Make My World Go Black

Chapter Seventeen

In hindsight, Vasquez should have known that no one would take his newly expunged warrant seriously.

There he was, sitting in a roughed up saloon planted in a small outpost that he can go as far as say was a ten-days ride from La Belle, New Mexico without a care in the world. None of his group complained as they were weary from traveling and wanted a decent bed for at least one night. He was watching said group go about enjoying their usual nightly activities. Red Harvest and Horne had disappeared outside to smoke tobacco and skin a deer they managed to shoot outside the outpost, talking about seasoning and savoring the meat for the team's future travels. Sam rested himself up against the bar counter on the other side of the saloon, talking to some local men for any possible news or sightings that could be of use to him. Goodnight and Billy were sitting beside their Mexican friend at a table in the far corner of the room -as Billy suggested was a great vantage point, but not that Vas listened as he no longer believed he needed to look over his shoulders-, the Cajun telling a story of when he first witnessed a drunk Billy take on a blacksmith in an unheard-of town. The former assassin just shook his head throughout the whole story, but Vas thoroughly enjoyed the tall-tale and laughed until his sides hurt. He made the comment of how Billy should loosen up as there was no reason to feel paranoid. Rocks looked over at him from where he sat with his back up against the wall and looking out over the room, without missing a beat as he replied, "Go get Faraday another drink. He looks like he could use it."

Which he didn't, if Vas heard the gambler's familiar laugh from over his shoulder had anything to go by. But he knew the subtly behind Billy's words and he knew when he was being kicked out for the sake of privacy, so he rolled his eyes in response and stood up to leave, Goody flashing him a wryly grin before the Mexican went to go and find Faraday.

He was exactly where Vas had left him. Joshua had found a table of men playing cards and had immediately jumped into it the moment their group had entered the saloon. He hadn't moved since as apparently he was winning the gambles by quite a lot. Sitting next to Faraday on his left was Matilda, her shoulder pressed up against his as she watched the game with a bored expression. The woman had told Vasquez about Faraday's hearing damage, and both had silently agreed to always be within talking distance of the gambler's left ear whenever they wanted to talk to him. If Faraday had noticed that was what they were doing, he didn't say anything, too proud of himself to say otherwise but kept close to them regardless.  Vasquez didn't mind the arrangement as he was always within proximity of Faraday and Matilda, to begin with, the three of them always walking or riding close, like the way they had fought together when first arriving in Rose Creek, back to back and always watching each other's blind spots. It was that reason alone Vasquez was so sure he no longer had to look over his shoulder or keep his head down, even though Sam had already bought out his warrant. He thought he would be safe in numbers, with seven other people watching his back at all times. 

He should have known better than to let his guard down.

"'Cuse me, sir, but you look an awful lot like that outlaw, Vasquez."

Upon hearing the sly voice from behind him, Vas stiffened, his shoulders noticeably locking up. Why did he have to react like that? The Mexican was sure that if Faraday was in this situation, the gambler would have put on his best poker face and would talk and lie the man's ear off. The man he was referring to, however, seemed to be a great deal smarter than most of Vasquez's opponents and before long he felt a faint click and a press of cool metal on the back of his neck, the small hairs rising up at the touch.

"Turn around. Slowly. Hands where I can see 'em."

Vas complied, slowly lifting his arms from his side. Before turning around, however, Vas was able to throw a glance over to the poker table across the room, and with that glance, he had managed to catch Matilda's eye, who was looking around at the time to find something better to do other than watch Faraday win some bets against strangers-- again. The woman didn't appear too alarmed at first, her eyes only squinting when she noticed the figure over Vasquez's shoulder then slowly reached out to tap Faraday's elbow. Now that she had the gambler's attention, she stood up and walked away, towards the bar. Before Vas fully turned around, he had noticed Faraday observe the situation and then loudly proclaim to his gambling counterparts that he folds. He had also noticed Matilda had finally reached Sam at the bar.