Can of Worms

By M.L. Bushman

I tapped my saddle horn, "If. He. Survives. Said yourself he couldn't put food on a table."
The look he give me, without a word, had me sucking serious air.
"And you think you could do that. Pull the trigger on your own kid."
Tom got nasty. "What about my other kids? You and yours. Never mind whoever One sends our way to help. Lot of lives versus just one."
Color me skeptic. "But you think you could do that."
"You couldn't?"
I grinned cold. "Ain't talking about me now, are we."
He knows I'd do it, flesh and blood be damned. I intend to live until I die and everyone who knows me, knows this.
"Have to do it," Tom said, more to himself. "Too much at stake here."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jigsaw Press
• Release date: Jan 11, 2016
• ISBN: 9781934340110

M.L. Bushman

A single mom, Ms. Bushman divides her time between her child, her horse, three cats and writing/editing for Jigsaw Press, not necessarily in that order. She is a novelist, a former newspaper reporter, a blogger, and a rabid patriot, again, not necessarily in that order. At present, Ms. Bushman is working on the Two Bit Western series Eli Stone. She and her small herd make their home just outside the tiny historical town of Sun River, Montana.

Book preview

Two-Bit Westerns presents...

Eli Stone #9

Can of Worms

By

M.L. Bushman

Can of Worms© copyright 2016 by M.L. Bushman

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted by any means—including, but not limited to, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, audio or video—without express written consent by the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and/or used fictitiously. Any similarities to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is purely coincidental.

ISBN: 9781934340110

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Hate waiting like prey. Never was a good victim, no matter how you slice that loaf.

Heading those five heifers and two yearling bulls to home on a cold, red sunrise, Tom Numbers was awful damn quiet, his thinking face on.

Until he said, You heard One Who Knows, Eli. Jeremiah's going to Talionis.

"That old Sioux said eventually, Tom. If the boy survives, whatever the fuck that means."

He'll run his mouth wherever he goes.

I tapped my saddle horn, If. He. Survives. Said yourself he couldn't put food on a table.

The look he give me, without a word, had me sucking serious air.

And you think you could do that. Pull the trigger on your own kid.

Tom got nasty. What about my other kids? You and yours. Never mind whoever One sends our way to help. Lot of lives versus just one.

Color me skeptic. But you think you could do that.

You couldn't?

I grinned cold. Ain't talking about me now, are we.

He knows I'd do it, flesh and blood be damned. I intend to live until I die and everyone who knows me, knows this.

Have to do it, Tom said, more to himself. Too much at stake here. Another breath, and on the exhale, God, they'll say I hate the boy, but I don't.

Who's they? I said, but he don't hear me now.

That sonofabitch Talionis, he'll want it all--the energy, food, ammo, our lives.

Gotta know where it is first.

He'll come for it. Oh, he will, that sonofabitch. Once he knows where, he'll be hot on the road.

Fucking army with him, too.

That turned his head. Won't come alone, that's for sure. He's a pussy like his daddy, too damn good at getting others to do the dirty work.

Like his daddy used his son--.

His son won't hesitate to use mine against us. Tom side-eyed me. If we let him.

"What's this we shit?"

Disappointment flashed. There and gone. Any fool knows he was hoping.

You still ain't answered the question, I said. You think you could do this.

He's threatening you, too, you know. Sarah and Dave--.

All right. But what if it's just a test?

Tom perked up a mite. You mean biblical? Like Abraham and Isaac?

No, the emergency broadcasting system, moron,