“Then you’ve got no interest in anything I say to her.” One-Time Charlie turned back to Moonripple. “Go out and buy some more makings.”

“I’m not allowed to leave, sir.”

He grabbed her arm as she walked by.

“I thought we decided that the customer was always right.”

“You’re hurting me!” said Moonripple, trying to twist free.

“I’m going to do a lot more than that if we don’t figure out who’s the boss here,” he said nastily.

“Let her go,” said Cain softly.

“Another party heard from,” said One-Time Charlie, turning to glare at him without relinquishing his grip on the girl. “Who asked you to butt in?”

“I’m another friend of the family,” said Cain.

“Yeah?” said One-Time Charlie pugnaciously. “Well, you and your goddamned family can go fuck yourselves.”

“You’ve had too much to drink,” said Cain, getting slowly to his feet. “Now let her go and get out of here.”

“Are you a bounty hunter, too?” asked Charlie sarcastically.

“As a matter of fact, I am.”

“Have you got a name?”

“Sebastian Cain.”

“The Songbird?” said One-Time Charlie, frowning. “What have we got, some kind of convention going on here?”

“What we’ve got is a drunk who’s asking for trouble,” said Cain ominously.

“Come on,” laughed One-Time Charlie. “Everybody knows you guys don’t kill anyone who’s not wanted by the law. This is a private discussion between me and this little girl; why don’t you just keep your nose out of it?”

“Just let her go and walk out, and nobody will get hurt,” said Cain slowly.

Suddenly One-Time Charlie twisted Moonripple’s arm behind her and produced a knife with his free hand, pressing it against the girl’s throat. “Take one step toward me and I’ll slice her!” he snarled.

“Do you suppose there’s any paper on One-Time Charlie?” asked Cain, never taking his eyes off the man.

Father William nodded, pulling his coat back and revealing his laser pistols. “A sinner like him? There’s got to be paper on him somewhere, Sebastian.”

One-Time Charlie started to realize that he was in over his head, but in his drunken state of mind he couldn’t find any way out of his situation. He tightened his grip on Moonripple and began edging slowly toward the door, keeping her between himself and the two bounty hunters.

“Make a move and I’ll kill her!”

Cain shrugged and turned to Father William as if to say something else. Then, in one blindingly swift motion, he spun around, drew his pistol, and placed a bullet between One-Time Charlie’s eyes. The room reverberated with the sound of the gunshot.

Moonripple screamed as One-Time Charlie fell to the floor, and Cain walked over to her and put an arm around her.

“It’s all right,” he said gently. “You’re safe now.”