Infernal

By Trey Dowell

1888—New Mexico Territory

Father William Clarke knows his share of desperate men. A priest in a dangerous border town, Clarke’s business is to minister to anyone who’ll listen: liars, beggars, thieves…even killers. But when Father Clarke walks through the door of the Hard Case Saloon one night, he encounters something new—a ragged, filthy stranger who insists he has no soul for Clarke to save.

The priest scoffs at first, convinced the man’s proclamations are nothing more than the ravings of a lunatic. As the stranger tells his story, though, Clarke begins to fear his new acquaintance is anything but crazy. Doyle Paver carries a secret, one powerful enough to threaten Father Clarke’s beliefs, his sanity…even his life.

And like it or not, Paver is ready to confess.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Untreed Reads
• Release date: Jun 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781611876949

Trey Dowell

Trey Dowell has been a finalist for the Derringer Award and the Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Award for his short stories. The Protectors is his first novel. Trey is a member of International Thriller Writers, and the St. Louis writers group, Writers Under the Arch.

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Infernal

By Trey Dowell

Copyright 2014 by Trey Dowell

Cover Copyright 2014 by Untreed Reads Publishing

Cover Design by Dara England

The author is hereby established as the sole holder of the copyright. Either the publisher (Untreed Reads) or author may enforce copyrights to the fullest extent.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher or author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. The characters, dialogue and events in this book are wholly fictional, and any resemblance to companies and actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Also by Trey Dowell and Untreed Reads Publishing

Ballistic

Nightlight

Poseidon

The God of Speed

http://www.untreedreads.com

Infernal

Trey Dowell

On the best day of Father William Clarke’s life, fourteen people died.

He had no hand in the killing, nor did he wish ill of the dead—such foul notions unbefitting a man of the cloth—but Clarke was a witness nonetheless. Not to say that the priest and death were wholly unacquainted; a violent end in a border town in the New Mexico Territory was common enough. The day in question, though—the day Father Clarke sat across from a stranger to talk about God—was anything but common.

Much like the stranger.

Alone and sullen, the ragged man huddled over a table in the back corner of Lenny Wuggle’s Hard Case Saloon. A bottle of rye, half-empty, stood watch an arm’s length away. When the priest dragged himself through the swinging doors at sundown, neither man took much notice of the other. Light had difficulty penetrating the murky pane-glass windows at noon, let alone twilight, so the sun’s dying rays did little to illuminate anything in the Hard Case ten feet beyond the door.

Lenny called Evenin’ Padre, from behind the bar as Clarke found a hook for his bowler and fixed his Roman clergy collar in place. The priest brushed dust from the shoulders of his black coat and shuffled toward the welcoming voice.

Evening, Lenny. How’s Larissa and the children?

Oh, just fine, thanks for askin’.

The priest suspected Larissa could lose an