Night of the Wolves Read Online Free PDF Page B

his head, as if realizing that he wasn’t being understood. “I’m Cody Fox, and this is my friend Brendan Vincent. We’ll be sticking around for a while. We’re going to try to find out what’s going on here.”
    The sound of furniture being shoved across the floor startled everyone, and all eyes in the room were suddenly focused on the piano. It was just Jigs, who had risen from his hiding place at last.
    Alex noted that Cody Fox already had a hand on his gun belt.
    “You two some kind of lawmen?” Jigs asked. He epitomized the popular image of the perfect piano player with his fine suit, bow tie and misty-gray top hat that nicely complemented his ebony flesh. Tall and lean, he lent just the right touch of class to a place frequented by cardsharps, fast women, ranchers, cowboys and transients.
    “Lawmen? No. Just concerned citizens,” Cody replied.
    Brendan Vincent said, “I had kin who lived out in Brigsby. There’s not hide nor hair of them to be seen.”
    “Well,” Dolly said dryly, making no mention of the state of things in Brigsby, “you’re mighty welcome here. As you might have noticed, we’ve yet to see the sheriff or his deputy.”
    Cody was an extremely attractive man, Alex thought. He had a handsome face, if somewhat gaunt. His eyes were a golden hazel, and when he dusted his hat on his knee, she saw that he had rich wheat-colored hair. Tall and rugged, like many another cowboy, still he had something that was entirely unique. Alex found herself curious about him, and it was no wonder the working women in the saloon seemed about to have the vapors.
    “Ma’am, to be quite honest, I think we’re looking for a rooming house of some kind, a place where we can have a bit of peace and quiet, a place to think some of this out,” Cody said politely.
    “Then you want to be staying at Alex’s place,” Jigs said.
    Alex hadn’t realized that Jigs had even seen her, but now he stared at her, grinning. “Welcome home, missy,” he said softly.
    Everyone in the place was staring at her now, and she didn’t like the sudden attention. She felt her cheeks grow warm and flushed, though she didn’t know why. It must be the stranger, she told herself. Cody Fox.
    He looked at her for a long moment. A very long moment. Then a hint of a smile touched his features and he tilted his hat in greeting. “How do you do, miss?”
    She had the feeling she looked like a worn-out school marm. Most of the women in the saloon were showing a great deal of flesh and wearing vivid colors.
    She was basically wearing travel dust.
    “Fine, thank you—considering the circumstances. How do you do?” she replied courteously, feeling inexplicably awkward.
    “You own a boardinghouse?” he asked.
    “Yes,” she said, unable to make further conversation, but then again, it had been a yes-or-no question.
    “And might you have a couple of vacancies?” he asked politely.
    She started to turn to Jewell to check, then remembered with sudden clarity and horror that Bert was lying unconscious—or worse—back at the boardinghouse. “Oh!” she gasped, and without replying, she raced out the door and across the street to the house. She rushed in, dropping to her knees by Bert’s prone body.
    She patted his cheeks and called his name, and after a moment he let out a groan and opened his eyes, staring up at her blankly.
    “Bert?” she said anxiously.
    He blinked, then started to speak, but his words froze in his throat, and he grabbed her arm in a surprisingly strong grasp. She turned to see that Cody Fox and Brendan Vincent had followed her.
    “It’s all right. They stopped the outlaws,” Alex said soothingly.
    “Stopped them?” Bert said, staring at the other men skeptically.
    “They killed one of them and convinced the others to ride away,” Alex said.
    “The sheriff?” Bert asked.
    “Nowhere to be seen,” Alex admitted.
    Cody hunkered down by Bert’s side. “Looks like you took a hell of a wallop,” he said, his