's the matter, Ned?" Max asked.

Ned didn't move.

"Ned!" Max said sharply.

The younger man shook himself and turned to Max. "Do you know who that is?"

"Who cares?" Max replied. "Pick up your gun and give me a hand."

"But, Max," Ned replied, pointing at Annie. "The woman. She's Lara Croft!"

Go to Chapter Eleven.