Hard Luck Money Read Online Free Page A

was almost complete. They came to a stop.
    “Now we wait,” Hagen said in a half whisper.
    Despair made Lupo sag in the grip of the men holding him. He had never been the sort to give up, but he didn’t see how he could get away.
    But maybe if he could make them think he wasn’t going to fight anymore, they would get careless. If one of the guards got close enough to tackle, and Lupo could tear loose just for a moment, he might be able to get his hands on a gun... .
    He didn’t harbor any foolish notion of being able to shoot his way out, but if they were going to kill him anyway, he might as well go down fighting and take some of the bastards with him, he thought.
    Especially Hagen.
    But he never got the chance. The men who were holding him, one of whom was Boozer, never let up. They kept him pinioned firmly between them. None of the guards came close enough for him to make a grab for a gun, either, even if he could have gotten loose.
    “How long do we have to wait?” one of the men asked.
    “Until the fellas I’m working with get here,” Hagen snapped.
    So someone else was involved, Lupo mused. That put a new angle on the situation, but didn’t clear anything up. He was as much in the dark as ever, figuratively as well as literally.
    Time didn’t have much meaning in such circumstances. Lupo didn’t know how much of it had passed when he heard hoofbeats approaching. What sounded like five or six riders were making their way slowly through the trees.
    The hoofbeats stopped, and someone made a noise like a night bird.
    Hagen said, “That’s the signal,” and scratched a match into life to light the lantern again. The men holding Lupo had to squint against the glare.
    So did Lupo. The thought that it might be his last chance flashed through his mind. He tensed his muscles, about to make one more attempt to break free, but Boozer’s hands tightened on his arm and the big convict growled, “Don’t even think about it, Lupo.”
    Muttering a curse under his breath, Lupo waited to see what was going to happen.
    The riders started moving again, tall, looming shapes making their way through the trees. They reined to a stop about twenty feet away from the group of guards and convicts.
    One of the newcomers edged his horse forward. He was a big, barrel-chested man with an ugly face adorned by a ragged gray mustache that didn’t help its appearance. “Is that him?” he asked in a gravelly voice.
    “That’s him,” Hagen confirmed. “Quint Lupo. One of the most successful bank robbers in Texas for a long time. Held up quite a few trains, too. But the law finally caught up to him.”
    “And now the law’s about to lose him again,” the stranger said.
    That brought a laugh from Hagen. “We’re not losing him. We’re giving him back.”
    “All right.” The man on horseback made a curt gesture. “Bring him on over.”
    “There’s one thing you ought to know,” Hagen said.
    The man stiffened, and Lupo saw his hand move slightly closer to the butt of the gun holstered on his hip.
    “What’s that?” the man demanded. “You’d better not have changed your mind about the price you agreed to.”
    “That’s not it,” Hagen said with a quick shake of his head. “There’s a dead guard back at the prison. A couple of my men are sitting on the body right now, but they’ll pretend to discover it as soon as I give the world.”
    “And Lupo will get the blame for the killing?”
    “I don’t see any other way to work it,” Hagen said.
    The stranger thought things over for a moment, then nodded.
    “I think there’s a good chance the boss can turn that to our advantage.”
    “If he does—”
    “I know, you’ll want a cut of whatever extra we make. You’ll have to take that up with the boss. All I’m doing is picking up Lupo and taking him back.”
    “All right.” The tone of Hagen’s voice made it clear he would have preferred to come to some sort of arrangement right then.
    The stranger motioned