Read Online Lone Star 05 by Wesley Ellis - Free Book Online

man, he is not cured until he dies himself. Alex Starbuck had seen it happen to many men. Jessie had seen it too—embodied in the death-dealing cartel she had vowed to fight. Bloodlust was everywhere, a fact of life. And still she hated it and yearned for it all to end. Before that time came, however, she would see this boy, whoever he was, brought to trial for his crimes. It would give her time to disprove his wild story and, more importantly, to find out why he was doing it, and for whom.
    â€œNot everyone is as eager as you are to die, Thomas,” she said.
    He snapped at her, “Not everyone has had a life like mine. If I’d been brung up proper by my rightful father, given my birthright, I’d never be here in this hole. It’s all his fault, Miss Fancy-ass Starbuck.”
    â€œYou’ve got a dirty mouth,” Jessie replied, wondering at the rapidity of the youth’s changes of mood.
    â€œWell, you better start believing me, or you’ll be sorry.” He stared at her defiantly, his features hard-lined with contempt. Yet what threat could he pose to her, this kid with a murderous reputation, chained to a dungeon wall in a lonely Mormon town? He seemed to think he could do her plenty of damage.
    â€œThere’s a lot of people that want me, for a lot of reasons. If I decide to get busted out of this stinking jail, I can get busted out, and don’t you forget it. And once I get my guns back, there ain’t nobody gonna stop me ever again.”
    The strange, mercurial young gun-tough was full of venom, all right. Damn! She rubbed her sore eyes. The boy, the cell, the accusation against her father—the falsity and injustice of the whole thing was making her sick. She had to get out.
    â€œI’ll come and see you again,” she said flatly, moving toward the door. “I don’t wish you any harm, I want you to know that.”
    The kid turned away sullenly.
    â€œI’m interested only in justice,” Jessie added.
    â€œMaybe you can afford to be,” Thomas Starbuck mumbled. “Me, I can’t.”
    She left him and climbed the stairs. She hurried through the courthouse and made her way out into the street. The sky was gray, a film of clouds blotting out the rays of the declining sun. It had been a long day, and it wasn’t over yet. Her lungs heaved, struggling for fresh air. The stink of the jail, though, clung to her thoughts.
    She turned and strode across the plankwalk, not looking where she was going, her mind racing with questions, trying to formulate a plan. She hurried in the direction of the hotel. Perhaps Ki would be there; she had to talk to someone.
    Â 
    The three men sat in the dingy room, a half-empty bottle of whiskey circulating among them, listlessly playing seven-up. The room was in the American Hotel, Skyler’s other, less expensive accommodation for travelers. Unlike the Skyler Inn, the American Hotel featured a bar in a back room downstairs, the only place in this strict Mormon community where a man could buy a drink. Upstairs, six rooms, partitioned off by flimsy walls, were set aside for the weary. Now, as these men gambled and drank, it was quiet throughout the hotel. It was late afternoon and the sky had turned an ugly gray, clouds drifting over the face of the sun and threatening rain, or at least promising a cool night.
    Thad Hill dropped out of the game. He took a long swallow from the bottle and lit a cheroot. The tobacco tasted good and sharp in his lungs. He released a column of blue smoke and lifted his boots onto the bed.
    â€œTired of losing?” the wiry, hawk-nosed man named Fagan said, tilting back his flat-crowned hat.
    â€œYou might say that,” replied Hill wearily. He took another drag from the cheroot, held it, then exhaled. In truth, his mind wasn’t on the game, or on the reason he had come to Skyler in the first place. His thoughts were fixed on the girl.
    â€œHell, the boy’s