Read Dead by Dawn for Free Online

up wrist strength over the years. He was able to power through and began making up for lost time.
    He was just finished up with five of the twenty cows when he saw a shadow fall across the door.
    “You know they got machines for that now.”
    Joe looked up to see Charlie Finnegan walking over with his hands in his pockets. The man was as white as a ghost. He was wearing the large black glasses he had gotten from the optometrists that did nothing to help his cause. He normally looked old, but now he looked ancient. Joe felt worried for him.
    “Now how the hell did you slip past Rose?” asked Joe.
    “You younger generations let your women push you around. It wasn't like that back in my day.”
    Joe stopped milking and looked at him.
    “She thinks I’m out back lying in the hammock.”
    Joe shook his head and laughed. “She’s gonna kill you when she finds out.”
    “Let’s hope she doesn’t.”
    Joe couldn’t believe the old man. His wife wasn’t someone to be crossed. If he got caught he would probably have to bring her flowers every day for the next year, that or risk her wrath.
    “You been to the doctor yet?” Joe asked.
    “Ah, I don’t need to spend the better part of a fortune to have an over-educated kid tell me I have a cold.”
    “You make a fine point,” said Joe, turning back to the cow.
    “So what’s the deal with these coyotes Rose was telling me about? Your front yard looks like the shower from that movie, Psycho.”
    “Damn things killed my dog.”
    “Sorry to hear that. Beau was a good dog.”
    “Yea,” said Joe. “The strange thing is I didn’t even hear it when it happened.”
    “They must’ve got him quick then. That’s a good thing, he didn’t suffer.”
    “I suppose.”
    Charlie grabbed a bucket and pulled a stool up to one of the cows.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing? ”
    Charlie rubbed his hand against the cow’s side. “It’s torture letting these cows sit here without being milked. Just look in her eyes and you’ll see how much pain she's in.”
    “You’d think a man as sick as you would know when to rest, ” said Joe.
    “Sweating this thing out Joey, that’s the trick.”
    “Fine, but if you die and I’m the one who has to tell Rose, I’ll kill you,” said Joe.
    Charlie smiled. “You have yourself a deal.”
    Charlie went pretty slowly while Joe kept an eye on him the entire time. It took a little under a half hour to finish the rest of the cows. By the end of it, Charlie was breathing heavy.
    Joe had him sit on the porch while he fetched a couple glasses of ice water. Charlie sat there and rested his head against the railing. Sweat beaded across his forehead.
    “Laying down is starting to sound like a pretty good idea,” said Charlie after taking a sip of ice water.
    “I bet it does,” said Joe.
    “That sun is burning me. I didn’t know it was going to be so hot today.”
    “It isn’t,” said Joe. “It’s only seventy. You should probably have Rose check your temperature when you get back.”
    “Yea that’s probably a good idea.” He sounded drained.
    “You need me to give you a lift?” Asked Joe, eyeing his red GMC truck.
    “Nah, I’ll just rest here a minute. I should be fine.”
    Joe eyed the old man as he moved further onto the porch and into the shade. He moved like a man that belonged in a hospital. When he was sure he wasn’t about to die, Joe grabbed the hose and began spraying down all the gore on his front lawn.
    The blood mixed with the water, fading to a light pink. It ran in pools and mixed with the scent of the grass. Joe did his best to get all of it that was in the yard. He held his thumb over the nozzle to get the spray far enough to reach the edge of the corn.
    It wouldn’t make up for the death of his dog, but at least he wouldn’t have to stare at the constant red reminder anymore.
    He had a good portion of it sprayed when he spotted a police cruiser coming up the driveway. It was a newer model; one of