It would have been the easiest thing to simply put a bullet in Matt Slaughter’s back. P. D. would have preferred to do it that way, but Mathis had offered an extra two hundred and fifty dollars if Slaughter was brought back to stand trial.
“Slaughter!” P. D. called out. “If you leave that rifle . . . and come out peaceful-like, we won’t kill you.”
“Where’s Molly?”
“I got her safe and sound, waitin’ for you.”
“Who the hell are you?” Matt asked.
“I’m the one come to take you back to Virginia. I always get who I go after. The only choice you have to make is whether you go back sittin’ in the saddle or belly-down across it.”
“If you show me the girl, I’ll come out.”
“Dammit, I told you she ain’t here,” P. D. replied heatedly. I shoulda just shot him in the leg while I had the chance. “I ain’t got all day. You come on outta there now, or I’m gonna hafta burn you out.”
“I reckon you’re gonna have to come and get me.