This Violent Land by William W. Johnstone Read Free Book Online Page B

by that pretty lady over there at the newsstand. You can go ask her if she doesn’t mind sharing a cab if you’d like.”
    â€œAll right, thanks. I believe I will ask her.” Smoke started toward the newsstand. The woman might be willing to share the cab with him . . . or she might think he was being a bit forward. At any rate, it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Besides, he wanted to get a closer look at her. He couldn’t shake the idea that he had seen her somewhere before—not only seen her but had actually met her.
    â€œSmoke!” a man’s voice called out to him. “Smoke, over here! It’s me, Cephus!”
    The man who hailed him was another of Marshal Holloway’s deputies, Cephus Prouty.
    â€œHello, Doodle!” Smoke called back, using the deputy’s nickname. Turning away from the woman at the newsstand, he walked toward the deputy marshal.
    Janey was just about to buy the paper when she heard the man’s voice. Something about it caught her attention. Just a note, but something that tugged at a distant memory, long buried. She turned toward him, but he was walking away from her.
    She would have liked to get a closer look, but she was afraid to. What if he was someone she had known in her other life, when she was on the line for Chicago Sue? Or even more dangerous, what if it was someone she had met in Kansas City?
    She turned pointedly away. If he was an old client of hers, she didn’t want him to recognize her.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” Smoke asked Doodle.
    â€œI came to see if you wanted a ride back to the office. Sheriff Donovan sent a telegram to Holloway, telling him what train you would be on.”
    â€œWell, that’s very nice of you to meet me.”
    Doodle grinned. “Yeah, well, I want to get on your good side. Sheriff Donovan says you’re a hero because of what you done over in Red Cliff.”
    â€œSheriff Donovan exaggerates. But it was nice of him to send word as to what train I would be on.” Smoke looked back toward the newsstand where he had seen the woman he thought he had recognized, but she was no longer there.
    â€œWhat do you say we get a beer first?” Doodle asked.
    â€œSounds like a good idea to me,” Smoke replied.

C HAPTER 7
    â€œW hy did you bring these papers here to have them notarized?” the notary clerk asked Janey. “You could have had them done in Salt Lake City.”
    â€œThat’s my fault,” she lied. “I talked Mr. Richards into sending the papers here, because I wanted to come to Denver.”
    The clerk chuckled. “Well, I can’t blame you for that. I mean who wouldn’t prefer Denver to Salt Lake City? Unless you are one of ‘The Saints.’ ” He examined the papers, then clucked his tongue. “My oh my. This involves quite a bit of land.”
    â€œYes, the PSR is a large operation, one of the largest, if not the largest in all of Idaho. But, as you can see, the transfer has been duly signed by all parties concerned.”
    â€œTechnically, I should witness the signing in order to notarize this.”
    â€œYou mean I’ve made this long trip for nothing?” She pouted, looking at the notary with wide, pleading eyes. “I can’t go back and tell my bosses that I didn’t get these papers notarized. What will I do?”
    The notary sighed. “I really shouldn’t do this, but I can see that everyone has signed the documents.” He chuckled again. “And I certainly would not want to see a pretty young lady like you have to go back empty-handed to your employers. Very well, I’ll notarize them.”
    â€œOh, thank you.” Janey flashed her most provocative smile. “You are such a dear man.”
    â€œI wish you’d tell my wife that,” the notary joked.
    â€œOh, honey, most wives really don’t like to see me,” she said in a seductive voice.
    The notary laughed. “I