Herne the Hunter 22 Read online

  Lucas stopped in front of him and their eyes met and held.

  ‘Daniels didn’t kill Bellour. His men didn’t either. He wanted the body out of the way to stop the law poking too close into his business. Maybe there’s still one or two of ’em he didn’t have in his pocket. But he didn’t kill him … not Connors either.’

  Lucas was staring at him hard, his breathing becoming loud and labored.

  ‘Whoever killed Connors did it out of jealousy. He was getting good looks from Cassie an’ I’d guess a whole lot more. Connors was looking after her in ways you weren’t exactly payin’ him for that didn’t go down well. Did it, Lucas?

  ‘As for Bellour, when you followed Cassie to his house and found out what was going on there wasn’t any way he was goin’ to get out alive.’

  He took a pace towards Lucas and only stopped when he could feel the warm, stuttering breath on his face.

  ‘You killed ’em for good reasons, maybe, the way you saw it. You killed ’em for Cassie’s sake an’ Bellour, anyway, had it comin’. After what I saw I’d likely have killed him myself. But whichever way you look at it, you killed ’em both.’

  Lucas froze for a moment and then swung his fist towards Herne’s face. Herne, waiting for the blow, swayed and blocked and at the same time his hand sped to the Colt .45 at his hip.

  Before Lucas could throw another punch the end of the barrel was resting tight against his chest, hard under the heart.

  The major stared in sorrow at the man who had served him so well for so many years. Cassie rocked backwards and forwards on her heels, her sobs growing as she realized her part in what had happened.

  Herne glanced across towards Veronica. If you open the door, you should find that policeman, Wallace, outside. He’ll take over from here.’

  She looked at him for a moment with something approaching admiration, then left the room.

  She didn’t speak to him again.

  The major did his best to persuade Herne to stay at the house for a spell longer but he’d seen all he wanted to of the city and knew that he wouldn’t breathe right until he was clear in open country once again.

  He did see her, a fleeting image when he turned at the end of the drive. A dark-haired figure in white at the bay window above the door, there for a moment and then gone, blocked from sight as the shutter was pulled across.

  When the image came back to him—as it sometimes would, nights alone in a rented bed or on hard ground under the moon—it was never real, but something he had seen in a painting, glimpsed in some strange restless dream. He knew that if he ever reached out and tried to touch it, his fingers would pass through cold air and the image would fade: and knowing that, he was glad.

  HERNE THE HUNTER 22: WILD BLOOD

  By John J. McLaglen

  First Published by Transworld Publishers in 1983

  Copyright © 1983, 2018 by John J. McLaglen

  First Smashwords Edition: February 2018

  Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

  Cover image © 2018 by Tony Masero

  This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book

  Series Editor: Mike Stotter

  Text © Piccadilly Publishing

  Published by Arrangement with the Author.

  About the Author

  John J. McLaglen is the pseudonym for the writing team of Laurence James and John Harvey.

  Laurence James began his writing career in 1974 when he published his first novel in the science-fiction series SIMON RACK: EARTH LIES SLEEPING. He worked in publishing for ten years off and on till about 1970, when he went to “New English Library and ran the editorial side of NEL for three years.” In addition, around 1974, James published the fantasy saga of Hells Angels in England & Wales in the early 1990s under the name Mick Norman.

  While the name of Laurence James is not synonymous with Westerns, those of John J. McLaglen, William M. James and James W. Marvin, to name but a few, are.

  John Harvey, a former English and drama school teacher began his contribution to the Herne the Hunter series with the second book, River of Blood. “In the Western,” says John, “I’m interested in finding a balance between the myth of the West (as it comes through American literature and film) and the historical reality. Increasingly, I’m concerned to attempt to make a stronger place for women in the Western, which is traditionally a refuge of masculinity and male fantasy.”

  The character of Jed Herne is like a blunt instrument moving through the West. He never achieves happiness, nor riches. Laurence James said, “There is no such thing as a happy western hero. Never. They can’t be. They’ve got to be men alone. They’ve got to be heroes.”

  Also by John J. McLaglen

  White Death

  River of Blood

  The Black Widow

  Shadow of the Vulture

  Apache Squaw

  Death in Gold

  Death Rites

  Cross-Draw

  Massacre!

  Vigilante!

  Silver Threads

  Sun Dance

  Billy the Kid

  Death School

  Till Death

  Geronimo

  The Hanging

  Dying Ways

  Bloodline

  Hearts of Gold

  Pony Express

  Wild Blood

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