California Carnage Read Online Free PDF Page A

someday.’’
    He didn’t have to say the rest of what he meant. Fargo understood it just fine.
    You’ll die next!

3
    Fargo put his hat on and got out of there before he lost his temper and threw a punch at the son of a bitch. He went down to the lobby and asked the clerk, ‘‘How about Mr. Arthur Grayson?’’
    The man looked a little surprised at the question. Fargo supposed that since he had asked for Stoddard earlier, the clerk thought he wouldn’t have anything to do with the Graysons.
    ‘‘They’re in rooms eighteen and twenty, down at the other end of the hall. Adjoining rooms, you know.’’
    Fargo nodded and said, ‘‘Much obliged.’’ He headed up the stairs again.
    When he reached the landing, he glanced toward Stoddard’s room again. The door was still closed. Stoddard would be in there thinking up ways to get what he wanted, to get back at Fargo for defying him. He was that sort of man, so full of pride that he couldn’t tolerate being challenged.
    Fargo hadn’t thought to ask which Grayson was in which room. Since he came to eighteen first, he knocked on that door. Light footsteps sounded on the other side, and Belinda’s voice asked, ‘‘Who’s there, please?’’
    ‘‘Skye Fargo.’’
    The door opened. She peered out at him with a frown that didn’t make her any less pretty. ‘‘What are you doing here, Mr. Fargo?’’
    She had changed from the long skirt and peasant blouse, and now wore a silk robe belted around her trim waist. It clung to the sleek lines of her body. Fargo couldn’t help but notice that, but it wasn’t why he had knocked on her door.
    ‘‘I was looking for your father,’’ he told her. ‘‘Didn’t know which room he was in.’’
    ‘‘He’s next door.’’ Belinda’s frown didn’t go away. ‘‘If you don’t mind my asking, what do you want with him?’’
    ‘‘I’ve talked to Stoddard,’’ he said. ‘‘I won’t be working for him. And you were right. Even though he won’t admit it, I’m pretty sure he’s the one who sent those hombres after you tonight.’’
    She nodded, not looking surprised by what he said. ‘‘Were they the ones who shot at you right after I came in the hotel? I heard the shots, of course, and then later I saw you in the street talking to the marshal, so I thought you must have been involved.’’
    ‘‘Yeah, they tried to bushwhack me, all right,’’ Fargo said. ‘‘The same four gents. The one called Elam, the one who grabbed your arm, got away. The other three didn’t.’’
    Her eyes widened. ‘‘You killed them?’’
    ‘‘Seemed like the thing to do at the time.’’
    She looked down at the floor and shook her head. ‘‘I knew Father and Mr. Stoddard were rivals, competitors. I knew Mr. Stoddard was angry because Father bested him on several business deals. But when we came to Los Angeles I didn’t know it was going to be so dangerous.’’
    Fargo inclined his head toward the room next door. ‘‘You reckon your father is still up?’’
    ‘‘I’m sure he is. I said good night to him just a little while ago, and he was poring over his maps.’’
    ‘‘Obliged,’’ Fargo said. ‘‘I’d like to talk to him.’’
    Hope sprang up in her eyes. ‘‘You’d like to work for us? For him, I mean.’’
    ‘‘Stoddard rubbed me the wrong way,’’ Fargo admitted.
    She reached out and put a hand on his arm. ‘‘Come in. I’ll tell Father you’re here.’’
    Fargo had planned to just knock on the door of room twenty and introduce himself to Arthur Grayson, but he supposed Belinda’s suggestion would work, too. He stepped into the room and she closed the door behind him.
    She went straight to the door of the adjoining room and tapped on it, then opened it without waiting for an answer. ‘‘Father,’’ she said, ‘‘Mr. Skye Fargo is here.’’
    ‘‘Fargo!’’ The exclamation came from the other room. Fargo heard a chair scrape, and then a stocky man with gray hair and a