Shadow Walker by J. R. Roberts

Author:J. R. Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.

TWENTY-THREE

When the big Indian opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Clint’s smiling face.

“Rise and shine,” Clint said.

The Indian’s first instinct was to jump to his feet and get his hands wrapped around Clint’s throat. The moment he tried to do that, however, was the same moment he realized he’d been hog-tied with double the amount of knots required to keep a full-grown bull from going anywhere. Because of that, the Indian only succeeded in flopping on the floor like a fish that had been pulled out of a stream.

“You’d better settle down, big fella,” Clint said, “or my friend there will be forced to put you down.”

The Indian looked to where Clint was motioning and saw Rachel standing with a pistol in each hand. Her eyes were fierce and both guns were perfectly steady.

“In case you’re wondering,” Clint said, “you’ve been out long enough for your friends to give up on you. Actually, they might not have given up, but they’re not in the fort anymore.”

“What do you want?” the Indian asked. “You must want something or you wouldn’t be here.”

“Very observant. I’d like to know what Coltraine’s been up to lately. I want to know how many women he’s got, where they are now and where they’re going.”

“Why should I tell you?”

“I thought we’ve already covered that,” Clint said, nodding back toward Rachel, who still sighted down both pistols.

The Indian squared his jaw and shifted so he was looking straight up at the roof. After that, he might as well have been a log with rope wrapped around it.

“You’re not going to talk?” Clint asked.

The Indian stayed mute.

“Fine. Maybe you’d like to be reacquainted with another friend of yours.”

Clint disappeared from the Indian’s view for a moment. When he reappeared, he was holding the machete that had been brought into the livery by the Indian himself. Clint wielded the blade like he was cutting through dense bushes. His final slice was purposely aimed to pass within an inch of the Indian’s nose.

“Maybe I should test my aim with this thing,” Clint said. “To be honest, though, I don’t think I’m very good.”

“Bray won’t let you do this,” the Indian said. “Even if you kill me, he’ll hunt you down, and Coltraine will put a price on your head.”

“Are you talking about Sergeant Bray?”

The Indian looked up at Clint and then went silent once more.

Clint hunkered down to the Indian’s level and announced, “You’ve really only got two choices here. You tell us what we need, or we bury you under this floor.”

“You’ll kill me anyway. I can see that much in the woman’s eyes.”

Clint looked over to Rachel and had to admit that he saw the same thing. “Fine,” he said with a shrug. “If you insist on protecting Coltraine, I think that’s real admirable. Especially considering how long you’ve been gone and how he just rode off without so much as searching the fort for you. I mean, this isn’t a very big place.”

“If they’d left, you would already know where they’ve gone.

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