Relentless Read Online Free Page A

us—”
    For the next day and a half, Frank stayed hard on the outlaws’ trail. The loneliness of the hunt didn’t bother him. He was used to being alone. He’d been on his own since he’d run away from home when he was twelve to escape his drunken, abusive father. His mother had run off the year before.
    Frank concentrated on the job he had to do. It was important to stop the killers before anyone else was hurt. He was thankful that there had been no rain. The terrain was harsh and rugged, and a storm would have washed out the trail. He was cautious as he started up a narrow pathway along a steep dropoff, but even as alert as he was, Frank wasn’t prepared for the ambush.
    Les had set his trap perfectly.
    He and Ugly Joe were waiting, hidden among the rocks up ahead, as the man who’d been trailing them came into view.
    “I told you it was the Rangers tracking us,” Les whispered to Ugly Joe as he made out the Ranger badge the lawman was wearing.
    They both smiled evilly as they opened fire.
    They saw the Ranger go for his gun, but they were too good. They watched in satisfaction as he was hit. His horse reared, throwing him off the side of the roadway. As the horse ran off, Les and Ugly Joe waited to make sure there were no other Rangers following behind. When they were certain that the man they’d shot had been tracking them alone, they hurried down to check on him.
    “Nice shooting,” Les told Ugly Joe as they looked over the edge. They could see the man, lying among the rocks about halfway down the rocky hillside.
    “You want me to climb down there and make sure he ain’t gonna give us any more trouble?”
    “From the looks of him, he ain’t going to be giving anybody any more trouble. Let’s ride.”
    The two killers holstered their guns and went to where they’d left their horses. They mounted up and rode on. They were both feeling real good about the outcome of the ambush.
    It was late, almost sundown, when Frank regained consciousness. He lay unmoving, staring around himself, completely at a loss. He couldn’t remember anything—where he was or what he was doing there or even his own name—
    The shock of his last realization jarred him deeply. He panicked and tried to sit up, only to groan in abject misery at his first attempt to move.Pain radiated through him. His head was throbbing and his side ached. He’d had broken ribs before, and he recognized the agony of it. He lay still and shut his eyes again for a moment, trying to calm himself.
    He opened his eyes and studied the jagged rocks and the steep hillside. He tried to be logical, but it wasn’t easy. He felt a sudden need to take cover, to find a place out of sight and hide, but he didn’t understand why. There was no one else around.
    He was alone.
    He saw no sign of his horse—if he’d even had a horse—Right then, he couldn’t remember.
    Frank lifted one hand to his forehead and found blood there. Ever so slowly, he levered himself onto one elbow and finally managed to sit up. Waves of dizziness left him even more disoriented as he managed to get to his feet. He stood there, lost and confused and weak. He knew there was no hope he could climb back up the hill, so he staggered down the slope, looking for anything that would help trigger his memory so he could piece together what had happened. He hadn’t gone far when he lost his balance and fell again. He collapsed and lay still.
    “Look!” young Andy Miller shouted to his sister when he caught sight of the man on the ground. “I told you I heard gunshots. There was trouble up here!”
    Sarah saw the injured man who lay unmoving among the rocks.
    “Come on,” Sarah said, wheeling her horse around so they could find a way to reach him.
    “What if he’s an outlaw or something?” Andy worried.
    “I guess we’ll find out,” she replied grimly as they rode into the rugged area.
    Sarah dismounted and ran to kneel beside the man. She could see a lot of blood on his head and