Read Online Cotton's Law (9781101553848) by Phil Dunlap - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Phil Dunlap
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the start she was a whore and had no illusions about anything like marriage coming into the picture.
“Neither, Delilah. I’m a duly appointed deputy sheriff, and I’ll thank you to try forgetting the old Memphis JackStump of the past. I’m a new man. You’re looking at a man with a future.”
“Deputy sheriff, are you? Well, it does appear you’ve taken a different road. But I seem to recollect you had been a deputy when we first met, and you’d had a bit of trouble where you came from.”
“Uh, well, I did stumble over a little root in the road, I guess you’d say. But that’s all changed now. Say, where are you stayin’? Will you be here long? Is there a man in your life?”
“Hold up, Jack. Let me catch my breath and answer one question at a time.”
“Oh, sure. Sorry. I tend to get ahead of myself whenever I’m gazing at a beautiful woman.”
Delilah lowered her eyes as if in deep thought, wondering whether to tell Jack everything, or just a taste of the truth. She seemed to decide on the latter. She hesitated before speaking.
“Well, there
was
a man in my life, but events changed that. I, uh, came farther west to, er, evaluate other, uh, opportunities.”
“You say there was a man? What happened?”
“As it turned out, he had, uh, chosen an unfortunate line of work.”
“What work did he do?”
“They say he was rustling cattle. I never believed a word of it. But they hanged him, anyway.”
“The law must have had some pretty solid evidence to hang a man.”
“It, well, it wasn’t exactly the law that did him in. It was vigilantes. They said they caught him with a running iron, standing with several newly altered brands and freshly butchered beef.”
“Oh, I see. I don’t hold with vigilantes, myself, but if he was caught red-handed, er—”
“I know. Evidence like that is hard to defend.”
“I’m sure sorry.”
“Don’t be. He didn’t treat me that well after we weretogether a while. Tried to get me to work one of the cribs and bring him the cash. I told him what he could do with his whores. I’d walked out by the time he was hanged. So, there you have my sordid story. What’s yours?”
Her food arrived just as she took a sip of wine. Jack smiled at her. He struggled with whether to spill the whole story of his own dealings with a fallen angel. He decided that glossing over that part might be the best idea. Besides, as good as she looked right then, and with Melody gone for who knew how long, well maybe, just maybe . . .
“I was living in Gonzales when the sheriff here in Apache Springs came lookin’ for me, not because I’d done somethin’ illegal, but because he needed help with a serious problem. The town had fallen under the influence of a gang of bushwhackers bent on robbin’ a train, and they kidnapped a widow lady to keep the sheriff off their ass, er, pardon my language.” He gave her a guilty look as if he’d just dragged something smelly onto her carpet.
“Goodness, what happened to the poor woman?”
“Oh, it turned out she got rescued; we killed all the owlhoots, and Cotton, that’s the sheriff, went to stay with Miss Emily while he healed up from an unfortunate bullet wound. I don’t think he minded all that much, the movin’ in with her part, that is. He was in love with her, anyway. Probably had been ever since her husband was shot for doin’ nothin’ more than comin’ out of the barbershop at an inopportune time. That’s when he made me a deputy, so he could fiddle away the hours in her company while I busted my, er, sorry again, backside keepin’ the riffraff out of town.”
Delilah covered her mouth with her napkin to stifle a laugh.
Chapter 12
W hile Sleeve Jackson and Buck Kentner stared at each other over a bottle of whiskey, Buck seemed particularly pensive. Sleeve had figured the amount of money he’d offered would not meet with resistance. He was obviously mistaken.
“Tell you what, Buck. If you keep it to
“Neither, Delilah. I’m a duly appointed deputy sheriff, and I’ll thank you to try forgetting the old Memphis JackStump of the past. I’m a new man. You’re looking at a man with a future.”
“Deputy sheriff, are you? Well, it does appear you’ve taken a different road. But I seem to recollect you had been a deputy when we first met, and you’d had a bit of trouble where you came from.”
“Uh, well, I did stumble over a little root in the road, I guess you’d say. But that’s all changed now. Say, where are you stayin’? Will you be here long? Is there a man in your life?”
“Hold up, Jack. Let me catch my breath and answer one question at a time.”
“Oh, sure. Sorry. I tend to get ahead of myself whenever I’m gazing at a beautiful woman.”
Delilah lowered her eyes as if in deep thought, wondering whether to tell Jack everything, or just a taste of the truth. She seemed to decide on the latter. She hesitated before speaking.
“Well, there
was
a man in my life, but events changed that. I, uh, came farther west to, er, evaluate other, uh, opportunities.”
“You say there was a man? What happened?”
“As it turned out, he had, uh, chosen an unfortunate line of work.”
“What work did he do?”
“They say he was rustling cattle. I never believed a word of it. But they hanged him, anyway.”
“The law must have had some pretty solid evidence to hang a man.”
“It, well, it wasn’t exactly the law that did him in. It was vigilantes. They said they caught him with a running iron, standing with several newly altered brands and freshly butchered beef.”
“Oh, I see. I don’t hold with vigilantes, myself, but if he was caught red-handed, er—”
“I know. Evidence like that is hard to defend.”
“I’m sure sorry.”
“Don’t be. He didn’t treat me that well after we weretogether a while. Tried to get me to work one of the cribs and bring him the cash. I told him what he could do with his whores. I’d walked out by the time he was hanged. So, there you have my sordid story. What’s yours?”
Her food arrived just as she took a sip of wine. Jack smiled at her. He struggled with whether to spill the whole story of his own dealings with a fallen angel. He decided that glossing over that part might be the best idea. Besides, as good as she looked right then, and with Melody gone for who knew how long, well maybe, just maybe . . .
“I was living in Gonzales when the sheriff here in Apache Springs came lookin’ for me, not because I’d done somethin’ illegal, but because he needed help with a serious problem. The town had fallen under the influence of a gang of bushwhackers bent on robbin’ a train, and they kidnapped a widow lady to keep the sheriff off their ass, er, pardon my language.” He gave her a guilty look as if he’d just dragged something smelly onto her carpet.
“Goodness, what happened to the poor woman?”
“Oh, it turned out she got rescued; we killed all the owlhoots, and Cotton, that’s the sheriff, went to stay with Miss Emily while he healed up from an unfortunate bullet wound. I don’t think he minded all that much, the movin’ in with her part, that is. He was in love with her, anyway. Probably had been ever since her husband was shot for doin’ nothin’ more than comin’ out of the barbershop at an inopportune time. That’s when he made me a deputy, so he could fiddle away the hours in her company while I busted my, er, sorry again, backside keepin’ the riffraff out of town.”
Delilah covered her mouth with her napkin to stifle a laugh.
Chapter 12
W hile Sleeve Jackson and Buck Kentner stared at each other over a bottle of whiskey, Buck seemed particularly pensive. Sleeve had figured the amount of money he’d offered would not meet with resistance. He was obviously mistaken.
“Tell you what, Buck. If you keep it to
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