Alaska Steel (A Neal Fargo Adventure #3)
Page 13
Jane shook her head. “Fargo, I didn’t know. I thought I could handle him, just tease him—”
“Handle him!” Fargo roared. “For God’s sake, what did you think he was, a damned actor of some kind? Did you think this whole thing was a movie set? Those men out there, you think they’re gonna get up and walk away when the director hollers cut? Why, you—” he raised a big hand, stalked around the table. Then he halted. “I don’t blame Dolan for not wanting you,” he snapped. He picked up the bottle, drank once again. “I don’t blame him for paying you a quarter of a million so he can be free to marry Belle. It’d be cheap at twice the price. You coming up here hoping to find him dead so you could have his estate. Then, when he saves you, when you find out he’s a real man with steel in him, you cozy up to him and expect him to—” Fargo spat in disgust. “Hell,” he said and drank once more.
Jane drew in a breath that made her breasts swell under the bodice of her dress. She had bathed, combed her hair, put on make-up; and she was very lovely. Until a few minutes ago, she had been very confident, too. What had brought on Fargo’s towering rage was her statement: “It’s all right. Let her fuss around him. When I get ready, I can take him back—if I want him; and she can’t stop me.” .
And that had been the last straw. Fargo had been trying to unwind after the grueling ordeal of the morning. Instead, he had blown up, so full of disgust he could not contain it.
Now Jane’s dismay faded a little as she thought he was quieting down. She tilted her chin. “Well, you’ve got no cause to complain. You’ll get the rest of your thirty thousand on the dot. If we can start for Nome tomorrow—”
Fargo grinned. His voice was cold, edged, cruel. “But we’re not starting for Nome tomorrow.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “We’re through here.” She drew herself up. “All right, let the slut have Hal. I’ve done without him for four years, I can do without him for the rest of my life, even if he is a changed man. I’ve got commitments back in California. I know it will take a while to get there—” her voice faded as she saw Fargo’s wolfish grin widen. “So we’ve got to get started,” she finished weakly.
“No,” Fargo said.
“What do you mean, no?”
Fargo kept on grinning. He went to the door, opened it. Snow swirled outside, a cloud, a curtain, a howling blizzard that had descended almost as soon as the shooting had stopped. “That’s what I mean by no. It’s a long way from here to Nome, and the worst part of the winter. I’m not making a trek like that with a woman like you.”
Jane’s eyes flared. “But I’ve got to go ...”
“Yeah,” Fargo said. “Yeah. We go when the ice goes out and the Yukon Queen comes back.” His grin was totally evil now. “But meanwhile we winter here in Circle City.”
Her mouth dropped open. “The hell we will!” she snapped.
Fargo slammed the door against the wind. “The hell we won’t!” he said and turned. “You’ve cost a lot of good men’s lives with your foolishness. You’ve got a lot to learn about being a real woman, baby. And it’s going to be a long, cold winter and I’ll have plenty of time to teach you.”
They stared at each other for a moment. Then Jane’s face paled and she began to back away. “No,” she whispered.
“Yes,” said Fargo inexorably, and he advanced on her with big hand raised, his eyes like an animal’s. Then he lunged for her. The sound of the howling wind muffled her screams for a while. Presently, the sounds she was making were no longer screams. They were only hoarse, indrawn breaths of sheer ecstasy.
It was a long time before she spoke actual words.
“I hope,” she whispered, “the damned winter never ends … ”
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The FARGO series
By John Benteen
Fargo lives with a gun in his fist. Guns and killing are all he knows. And Fargo likes what he knows. Want to start a revolution? Want to stop one? Send for Fargo. Want to blow a bridge, stage a prison break, rob a bank? Fargo's your man. The Army taught Fargo how to kill with pistol, rifle, machine gun. He became an expert with knives, shotguns and women on his own time. Fargo hates the quiet life. He knows he's going to get it sooner or later. He hopes it won't be too much later because he wouldn't know how to be old and comfortable. So while he lasts, Fargo plans to grab the world by the throat and take what he wants. If the world doesn't like that, it can try to stop him ... if it can.
FARGO 1: FARGO
FARGO 2: PANAMA GOLD