High Mountain Drifter Read Online Free PDF

where he can't hurt you or any of us, and your anger will stop. It's going to be okay."
    "I know." She wanted to believe Iris, really. But she felt watched. Somewhere up in those mountains, Ernest was out there. She could
feel
it. He was watching and waiting.
    He would attack again.

 
    Chapter Three

     
    Zane leaned back in the chair the sheriff had set by the stove for him, taking a look around. "Can't believe you're a sheriff these days. Are you telling me folks elected you?"
    "Yep, they did it on purpose." Grinning, Milo crossed the room with two clean cups. "Had an official election and everything. Of course, no one was running against me so I won by default."
    "That explains it then," Zane winked, glad to be joking with his old friend again. Just like old times. "You've done good for yourself. This is a nice little town."
    "I know it's not your kind of place, but it's good for my girls." Milo handed over one of the cups. His face softened at the mention of his daughters. Not hard to figure out he was a good pa.
    "How old are they now?" Zane held up the cup, remembering when the first was born. Just a wee thing, so frail and delicate he'd gotten as far away from her as he could. Milo's late wife too, who'd never taken to him.
    "Sadie will be nine years old in December." Milo grabbed a towel, hefted up an old stoneware coffee pot and moved in to pour. "Sally will be seven come spring. Can't believe how fast time flies by."
    "It seems like yesterday we were working together." His one and only mistake at trying to settle down, Zane recalled as he watched his cup fill with strong, bitter brew. "See you're still making coffee the way I like it."
    "Burned and bad?" Milo turned away, filling his own cup. "Some things never change. You still take it black?"
    "Yep. Wouldn't want to risk any sugar sweetening me up."
    "Agreed. It wouldn't be right for the biggest, baddest bounty hunter in four territories." Milo returned the pot to the stove top and eased into the nearby chair. "I'm surprised you got here so fast. I told the McPhee family not to expect you until end of the month at the earliest. Last I heard, you were down New Mexico way."
    "I caught a big bounty after that and trailed him through northern Wyoming. Not far from Pine Bluffs, our old stomping grounds." Zane blew on his coffee, not mentioning that those few years working with Milo, having him for a friend was one of the highlights. Not that he looked back on his life often, but he'd had few friends in his life. And only one true friend. One who'd stood up for him when it truly mattered. "Finally caught him east of Dillon. The marshals had another high-end capture for me to hunt down, but when I saw your note, I came straight here."
    "I appreciate that more than you know." Milo blew on his coffee, turning thoughtful. Muscles along his jaw bunched, a sign something was wrong. "I have a tough situation here. Me and my men hunted down a kidnapper, found him but he took off into the mountains."
    "That's not like you letting a criminal slip through your fingers, Gray." Zane took a sip of coffee, felt it burn down his throat. A welcome feeling. It had been a long, cold drive. He stretched out his legs, crossed them at the ankles, ready to listen. "Tell me, are you getting soft living in this little town?"
    "I see that grin. Can't say we get a lot of hard crime up here, but it happens. I run a tight ship. This fellow I'm after is from Chicago. Smart as a whip, I have to grant him that. He stays one step ahead of me, which tells me--"
    "He has someone in town keeping an eye on you," Zane finished.
    "Exactly. Who, I couldn't tell you. On our last manhunt, we rescued the woman he kidnapped and beat badly, but there was a blizzard raging at the time up in the high country. We pursued as long as we could, but with the conditions and avalanche danger, I had to think of my men. They're family men. They've got kids and wives depending on them."
    "It was the right call. Immediate