Colt

Bad Blood

"I operate under a precarious set of regulations." Said Murray Colt, bounty hunter, philanthropist and among other things, new father. "This little request of yours will cost a pretty penny." It wasn't the first time a distressed wife came to him to find her husband. It was however, the first time one had asked him to kill the man once he was found.

"I have money." Replied Jennifer Coachwhip. Her pastel brown skin and slanted eyes resonated with the snake after which she was named. "Will ten thousand be enough?" She asked tentatively, unsure about the amount of money this shady figure usually charged. "That sounds about right for a job of this caliber." Murray shot back. "I still have to pay the police to look the other way and cut a check to the orphanage as per our agreement. So I'll get about one of those ten thousand dollars."

The bounty hunter seemed calm but underneath his cool demeanor, he was falling apart. He had never been asked to kill anyone before. He had shot someone in self defense but even then his assailant had survived, kept alive thanks to the drugs that drove him to attack in the first place. "We have a deal." Sighed the bounty hunter. "Excellent. Here's half. You'll get the rest when I see his name in the obituary." Replied Jennifer, as cold blooded as she sounded. Her reasons for wanting her husband dead were simple. He bothered her. He also stole all of her jewelry and 50 thousand dollars out of her safe. Money was trivial though and she could care less if she got it back. "Good luck Colt." She whispered in Murray's ear as she walked past him out of the small back room they sat in. After a minute, he too walked into the small town he called home.

RiverTown wasn't what it seemed. The welcoming little village was full of people with dark ambition. The mayor, a jovial man with a perfect smile stole thousands of dollars from the town's budget to fund his rather unpleasant habits. From the women who frequented his home to the drugs he pumped into his system almost daily, the seventy two year old man considered himself in his prime. Of course some of that money went towards the police, the beacon of light that can be easily turned off. When a backroom deal is going down or a cheating spouse is being brought to justice, they always seem to be a minute too late. Fortunate for Murray Colt, who didn't exactly operate within the law. He got in his car and drove home on a trip that always made him contemplate his place in the world. Why he even existed. But he was always reminded when he reached his destination. His wife and son were the two most important people in his life. This trip seemed longer than the rest though, more weighed on his mind. How could he kill a man in cold blood? How could he end another person's life for money? All that moved to the back of his mind when his house came in view. His wife was waiting on the porch as she had nearly every day. As he pulled into his driveway he could tell something was wrong.