Keeper of the Books (Keeper of the Books, Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

go stiff.” He let out a loud cackle.  
    Levi wanted to hang him. He already knew what a hanging looked like. He had seen plenty of them. That didn’t mean he enjoyed them. He did enjoy the fact that justice had been served, but nobody liked to see a soul leave a body. Well, most people didn’t. Marston seemed giddy by the idea.
    “These boys are pretty dangerous,” Marston said. “We got enough ammunition to take them on?”
    “A fight is about more than bullets,” Levi said. He looked toward the sheriff briefly. “Sometimes it’s dynamite too.”
    “Dynamite?”
    Levi smiled and patted the side of his saddle. “Sometimes a loud explosion is enough to bring them out with their hands up. Sometimes it’s enough to blow them to smithereens if that’s what it takes.”
    “I ain’t never blowed up dynamite before,” the sheriff said.  
    Levi shook his head. It was time to change the subject before Marston got too excited about the idea of loud, decimating explosions. “You run an awfully poor town, Marston,” he said. “How do they pay you for your services?” It was an indirect way of asking who that little boy in the street was. Marston had mentioned something about his father owing him money.
    “I don’t git much pay from keepin’ the law,” Marston answered. His yellow and gray teeth showed as he grinned at Marston. “In fact, I git more money jus’ lettin’ things be.”
    Levi raised an eyebrow at this.
    “Particularly from the whores,” Marston continued. “I don’t know about where yer from, but prostitution ain’t legal round here. But, if they give me a cut of their profits, I agree to look the other way.”
    Levi wished he felt shocked. He wished that such information would spark such a rage in him that he would feel the need to write a letter to some high ranking official. But there would never be an investigation, much less a prosecution. The government didn’t care much about these little border towns. It would be a waste of time and money to look into the petty crimes of a small town in West Texas. Not to mention that this was one little town of many that operated in the same manner.  
    “So that boy you were slapping around,” Levi said. “What’s his story?”
    “I felt bad hittin’ the little tyke,” Marston said, though he was still smiling. “His daddy owes me money. He lost to me in a game of poker and bet more than he had. I agreed to give him time, but his time’s up. I told him his debts would be fergiven if his wife worked in the saloon.”
    “As a server?” Levi asked.  
    “I guess you could call it that,” Marston smirked. “She’s a mighty fine woman. She’d fetch me a good profit every night.”
    Levi’s jaw clenched tightly. He had to keep himself from reaching for his pistol. Marston was dirt. No he was lower than dirt. Why anyone would elect him as sheriff made no sense unless the elections were rigged. And the more Levi thought about it, the more he supposed that was the case. There probably weren’t even elections in that crummy town. Marston probably just claimed the office and the people accepted it out of ignorance or perhaps indifference.
    Levi’s stare was fixed straight ahead. The air was starting to feel a bit cooler as the sun continued on its downward path. For the next hour or so, Marston continued to talk, but Levi didn’t even give a grunt of acknowledgement. The badge on Marston’s vest obviously meant nothing to him. Levi even wondered if Marston might have killed the real sheriff and stole the badge from him.  
    He tried to shake away his thoughts when Amos finally declared that they would be at the meeting point soon. He told Levi that he was going to lead them in through the south along the dusty ridge so they could see the meeting point and remain out of sight. Marston was quick to point out that Amos might be leading them into a trap, fully within earshot of Amos. But Levi didn’t think so. Amos liked the idea of