Triumph of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2016-07-13T04:00:00+00:00

15

Smoke Jensen saw their moves from the corner of one eye. He filled his own hand with a .45 Peacemaker in a blur of speed. One cut-rate gunfighter had time to gasp in astonishment before a 230 grain slug smashed into his left shoulder and he went flailing into a table, which collapsed under his weight. His six-gun, only partly out of the holster, fell to the floor at his side. Already, Smoke had swung his Colt to bear on the second gunman.

That unfortunate fellow had time enough to pull his barrel clear of leather and began to level the muzzle on the midsection of Smoke Jensen. His misfortune came from that fact which caused Smoke to put a bullet through his heart rather than shoot to wound. The gunhawk slammed back against the bar and slid to a sitting position. It had all happened so fast that only now did the bartender react with a shout to his other customers as he ducked below the bar.

“Tengan cuidado! Los pistoleros.”

A third gang member unlimbered his six-gun as Smoke swung his Colt that direction. He stopped the move instantly when Smoke raised his point of aim and the man could look down the black tunnel of the barrel. A thin curl of powder smoke rose from the muzzle. Smoke remained motionless while bar patrons dived for cover and the rest of the Satterlee partisans showed open, empty hands. A tense three minutes went by in which the only sound to be heard came from the wounded hard case. Smoke lowered his revolver only when the law arrived.

Face a fierce mask, the town marshal entered the saloon with drawn six-gun. He cut his eyes from the downed men to the bartender, and then to Smoke. “All right, who started all of this?”

No one seemed eager to reply, so Smoke Jensen holstered his Colt and stepped into the breach. “They did.” He indicated the wounded gunman and the dead one. “First off, three of those fellers over at the bar took offense to something I said and threw punches at me. When I knocked a couple of them flat, those two drew on me.”

A skeptical raise of eyebrow projected the lawman’s mood. “And you just happened to be faster.”

“That’s right. I was . . . or should I say am?”

“Do you have a name to go with all that speed?”

“I do. Could we talk about it at your office, Marshal?”

“You’ll get there soon enough, I’d say. What’s wrong with here?”

Smoke nodded at the gang members. “There are—other ears. What I have to say is for you alone.”

With a shrug, and another dubious look, the marshal turned to one of his subordinates. “Nate, take care of things here. You, mister, come with me.”

The marshal marched Smoke Jensen cattycorner across the Plaza de Armas to his office. Inside, the lawman took a seat behind a scarred, water-stained desk. “If it hadn’t been some of Clifton Satterlee’s hirelings, you’d be answering questions from inside a cell. So, speak your piece.

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.