Deadlock by Al Lacy

Author:Al Lacy [Al]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-60142-235-4
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2009-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

As John Brockman rode back from the gallows along the busy downtown street, he passed the Wells Fargo office just as a stagecoach pulled to a halt.

From inside the coach, a man called out, “Chief Brockman, I need to talk to you!”

Recognizing the voice, John pulled rein. It was Marvin Grange, the owner of Rocky Mountain Gun and Ammunition Shop.

Grange, a man in his late forties, stepped out of the coach, and John guided his horse toward him. “What do you need to talk to me about, Marv?”

Grange stepped up beside Blackie while the other passengers and the crew alighted from the coach and went about their own business. He looked up at the lawman. “Chief, there’s something you need to know. I left Denver a week ago Monday for Fort Collins. I know all about your having to shoot down Kurt Condon on Tuesday. The story was in both of Fort Collins’s papers on Thursday. When I boarded the stagecoach this morning to come home, only one other man was aboard, Hugh Stedman.”

John frowned. “You mean Hugh Stedman, the big-name gun-fighter?”

“Yes sir. And as we rode south out of Fort Collins, Stedman admitted that he had been planning to go to Denver and challenge the Stranger, now chief U.S. marshal John Brockman, to a quick-draw shootout. He said he was sure he could outdraw Brockman and make a bigger name for himself. Then he told me that he had read in the Fort Collins Daily News of last Tuesdays quick draw between you and Kurt ‘Killer’ Condon.”

John’s features were stolid.

Marvin Grange chuckled. “At that point, Chief, Stedman said he had never challenged Condon because of his exceptional speed and accuracy. Since John ‘the Stranger’ Brockman had taken him out so handily, he said he’d never challenge you now. I told him he would be a fool to challenge the Stranger. We were pulling into the town of Longmont right about then. As Stedman got off the stage, he looked at me and said he’d never be that kind of fool.”

“Good,” John said levelly “One less gunfighter for me to battle.” Then he smiled warmly. “Thanks, Marv, for letting me know about this. I’d better move along to my office.”

Marvin Grange smiled back and watched the chief U.S. marshal ride away.

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