Drift! (A Larry & Stretch Book 1) by Marshall Grover

Author:Marshall Grover
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: piccadilly publishing, australian western books, classic pulp fiction novels, gunslingser in the old west, larry and stretch western, larry valentine and stretch emerson, leonard meares, marshall grover, outlaws and cowboys, western fiction ebooks
Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing

Seven – The Conspirators

Of the two men who sat listening to Gil Sharkey’s tirade, Travis Galloway was the first to regain his composure. The crooked attorney was a slim, graying man in his early fifties, a gifted orator with a pleasant manner and few scruples. The capture of Curt Sharkey was an event upon which he was determined to capitalize, right from the start. He had spent a lot of time in the outlaw leader’s cell, planning a nefarious strategy and ensuring that Sharkey’s gratitude, at his subsequent acquittal, would be expressed in terms of cold hard cash.

Galloway had taken pains to follow Curt’s career. He knew the extent of the huge hauls made on Sharkey raids. The boss-outlaw was sitting on a veritable goldmine, and Galloway meant to get his share. He smiled at Gil Sharkey now, nodded cordially, and motioned him to a chair.

“You’re entitled to let off steam, Gil,” he said, evenly. “It’s no joke, having your brother locked in a cell ... but don’t you fret, son. Mel and I won’t let him down. You can count on us.”

“Why sure, Gil,” gasped Sheriff Mel Hubbard. “We gave Curt our promise, didn’t we?”

The gaunt, shifty-eyed Hubbard was a worried man. He had been in office just eighteen months. This was his first attempt at filling his pockets under cover of his star. From the beginning of his term, he had shown all the signs of being a bungling, ineffectual lawman. When a deputy had arrested Curt Sharkey for drunkenness, Hubbard had ordered him locked in a cell and had thought no more about it ... until another deputy began insisting that the prisoner was none other than the notorious outlaw-leader. It wasn’t long after that that the attorney appeared on the scene and confided that, with both of them using their influence, there was big money to be made from Sharkey’s incarceration.

“You got nothin’ to fret about Gil,” he muttered, staring at the ashen-faced outlaw. “Curt’s sure to get acquitted ...”

“Hubbard,” snarled Sharkey, slumping into a chair. “Why don’t you shut up? You make me sick to my stomach!”

“Now, Gil,” admonished Galloway. “No need for us to be unpleasant about this …”

“To hell with him,” grunted the outlaw. “I hate all lawmen, ’specially the hungry ones!”

Galloway rose to his feet and moved to a sideboard. As he poured a drink for the newcomer, be threw Hubbard a warning glance, cautioning him to silence.

“You’re upset, Gil,” he smiled, passing the filled glass across to the fuming killer. “You should be grateful that old Mel is hungry for a dollar. It puts him on Curt’s side. If things get difficult, Curt will have a useful ally, right here in the law office. That’s good strategy, Gil.”

Sharkey took a pull at his drink and scowled. Hubbard blinked across at him, mournfully, and said, “You took a risk comin’ here like this. After all, I’m sheriff o’ this town. If somebody saw y—”

“It wouldn’t matter a damn,” snapped Sharkey. “Nobody knows who I am.

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