Bannerman the Enforcer 14 by Kirk Hamilton

Author:Kirk Hamilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Piccadilly

Six – Bodyguard

The last check on the cells at night was around eleven-thirty and it was normally carried out by a single Ranger who had drawn night duty. This particular night it was Kibbe.

He strolled across the moonlit yard from the main Ranger post where two others had just come in from town patrol. They would stay at the post for another hour and then go out and walk the streets again. They would be relieved about two o’clock by a fresh patrol.

As Kibbe approached the jailhouse he heard sounds coming from inside the building. There was a crash, a yell, scuffling sounds; a string of curses, the thud of a fist against flesh. Kibbe swore and hurriedly unlocked the door into the building. He ran into the lantern-lit passage and saw the two fighting figures locked in combat in the confines of the cell.

Yancey and Kennedy were hammering at each other, slamming off the walls, snarling, gouging, in what seemed a really savage fight.

“Hey!” Kibbe yelled as he rattled the barred door. “Come on! Cut it out!”

They didn’t hear, they were concentrating too much on maiming each other. Kibbe shook the bars again.

“Break it up, I said!”

They fought on, unaware of him, slugging, kicking, grappling, bouncing all round the cell. The Ranger pulled out his Colt and slammed the butt against the bars but the noise didn’t get through to the fighting men. Swearing, he took the keys from his belt, opened the door and stepped in, gun at the ready. He moved around to dodge the grappling bodies, waiting for an opportunity to slug one of them with the Colt.

Then, abruptly, the men broke apart and they came at him, one from each side. Kibbe knew he had made a mistake entering the cell, that this was what they had wanted. He tried to leap up onto a bunk but they bore him back into a corner and hard fists raked his body, slammed the Colt from his grip, rattled his teeth in his head. The breath jolted out of him and the back of his head rammed against the stone wall. His eyes rolled up and his knees buckled. He started to fold and slip to the floor. Kennedy kept hammering at him and, when the Ranger was lying curled up, he drew back his foot, teeth baring in a snarl, aiming a kick at his head.

Yancey grabbed his shoulder and sent him staggering away. “Don’t waste time on him! He’s out to it!” he snarled and looked around for the gun. They saw it at the same time and dived for it where it had skidded under Yancey’s bunk. The Enforcer shouldered Kennedy aside but the blocky man cursed and shoved back. They dropped flat and reached in underneath, straining to touch the Colt. Yancey had to get that gun first!

He dug his boot toes into a crack between the stone blocks on the floor and was able to heave forward that last extra vital inch.

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