Sidewinders by William W. Johnstone Read Free Book Online Page A

able to recover some of the gold you lost, how would you feel about cutting us in for a share?” Bo suggested.
    Martha didn’t reject the idea out of hand. Instead she considered it for a moment before finally nodding. “We could probably come to an arrangement like that,” she said. “Ten percent of the value of whatever gold you recover.”
    Bo didn’t like the idea of haggling with a woman, but he said, “I was thinking more along the lines of twenty percent.”
    â€œTen’s all I can afford,” Martha said flatly.
    â€œWell, in that case, ma’am, you got a deal,” Scratch said before Bo could make a counteroffer. Bo glanced over at his old friend, who was grinning from ear to ear. Scratch never had been able to resist trying to please a pretty woman, even one who was young enough to be his daughter, or maybe even his granddaughter.
    But to be honest, he probably would have agreed to the ten percent, too, Bo realized. If that was truly all Martha could afford, he wouldn’t want to try to take advantage of her.
    She stood up and came out from behind the desk, extending her hand to each of them in turn. She said, “I probably should have asked what your qualifications are to be hunting down gold thieves. Are you lawmen of some sort?”
    â€œWe’ve worked as deputies before,” Bo explained. “Done some scouting for the army as well, so we have experience with tracking.”
    â€œPlus we’ve wound up in quite a few ruckuses with owlhoots that were none of our doin’,” Scratch added. “We don’t never go lookin’ for trouble, but sometimes it seems like it looks for us.”
    â€œWell, if you find the Deadwood Devils, you can count on one thing,” Martha said. “You’ll find plenty of trouble, too. When are you going to start searching for them?”
    Bo said, “It’s too late in the day to pick up a trail today. First thing in the morning we’ll ride out to the place where the Argosy gold wagon was held up today and see what we can find.”
    Martha made a face at the mention of the Argosy Mining Company, Bo noted.
    â€œYou and the folks at the Argosy don’t get along?” he asked, making a shrewd guess.
    â€œThat’s none of your business, Mr. Creel,” she snapped. “You don’t have to concern yourself with anything except finding the Devils and getting back as much of my gold as you can.”
    Bo nodded. “You’re right, ma’am, we don’t.” He put his hat on. “Come on, Scratch.”
    They left Martha Sutton in the office. As they walked along the street, Scratch commented, “That’s a pretty gal, but she’s a mite prickly around the edges.”
    â€œI’d say she has reason to be, as much trouble as she’s had. First those gold holdups, and then her pa dying, maybe because of them . . .” Bo shook his head in sympathy. “Meanwhile, we’ve got to eat tonight. I reckon I’ve got just enough money hidden away in my saddlebags to buy us a meal at the Red Top.”
    â€œYou mean you been squirrelin’ away dinero without tellin’ me?”
    â€œAnd it’s a good thing, too,” Bo said. “Otherwise we’d be going hungry tonight.”
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    The fried steaks Sue Beth Pendleton and her cook Charlie dished up at the café were just as good as the ham at lunch had been. As the Texans were cleaning their plates and washing down the last of the food with coffee, Sue Beth paused on the other side of the counter and said, “I figured you boys would be back.”
    â€œWith food this good, where else in town would we eat?” Scratch asked.
    â€œAnd I figured you might ask me for credit,” Sue Beth went on. “No offense, but you look a little down at the heels.”
    â€œWe don’t much believe in credit,” Bo said. “We like to pay for what we get as