The Talking Stick

By Robert O' Hanlin

When Loughlin O’Neil came across the accident he didn’t know who the girl in the car was but she interested him and that interest dragged him into a web of violence and intrigue. She was on the run and he soon found himself running with her. They had to clear their names, but being in custody would not give them that chance.

She thought he was abducting her and he knew that someone was trying to kill her. His heart went out to her in her plight and instead of turning her in to the police, he decided to protect her. It took a while but they soon found out that they were in the same situation and it was a situation that he had to figure out.

The fact that she was a tall redheaded beauty was part of it, but her innocent fear was what drew him to take her under his wing. He was living with his own problems and could barely spare the time for her, but when he looked at her he knew there was no way he was going to abandon her.

Men were trying to kill her and while they ran they didn’t know why...until a picture on her phone opened up a whole can of worms. How could a man who was supposed to be dead turn up in a picture on her phone?

People were killed and they were the first suspects that the police wanted to talk to, but he knew he couldn’t be taken into custody without putting her life in danger. The police were tracking them and the killers were tracing them and all they to rely on was each other and his ability to stay hidden in the mountains.

Hiding in the mountains was not going to clear their names so he had another plan, a plan that involved finding a man who was long dead. They both had problems, she was running from the past and he was running from the present and that drew them together in an intense love, but would they live long enough see anything come of it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert O' Hanlin
• Release date: May 31, 2017
• ISBN: 9780995896321

Robert O' Hanlin

I was born in Canada but spend much of my time roaming the Sonora Desert of Arizona, which is truly a place to inspire a writer.I write in the Western genre inspired by the great Western writer Louis L'Amour. My stories are fiction with a mixture of real history and I hope you enjoy reading them.

Book preview

THE TALKING STICK

By Robert O'Hanlin

SMASHWORDS EDITION

PUBLISHED BY

Robert O'Hanlin on Smashwords

The Talking stick

Copyright 2017 by Robert O'Hanlin

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Please share it with your friends and family through the source you downloaded it. Please remember that all rights are reserved, and no part of this eBook may be copied or reproduced by any means electronic or mechanical or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critic’s articles or reviews. Your respect for the author is appreciated.

This is a fictional book and any resemblance of the characters to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Books by Robert O’Hanlin

The Outlaw Series

The Montana Outlaws

The Alberta Outlaw

Last of the Outlaws

Others

Windfall

O'Bannions Return

Justice in Lonesome Valley

The Cougar Man

Branded a Coward

Once a Gambler

Put the Gun Down

Bucking the Odds

The White Lion of the Mountains

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

The Talking Stick

Chapter 1

The road wound its way through the mountains with long sweeping curves and switchbacks. The hot sun beat down on the tall young man’s back while he rode. The air was cool, but exhilarating, as it whistled past his helmet visor. His concentration was on the road and the car in front of him as he whistled around the sweeping curves.

His mind had to fully focus on the road while watching every turn for sand or debris that could affect his cornering, it was roads like this, requiring his complete attention, that kept him from thinking about the accident.

He had been slowly gaining on the car and as he leaned into the next sharp curve he was calculating that he would overtake it at the next straightaway. He knew every turn in the road and he was gauging the line he would take in the upcoming turn.

Motorcycles were controlled by the body, not the handlebars, it was a partnership between rider and machine, and these mountain roads with their combination of curves and switchbacks required that partnership to work smoothly, but as he leaned into the turn something was happening…he started to wobble.

He didn’t know what it was but it felt like a tire was going down, and he knew that a blown tire usually led to a crash. The big touring bike was leaning to its limit and the pegs were dragging on the pavement leaving a shower of sparks in their wake, it was the way he liked to ride, always pushing the edge of his ability.

Braking or changing speed in a turn when he was already committed would be a dangerous move, so he had to fight as hard as he could to keep the bike under control. Then as quickly as the wobble started it stopped. When he straightened up coming out of the turn and saw rocks falling on the roadway up ahead and realized that it was not his fault or the fault of his bike…it was an earthquake.

Living in California he was used to earthquakes, he had experienced them before but never with such nerve-wracking results. He managed to keep the bike on the road, but now things were happening fast.

The car in front of him had locked its brakes up and slid into a huge rock that had fallen on the roadway and he skidded to a stop beside it. It could have been a lot worse, but it did get his heart pumping. As he took his helmet off and looked at the car he saw that the young woman sitting among the inflated airbags was holding her cell phone.

She was trying to make an emergency call, but he knew that this area in the mountains was a dead zone for cell phone service, so his training kicked in and he quickly looked through the window and checked the rest of the car for passengers, but she was alone.

When he noticed some smoke or steam coming out of the front of the car he was worried about the possibility of fire so he pulled open the door, reached across the girl, and unbuckled her seat belt. The scent of her hair and perfume whiffed across him as he leaned in and he breathed the luscious luring odor in deeply.

He leaned back out and put his hand on her shoulder, but she just looked at him with a surprised shocked look on her face. He had seen this confused reaction before with people who had been in an accident, so he took her by the arm and gently eased her out.

As she stood beside the car staring at the phone in her hand he looked her over closely, checking for any obvious cuts or injuries. It was an easy thing to do because the pair of Daisy Duke Shorts she was wearing showed off her long slender legs, while her three-quarter shirt tied in the front showed most of her midriff.

She was just a few inches short of his six foot two with dark hair that fell on her shoulders highlighted her face and as he quickly scanned her from top to bottom he couldn’t help noticing how pretty she was. When it appeared that, aside from being confused and shocked, she was unharmed he now wondered what he was going to do with her.

They were on a lesser-used pass through the Sierras on a remote route that was mostly used by locals, and there weren’t many of them, so the traffic was light. As he watched her, she began to shiver and he knew that the effect of the accident was probably finally setting in on her causing this shock reaction. On the other hand, they were in the mountains where it was cool and he thought that by the way she was dressed she might just be cold.

He knew that because of the lack of cell phone service up in this part of the Sierras he would have to either take her back out on his bike or wait for another car to arrive. Taking her out would be the easiest, but waiting with her for help to come would be painful for him. He was just moving toward her car to get her a jacket he had seen in the back seat when he heard something coming.

Looking back down the road he saw a car coming around the turn and he was glad that the decision was being made for him. He felt a little sorry that he wasn’t going to get a chance to help her, but he knew that this was the best way, he really didn’t want to get involved with someone else’s troubles.

As the big black sedan drew closer his relief turned into panic when someone began shooting from the windows on both sides of the car. He picked the girl up and threw her on the back of his bike and he jumped on speeding off as the bullets were hitting all around them.

He was not sure what was ahead of him, but he knew what was behind him. There looked like enough room to get his bike between the huge rock now blocking the roadway and the guardrail so he sped toward the narrow opening hoping there was nothing else blocking the road ahead.

He squeezed through scraping the guardrail as he went until they were behind the big rock which hid them from the shooters while he picked his way through the rest of the debris on the road. He weaved his way back and forth around the rocks and dirt from the small landslide for a couple of hundred feet until they were back on a clear highway.

He was trying to get his mind around what had just happened. He had been shot at before, but never like this in his own country. He was sure it was not a random shooting because they started shooting as soon as they came into sight, so this girl must be in some kind of deep trouble to have someone wanting to kill her. He made his mind up that he would report her to the authorities and let them sort it out, and he knew where he could make the call.

She was sitting on the back of the bike wondering how she could get away from the man who had just abducted her. She was sure he must be a dangerous person if someone was chasing him and shooting at him. She assumed it must be the police and he was probably on the run from them, but before she could get her thoughts together he pulled off the road and stopped in front of a building.

She was glad to see the sign ‘Toby’s Place’ as he took her hand and pulled her off the bike, she was hoping she could get some help in here. He led her through the front door and pushed her rather roughly into a seat at a booth and sat down opposite her without saying anything.

He was not very happy with her, she had almost gotten him killed, but as he looked into her frightened eyes his anger subsided. He was trained to handle situations like this, and one of the most important things he learned in that training was not to let his emotions take control of any situation.

She moved her eyes away from his stare and looked around hoping to find someone she could turn to for help but the only other person she could see in the place was the waitress. She had hoped that the place would be full of people who she could call on for help. As she looked around helplessly the waitress came over and held her hand out to the man across from her, and when he reached for her hand his jacket opened enough for her to see the shoulder holster and gun under his left arm.

She knew that it would be useless trying to get help when there were only the two of them against him and his gun so she didn’t say anything. The waitress looked a bit surprised when she glanced across at her and she was sure that she recognized her, but instead of saying anything she smiled and turned back to the man who was still holding her hand.

Hi Lockie, what can I get you?

He looked back at the girl across from him, but she didn’t speak.

We’ll just have some coffee Sue.

As she let go of his hand and walked away he looked across at the girl again, wondering how a pretty girl like this could screw up her life so badly that someone would want to kill her. As she sat across from him still trembling he looked into her beautiful deep green eyes seeing her fearful search for some way to escape.

He was about to give her the card he carried, but instead, he reached over to place his hand on top of hers and just sat there like that for a moment, then he spoke.

Just breathe deeply and relax, everything will be okay.

She just sat there with her mind racing, how was she going to get out of this? This is not what she expected to happen when she went on the run. Her thoughts were interrupted when the waitress brought the coffee, and after she put it down in front of them the man reached out to take her hand again.

Thanks Sue, I gotta use your phone in a minute, will that be okay?

She smiled again, trying not to stare at the frightened girl.

Sure Lockie, anytime I’ll be right over here.

When she went back behind the counter Lockie turned back to the girl again, watching her closely as she picked up her coffee. Her hands were shaking so much that she had to hold the cup in both hands to keep it from spilling. While she gingerly took a sip he studied her more carefully and he could see the real fear in her eyes. She didn’t look like someone who should be in this kind of trouble, but he had learned that you could never tell everything about people by their looks.

They finished their coffee while he sat there watching her as she looked around the room, he could read her eyes…she was looking for a way out, and for a moment he considered letting her go. It was a brief thought because he knew he would have to report the accident at the landslide and the men shooting at her. Then he would be free of her while they sorted it all out.

Sue came back to refill their cups and he watched her again as she slowly drank it. She looked so helpless that he almost regretted it, but he subconsciously reminded himself