Chaos and Gunfire

By John J. Law

They say a picture paints a thousand words. And what is a story if not another kind of picture? 
This is a bigger picture with more than a thousand words. 
A picture that is painted in chaos and gunfire. 
A picture that tells a tale of chaos, death, and investment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.C. Hulsey Books
• Release date: Dec 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223798859

Book preview

One: No Words

They say a picture paints a thousand words. And what is a story if not another kind of picture? This is a bigger picture with more than a thousand words. A picture that is painted in chaos and gunfire. A picture that tells a tale of chaos, death, and investment.

The bounty hunter arrived at the Haley inn. The inn was located a short distance from the town of Braddock. Braddock was a small town that had been steadily growing since its founder Bill Braddock had discovered gold in the nearby mountain. Since then, the town had attracted a steady flow of prospectors and fortune seekers.

Braddock’s friend Tim Haley had discovered some gold himself and used his earnings to put up a reasonably large and spacious inn, a stone’s throw from the town. Haley was happy for his friend’s success and he figured he could capitalize on the scene himself by putting up the inn. It was a smart move and he managed to get a steady flow of travelers with his establishment. The establishment was quite profitable, but Tim Haley never expected it would be the death of him. But then again, that’s always how it usually is with most well-laid plans and investments.

The bounty hunter stopped in front of the inn and calmly parked his horse beside an adjacent tree. Once the horse was securely tied, he walked towards the establishment. With each step, the bounty hunter took in his surroundings. It was night and there was a full moon that shone above him. The bounty hunter had made it a habit to enjoy the quiet and cool breeze of a night like this. It was a habit done during nights of calm when he wasn’t working like this. Such nights were not that frequent and this was definitely not one of those nights. All that being said, he couldn’t help but appreciate the full moon and her light. He heard a few crickets chirping and singing their night song. The air was also cool and very relaxing. All this would help the bounty hunter. The night would give him the cover he needed to do what had to be done.

Each step he took was silent. He made sure that he barely made a sound. It was a skill perfected by countless nights of stalking and hunting down men. Nights like this.

The bounty hunter circled around the inn through the back. Only a fool would rush into the inn from the front entrance. Taking a path like that and storming in all guns blazing would make a great dime novel scene, but it would be a fatal move in real life. Surely the outlaws would have placed several men at the front of the hotel to make sure no one had any ideas of coming in and being a hero. Scenes like that romanticized and turned many men into legends. But most of those legends were legends for a reason.