Read Adios Angel for Free Online Page B

lot. 
    Josh Diamond’s dogs were tugging hard against their
restraints as they stuck their noses near the old coal chute.  He waived them
away from the opening.
    “My dogs are onto something, Zeb.  Let’s get in there
and have a look.”
    Sheriff Hanks was the first of his team on the scene,
or so he thought.  He stuck his head through the old coal chute opening.  Josh,
his dogs settled ten feet back, joined Zeb at the opening.  A ray from a
flashlight jerked across the cement floor in tandem with the stride of an intruder. 
The sheriff took his weapon from his holster and drew it up by the opening.  He
looked again as the flashlight beam appeared with a body coming around the
corner.  He lifted his gun and found Delbert in the crosshairs.  “Shit.” 
Delbert was in the boiler room.  Had he forgotten to tell Delbert to wait
outside the boiler room door?  He distinctly remembered otherwise.  Zeb began
to shout, “Del...” at precisely the moment Delbert looked toward the coal chute
window.  Delbert could not have heard the sheriff’s voice over the explosion.
    “No,” cried Sheriff Hanks.  His plea was in vain.  In
what seemed like an eternity a brick flew through the air, destined for
Delbert’s skull. Another brick flew through the air striking Josh in the ribs
and wrist.  Josh’s position protected Zeb who caught only a smattering of loose
mortar across the face.  Kate, approaching the scene, ducked just as a brick
flew within inches of her head.  Broken bits of brick and mortar struck her
face.  Her only injury was a tiny cut over her right eye.
    The explosion and its immediate effects happened in
slow motion and seemed more like a dream than reality.                                                        
     

CHAPTER SIX
     
    The sand-colored Toyota Camry had been easy to steal. 
The man had simply driven his pickup truck to the base of Mount Graham.  He had
hidden his truck in the dip of a small wash behind a large boulder.  From there
he had walked a mile or so along a low mountain trail to the parking lot used
by day hikers.  Just in case someone called in the car as stolen during the
short time he was going to be using it, he had quickly switched the license
plates for a stolen set.  If all went well, the hikers would not be back until
after his job was completed. 
    Using the same screwdriver he had used to change the
plates, he popped it into the ignition and was gone.  The whole operation had
taken only three minutes.  It was a seven minute drive back to town.  The clock
on the dashboard read 12:15 as he pulled onto the street in front of Diamond
Gun & Ammo.  His timing, so far, was impeccable.           
    He stopped a half block before the gun shop and parked
on the opposite side of the street.  This gave him a clear view of the gun
store and any movement inside.  No one could come or go without his immediate
awareness.  The tinted windows on the Camry were another reason he had chosen
it.  He opened a map and set it on his lap as cover in case someone should walk
by.  They would assume he was a tourist, probably checking directions.  Slouching
low, he pulled the brim of his baseball hat to the top of his sunglasses.  He
stuffed some Copenhagen chewing tobacco between his cheek and gums.  His
reconnaissance had paid off in spades.  He knew the movements and habits of
Josh Diamond, Proprietor, Diamond Guns and Ammo as well as anyone could have,
right down to the fact that he would be working alone today.  The inside layout
of the store and where specific guns were kept was etched into his brain. 
    In the next fifteen minutes, one lone truck passed by.
An old woman was driving, likely on her way to the grocery store three blocks
down the street.
    At 12:25 p.m. he sharpened his focus on the front door
of the gun shop. If things went as planned, the owner of the store and his two
dogs would soon be