A Dirty and Quick Vengeance?

A Deadly and Quick Vengeance?

By jaxjack1980

Author's note: The following fictional story is derived from the author's imagination and creative efforts only. Any resemblance to any actual people, living or dead (Except for one notable exception, see closing notes for more), places, situations/events, or businesses from the past or present are entirely coincidental and do not reflect upon them in any real manner. Any direct reference to real-life examples are for creative purposes only and should not reflect anything more than that. Any individuals depicted engaged in sexual activities are 18 years of age/over but there is no real sexual acts depicted here. Mature adult themes explored (see tags).

Narrative note: Per my usual m. o., this is not a "stroke story" and deals with the complexities of a relationship put to the test. Please see my closing notes if you're interested in how I came about writing this (hopefully) interesting tale of vengeance.

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Approaching High Noon

The Oriental

Tombstone, Arizona

Friday the 13th, July, 1883

"Here ya go pretty lady. Congrats on yer winnings. Didn't think I'd live ta see the day where a woman, much less one as young as yerself, win a 'Quick Draw' contest here in Tombstone of all places. Though the circumstances of 'yer victory' seem a tad strange if I don't mind me saying so...," the grizzled old bartender stated as he laid the heavy leather pouches full of gold and silver coins on the well-worn bar countertop.

"Thank you kindly good sir. And I appreciate the compliment despite the backhanded nature of your praise. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I urgently need to be," the beautiful young blonde haired woman replied as she reached over to claim what was rightfully hers.

"Hold on there my precious darling, I think I might have a right to say what happens to that fine collection of loot before you can claim your 30 pieces of ill-gotten silver."

"... Theo? I-I'm surprised to see you here. I was just about to come get you at the..."

"Don't try to play me for a fool again Mona my dear. You played me for one once already when you conspired with that bastard Sheriff Holiday last night to leave me to rot in that sweltering jailhouse," the tall, dark haired, dark-skinned newcomer addressed as Theo interrupted as he entered the nearly deserted salon and came within a few feet of the two other occupants.

"Working with the man I most despise just so you wouldn't have to face me with the ten thousand dollar 'Quick Draw' grand prize on the line," he added with a shake of his head.

"Fortunately for me, the Sheriff's long-suffering deputy shared your surprising lack of loyalty and agreed to let me go in exchange for a cut of my winnings. Guess he figures he wins either way. If I lose, I'm dead, no big loss to him or his boss; if I win, he hopefully gets enough of a bribe to start a new life far enough out of the long arm of the Sheriff's wrathful justice."

"Theo, please! Give me a chance to explain. You've got it all wrong! I didn't conspire with Sheriff Holiday to keep you in jail just so I could claim the prize money for myself. In fact, I was coming over to hand over a healthy portion to the Sheriff so he'd... " Mona started to plead desperately as she attempted to make her way over to her husband, her arms held out in supplication.

Before she could take more than a couple of paces, Theo quickly drew his pistol and aimed it at her approaching form, the gun's barrel aimed squarely between her lovely green eyes.

"I already warned you about making further hopeless efforts to 'con me' Mrs. James! And I don't need you to go into the unsavory particulars of your arrangement with the honorable Edward Valium Holiday," hissed Theo, his coal colored eyes burning in fury as he stared hard at the woman who up until a few days ago had been the woman of his dreams; whose matrimonial loyalty he had never had cause to even question once in all their previous seven months of wedded bliss.

"In fact, the only thing I need from you now, dear wifey, is for you to move your pert, but disingenuous ass outside so that we can settle once and for all who's gonna pay the blood ransom for the right to walk away with that life-changing fortune and who's gonna start paying their lifelong debt six feet under."

"Please Theo, stop this madness as there's no need to shed any more blood! We can both share the prize money and walk out of here to start a new life together! That's all I ever truly wanted and if you give me a chance to explain, I know I'll be able to convince you that you've come to the wrong conclusions about my previous behavior," Mona tried one last time but she quickly saw from Theo's stiffening body language that her words had fallen on deaf, uncaring ears."

Without answering her right away, Theo smoothly re-holstered his pistol and turned to make his way back outside.

"That's thrice now you've ignored my sage advice to quiet that serpent tongue of yours, Desdemona. So now, I'll just go ahead and give you some serious words with deadly intent that you shouldn't dismiss so casually," he coldly stated over his shoulder as he paused by the salon doors.

"In loving memory of the cherished wife you once were, I will give you exactly seven minutes to enjoy a last drink or two and to put your affairs in order. After that, I expect you to show me an equal measure of courtesy in return by having the decency to come out and face me without any more lies spewing from that duplicitous mouth of yours. Also, don't dishonor my generosity by trying to slink out the back in the meantime either. As your tolerant, patient husband, I think you at least owe me that."

With those last daming words, Theo's form disappeared from view as he exited the salon's double doors.

"Miss, er, Mrs. James, do ya want me ta try n' run n' fetch the sheriff before he gets a chance ta make good on his word?"

With a resigned sigh, the lovely, sorrowful face of Desdemona Annie James quietly declined the bartender's kind-hearted but futile offer, keenly suspecting that the portly old barkeep wouldn't be able to make it even a quarter of the way toward his desired destination in such a short period of time.

"Let's use our limited time more wisely, George. How about you pour me a couple of glasses of your best wine for us to toast and savor before I go out and meet whatever fate the gods deem fit to deliver to me," she proposed gently as she reached into the pouchful of winnings and flipped the astonished barkeep a single gold Liberty head coin.

After he did as she requested, she raised her glass towards him.

"In vino veritas," Desdemona called out as she sadly saluted her drinking partner and downed the celebrated contents in one go. She paused afterwards, her eyes closed tightly in order to best focus on the way the dark, flavorful liquid danced along her taste buds delightfully and left a pleasant aftertaste as it coated her tongue.

With her eyes still shut, she motioned for a refill and in front of poor George's disbelieving eyes, dispatched the second glass just as rapidly as the first.

Returning her now empty glass daintily to the mis-shapen bar surface, Mona took a moment to enjoy her inebriated state before opening her eyes and after teetering slightly, made her way toward where her loving husband waited for her outside.

"M-M-Mrs. James? I know Imma just a simple bartender, but shouldn't you take some of the time you have left to give yerself a chance to recover yer senses before you go out to face that husband of yers?"

"I appreciate your concern George, but I think I at least owe it to my husband to not keep him waiting any longer to satisfy his bloodlust for vengeance," Mona replied as she gave him a small wave goodbye just as she pushed open the salon's double doors and went out to face her destiny with as much grace and dignity she could muster.

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Two hours later...

"Afternoon George, I heard from the local gossip mongers that the person I'm looking for was last seen in your establishment. Would you happen to know who I am talking about?"

"Good afternoon sheriff. Yessir, look right over there," the barkeep pointed to the solitary figure at the end of the bar, clearly in the process of getting very, very drunk.

Sheriff Holiday thanked the man and ordered two glasses of wine to be sent in the indicated direction as he took a seat next to the person in question.

"Greetings, Orthello. Enjoying your cups?"

"What do you want, Holiday? You here to arrest me on some trumped up charges again?"

"I resent the unjust characterization of my previous efforts but no, I have no such intentions or basis for doing so at this present time," Holiday replied without any hint of malice as he accepted the two wine glasses from George and offered one to his scowling companion who was doing his best to ignore his unwelcome presence.

"In fact, if you'll indulge me with a drink, I'll let you be after I deliver you an update on Mona and offer up a couple other nuggets of truth that you may find particularly enlightening," the sheriff offered conspiratorially as he leaned in close, lowering his voice.

Theo turned and after angrily accepting Holiday's drink, snarling "If it means that I'll be free from your odious presence Eddie, then go ahead and say your worst."

"That's the spirit, Theo. Let's drink to our mutual disdain for each other. In vino veritas," Edward spoke in a harsh whisper as the two men toasted and threw back their drinks, their faces only a few inches from one another afterwards.

"In wine there is truth," Theo threw back with equal venom as he finished his drink. "Go ahead and say what you've been dying to and then stay the hell away from me so I can get drunk in peace..."

Edward smiled cruelly in return as he spoke, "Nothing would give me more pleasure."

"First, in regards to Mona's condition, I've come straight from the doctor and he says there's better than a 50/50 chance she'll be able to recover from her gunshot wound. The next few hours will be crucial in determining what her final outcome will be. She's not quite out of the woods yet, but he's cautiously optimistic that he's managed to find and stop most of the internal bleeding."

"Next, I know you think that she betrayed you to make a deal with me in order to collect the ten thousand dollar quickdraw reward entirely for herself. I also know you think you made an equally covert arrangement with one of my deputies."

"But I'm here to disabuse you of a couple of your false assumptions. One, while you're right about her entering into a pact with me, your most hated rival, you're mistaken as to the very nature of the agreement we ultimately came to. You see, she reluctantly agreed that for a third of the winnings, I'd release you from your unjust imprisonment today," Holiday whispered vehemently.

"And two, my deputy was under orders to offer you your freedom under the very same financial terms. So you see, in either case I would have ended up profiting nicely no matter what the outcome of your orchestrated duel turned out to be. By the way, Billy wanted me to pass along his thanks for the prompt delivery on your promise after you just recently finished putting a bullet into that backstabbing wife of yours."

"You dirty, no good, conniving son of a bitch... you truly are the cold, ruthless, calculating bastard everyone warned me about..."

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk! Watch your words, Orthello. You don't have much of a leg to stand on, especially after nearly putting the love of your life into the ground over a misunderstanding...," chided Sheriff Holiday as he took malicious glee in tormenting the man he so long abhorred above everyone else. The one responsible for taking so much from him... The one who still didn't admit how much he had truly cost him...

"I'll go ahead and be the bigger man by being a man of my word. Good day, Orthello. Enjoy the rest of your day unperturbed by my presence. I hope your conscience can be so easily dismissed."

And with that last wicked jab, Edward Vance Holiday rose and took his leave as he left a confused and devastated Orthello James weeping in his wake.

"Revenge is indeed a dish best served well done," he thought to himself as he exited the salon's darkness into the stark, revealing sunlight of Tombstone.

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Closing notes: Most importantly, I want to start off by addressing the fact that I clearly made some easy to draw references to a well respected acting legend in regards to the naming of one of my characters. While this character may not be an overly positive one in some readers' eyes, my intentions were entirely positively motivated as I sought to honor him by doing so. So many of my fond childhood memories revolved around watching this talented thespian in some of my favorite movies and I wished to honor him by putting him indirectly into one of my own creative works. Only the best of intentions were behind my decision in naming my antagonist in such a way. In summary, I truly do wish I could have met him in person to let him know that "I'd be honored to be your huckleberry, good sir."

As for myself, this tale is a departure from the stories I usually prefer to write. It also came as a bit of a challenge as I don't normally take this type of approach to my stories but I have always respected those who have managed to craft well written stories in this fashion. I hope I have managed to do some justice with my own take on this highly debated, yet highly entertaining topic of conversation. Not quite BTB or RAAC but a different take that I found unexplainable inspiration from. I also may not be entirely done with these characters if this strange inspiration graces me again. Thank you for reading my tale of vengeance gone wrong and hope that people enjoy it as much as I did writing it.