Page 60 of New Storm Rising
“You…! Do you want to be arrested for obstruction of justice?”
“That’s not the important question,” the voice of Mr Rikkard Ambrose suddenly came from right beside him. The sheriff’s face stiffened, which meant he had probably realized what the hard, cold thing pressing into his side was. A little hint: it wasn’t the hard thing my dear husband used on me. “The important question is: do you wish to try and arrest someone while unlawfully on someone else’s property, unarmed?”
The colour drained from Gallagher’s face. But then he glanced back, and seemed to take courage at the sight of the mob.
“Don’t get cocky, you son of bitch! I still got my men!”
“Ah yes, you do indeed.” Raising his hand, Mr Ambrose snapped his finger, and on a ledge up above, dozens of figures armed with rifles appeared, surrounding the pitchfork mob. “You were saying?”
“You! Lower those guns at once, or I’ll—”
His words were cut in half the instant Mr Ambrose’s hand grabbed him around the throat.
“There are a few things you should know about me,” Mr Rikkard Ambrose said, his voice as soft as it was cold. “First. I am always prepared for anything. Second. To me, that scrap of tin on your chest isn’t worth a single penny. Last. Nevereverthreaten me or mine.”
Whirling the lawman around, he shoved him towards the crowd of frozen thugs. “Now…what are you going to do next?”
The sheriff’s gaze flicked between Mr Rikkard Ambrose and the shadowy figures armed with rifles high above.
“I…” He swallowed. “I have decided that, for the moment, there is nothing to find here. We will return to the sheriff’s office.”
Mr Ambrose nodded. “Adequate choice. You know where the exit is.”
“I do.” The lawman’s eyes narrowed. “And I also know where your house is. Remember tha—”
Bam!
Stone dust floated down from the hole in the wall that had suddenly appeared beside the sheriff’s head.
“I said,” Mr Ambrose repeated, the hand that held the revolver perfectly still and steady, “Do. Not. Threaten. Me. Or. Mine.”
The man trembled—then whirled around and rushed away, back up the tunnel. It wasn’t long before Karim, Mr Ambrose and I were the only ones left down here. Except for the lovely gentlemen in the gallery, of course.
“So…” Glancing up at the shadowy figures above, I stepped towards Mr Ambrose. “These people have been around how long exactly?”
Reaching out, he captured my chin in one hand while the other slid down my side, coming to rest on my stomach. “What? Did you think I would leave you unprotected?”
One corner of my mouth quirked up. “I can’t help but notice that the heavily armed guards only showed up when your goldmine needed protecting.”
“The mob was easier to surround and cow inside the tunnel. Pure strategy.”
“I’m sure.”
Right then, I realized something.
“But, wait a minute…didn’t you say this mine goes all the way to the mountains? What’s this, then?”
I gestured towards the massive wall of rocks that barred the way, with the scarecrows piled in front of it.
His eyes flashed in the darkness, challenging me. “Think for a moment, Mrs Ambrose. Really think.”
Think? I frowned. What did he mean?
“You know me passably well by this point. Think about it. Am I the kind of man who would go out to buy a pile of scarecrows, merely to mock and enrage a petty and corrupt law enforcement officer?”
My frown deepened. No. No, he wouldn’t. In fact, that was exactly the opposite of what Mr Rikkard Ambrose would do. Everything he did had a purpose. Everything—
Whirling around, I stared at the pile of scarecrows. Scarecrows that almost completely covered the gravelly ground below.
