Eight Hours to Die by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2016-07-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-three

After the flurry of action that had accompanied John Henry’s arrival in Chico, things actually settled down for a couple of days. The town was peaceful. Maybe because everybody was too scared to be any other way right now, but still . . . peaceful.

Then the first edition of the Chico Star to be printed in a couple of months hit the streets.

John Henry was sitting at the counter in Abernathy’s Café when one of the townsmen came in holding a folded newspaper. He slapped it down and said to the counter man, “Did you ever see the likes of that, Harley?”

“What is that, the newspaper?” Harley asked. “I didn’t think it was bein’ published anymore.”

“First edition in a while, but Wellman says it’s back to stay.” The townsman stabbed a finger down on the paper. “Look what else he says.”

The newspaper was turned so that it was upside-down to John Henry, but he didn’t have any trouble reading that way. At the top of the page was a boxed editorial, and the headline on it read SHERIFF STANDS UP FOR LAW AND ORDER.

“Hell, that’s—”

The counter man stopped short in whatever he’d been about to say. Probably something like “loco” or “crazy,” John Henry thought as the man glanced toward him nervously. As long as he had a deputy’s badge pinned to his shirt, nobody in Chico was going to talk too freely around him.

He held out a hand and asked, “Can I take a look at that?”

The man who had brought in the paper handed it over without hesitation, saying, “Sure, Deputy, you keep it as long as you want. Just plain keep it. I don’t need it.”

“Thanks,” John Henry said dryly. He unfolded the paper so that he could take in the whole front page. The editorial was what interested him the most:

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