L A Woman

Magilla sprinted toward them and launched his massive body high into the air. I saw a crimson stain low on the back of his shirt as he sailed towards them.

He crashed down on the bucket like some human asteroid and I heard the men scream as Magilla pinned them under the metal plate and his weight and momentum made the enormous boom lift shift and groan.

Then it tilted sideways.

The boom lift fell slowly at first, then faster as it disappeared from our sight. We heard men yelling, then the crash and screech of metal slamming into pavement. It went over like some mechanical dinosaur toppling on its side in a last, agonizing moment.

We ran to the edge and looked down at the wreckage.

Hondo yelled, “Sykes!”

Magilla didn’t move. A man who had worked the lift from below staggered to his feet and looked around, then drew his pistol and started to raise his arm.

Hondo shot him.

Hondo yelled again at Magilla, “Sykes!”

Magilla’s hand moved. Jett grabbed my arm and squeezed, but she didn’t say anything.

CHAPTER 15

A gun boomed from far down the street and I felt a bullet thup by my ear. Even from a hundred and fifty or so yards away, I recognized John Wesley and his cowboy hat. He had half a dozen men with him and they were walking our way. One of them had a rifle.

“Put your fingers in your ears,” Hondo said from behind me.

“From here?” I said.

“I thin

k so.”

I put my fingers in my ears and Hondo used my shoulder as a rest for his forearms as he sighted on the men. I saw the barrel of his .45 raise to compensate for the distance.

The man raised the rifle to his shoulder.

Hondo’s Kimber boomed and the rifleman grabbed his shoulder, sinking to his knees. Hondo cranked off the rest of the clip and John Wesley’s men scattered for cover. Two of them staggered but managed to limp behind buildings.

“That’ll buy us a few minutes,” Hondo said.

Jett said, “Nice shootin’, Tex.”

“You,” I said to Jett, “Are my kind of girl.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Hondo said as he put his pistol away.

“It’s a long way down,” I said.

“No other ladders?”

I pointed toward the next building, “There’s one over there on the roof.”

Hondo looked at the alley between the buildings, then took several steps back and looked at the far building.

“Whoa, whoa,” Jett said. “You can’t do that.”

I pulled her to the side. I said, “Trust him.”

Jett looked at me, then at Hondo. Hondo gave her a little smile, then ran toward the other building and leapt into space.