Man From Boot Hill Read Free Page A

digging through the rest of Nick’s pack, he didn’t notice the subtle, angry twitch in Nick’s eye as he tried to mark where his gun had landed.
    “Ain’t nothing more here,” Alan finally said. “Apart from digging tools and such.”
    “Good.”
    “If you’re gonna shoot,” Nick said, “then why not tell me what you’re after?”
    By now, J. D. had taken aim at Nick’s chest. “Wrong place at the wrong time, mister. That’s all there is to it.”
    Nick chuckled under his breath. “Story of my life.” With that, he lifted his right leg and reached down for a slender knife that was stashed in his boot. In one, smooth motion, he drew the knife and threw it directly at the gunman.
    J. D. was unprepared to feel the blade drive into the meat of his gun arm as he pulled his trigger.
    Nick was already moving. The hot lead from J. D.’s wild shot whipped past him and only managed to snag a piece of his jacket along the way. His sights were already set upon Alan and he charged forward to press the momentary advantage he’d created.
    Watching the turn of events with wide eyes, Alan raised his gun and fired off three quick shots that made plenty of noise without drawing any blood. Then, all Alan could do was watch Nick rush toward him like a crazed bull.
    Lowering his shoulder at the last moment, Nick slammed into Alan’s chest. Alan landed with a wheezing thump and both his arms splayed out to his sides. As much as Nick wanted to grab the gunfrom Alan’s hand, Alan held onto it with every bit of strength he could dredge up. In his youth, Nick wouldn’t have had any trouble with the task. Now, he was at a distinct disadvantage.
    Through sheer survival instinct, Alan managed to pull his arm free from Nick’s mangled fingers and roll out from under him. As he scrambled along the ground, Alan could barely decide where he wanted to go. Just as he got himself situated, he felt a powerful impact on the back of his head and the dim light of dusk turned to black.
    While struggling to get his own feet beneath him, Nick balled up his fist and delivered a second punch to the base of Alan’s skull. That punch landed in the same spot as the first and knocked Alan’s forehead once more against the ground. Alan wasn’t completely unconscious, so he managed to protect his gun by pulling that arm beneath the rest of him before curling into a defensive ball.
    Nick turned around just in time to see J. D. sitting up and reaching for the knife stuck in his arm. When he spotted Nick, J. D. gritted his teeth and switched the pistol into his other hand so he could squeeze off another shot.
    Pushing aside the pain in his aching muscles as well as his last vestige of common sense, Nick dug his feet into the ground and ran straight at J. D. He reached out with his right hand and just managed to slap away the other man’s gun a split-second before it spat out a plume of smoke and sparks.
    Nick’s ears were ringing and the grit of burned gunpowder coated the back of his throat. Thanks to the close proximity of that last shot, he didn’t hear J. D.’s scream when he grabbed hold of the knife still embedded in the man’s arm and gave it a single, powerful twist.
    The jangling in Nick’s ears was slow to fade, but he instinctually glanced over to see what Alan was doing. Sure enough, Alan had flipped onto his back and was sitting up with gun in hand. There was still a confused look on his face, but Alan quickly focused in on where the fight had gone.
    Nick lunged for J. D.’s gun and felt his hand close around its grip. When he got his finger on the trigger, the gun had slipped in his hand and skewed to one side. Nick was accustomed to the kind of trouble a regular gun gave him, but he cursed it all the same. Tightening his hand around the grip and taking another second to adjust for the slip, he pulled his trigger just as Alan pulled his own.
    Alan’s shot was panicked and rushed, which caused it to hiss through the air a few inches