Beneath the Tombstone (The Tombstone Series) by Martin Cogburn Read Free Book Online Page B

entered the alley
and was surrounded by the thief and two other tough looking men.
    “What’d
you do?” Misty gasped, captivated by the story.
    Jason
went on to explain how that he, being a man of action, didn’t bother with small
talk or introductions but, instead, crashed into the first man sending him
flying into the second. Their heads smacked together and they fell to the
ground stunned.
    “What’d
the third one do?” Misty demanded, her eyes wide, completely consumed by the
unfolding drama.
    “The
smart thing,” Jason bragged. “Dropped your purse and ran.” Misty looked
relieved, as if she’d just witnessed the conflict and its resolve. Prompted by
her attentive listing, Jason continued his yarn. “As for the other two, after
they staggered back to their feet… well, let’s just say that they did the smart
thing, too.”
    “Yeah,
you don’t wanna mess with my man,” Misty said,
possessively rubbing and massaging his shoulder and bicep. Then she stopped as
a look of awareness dawned on her face. “Well then how’d you get all dirty and
torn up?” she asked, directing her attention to the enormous, gaping hole in
the front of his shirt.
    “From
the fight,” Jason replied, like she should have known that.
    “But
you never even hit the ground,” she pointed out.
    “Oh,
um…” That stumped him for a moment. Misty was a beautiful woman, but sometimes
he wished she could’ve been dumb to boot. “Well, you know how it is in a
fight,” he spoke slowly, grasping for straws, “everything happened so fast…
When I smacked them two fella’s heads together, I think I may have fallen
down.” Jason knew that the explanation didn’t merit the destruction he had
wrought upon his clothing and certainly not the huge hole in the front of his
shirt, but it seemed to satisfy her curiosity. She nodded in understanding
before going back to fussing over him.
    - - - - - -
    Later
that night, Jason and Misty kissed on their front porch, just like old times.
He felt loved and special, like a hero should, once more. Motivated by the
image he’d created of himself, he swept her off of her feet and wacked her head
on the door jamb as he tried to carry her across the threshold.
    Thankfully,
smacking her head seemed to strike Misty as funny because she burst into
laughter. At first Jason was afraid he’d knocked her silly but then decided
that couldn’t be the case. She was too hard headed. Soon, her laugher became
contagious, bubbling over to him. In the end, they both wound up sitting in the
floor, laughing uncontrollably. Finally, after their laughter had died down
into occasional chuckles, Jason turned, reached up, and shut and locked the
door.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter Four
    The
old adobe style house stood resilient against the test of time, its years
masked by the fact that it had been taken care of and maintained very well.
Wooden shutters framing the windows and a wood porch with pine support post
stood out in a unique contrast to the adobe structure. Jason wasn’t sure what
they were, but some sort of native cactus with purple flowers bloomed in front
of the dwelling, one plant on each side of the porch steps.
    “Susan
sure has kept Granny’s old place up, hasn’t she?” Misty asked as she and Jason
walked side by side up the front steps.
    “Yep,”
Jason said, observing the house. “The porch looks the best… especially the
boards that I screwed down,” he added with a touch of pretend arrogance.
    “Oh,
we had to replace those two,” Misty fired back, her eyes dancing with mischief.
    Jason
kicked back his head and laughed. “You know, if you weren’t so pretty, I might
take offense to that.”
    Misty
cast a flirtatious look up at him. “Well then, it’s a good thing I’m pretty,
isn’t it?”
    “Yep,”
Jason replied then grinned at her. “I’ve always liked that about you.”
    As
they opened the front door a familiar voice yelled, “Uncle Jason!”
    “Hey
Ken,” Jason