Page 111 of Daybreak

Gunner wasn’t the only one racing toward the bank.

Sonny Bluejacket, the rancher who lived south of Crossroads, was feeding horses when he had one of his visions. He could see the robbers entering the bank and the getaway driver out front. And then he saw Gunner Kingston arriving on the scene and knew it was going to get dicey before the sheriff had time to arrive. He dropped what he was doing, snagged a handful of bungee cords, ran into the house long enough to tell his wife, Maggie, what was happening, then grabbed his rifle and took off running toward his truck.

* * *

The getaway driver, Jackie Rankin, was completely focused on the front door of the bank when the door against which he was leaning suddenly opened. He reached for the steering wheel to catch himself from falling when someone grabbed him by the collar, yanked him backward, and shoved the barrel of a gun so hard into his ear he felt it pop. The voice of the man behind him was a shock.

“Don’t move. I will shoot you where you sit. How many are inside the bank?”

Jackie’s life suddenly flashed before his eyes. He was twenty-four years old. There was a man he couldn’t see holding a gun in his ear, and he’d just swallowed his chew and peed his pants. He didn’t feel obliged to be a hero.

“Two… There’s two. Don’t kill me, mister. Don’t kill me!”

“Thanks for the info,” Gunner said, then knocked him out cold with the gun butt, dragged him out of the car, and popped the trunk before tossing him inside, then pocketed the keys and headed for the bank.

He had two choices. Go inside and possibly cause a gunfight, or wait for them to come out, but as he reached the bank, the decision was made for him. He caught a glimpse of two men running for the exit and stepped to the side of the bank. No sooner had they come flying out the door than Gunner stepped out behind them.

“Freeze. Drop the guns! Hands in the air, or I’ll shoot you where you stand! Your driver is indisposed, and I have the keys to your car.”

They looked at each other and turned in unison, firing wildly.

Gunner hit the ground belly first and shot one in the knee and the other one in the shoulder. Seconds later, he had confiscated both weapons and the money bags and was standing over them with his gun, calling the sheriff’s office. The one with the shoulder wound was cursing and moaning, and the one with the shattered knee was screaming like a woman giving birth.

Fred Wilson, the vice president of the bank, came out holding a handkerchief to his nose to slow the bleeding from the sucker punch he hadn’t seen coming. Customers who’d been inside were coming out in hysterics, as well as the tellers who’d been on duty.

“Everybody okay in there?” Gunner asked.

“Yes! Oh my God, you caught them!” Wilson said.

“You all need to stay to give statements to Sheriff Reddick. Go back inside where it’s cool and take a seat. Somebody make up an ice pack and put it on the back of Mr. Wilson’s neck. It will slow the bleeding. You’re safe now,” Gunner said, and then he heard the roar of a big engine coming in from the south and saw a red pickup truck coming toward them on the fly.

The truck slid sideways before coming to a stop, and Sonny Bluejacket emerged in one leap. He had a rifle in one hand and a bunch of bungee cords in the other and came running toward Gunner.

“You’re good. Damn good, Kingston. I saw it happening. Got here as fast as I could,” Sonny said. “Didn’t have any handcuffs. Thought these might work.”

Gunner relaxed. Backup had arrived. “Good to see your face, Sonny. If you don’t mind, bungee up their ankles for me. Without the badge and the cuffs, I am no longer an official officer of the law. We’re waiting on Sheriff Reddick’s men to show.”

“They’re five minutes away,” Sonny said and knelt down beside the one with the shoulder wound who was lying on his back moaning and cursing, and trussed his ankles up tight, then moved to the other one. “I’m going to wrap this above your knee to slow down the bleeding, and you need to stop screaming. If you were man enough to pull a gun on people and rob them, you are man enough to take the pain.”

But when Sonny began wrapping the bungee cord around his leg, just above the place where he’d been shot, the thief let out a shriek and passed out, leaving Sonny to finish the job in peace.

They were standing together when cars from the sheriff’s department came flying past the Tumbleweed and the Yellow Rose and took a skidding turn south up the street to the bank.

Moments later, an ambulance rolled up behind them. Sheriff Reddick got out, as did a half-dozen deputies, saw the scene, and waved in the EMTs.

Gunner handed over his weapon. “I had the drop on them when they came out of the bank. They weren’t inclined to give up, and both started firing first. I think you will find enough cartridges around where they are lying to back that up, along with some bullet holes in the side of the bank behind me. The getaway driver is in the trunk of the car,” Gunner said, then remembered the car keys he’d confiscated. “Oh…and here are the keys to said car. All of the witnesses to the robbery are in the bank. I sent them back to wait where it was cool. The only injury is Mr. Wilson’s broken nose.”

Reddick glanced at Sonny. “And how, pray tell my psychic friend, did you come to be involved in all this?”

“I was at the ranch when I saw it happening. Unfortunately, I got here too late to assist, but I did furnish the bungee cords,” Sonny said.

Reddick shook his head. “Dang psychic and a one-man army. You two would make quite a team.”

“No, thanks. Maggie and horses are my world. Am I good here?” Sonny asked.

“Give one of the deputies your contact information for the record, and say hello to Maggie for me,” Reddick said and reached out to shake Gunner’s hand. “It is good you came back to Crossroads. They need a man like you here. You’ll get your weapon back soon. You know the drill. It just needs to be processed.” Then he went inside the bank.

“Thanks for the backup, Sonny,” Gunner said. “It’s my good fortune you aren’t at the Dillon Ranch today with some of your horses.”