Slocum 420 Read Online Free Page B

what?”
    â€œFor what you took from me. You stole what was rightfully mine, so I take from you.”
    The intruder let Slocum go and stepped back. When his hands dropped to his sides, Eliza noticed the gun strapped around his waist. The weapon remained holstered for the time being, but the stranger’s hand hung less than an inch above it like a specter of doom.
    â€œIf you had a problem with me,” the stranger said, “why didn’t you come and face me like a man?”
    Slocum used the back of one sleeve to wipe some of the blood from his face. Wincing as he bumped his crooked nose, he replied, “You stole from me like some snake in the grass, which is how I treated you. Ain’t no reason to treat a snake like a man. Just look at you now! Busting in here to hit me when I wasn’t looking!”
    â€œAfter what you pulled, you should have been looking over your shoulder every second. But you’re too stupid for that, which is why you got caught with your pants down.” Looking over at the bed, the stranger added, “Or, I should say,
almost
got caught with your pants down. Hope you enjoyed yourself with my money because the party ends right now.”
    Slocum licked his lips and spat blood. “That’s where you’re wrong, John. The party’s just getting started!” With that, he raised his fists and lashed out with a vicious right cross that had more than enough steam behind it to take a man’s head off. Instead, the stranger leaned back to let the fist pass in front of him before leaning right back in again to snap a jab into the middle of Slocum’s bloody face.
    The next several punches from Slocum were thrown in an angry flurry. Each one was delivered with more power than the one before it, but each one was farther off its mark than its predecessor. In fact, the stranger was cracking a smile as he bobbed his head to avoid one swing after the next. When Slocum tried to knock that smile from his face, the stranger ducked beneath the punch and drove his knuckles deep into Slocum’s gut.
    Wheezing to try and draw his next breath, Slocum shoved the stranger back to create some distance between them. “You . . . still owe me!”
    â€œYou’re damn right I do,” the stranger replied before surging forward to drive his shoulder into Slocum’s chest. Slocum was taken off his balance while backpedaling into a small table bearing an oil lamp on its polished surface. The lamp fell to the floor, shattered, and created a small pool of fire as the wick ignited the spilled oil.
    Even though it pained him to stand up straight and laugh, Slocum did just that. “Guess who’s gonna pay for this, John? The fella registered to this room!”
    The stranger wasn’t shaken in the slightest by the flames that grew to cast flickering shadows on the walls. He placed one foot down behind Slocum’s heels and gave him one jarring shove. As he fell back, Slocum tripped over the other man’s foot. Having been shoved toward the little fire, Slocum’s back slammed against the burning wooden planks.
    â€œOw! Damn it all to hell!” he hollered as he leapt almost straight up off the floor and onto his feet.
    â€œStop your crying,” the stranger said as he grabbed Slocum once more by the front of his shirt. He picked him up a few inches from the floor and then slammed him down again. The stranger repeated that process a few more times, using Slocum’s back and flailing arms to stomp out the fire before it could spread. When the flames were extinguished, the stranger lifted Slocum a bit higher before letting him go.
    Slocum hit the floor hard and knocked the back of his head. “You’re a crazy son of a bitch!”
    â€œAnd you stole from me,” the stranger said. “How big of an idiot does that make you?”
    All this time, Eliza had been gathering her clothes and pulling them on. Now that she was