Wild Horse Springs by Jodi Thomas

Author:Jodi Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2016-09-09T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THATCHER HAD TALKED Pearly into calling about his noon meal and was deep into his newest western when he heard the light tap of footsteps on the stairs heading up. It didn’t sound like children, more like a couple people trying not to make a sound.

He glanced over and noticed Pearly had left both doors that led to the room with the cells open. She probably knew she’d be returning soon with lunch and was just thinking of saving herself the hassle of unlocking, but it didn’t make Thatcher feel safe.

Prisoners, even him, should be kept locked up safe and sound.

He liked knowing there were three locks and two flights of stairs between him and outsiders. The footsteps came close like reindeer tapping up in stocking feet. Too late for Halloween, too early for Christmas.

Every cell in Thatcher’s body came alive. He’d lived life in the Breaks long enough to smell trouble like snakes sensed the heat of predators. Danger was tiptoeing up the stairs, and he was locked in, unable to run.

A tall, thin guy in overalls and stocking feet slithered around the first open door as silently as a cat. He wore a funny fur hat that looked more like it belonged in Alaska than Texas. The flaps over his ears were sticking straight out, almost making his head look like a fat tiny airplane atop his stick of a body.

Another man followed, shorter, out of breath from the climb and holding a knife in his fat, porky fingers. The blade was long and looked razor sharp.

Standing on full alert, Thatcher played his options over in his mind. He knew the sheriff had left the office an hour ago, heading to the scene of a fire a county over. He’d also heard people tromping up and down the stairs a while back. Pearly mentioned they’d decided to close all county offices except the sheriff’s office because of the snow.

Thatcher moved to the back of his cell as the two men slithered closer, both smiling a hungry carnivore’s grin.

Thatcher decided to handle this problem. If he yelled, Pearly might be his only backup, and he didn’t want to get her hurt. After all, the men were on the outside of his cell. They couldn’t touch him.

“Look, guys, if you’re here about what you thought I saw at the trailer, I can tell you right now, I didn’t see anything and I swear I’m not going to mention to anyone what I didn’t see.” He wasn’t sure they were two of the men he’d seen at the little girl’s trailer, but they could have been.

The short one laughed, a hiccupy kind of squeal. “We told you we’d find you and shut you up.” He drooled as he giggled. “How about we go for a little walk? If you’re real quiet, we won’t take the old lady downstairs with us.”

“You’re going to need more than that knife.” Thatcher felt brave with the bars and five feet between him and them.

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.