Lawman from Nogales (9781101544747) Read Online Free Page A

blood, his right hand gripping his chest where three of the bullet holes had struck in a tight pattern, the fourth wound bleeding freely a few inches away.
    â€œWell . . . lawman,” he said in a rasping bitter tone, “do you . . . think you shot me enough?”
    â€œMaybe not,” Sam said, “you’re still alive.”
    He leveled the Colt down toward Page.
    â€œWait,” Page pleaded. “Don’t you want . . . to question me . . . about the Torres brothers?”
    â€œNo,” Sam said flatly.
    â€œJesus,” Page mustered, “you just want to kill me. . . .”
    â€œThat seems to be the way it is,” said the Ranger, “and we both know you wouldn’t have answered me if I did question you,” he stated flatly.
    Page shook his head. “Probably not,” he rasped, blood running from his lips.
    â€œThen there you have it,” said the Ranger. He started to squeeze the trigger. Page closed his eyes tight in anticipation.
    â€œMister, look out !” Erin shouted again, this time from only a few feet behind the Ranger.
    â€œ Holy Mother . . . she’s like a guard dog,” Page groaned as the Ranger spun away, setting eyes on Fred the bartender.
    Seeing the smoking Colt pointed at him, the bartender dropped his sawed-off shotgun as if it were red hot.
    â€œDon’t shoot!” he pleaded, wide-eyed, throwing his hands up chest high in surrender. “I wasn’t going to shoot you, I swear it.”
    â€œWatch out!” Erin warned. “He’s got a gun behind his back!” She stood at an angle that allowed her to see the bartender’s broad back and a big Remington shoved down in his belt.
    â€œStep away from the shotgun and turn around,” Sam said to the bartender. “Let me see your back.” He held the Colt out at arm’s length, cocked, ready to fire.
    â€œShe can’t stop jackpotting . . . , ” Page said. His words trailed; his head fell to one side. “I should’ve killed her . . . first thing . . .”
    â€œI wasn’t going for it, lawman!” the bartender said. “So help me, I was only carrying it just in case.”
    â€œAye,” the woman said in a scorching tone, “just in case you lost your shotgun?” As she spoke, she stepped in closer to the bartender. “He meant to kill you, mister,” she said to Sam, staring coldly at the bartender’s worried face.
    â€œStand back from him, ma’am,” Sam said sharply, reading what was about to happen in the bartender’s eyes, but his warning came too late.
    Fred jumped to the side, putting Erin between himself and the Ranger as his hand went behind his back and jerked out the big Remington. At the same time, he grabbed the woman and tried to swing her around in front of him as a shield.
    The Ranger saw a narrow opening and took it. His Colt bucked in his hand and sent the bartender flying backward, his hand losing his hold of the woman. The bullet sliced past Erin’s ear and nailed the bartender in the heart. The Remington flew to the ground and fired wildly, thumping into the side of a plank and stone building.
    â€œJesus . . . I’ve seen enough,” Page moaned in a failing voice.
    â€œMa’am . . . ?” Sam asked, the Colt still in hand, fresh smoke curling from the tip of its barrel.
    â€œI’m all right,” Erin said, rubbing her wrist where the bartender had gripped her tightly. She stepped back from the body lying bloody on the ground.
    â€œI’m sorry I had to shoot with you standing so close,” Sam said, still scanning the street for any more guns that might be pointed at him. “I saw I only had a second. I had to take the shot.”
    â€œI—I understand,” Erin said, appearing not too badly shaken by the sudden turn of events. “He might very well have killed me if you hadn’t shot him when you did.” After a moment’s