When “gun-handy” ex-lawman Jack Bonner begins to think about settling down, he’s approached by one last offer he can’t pass up. Three enterprising businessmen present a plan for him to schedule gunfights—with his opponent paying a fee for the privilege of fighting him! Seems like the perfect plan—good for the town businesses, good for publicity, and good for Jack’s pocketbook—if he doesn’t meet someone faster than he is. But as time wears on, there’s a shift in attitudes all around, and Jack begins to yearn for other things that don’t come easy for a CROSSROADS’ FAST GUN…
Two Huntsville Prison inmates, Derrick Mulford and Harlan Cole, are released for “time served” in the hopes that they will lead lawmen to a strongbox filled with stolen gold from a robbery that happened many years before. Did the dying prisoner, Charlie Cruppe, accurately confess to them where the gold was hidden? Derrick begins to wonder if tracking down the fortune will be the death of them when he and Harlan are followed and held at gunpoint—are their lives worth finding the sister of the robber for her help? Only she knows the hiding place her brother described. Are they willing to die for CHARLIE’S MONEY?
EXCERPT
Joe Snipes set his beer glass
down and moved to take a gun shooter’s stance—legs spread shoulder width and
facing Jack. “I don’t like how you keep staring at me, mister!” he barked,
while pointing a bony finger at Jack.
Jack took his own stance and
said, “It seems to me that you’re staring at me just like I’m looking at you.
It may be that we have business to discuss, so we might as well discuss it.
That’s if your name happens to be Joe Snipes.”
Joe did not answer. Instead, he
made a move to draw his six-gun. Jack Bonner drew his .45 Colt in a fluid motion
and fired one shot that hit Snipes in the upper chest. Jack would have shot a
second time, but he did not want to kill Joe unless forced to do such—although
the reward offered stated dead or alive.
Joe accommodated by taking a
step back from the impact of the bullet and dropped his six-gun in the move,
then fell forward to lie face down on the floor.
When it appeared that Joe Snipes
was in no condition to further resist, Jack stepped over to the fallen man’s
side then picked up Joe’s six-gun and stuck it in his waistband. He rolled Joe
onto his back to assess the damage that the bullet had done.
Jack had purposely shot high so
as not to lung-shoot the man. He would try to keep Joe alive in order to claim
the reward since he was unaware of how far it was to the nearest law office to
claim his prize. If the man died, he might become putrid before Jack could turn
his corpse in. Joe’s eyes remained closed, but he was breathing steadily. “Is
there a doctor in this town?” Jack asked to no one in particular.
The bartender came from behind
the bar to stand nearby. “No doctor in Crossroads,” the man replied. “Hell,
mister, you just shot that fella, now you want to save him?”
