Read Online Slocum 419 by Jake Logan - Free Book Online Page A

green eyes.
    â€œPromise?” he said.
    Slocum nodded.
    â€œI promise, Lou.”
    Then he put an arm around Lou’s back and held the swaying man, who seemed about to crumple.
    The stench of death was in the air, heavy as a coastal fog.
    Slocum knew why they had come after Jasper and killed him.
    The young man was the only living heir to his brother’s mine.
    Now Wolf would have a clear path to ownership of Wilbur’s mine. With forged transfer papers, of course.
    Slocum vowed that Wolf would never lay claim to that mine or to anything else.
    It was just a matter of time.
    But he would hunt the man down and call him out.
    That, too, was a promise.

10
    Wolfgang Steiner listened to Bert Loomis talk about his encounter with a man dressed in black. Bert spoke through clenched teeth while the local doctor, Herman Alcorn, cleaned the wound in his leg.
    â€œThe man ain’t human,” Bert said.
    â€œHold your leg still,” Doc Alcorn said. He held a reeking wad of cotton in one hand, a long slender probe in the other.
    â€œHe’s human,” Wolf said. “And I know who the bastard is, I think.”
    â€œWho in hell is he?” Bert asked as he winced in pain.
    â€œAccording to Abel Fogarty, the man’s name is John Slocum. He’s been snoopin’ around, checking on that claim transfer I filed.”
    â€œNever heard of him,” Bert said as Doc Alcorn swabbed his wound and poured some yellowish fluid into it.
    They were in Wolf’s house, a log cabin that had once been the town’s first small boardinghouse. Bert lay flat on his back atop a long table in the center of the front room. Tony Hobart sat in a chair by the window nearest the front door. He was on watch, and most of his attention was focused on the front yard and the street outside. The room was Spartan, with no pictures on the walls, a cold fireplace swept clean of ashes, three empty cane chairs, and a sofa where Wolf sat, spinning the cylinder on his converted Remington New Model Army in .44 caliber.
    Wolf was hard-muscled and lean, with no fat on his bones. He had a chiseled, square-jawed face, high cheekbones, and a Roman nose. His eyes were wide-set, brown as agates, and seemed to glow with his inner avarice. He was a greedy man and had attained dominance over lesser men because of his willingness to kill anyone who stood in his way. He craved power and money and gathered around him the kind of men who had no conscience and little brain power.
    He was already concentrating on how to find this Slocum feller who had killed two of his men and was butting into his business.
    The doctor finished cleaning Bert’s wound and pushed a salve into both holes in his calf, then wrapped the leg with a soft bandage, tied it tight.
    â€œStay off that leg for a week or so, Mr. Loomis,” Alcorn advised. “If it starts to bleed again, come see me.”
    â€œCan you give me something for the pain, Doc?” Loomis asked.
    â€œYou shouldn’t have more pain than you can bear once the swelling goes down. If your wound doesn’t get an infection, you should heal pretty fast. I can give you some pills that will tone down the immediate pain, but take them sparingly.”
    â€œIt burns like hell, Doc,” Bert said.
    â€œThat’s because I reamed it all out. The pain will go away by tomorrow morning.”
    â€œJesus,” Bert said.
    The doctor rummaged in his bag and found a small box of aspirin. He poured a dozen pills out and placed them in Bert’s hand.
    â€œTake one or two now. Drink lots of water. No whiskey for a week, and stay off that leg.”
    Alcorn closed his leather bag and walked over to Wolf.
    â€œTwo dollars for the visit and the doctoring,” Alcorn said.
    Wolf dug into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. He peeled off two one-dollar bills and handed them to Alcorn.
    â€œThanks, Mr. Steiner. If he starts to bleed or screams out in pain, you know where