Brutal Night of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone
Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2016-09-20T04:00:00+00:00
CHAPTER TWENTY
“This ain’t goin’ to do no good,” Calhoun said when Witherspoon ordered him to print up new posters for Pearlie. “This won’t be no different from the posters that we printed for Smoke Jensen.”
“It ain’t the same thing,” Witherspoon said. “Jensen wasn’t wanted in Texas, Fontaine is.”
“This was near twenty years ago,” Calhoun said. “You know it ain’t good now. Like as not, there don’t nobody even remember it.”
“It’s murder,” Witherspoon said. “It don’t matter whether anyone remembers it or not. Now, get them posters printed up like I told you to.”
“If you’re goin’ to arrest him, why do you need the posters printed?” Calhoun asked. “Why not just arrest him?”
“Who said anything about arresting him?” Witherspoon asked with an evil smile.
“This is Atwood’s doin’, ain’t it? He don’t want Pearlie arrested, he wants him kilt.”
“What if it is?”
“It ain’t right,” the deputy replied.
“You want to turn your back on the money Atwood is givin’ us ’n just live on the salary the city pays?”
“I’ll get the posters printed,” Calhoun said.
“Yeah, I thought you might see it my way.”
* * *
It was dark by the time Calhoun returned to Etholen with the printed flyers. There was a huge difference between the daytime Etholen and the town at night. In the daytime the population was given to the normal pursuits of a small community, freight wagons rolling in out of town, the arrival and departure of trains on the Southern Pacific Railroad, and merchants and shoppers in the stores.
At night, though, the population of the town increased precipitously, and its character changed, tone and tint. The cowboys who came into town did so in quest of fun and relaxation from a long day of work on the ranch, and most found that fun in the town’s two saloons. Liquor flowed, laughter, shrieks, loud voices, and occasionally gunshots sounded in the night. In some unfathomable way, the citizens of the town learned how to discern the difference between gunshots that were fired in celebration and those fired in anger.
Calhoun rode down the dark street, sometimes passing through the golden bubbles of light that came from the streetlamps or was projected into the street from lighted windows. He stopped in front of the marshal’s office, then went inside.
“Here they are,” he said, dropping the bundle onto Witherspoon’s desk.
“I’ll get ’em put out tomorrow,” Witherspoon said.
“This ain’t right. I mean especially if you ain’t even plannin’ on arrestin’ him.”
“Make your rounds and quit your bitchin’,” Witherspoon said.
When Deputy Calhoun came into the Pretty Girl and Happy Cowboy Saloon a few minutes later, he was holding one of the reward flyers in his hand.
“Hello, Deputy,” Peterson said. “Making your rounds?”
“Yeah,” Calhoun said. “Listen, is Kate’s brother in here?”
“You mean Pearlie? Yes, he and the others are all sitting around the table back by the piano. See them?”
“Yeah, thanks,” Calhoun said as he started toward the table the bartender had pointed out.
“Hello, Deputy,” Pearlie said when Calhoun approached. “Something we can do for you?”
“Mr. Fontaine, I’ve got something I think you should see.
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
In Control (The City Series) by Crystal Serowka(35796)
The Wolf Sea (The Oathsworn Series, Book 2) by Low Robert(34715)
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry(34018)
Crowbone (The Oathsworn Series, Book 5) by Low Robert(33067)
The Book of Dreams (Saxon Series) by Severin Tim(32926)
The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase(23064)
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh(21037)
Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman(19915)
Shot Through The Heart (Supernature Book 1) by Edwin James(18440)
The Secret History by Donna Tartt(18190)
The Girl from the Opera House by Nancy Carson(15388)
American King (New Camelot #3) by Sierra Simone(14894)
All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda(14770)
Sad Girls by Lang Leav(13925)
Pimp by Iceberg Slim(13789)
The Betrayed by Graham Heather(12313)
The Betrayed by David Hosp(12215)
4 3 2 1: A Novel by Paul Auster(11802)
Still Me by Jojo Moyes(10801)
