When Jacob arrived at the livery, after running back down the main road of Raton in the darkness, his shoulder and entire arm were aching again, almost more than he could handle. The exertion had set his blood pumping throughout his body, and it had soaked straight through the handkerchief that the man had given him.
This late in the evening, there was one lamp burning, but the livery owner was nowhere in sight. Jacob only had a few minutes to find the man, bid him stay out of the way, and position himself for the ambush.
Being half a step ahead of Watts was Jacob’s only advantage now.
Once the only other person near was out of harm’s way, Jacob cast about, looking for the best place from which to surprise his quarry. The door to the livery had been standing wide open when he had approached, and there was space just behind it to hide him completely. Such a spot would also allow Jacob to be close to Watts when he entered the building and see his approach. He could corner the outlaw without spooking him prematurely.
He hid himself thoroughly, knowing he might only have mere seconds to wait.
The livery stood at the far end of Raton, far enough away from the Rat Hole and the other saloon in town to offer a quiet respite from the bustle of people Jacob had been in the middle of all evening. He stayed alert, listening for the first sign of Watts coming toward him.
The kid wasn’t stupid. He might be young and he might be foolish in many ways, but he wasn’t completely helpless. He had managed to avoid capture this long. He knew something about avoiding danger.
From his position behind the open door, Jacob heard ragged breathing and running steps approach the livery, but before they fully reached the opening, the steps slowed greatly. Watts was taking his time and looking for signs of trouble.
Through the small gap where the hinges met the frame, Jacob could sight Watts along the barrel of his revolver. Aiming with his left hand was difficult, and Jacob prayed he wouldn’t have to actually shoot.
He watched the kid walking, creeping almost, through the darkness, looking all around him. He was in a hurry to leave Raton, but not such a hurry as to be careless.
Watts took the final two steps and crossed the threshold into the livery.
Jacob held his breath, willing the kid to walk deeper into the building.
Watts looked around, warily. Then he took three more steps. “Hello?”
That was it. That was all Jacob needed. He closed the door behind Watts, blocking his escape.
“Hand’s up, Watts,” Jacob commanded. His voice echoed through the mostly empty space. Watts didn’t even turn to see where it was coming from. “You’re under arrest.”
“Hell no!”
Watts shot haphazardly over his shoulder at Jacob, the bullet missing the man and cracking the wooden doorframe. Without pausing to try again, Watts set off running from him. He darted from side to side, running through the livery almost at random. But it was the only direction he could go—away from the door and away from his pursuer.
With only his left hand to shoot, Jacob didn’t want to take the risk of hitting one of the horses. Instead, he set off running after the boy.
Watts was quick, and lighter on his feet than Jacob. He ducked into one stall, turning into it so abruptly that Jacob almost slid across the floor in his haste to follow. The livery of Raton was spacious, enough that Watts could easily climb over one stall into another, and then over to another row of stalls without ever having to face Jacob. With his injured shoulder, Jacob felt off-balance, and more cautious than he would normally be. He was too slow and too hurt to climb up after Watts.
“You’re not going to escape, Watts. Just come quietly. I don’t want to have to hurt you.”
“The hell I will,” the kid called.
Jacob looked up into the blackness of the livery rafters. Watts must have climbed up instead of over. The bounty hunter would need to be sure he stayed between the outlaw and the door. Jacob looked around hurriedly, trying to determine if there was any other way out other than the way Watts had come in. There must be other entrances.
He slowly, almost casually, walked back to the dark depths of the livery, looking for another door. He didn’t want to make too much noise so Watts wouldn’t know that the front door was clear. Jacob tried to step on strewn hay as much as possible, to muffle the sound of his boots.
Still looking up into the rafters, careful to not lose Watts, Jacob felt his way along the back wall. There was a wide double door, closed tightly against the night. Still holding his revolver in his left hand, Jacob didn’t have any way to feel around for the door handles, so he carefully retreated until his back was against the door. There were the handles—he could feel them jutting into his back and there… He turned, briefly taking his eyes off the dark corners of the livery to check. A heavy chain was wrapped through the wide door’s handles and locked tight.
Jacob let out a slow breath of relief. That left just the one opening to the livery. He could make his way back and just wait out the kid.
The bounty hunter began his slow progression back down the wide path between stalls in the livery. The couple horses boarded there watched him with mild interest, though he was careful to keep himself calm and not spook them if he could help it. He stuck to walking on the hay as much as possible and kept an eye out for Watts.
With his trying to stay quiet, his concern for the horses, and his listening for Watts, Jacob’s attention was distracted. He had just glimpsed again the now closed door to the livery when he heard a low thump above him.
“Watts—”
But Jacob didn’t get anything else out before the full weight of the kid had dropped down on top of him.
“Gah!” he cried, as pain shot through him.
Though Watts had surprised Jacob by jumping down on him from above, the kid didn’t weigh enough to give him too much of a problem. While Jacob lay on the floor of the livery, reorienting himself after his fall and pushing back his pain, Watts was taking the opportunity to scramble to his feet.
Through the haze of his pain, Jacob noticed Watts begin to pull away. He had dropped his revolver when he was pushed to the ground, but that meant he had a hand free to grasp at the kid. He almost wrapped his fingers in Watts’s pant leg, before the kid pulled away again.
He was going to lose him. Jacob clenched his teeth and made his move.
Though he had one useless, arm, Jacob was otherwise a physically powerful man. Using leverage from having his back to the ground, Jacob used one strong leg to hook around Watts, and the other leg to kick him over. The kid collapsed in the dirt, one of his ankles twisting awkwardly. In a flash, Jacob had pushed himself up, and on top of the outlaw, holding him in place. Watts squirmed under Jacob’s weight, but the bounty hunter held him down firmly with one knee to the chest.
“You’re caught, Watts. You’re done. Your best option is to come quietly and not make any more trouble for yourself.”
“Noooo,” the kid whined, dejected.
But he had no other options. It was over.
Jacob had him pinned in the dirt. It would be a mess to try to bind the kid with only one good arm, but Jacob was up to the task.