Shoot Angel! Read Free Page B

of his boot caught Koch’s gun
hand, sending the gun flying from dead fingers. Koch howled in
pain, but even in his agony he was aware enough to use his left
hand to snatch free the slim-bladed knife he carried in his belt.
He slashed wildly at Angel’s weaving body, missed, tried to reverse
his thrust. By then Angel was on him. He reached out and grabbed
Koch’s wrist, twisting brutally. The knife slipped from Koch’s
fingers. Before it had touched the floor Angel had smashed a hard
fist into Koch’s exposed stomach. The deputy began to choke,
gasping for breath. Angel clubbed him across the back of his neck
and Koch went face down on the hard floor. He stopped choking and
lay very still and very quiet.
    Angel disarmed both men. He placed their
various weapons out of sight behind the counter. Then he went
across to where Jess was standing, her face white with shock. She
regarded him with those startling green eyes, not yet certain how
to take him.
    ‘ Is
breakfast always so energetic in here?’ Angel asked lightly. ‘I’ve
heard of working up an appetite.’
    Jess couldn ’t help smiling. ‘I don’t know
who you are but I’m glad you were here.’
    ‘ Frank
Angel’s the name.’
    The girl held out a slim
hand. ‘Jessica Blake. Though everyone calls me Jess.’
    ‘ You
feeling all right?’ Angel enquired.
    Jess nodded. She touched her fingers to the
sore spot on her face where Duggan had struck her.
    ‘ Probably have a black eye in the morning,’ she said
ruefully. ‘That man has a kick like a mule.’
    ‘ Appears to have the brains of one as well,’ Angel remarked.
‘Is this kind of thing normal in this town?’
    ‘ If
you asked anyone else you would find they had suddenly been struck
dumb.’
    ‘ Not
something that bothers you?’
    Jess smiled, eyes
sparkling. ‘I come from a long line of ancestors who believe in
calling a spade a spade. There’s been too much dirt swept under the
carpet in Liberty. I’ve not been one of those doing the sweeping.
Trouble is, nobody in this town wants to listen.’
    ‘ Try
me,’ Angel suggested.
    She studied him intently, frowning
slightly.
    ‘ Maybe
I shouldn’t. You could already be in more trouble than you realize.
Perhaps you ought to get on your horse and leave before those two
wake up. They won’t leave it as things are. I’m not trying to scare
you, Frank Angel, but Liberty isn’t your problem. Why ask for
trouble?’
    Angel grinned at her. ‘You let me worry
about my troubles,’ he said. ‘Tell me about Liberty.’
    Jess sat down. ‘Something tells me
there’s more to you than a dirty shirt and a couple of days’ growth
of whiskers. Just who are you, Frank Angel?’
    ‘ Might
be better if you didn’t know.’
    Jess wagged a finger at
him, ‘Oh,
no,’ she said. ‘You don’t get off so easy.’
    ‘ Let’s
just say I’m looking for someone.’
    ‘ Here
in Liberty?’
    ‘ Could
be.’
    ‘ Man
or woman?’
    ‘ Man.
Name of Harry Culp. Does it mean anything to you?’
    Jess thought for a moment, then she shook her
head.
    ‘ For a
moment I had a feeling I knew the name. Now I’m not so sure. Let me
think about it. Thing is I get a lot of people in here who are just
passing through. They buy a meal, then leave. It isn’t often I get
to know their names. How recently was this man in
Liberty?’
    ‘ A
week back near as I can figure,’ Angel said.
    ‘ Do
you think he’s still here?’
    Angel shrugged. ‘I don’t know. He
came this way and I’m certain he must have stopped here. It might
only have been for a while. If he did then someone in Liberty must
have seen him.’
    ‘ Maybe
one of the saloons,’ Jess suggested. ‘Wait. I have heard the name.’
    ‘ From
whom?’
    ‘ I
remember now. It was just a snatch of conversation I overheard.
Between a couple of the girls who work over at Jinty’s Palace. It’s
one of the big saloons. And it was about a week ago. The girls
sometimes come in here for an early breakfast after