No Mercy for a Killer – Extended Epilogue

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Three years later…

The Annual Colorado Poker Fest was held at the Rocky Mountain Hotel in Denver, and all the suites from the moderately-priced rooms to the very expensive suites had been booked for months. The finest horses in the state had arrived, carrying men who hoped to greatly enrich their bank accounts by signing up for the three-day celebration and poker tournament.

On the second day of the event, Austin Novack, a smiling gambler who had done well on the first day of competition, thought he recognized an old friend at the hotel bar.

“Stack. Stack Gavin, how are you?” he yelled.

Stack was at the bar sipping a drink, but he gave a big smile and shook Novack’s hand when he walked over.

“I haven’t seen you for a while, Stack. We used to bump into each other a couple of times a year. You settle down?”

Stack laughed. “Yes, I have. I usually make an exception for the Denver gala. My wife takes a dim view of poker, but she allows me at least one game a year. And I usually win a few bucks, so she doesn’t mind.”

“You married? I didn’t see you as ever settling down, Stack.”

“I do have some wanderlust in me, and I didn’t think I wanted to settle down in one place. Always liked jumping on my horse and heading to a new location. But that changed. I was already thinking about changing my lifestyle when I met Susan. She was lovely and sweet and everything a man could ask for. I was already in Natchez Hills and…” He paused for a moment. “You don’t know about Natchez Hills either, do you?”

“Nope.”

“How long has it been since we’ve seen each other?”

Novack thought for a moment. “You know, now that I think about it, it has to be about three years, maybe a little more.” He nodded. “Yes, I think the last time I saw you was just after my father died. I was heading back to Texas for the funeral and to handle some legal matters due to his death. You were off to Natchez Hills, I believe; I think you mentioned your brother was there. I’m still roaming, but things must have changed dramatically for you?”

“They have. Let’s get a drink and I’ll tell you about it.”

Conversations and murmurs and soft music from a piano flowed through the space.  They ordered drinks and found a table in one of the small, private rooms in the hotel and closed the door, shutting out the conversations and the off-key piano playing. They sat down at the table.

“As I said, Stack, I’m my same old roaming self, but looks like things have changed dramatically in your life.”

Stack nodded and laughed. “I am now a well-respected—well, maybe a partly-respected—rancher and businessman.”

Novack sipped his drink. “If you had told me three years ago that you’d settle down as a rancher in a short time, I would have thought the mountains had fallen and the Pacific Ocean would flood the plains. And married? The world has surely turned upside down.”

“A few things happened to change my thinking about matrimony. When I entered Natchez Hills, everything seemed to change. Before you left for Texas, did I tell you my brother Bart had bought a ranch?”

“I think you mentioned it. And you had sent him some money to help out.”

“Yes, I was part owner. Bart wanted to own a horse ranch. I always liked horses, but I wasn’t as fond of them as Bart was. He bought a place where he was planning to build a horse ranch. I went down to help him and to protect my investment. I’ll skip the interesting time we had the first week I was there. But I found I liked the town of Natchez Hills. A very pretty place with nice people. Bart had met a very nice woman named Melanie and a few months later they got married.”

“Really? Bart married? Another poker roamer settling down?”

Stack nodded. “He sure did. And now they have a little girl named Elizabeth, and a three-month-old boy named Bill.”

“Is that a fact?”

“It sure is,” Stack confirmed. “I began to like the town, too, and Bart told me I should settle down and we could run the ranch together. I wasn’t sure at first, but then I gradually came around to his way of thinking. By that time, I had met Susan, and I knew I couldn’t continue roaming to the next poker game down the road. After I met her, I didn’t want to ramble. I wanted to be around her and was grateful she would have me.

“My house is about a half mile from Bart’s. Susan and I were planning to be married when we built it, so she basically directed the construction. I hadn’t lived in a house since I left my childhood home so I had no expertise in houses, but Susan did. She knew what she wanted, and it looks great. Like Bart, I have a real nice study and Susan and I have a nice porch where we can look out onto the Colorado sunsets. And we have a baby’s room. She is five months pregnant.”

Novack swallowed the rest of his drink. “Oh… the Gavin brothers have been civilized. Frankly, I never saw that coming.”

“Life is unpredictable, sometimes.”

“That’s certainly true. Very unpredictable.”

Stack raised his finger to help make his next point. “You may need another drink when I tell you this. Not only are the Gavin brothers civilized, we’re in church most Sunday mornings. And we sit together. Church members call it the ‘Gavin Pew.’”

Novack shook his head and coughed as if he had swallowed too much whiskey. He stood up and slapped Stack on the back. “You stay here, Stack. I do need another drink, and time to digest what you just said.”

Stack laughed. On the trail and in the gambling towns and casinos that both of them had once frequented, Novack was one of his best friends. They had often ridden the same path to the same towns to play poker. Stack knew Novack was a man he could trust, which wasn’t something one could say about everyone in the West.

They had laughed and drank together, and they had celebrated a poker win by smoking big cigars. And they had mourned together when a friend had died very unexpectedly. They knew the disappointments of the West and knew the victories. In fact, if the Gavin ranch needed a partner, Stack would have suggested Novack without hesitation. They were now on different paths, but they were still friends and would be forever.

Novack walked back in the room with a full glass. When he sat down, he was still shaking his head. He slapped Stack on the shoulder.

“Are you going to tell me you’re a deacon in the church, too?”

Stack laughed. “Not yet. But my brother and I have become very respectable.”

“Well, do you have your own ranch, or did you join Bart in his?”

“We consolidated. I had a share of Bart’s ranch. I become a full partner when he—or rather, we—expanded, bought some additional land to add to the ranch. Our spread is officially incorporated as the Gavin Ranch, with owners Bart and Stack Gavin.

“And our reputation is spreading. In just three years, we have buyers from all over the state coming to us looking for horses, and almost always finding them. And this year, in Denver, the Desert Inn Hotel had a little gala with horse races. Gavin horses won two of the races and placed in several others. And that’s just the beginning.”

“Congratulations.”

“Yep. I always said Bart liked horses a bit more than I did, but I’m beginning to have some genuine affection for them.”

Novack raised his glass but didn’t drink any of the whiskey. He swirled the alcohol around in the glass. “I understand why I don’t see you anymore in the gambling parlors. You’ve been keeping busy.”

“I have. I’m hesitant to say this, because I always thought of myself as a gambler. My brother and I lived by my papa’s slogan: ‘Some people don’t like gambling, but it beats working.’ And I did enjoy it. Papa also said, ‘Enjoy what you do. If you do, you will never have to work a day in your life.’ That’s also a pretty good saying.

“And I did enjoy gambling. I thought it was in my blood. But this is the first time I’ve been gambling in a year. The hotel hosts this every year and I’ve been here for the past eight or nine years, and I wanted to come one more time. Susan was kind enough to say, ‘Go ahead and have a good time.’”

He rolled the half-empty glass in his hand. “But I don’t think I will be here next year. I still enjoy the game. I may play a few hands with Bart and a few Natchez Hills acquaintances from time to time, but I no longer have a need or even much of a desire to play, at least not professionally. This is the last game for a former gambler. “

Novack raised his glass. “We can celebrate the death—or the passing, let’s say. Passing from one stage of life to another.”

Stack nodded. “Yes, that’s a good sentiment, from one stage of life to another. But it’s not a sad passing, but a happy one. With Susan and the ranch, I don’t want to go back to the old life. I’m perfectly happy with her in Natchez Hills. I can’t think of a better place in the world to be.”

“You sound like a very contented and happy man, Stack.”

“I am. And, you know, I thought of a ranch as being work. I wasn’t sure I wanted to work for a living. After all, I had played cards for years and that’s not work. You don’t have morning hours when you’re gambling. You may stay up late, but you don’t have to get up early. I’ve found I enjoy the work on the ranch, though, even when I’m dealing with stubborn stallions. The work is… enjoyable. Did I tell you I have a dog, too?”

Novack sighed. “No, but I could have guessed it.”

“Dogs are loyal and wonderful creatures. You know, they get excited simply when you arrive. They’re happy when you smile. They just like being around you, and you get a real warm feeling when you pet them and they bark with appreciation. We have black flatcoat retriever named Captain. You know, though, the odd thing is he’s called a flatcoat retriever, but his hair is a little curly.”

“That is a mystery,” Novack said.

“He’s a fine dog. Always in a good mood. Always wants to be among humans.”

“Captain had better be wary of that trait. You have to be very choosy in deciding which humans you want to be around.”

Stack chuckled. “That’s true, but he doesn’t know that yet. Maybe he’ll never have to find out. He’s only two years old. We have a large ranch and there is a site where we will have the family cemetery.”

“You think ahead,” Novack remarked.

“With our land, and a wife and a child on the way, yes, I think ahead. I’m thinking of generations. Captain, when he passes, will be in that cemetery. He’s one of the family.”

His glass had just a dollop of whiskey left. Stack held it up.

“Maybe one day we shall be worthy of our dogs,” he said, drinking the last of the whisky.

“If we get to that day, it’ll be paradise,” Novack replied.

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OFFER: A BRAND NEW SERIES AND 2 FREEBIES FOR YOU!

Grab my new series, "Blood and Honor in the Wild West", and get 2 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!

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