Red West II.

Chapter thirty four - Moving on

For a second, Horace thought that he could try to con those ten-time-damned Riders. They had behaved as such saints so far, hadn't they? Helping out the peasants, letting the workers from his mine escape, giving out his money at every corner... They wouldn't really dare to hurt an innocent woman, as it would be such an awful stain on their reputation among the poor ones, wouldn't it?

But then, the Lieutenant Governor noticed that look in their speaker's eyes and he didn't find any softness in them. That gunman was young, but his dark eyes were sharp, cold and somehow disgusted. At that moment, Horace was almost sure that it was Leo Akanishi himself. And he was damn serious in his threats... Not to mention that the bandit, who held Baby in a firm grasp, seemed to have no scruples at all.

Horace clenched his jaws and gave one thought to the revolver, which was still hidden in his inner pocket. But no, that was not a good idea. There were too many of them and even if he managed to endanger the leader, the rest of them would have reacted right away, which would also expose Baby to great danger.

The dark eyes suddenly narrowed and then the speaker turned to the Rider on his left: "Take his gun."

The youngster put the lamp aside and approached the Governor. Upset, Tabor let him reach inside his coat, still trying to find the way out of the situation.

"Have you lost your voice now?" the presumed Akanishi asked coldly.

Horace couldn't make himself talk right away. There was quite a big amount of cash in that safety deposit box. Right the day after, he intended to give it out the City Council members to make them agree with the Cursed Mine re-opening. It was a lot. How could he give it up so easily?

The speaking Rider got up from his chair and pointed at the bed: "Put her down here," he ordered.

"What?" Horace's voice got stuck in his throat for a while. "What do you want to do?!"

One of the younger ones took the spot at the door, instead of the oldest Rider who dragged uselessly fighting Baby toward the bed and the other youngster helped him to push her down on the mattress.

"I don't make empty threats," their leader reacted, watching Tabor closely.

Horace's eyes widened when he noticed a sharp blade shining in the yellow light.

"Stop it! Immediately!" he demanded angrily, when the oldest Rider brought the knife near terrified Baby.

"Do you remember how to talk now?" the speaker asked placidly.

"Don't you dare to hurt her!" Horace fumed in righteous anger.

"I won't hurt her, I'll just alter her pretty face a little," the other Rider assumed quite viciously.

"Damn you! Get away from her!" Horace gritted through his teeth.

"Give us the combination then," the speaker requested again.

Baby screamed fearfully, when the tip of the blade touched her cheek. And that was all Horace could handle. No dirty bandits would deform his love's face!

"All right! All right!" he made a step forward closer to the speaker, before a cold barrel in his back clearly told him to stop moving. "I'll give it to you," he breathed out in defeat. "Just don't hurt her."

"Wait," the leader said nonchalantly, and only then other two Riders froze, but they kept pressing his love down.

The Black Rider in front of him; and Horace was certain now, that it was Akanishi himself; pulled out a small paper and pencil from his pocket.