No Peace (A Steve Dancy Tale Book 7) by James D. Best

Author:James D. Best [Best, James D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Queen Beach
Published: 2019-09-09T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

When we opened the door, the sheriff and two deputies immediately scattered to opposite corners of the room, hands resting on guns. Nobody drew. Sharp and I calmly stood shoulder to shoulder and held our hands head high, palms out, and away from our bodies. Sharp was unarmed, but I wore my Colt.

Looking at Sharp, the sheriff demanded, “Is this the man?”

“Yep, that’s him,” Sam answered.

“You’re under arrest,” the sheriff said. “You going to give us trouble?”

“No, sir. We came to help ya,” Sharp answered.

“Help? Who the hell are you?”

“Name’s Jeff Sharp. Friend of Steve, here. My wife an’ I came to Monterey to enjoy a holiday with the Dancys, but he told me ’bout his troubles. Damn, sounds like a pretty lousy holiday.”

“Fella, you’ll holiday in my jail. You punched an officer of the law.”

Sharp smiled. “Hell, ya can’t hold that against me. I didn’t know they were law. Look like a couple of ill-bred ruffians with no manners. ’Sides, if they can’t take a punch, ya need tougher men.”

Sam stepped forward. “Want to try again?”

“Naw, no grudge. Just try to be more polite next time.”

Sam’s head snapped back. “Hey, I’m not—”

This was not going in the direction we needed, so I interrupted, “Sheriff, we have information for you. I apologize for the unfortunate incident, but this is important. We just returned from—”

He pointed at me. “You bludgeoned my deputies,” then swung his finger to point at Sharp, “and your friend here waltzes into town and slugs Sam.” He took a step toward Sharp. “I don’t know how things work where you come from, but you can’t treat the law like that in this town.” He paced in front of us, thinking hard. “I need Mr. Dancy free to do my bidding, but this jerk is going into one of my cells. Right now! No more of this disrespect.”

Sharp said, “Meant no disrespect, Sheriff.” He turned to face Sam square. “I apologize, sir. I just had an argument with my wife before ya came along. I needed to release my anger, an’ ya presented a handy target. Nothin’ personal. Ya shouldn’t have come over an’ acted pushy. I just kinda blew up. Can’t we—”

“Shut up!” the sheriff screamed. “Rod, put this man in cell one.”

“Just a second, Sheriff,” I said. “You need to hear what we have to say first.”

“You tell me … he can rot.”

“Can’t we just settle for a fine?” Sharp asked. “I’ll also pay yer deputy a double eagle.”

“You can’t afford the fine for hitting one of my deputies,” the sheriff said.

“Sure, I can,” Sharp chuckled “What can it be? Ten bucks? I’ll pay it right here.”

“Ten thousand won’t keep you out of this cell. The only question that remains is whether you go willingly or resist arrest.” The sheriff stepped forward, hand still on gun. “Please resist.”

“That’s not the only question,” I said. “Do you want to know about a budding revolt in la Junta or not?”

The sheriff looked at me. “Let me guess. If I arrest your friend, you won’t tell me.

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