Read Online Novel 1987 - The Haunted Mesa (v5.0) by Louis L’Amour - Free Book Online Page B

reputation, but he’s a successful businessman as well. The two do not always go together. Yes, he loves this part of the country and planned to build a home there. He made a fortune in electronics and can afford to live wherever he wishes.”
    Gallagher took his coffee from the waitress and sipped it, then turned his attention to Kawasi. “Were you in the restaurant when it burned?”
    â€œNo, but I was in it just a moment before. When I saw those men I was frightened. I ran.”
    â€œWhat men?”
    â€œI do not know them. There were two, perhaps another. I am not sure. Mr. Hokart was afraid and went to the counter to ask the man for a gun. The man would not give it.”
    â€œHe was right. What did Hokart do then?”
    â€œI do not know. I am gone.”
    â€œWhere’d you go?”
    â€œI hide. Then for room for sleep.”
    Gallagher turned to Mike. “What do you know about Hokart? Was he on anything? Narcotics?”
    â€œNot him. He was far too sensible a man. He didn’t need any crutches. He was a sober, almost too serious a man, something of a loner because he did his best thinking when alone. What he really wanted was a place away from the telephone. You know, when a man attains great success, people are forever coming to him with ideas and he did not need ideas from anyone else.
    â€œHe wanted a place where he could sit and think. I would not actually call him a scientist. He was an inventor of sorts but he had the ability to make things work. Many of his friends were doing pure research, but Erik had a way of sensing the practical value of things. He knew how to turn their work into money.”
    â€œAnybody want to kill him?”
    â€œNobody I know. He had no relatives. No heirs. Most of his friends had every reason to keep him alive.”
    If Gallagher knew anything, he appeared to have no intention of revealing it. From his questions he seemed to Mike to be feeling his way, searching for some explanation of what had happened.
    â€œMa’am, you said you were afraid of those men. Why?”
    â€œI am in the desert with Mr. Hokart. He very…very anxious. We get into car and those men jump from behind rocks, but we drove away. Then they come to the restaurant.”
    â€œWhere’s Hokart now?”
    â€œWe were just wondering about that,” Raglan said. “They must have taken him.”
    â€œKidnapped?”
    â€œSomething of the kind. From what I have heard, no bodies were found in the fire, so he must have escaped that. You have his car, I believe.”
    Gallagher sipped his coffee, mulling it over. He was a shrewd, intelligent man and Mike hoped he was accepting the story, which was about as much of the truth as he knew, not referring to speculations. Gallagher glanced at Raglan suddenly. “What’s your business?”
    â€œI’m a writer, mostly about the far-out and far-away. I’ve known Erik for several years and he wanted my advice.”
    â€œOn what?”
    â€œThis country, particularly. I used to live around here, wandering the back country.”
    â€œWhat country?”
    â€œDark Canyon, Fable Canyon, Beef Basin, the Sweet Alice Hills, Woodenshoe—you name it.”
    Grudgingly, Gallagher nodded. “Sounds like you know something about it.” He took a swallow of coffee. “Know anybody who’d want to kidnap Hokart?”
    â€œNo.” Raglan hesitated. Then he said, “Officer, Hokart and I have exchanged books from time to time, mostly paperbacks. One was left for me at Tamarron where I am staying. A short time later a man broke into my condo and tried to steal it.”
    â€œSteal a book? What the hell for?”
    â€œYou’ve got me. He took it thinking it was something else, I suspect.”
    In as few words as possible, Raglan explained about the warning from the girl at the desk, then awakening in his bed with the man standing at the bar.
    â€œLucky he