The Bounty Hunters

Frank Gruber (1904-1969) used his own name and pseudonyms and house names like Stephen Acre, Tom Gunn, Jackson Cole, and Ralph Powers to author numerous books and pulp shorts. He began his writing career in the early 20s and, as the pulp market evaporated, he became a contributor to the digest and mystery magazines like Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. I tracked down one of his last stories, “The Bounty Hunters”, published a year before his death in the September 1968 issue of Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine. 

The story's locale is the rugged, wind-swept Mexican mountain country. A fugitive American named Halleran is making his way through the back country, looking to avoid lawmen. He finds another American on the trail, Langford, a nineteen or twenty-year-old man who has become too exhausted to continue on foot. Halleran assists the guy, and they manage to flag down a beat-up bus. The two are taken to a small village, San Jose del Mochis, where they meet up with two armed bounty hunters outside of a bar. 

The readers don't know that Halleran is a wanted man, but it's evident that he wants to stay clear of the two gunmen. However, when he sees Langford accosted by the men, he intervenes. Halleran learns that Langford is wanted for murder in Alabama, but that he would likely be acquitted in court. The man he is suspected of murdering died during a fist-fight, one that ended with him falling and hitting his head on a table. But the man's father has hired the two gunmen to bring Langford in dead or alive. The wrench in the gears is Langford's lover, a woman who is desperate to free Langford. She convinces Halleran to trail the bounty hunters and hopefully, overtake the two. Halleran has personal reasons for wanting to help Langford, but that's a convenient twist that enhances the story's payoff. The last line brilliantly closes out the story and circles back to Halleran's crime.

Again, this is one of a handful of stories Gruber wrote right before his death. He proved he still had the tale to tell, and “The Bounty Hunters” is an imaginative, entertaining man-on-the-run short. Highly recommended.