Ralph Compton - The Ghost of Apache Creek

“I don’t care how you go about making your living, Dennard,” said Danielle, “but I saw what you were about to do.” She looked away from Dennard to Tim and Jed, getting their approval from the look in their eyes. “My brothers and I won’t be having you ride with us, will we, Tim, Jed?”

The twins only shook their heads, lowering their pistols into their holsters. Danielle stepped past Clyde Branson’s body, over to the front edge of the roof, where she looked down at the gathering crowd on the dirt street below. “Somebody go get the town sheriff,” she called down to the uplifted faces. “Tell him there’s a man shot.”

The people on the street looked back and forth at one another, then a young man turned and raced away toward the sheriff’s office, where a light now glowed through the window.

“You’re making a mistake not riding with me, Duggin,” said Dennard, as Danielle turned back around. “Ask your brothers here. Branson said the price on your head is open to all takers. Do you realize how many cold-blooded killers there are between here and the border? You’ll never make it past Dodge City.”

“I already know there’s a lot of cold-blooded killers out here,” replied Danielle. “But at least none of them will be riding beside me.” She turned to her brothers. “Come on, Tim, Jed—we’ve got to make some plans and get out of here.”

As the three turned to walk away across the tin roof, Bob Dennard called out, “All right then, play it your way, Duggin. But I’m going after the reward on Saul Delmano and anybody with him, with or without you!”

“It’s a free country,” Danielle called back over her shoulder.

“Damn right it is!” Bob Dennard called out. “We get out there in the thick of things, I’m warning all three of you . . . stay out of my way!”

At the threat in Dennard’s words, Tim Strange started to turn from the ladder and issue some warnings of his own. But Danielle grabbed his arm, stopping him.

“Let it go, Tim,” she said. “Dennard just showed you what kind of man he is. Let him rave and threaten and curse all he wants to. We’ve got work to do.”

GRITTY WESTERN ACTION FROM

USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

RALPH COTTON

NIGHTFALL AT LITTLE ACES

AMBUSH AT SHADOW VALLEY

RIDE TO HELL’S GATE

GUNMEN OF THE DESERT SANDS

SHOWDOWN AT HOLE-IN-THE-WALL

RIDERS FROM LONG PINES

CROSSING FIRE RIVER

ESCAPE FROM FIRE RIVER

GUN COUNTRY

FIGHTING MEN

HANGING IN WILD WIND

BLACK VALLEY RIDERS

JUSTICE

CITY OF BAD MEN

GUN LAW

SUMMERS’ HORSES

JACKPOT RIDGE

LAWMAN FROM NOGALES

Available wherever books are sold or at penguin.com

S909

“A writer in the tradition of Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey!”

—Huntsville Times

National Bestselling Author

RALPH COMPTON

THE DAWN OF FURY

BULLET CREEK

DEADWOOD GULCH

A WOLF IN THE FOLD

TRAIL TO COTTONWOOD FALLS

BLUFF CITY

THE BLOODY TRAIL

SHADOW OF THE GUN

DEATH OF A BAD MAN

RIDE THE HARD TRAIL

BLOOD ON THE GALLOWS

BULLET FOR A BAD MAN

THE CONVICT TRAIL

RAWHIDE FLAT

OUTLAW’S RECKONING

THE BORDER EMPIRE

THE MAN FROM NOWHERE

SIXGUNS AND DOUBLE EAGLES

BOUNTY HUNTER

FATAL JUSTICE

STRYKER’S REVENGE

DEATH OF A HANGMAN

NORTH TO THE SALT FORK

DEATH RIDES A CHESTNUT MARE

RUSTED TIN

THE BURNING RANGE

WHISKEY RIVER

THE LAST MANHUNT

THE AMARILLO TRAIL

SKELETON LODE

STRANGER FROM ABILENE

Available wherever books are sold or at penguin.com

S543

No other series packs this much heat!

THE TRAILSMAN

#340: HANNIBAL RISING

#341: SIERRA SIX-GUNS

#342: ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVENGE

#343: TEXAS HELLIONS

#344: SIX-GUN GALLOWS

#345: SOUTH PASS SNAKE PIT

#346: ARKANSAS AMBUSH

#347: DAKOTA DEATH TRAP

#348: BACKWOODS BRAWL

#349: NEW MEXICO GUN-DOWN

#350: HIGH COUNTRY HORROR

#351: TERROR TOWN

# 352: TEXAS TANGLE

#353: BITTERROOT BULLETS

#354: NEVADA NIGHT RIDERS

#355: TEXAS GUNRUNNERS

#356: GRIZZLY FURY

#357: STAGECOACH SIDEWINDERS

#358: SIX-GUN VENDETTA

#359: PLATTE RIVER GAUNTLET

Follow the trail of Penguin’s Action Westerns at penguin.com/actionwesterns

SIGNET

Published by New American Library, a division of

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014, USA

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,

Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2,

Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124,

Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park,

New Delhi - 110 017, India

Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632,

New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue,

Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:

80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, November 2011

Copyright © The Estate of Ralph Compton, 2011

ISBN : 978-1-101-54556-0

Excerpt from Slaughter Canyon copyright © The Estate of Ralph Compton, 2012

Excerpt from Riders of Judgment copyright © The Estate of Ralph Compton, 2001

All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.