Dalton's Mission by Ed Law

Author:Ed Law
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Culbin Press
Published: 2023-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

When Dalton pushed outside the scene was pretty much as he’d imagined it would be. Brady was walking away from him while two men held either end of a taut rope in the middle of which was the captured Kyle.

Kyle was digging his heels in and fighting to avoid making every step, but he could do nothing to halt the two men who dragged him relentlessly on. Luckily with all attention being on him, nobody noticed the two men coming out of the tent.

Dalton confirmed that Houston was still standing alone. He set off toward him with Loren walking along behind. They breezed past Owen, who frowned as if he’d already worked out their purpose, but they ignored him.

“Houston, I want a word with you,” Dalton said in a loud voice that made everyone, including the departing Brady, turn to him.

Houston snorted his breath, showing he was unaccustomed to being spoken to in this manner, but for his bluff to work, Dalton had to act arrogantly.

“Why would I want to speak to the likes of you?” Houston snapped.

Dalton didn’t reply until he reached him letting him hear Brady muttering, presumably as he recognized Dalton.

“Because you’re a fool who made a move on Cornelius too early and now I’m your only hope,” Dalton said lowering his voice.

Houston’s mouth fell open, betraying his shock and confirming that Dalton’s hunch was right, before he got himself under control by checking nobody was close enough to hear them.

“Cornelius is my friend and ally,” he said, rocking his head to one side in a guarded manner. “I’d never make a move on him.”

“I know the way it is. Cornelius at the mine, you here, and both wanting it all. You decided to chip away at Cornelius’s position when he sent out that gold shipment, but he already had his suspicions. The men you sent to ambush it failed and now you’re isolated and relying on Owen to maintain your precarious position.”

Houston flared his eyes, his face darkening, but Dalton had hoped for that reaction.

“How do you know they failed?” he said.

“Because Cornelius hired us to make sure they did. Now they’re all rotting back at the mine.”

Houston took in Dalton’s and Loren’s grimed clothing and their lack of obvious weaponry.

“Perhaps you two got to know something about what happened to the shipment, but if it did get through after all, that had nothing to do with two men who I hear arrived in town on foot.”

“We don’t look good right now,” Dalton said laughing as he gestured at his grimed clothing. “That’ll change when you hire us.”

“You want hired after what you’ve just claimed?”

“Sure. We foiled your ambush and brought the gold back to the mine, but Cornelius double-crossed us and threw us in a cave. We escaped and now we want a new deal with you.”

Houston shook his head, but Dalton and Loren stood tall and tried to look as menacing as they could. Then Houston sighed as Brady came over.

“How did you two escape?” Brady said, his comment making Houston raise his eyebrows.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
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.