Read Online The Red Ripper by Kerry Newcomb - Free Book Online

following Juan Diego’s orders. That was the way of things, life’s chain of command.
    â€œCome along then. Step easy now,” Obregon muttered to the patrol. Juan Diego Guadiz wanted Wallace in leg irons by sunup. The sergeant intended to carry out those orders to the letter. A few weeks in the governor’s
jail would dull the edge on Wallace’s pride.
    Obregon tugged the pistol from his belt and checked to see if it was primed, then motioned for the patrol to follow him down the alley toward the stables at the rear of the hotel. A pair of tomcats, jealous over territorial rights to the alley, began to howl and hiss at each other. Emilio cursed and tossed a pebble in their direction. The felines scattered in opposite directions, abandoning their contested terrain to Obregon and his patrol. Emilio chuckled and glanced over his shoulder at his companions and saluted.
    The rear of the alley was faintly illuminated by lantern light spilling through the main door, which had been left ajar. A breeze stirred and the door began to sway and creak on its rusted hinges. Obregon placed a finger to his lips in the universal sign for silence and quickened his pace. One of the men behind him inadvertently stepped on the broken remains of a tile that had slipped off the roof. The brittle clay crunched underfoot seemed deafening in the midnight stillness.
    The sergeant whirled about, eyes blazing with hostility. Even Emilio knew better than to comment. No one moved for fear of directing the sergeant’s anger toward himself. Unable to discern the guilty party, Obregon silently indicted them all. There would be hell to pay come morning and extra sentry duty for the lot of them. The sergeant continued on over to the front of the stable. As he placed a hand on the door, the light vanished, returning the interior to darkness. Obregon shook his head. So much for surprising the gringo. The sergeant stiffened his backbone, shoved the door open, and darted inside.
    The moon’s pale glare filling the entrance helped to illuminate the front stalls but left two-thirds of the interior in darkness. This is not good, Obregon thought. He motioned for Emilio and one other to take up a position on the left. The other two soldiers angled off to
the sergeant’s right. A horse whinnied and pawed the earth at the rear of the stable. Obregon sensed someone waiting, watching beyond the reach of the moonlight.
    â€œWell, what do we have here? Mad Jack’s young squire?” said the sergeant, hoping to trick his prey into revealing himself, then continued in a stern tone of voice. “You are to come with us.” Obregon was accustomed to intimidating strangers. “Captain Guadiz wishes to speak with you again, about cards and the proper conduct of a gentleman and the price one must pay for impertinence. You can join your friend, the pirate, in the governor’s jail.”
    â€œLet me pass in peace, cabrito. ” The words drifted out of the gloomy interior, the voice gentle yet ripe with warning.
    â€œYou call me an animal.” The sergeant’s eyes narrowed. He would have given a week’s pay for a lantern. Emilio found one, shook the chamber and discovered it empty of oil, and tossed the lamp aside. The glass chimney shattered on the hardened earth floor.
    â€œYou smell like a goat,” Wallace continued, unseen. “Be off. Dunk yourself in the ocean. And burn the uniform. You’ve lived in it too long.” Wallace sniffed the air, loud enough for all to hear, a gesture that only heightened his insult.
    â€œBastard! I’ll teach you respect for the governor’s guards.” Obregon shifted his pistol to his left hand and with his right unsheathed his saber. “Show yourself!” The soldiers pointed their bayonets toward the darkness.
    â€œPut those toad stickers away. If you kill me, you’ll still smell like a goat. And if I kill you, you’ll smell even