| CAUGHT IN THE
ACT The
kitchen door was locked. Undeterred, Fargo hopped to the ground and over to the
window. For a moment the window resisted, but then gave way and slid partway open.
On the other side of the kitchen, stairs led up to the rented rooms. If he
was quiet, he could sneak upstairs and find the girl before anyone was the wiser. He
began to wedge himself inside.
Out of nowhere, an iron wise clamped on to Fargo's shoulder. He was
ripped loose and thrown to the earth so brutally he thought his ribs were cracked.
The world spun. when his vision cleared, he was lying at the foot of a huge, bearded
man whose head seemed to brush the clouds.
"You shouldn't have come back, mister," said the giant,
reaching down with a pair of bulging, muscular arms. "And now I'm gonna bust
you into a million pieces." |
"HANDS OFF
THE LADY."
Fargo cocked the Colt. "not one twitch or you're dead."
The men holding Flora froze. One of them snickered. "Well,
ain't this cozy? Did the widow-lady make you feel right to home?"
"Shuck those gunbelts," Fargo instructed them.
"We can't do that and you know it," the scruffy gunman replied.
"The smart thing to do is let us on out. Otherwise, this pretty lady
might take a stray slug."
The man had a point. Even if Fargo put a bullet into each of them,
Flora might get hurt. The cut-throat holding Flora let go and backpedaled. the
third man was slow to leave. It didn't go unnoticed.
"Don't be a jackass, Mull," the scruffy one said. "He's
got us dead to rights."
"I don't back down for no one," Mull said gruffly.
Fargo sidled to the right for a clear shot. Flora caught his eye and
bobbed her chin at the floor. Before he could shake his head, she flung herself out
of harm's way.
"Now, Skye! Now!"
All three gunmen stabbed for their six-guns, and Fargo fired away.... |
