Read Online Ambush of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone - Free Book Online

moving over to open the drapes and let some light into the room. “It’s a mite noisy on weekends when the local cowboys are in town celebrating, but it’s the last one I have available, and you do catch a nice breeze through the window.”
    Sarah stepped to the window and peered out. In her mind she could see herself taking careful aim with a rifle down at Smoke Jensen as he passed on the street below—it wouldn’t be as gratifying as looking into his eyes as she killed him, but it would do for a backup plan in case she wasn’t able to get him alone long enough to do it face-to-face.
    She turned back around to Mamma, smiling, all traces of her murderous thoughts gone from her innocent visage. “Oh, this room will do nicely, Mamma, and I do like the view of Main Street.”
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    An hour later, after she’d unpacked her luggage and paid Mamma Rogers for the first two weeks, she asked about a good place to eat.
    â€œWell, you’re welcome to eat here most nights,” Mamma said, “but if you need a place to have a good home-cooked meal at lunch or breakfast, you can’t beat the Sunset Café over on Second Street.”
    â€œThank you,” Sarah said. “I think I’ll take a walk around town and get acquainted with my new home.”
    After she left Mamma Rogers’s place, she stepped into the hotel where Carl had told her he was staying, and left a note with the desk clerk telling him where to meet her.
    Thirty minutes later, after walking around doing some sightseeing, she joined Carl Jacoby and Daniel Macklin at the Sunset Café on Second Street. It was past lunchtime and before dinnertime, and so the place was practically deserted, which was just fine with Sarah because she didn’t want too many people to see her conversing with the two new men in town.
    â€œHello, Daniel,” she said as she approached their table, glad to see another familiar face from her hometown.
    Daniel dipped his head. “Howdy, Sarah. I see you made the trip all right.”
    Carl, who was bursting with curiosity about her earlier comments about Mrs. Jensen, butted in. “Now, what’s this about you an’ Smoke Jensen’s wife becomin’ such good friends on the train?”
    â€œWhat?” Macklin said. Jacoby hadn’t told him of her comments about Mrs. Jensen.
    Sarah smiled secretively as she waved the waitress over and told her she would have the lunch special and a cup of hot tea to drink.
    Jacoby and Macklin had already ordered beefsteaks and fried potatoes.
    After the waitress put her tea and food on the table and gave her a small jar of honey to use in her tea, Sarah told the two men what had happened on the train while she ate.
    â€œYou were taking an awfully big chance, talking to Mrs. Jensen like that,” Jacoby said as he picked at his steak, a worried expression on his face.
    Macklin fixed him with a scornful glance as he said, “Our friend Carl here seems to have come up with a sudden lack of courage where it comes to Smoke Jensen,” he said, a sneer in his voice.
    Sarah raised her eyebrows and gave Carl a questioning look as she sipped her tea. “Well, Carl, for your information, I didn’t know whose wife she was when we struck up a conversation, and after she told me she was married to Smoke Jensen, I couldn’t very well just get up and leave, now could I?” she said.
    â€œI guess not,” he admitted, still not able to look at her.
    â€œNow, what’s this Mac is saying about you being afraid of Smoke Jensen?” she asked, her voice getting hard.
    Carl, flushing, argued back, “That’s not true!” He fussed with his steak for another moment. “It’s just that everything I see and hear about this man don’t fit the picture of a backshooter or a man who’d kill someone without giving them a fair chance.”
    Sarah pursed her lips and slowly put her teacup