Zooey Pinkerton- a Daughter's Right (8 page)

Unaware that Zooey had
discovered him, Tom continued to reach slowly for his weapon. When
it was securely in his right hand, he took a deep breath, sat up
quickly, and fired. As suddenly as he had gotten up, Tom was forced
back onto the floor, his head reeling and a deep burning spreading
quickly throughout his chest. His breathing became laboured and his
eyes began to cloud over. “No,” he moaned. “Not possible.”

“What the hell just happened? Is
anyone else hurt?”

At first, no one seemed to
notice Jack Duncan as he slid toward the floor. He had been hit. It
was the final shot Tom Brennan's weapon would ever make - and it
bested one of his intended targets.

“Josh, your father!” Zooey
pointed toward the older man as he slumped to the floor.

The Sheriff's deputies moved in
to contain Jack's men.

Joshua stood in silence as his
father tried in vain to speak. Tom's bullet had lodged deep in his
neck and a rapid running stream of blood began to pool in his lap.
In a futile gesture, Jack reached an arm up toward Joshua, as if
trying to coax the younger man to save him. Jack Duncan's arm
dropped suddenly, and a long, gurgling breath escaped his throat.
He too was dead. Zooey moaned. She had seen enough death today.

Joshua turned his back on the
dead man and helped Zooey to her feet. “I think you just saved my
life… and it looks like you got to avenge your father's death.”

“I'm sorry about your father,
Josh.”

“I'm not,” he answered coldly.
“He was dead to me long ago. He was just a living shell of a man
and now the body is dead too.”

Zooey looked over Joshua’s
shoulder at Tom Brennan's crumpled, lifeless body. “I bet he never
thought a woman would do him in.” Zooey looked up to the ceiling,
her body convulsing as she cried. “I got him Pops. I got the
bastard that took you from me. I have the ranch back, too. I put it
right.”

Josh wrapped his arm around
Zooey's shoulder and pulled her tight against him. “You certainly
did, Zooey. The bounty is yours as well. I'll make sure of that.
I'm sure the funds can help get the ranch going again. You'll need
some good men out here. For now, let's get than arm looked at.”

Tears of joy welled up in
Zooey's eyes. She had stopped thinking about the bounty long ago,
but knew Josh was right. It would help her get the ranch back up
and running.

Joshua gently pushed Zooey to
the door and then turned back to direct his men. “Franklin, take
charge and clean this up. Get the men to bring this sorry lot into
town and lock them up until we can get a judge out here.”

“Yes sir.”

Just as Joshua was about to
leave, Sarah Sweet stumbled out of the parlour, shaking and crying.
Both the men in her life were dead. Her ticket from rags to riches
was gone. “Now what do I do? Where's Eddy? Can Eddy bring me
home?”

“Who is Eddy?” Joshua asked
Zooey.

Zooey shook her head, confused.
“Another one of your father's men maybe?”

Joshua sighed heavily before
asking one the deputies to scout the grounds, just in case one of
the men had escaped.

“What about Sarah?” Zooey
asked.

“Sarah has to start taking care
of herself. Anyway, she’s not my concern right now, you are. Let's
get out of here.”

As Zooey and Joshua walked out
into the emerging dawn, a pair of unseen eyes were watching from a
distance.

A rugged, suntanned face broke
out into a pearly, white grin. “Jack Duncan's hold on the county is
not over yet Sheriff. In fact, it's only just begun.”

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