Hell's Fortress by Michael Wallace

Author:Michael Wallace [Wallace, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, United States, Police Procedurals, Thrillers & Suspense, Suspense, Thriller, Thrillers
ISBN: 1477824502
Amazon: B00IMOUZC4
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

Kemp had found a receptive audience in Cedar City with Andrew La Salle’s body slung over his saddle and a story about polygamists in the mountains. The polygamists were wanted horse thieves. A posse had already chased the four into the western desert before giving up. They were too afraid of bandits, of the army, of the desert itself. The thought of more polygamists in the mountains left them terrified. Cedar City moved to fortify the canyon.

And when Kemp offered to go after the four who’d escaped into the desert, Hank Gibson, the self-proclaimed mayor, police chief, and governor, was eager to help. Gibson swapped him fresh horses in exchange for his tired pair, restocked him with food and ammo, and provided him with an excellent set of maps.

And that’s when Kemp got a break. Following his enemies’ escape route on the map, he realized that the polygamists had traveled too far north. If Kemp hurried, he had an opportunity to cut them off. So he raced across the western desert, entered Nevada at the Clover Mountains, then took position on a volcanic hillock to wait. It was the perfect spot for an ambush.

The next day the polygamists came down the road, just as expected. Kemp held his fire, waiting for them to enter a flat stretch without cover. Take his time and he could pick them off one by one, in the open.

Suddenly, one of the women shouted and the four threw themselves from their horses. He fired, hit one of the animals. His enemies reached the safety of the ditch on the far side of the highway.

Dammit. How had he been spotted?

Kemp expected the polygamists to wait for nightfall, then slip away. Instead, they came after him. One person shot from behind a blind of rocks on the edge of the highway, while two others cleverly crossed through a culvert and took refuge behind a boulder at the base of Kemp’s hill. He’d spotted the two women running from the culvert, but had resisted the bait. Instead, he’d waited patiently, aiming always at the rifleman, and was rewarded with a glimpse of sandy-gray hair. By then one of the women was charging up the hill with a pistol in hand. He fired a single shot at the rifleman, scooped up his gun, and ran for the horses. By the time the woman reached his position and fired her pistol down the highway after him, he was too far away to hit.

Kemp’s horses were already tired and he didn’t think he could outrun his enemies, who had been traveling at a slower pace. So he waited for the first opportunity to jump off the road and set up a second ambush. Take advantage of their aggression. But they never showed. He thought about doubling back to search for them, but instead decided to ride on and look for another likely ambush spot.

After consulting the maps, he found one. A ranch road. If the enemies had a map, they might use it to try to loop around him.

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