The Edge of Violence by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-08-03T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 23

The man who ran the town of Violence rode in that night, tethered his horse outside of The Blarney Stone, but did not walk into the gambling parlor. Instead, he walked casually down the boardwalk, pulling up his collar and the brim of his hat down, and moving down the street. He stopped only to light his cigar, striking the match on a wooden column. Eventually, when a couple of railroaders staggered on past the building he stared at and stumbled inside Slade’s Saloon, the man crossed the street, went down the alley, and entered the barbershop and funeral parlor through the back entrance.

The door was unlocked.

The man was expected.

He came into the bathing part of the business, where Mayor Jasper Monroe knelt on the floor. Sleeves rolled up, he busied himself scrubbing the washtub.

Looking up, Monroe wet his lips, then rose, leaving the scrubbing rag, still soapy, in the tub. Monroe found a towel to wipe his hands, and said to the man, “You got my message.”

“I warned you about how to go about asking about me,” the man said. He drew on the cigar.

“Yes. I know.”

“Yes . . . what?”

Monroe lowered his head. His voice fell to a whisper. “Yes, sir.”

“What happened?” the man asked.

Jasper Monroe slowly explained. About the new deputy marshal who came to town, arrested Mix Range. He told about the Gardner Shackle—the Oregon Boot—the lawman was using. How the marshal had—

“Does this lawdog have a name?” the man who ran the town of Violence asked.

“Uh . . .” Monroe was so flustered, he had trouble remembering. “Yeah. It’s . . . um . . . Colter.”

“A first name?” the man said, his voice icy.

“Tim. That’s it. Tim Colter.”

The man withdrew the cigar and exhaled blue smoke toward the ceiling. “The same Tim Colter from Oregon way.”

“Yes. I think so. Yes.”

The man nodded, but breathed in deeply, held it, and slowly exhaled. “I’ve read about him.” He gestured with the cigar, and said, “Go on,” before returning the cigar to his mouth.

Monroe talked more about Mix Range.

“I don’t know any Mix Range,” the man said.

“He’s one of Slade’s boys.”

“I see.”

Monroe finished the story, about how Mix Range had left the corral Colter turned into a jail, hobbled back to Slade’s gin mill, and the ambush set up outside the street that left a lot of gunmen dead—and Jed Reno, Mix Range, and Tim Colter without a scratch.

“Who set up that stupid affair?” the man asked.

“Slade, I guess,” the mayor answered, “but I sent Eugene Harker running over to the trading post, had him set the building afire. I figured that might give Slade’s men an advantage—get rid of that lawman, you see.”

The cigar came out again.

“You thought of that yourself ?” the man asked.

“Yes, sir,” Monroe answered.

The man grinned. The cigar returned to his mouth, and the red tip glowed as he drew in a deep breath, really deep, and then the man walked forward until he stood right in front of Jasper Monroe. The cigar came out of the man’s mouth.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.