Cotton's Devil (9781101618523)

Praise for

COTTON'S WAR

“An old-fashioned, barn-burning, gut-wrenching Western story that moves at a gallop over dangerous territory. Phil Dunlap's sharp prose packs the punch of a Winchester rifle.”

—Johnny D. Boggs, four-time Spur Award–winning author

“A rip-roaring yarn that realizes the best traditions of the Western genre: strong, well-defined characters, the color of the West vivid and perfectly researched, and the writing entertaining and quick as a bronc set free to run wild. A surefire read for Western fiction fans.”

—Larry D. Sweazy, Spur Award–winning author

“There's nothing unusual about page-turning action in a paperback Western, and you'll find plenty of it in
Cotton's War
. What separates this novel from the pack is layer upon layer of intriguing subplots, parallel storylines and a cast of characters that diverges from the norm.”

—
Roundup Magazine

Praise for the novels of Phil Dunlap

“With a raft of well-drawn, even indelible, characters, the novel also offers a compellingly involved, quite plausible, and tightly woven plot.”

—
Booklist

“Dunlap uses his passion for history and the Old West to paint a realistic setting for his work…. For those who share his love affair with gamblers, scalawags, and claim-jumpers with gold fever, this fun novel will keep you guessing.”

—
The Indianapolis Star

“Phil Dunlap is a writer to fog the sage with! Flesh and blood characters, compelling plots, and cinematic action—Western writing doesn't get any better than this. I've become a big fan!”

—Peter Brandvold, author of
The Last Lawman

Berkley titles by Phil Dunlap

COTTON'S WAR

COTTON'S LAW

COTTON'S DEVIL

COTTON'S
DEVIL

A Sheriff Cotton Burke Western

Phil Dunlap

BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

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 Group 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

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 websites or their content.

COTTON'S DEVIL

A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with the author

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Berkley edition / January 2013

Copyright © 2012 by Phil Dunlap.

Cover illustration by Dennis Lyall.

Cover design by Diana Kolsky.

Interior text design by Tiffany Estreicher.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or
electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of
copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

ISBN: 978-1-101-61852-3

BERKLEY®

Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

BERKLEY® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the help of many good friends, family, and a terrific publisher. First, my thanks to my critique partner, author Tony Perona, who makes certain the plot doesn't wander off to the hinterland; to my wife, Judy, who is relentless in keeping me from making embarrassing mistakes with characters and storyline; and to my untiring editor at Berkley, Faith Black, to whom I owe everything. Of course, I cannot fail to thank the many faithful Western readers who live for the sound of gunfire rising off the pages. My undying gratitude to you all.

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

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 1

New Mexico Territory–1880

T
he telegram read simply:

COME TO SILVER CITY
.
NEED HELP
.
GOING
TO HANG
.

THORN MCCANN

That was all. But it was enough.

“I'm not sure why you feel the need to ride all the way to Silver City to try saving the worthless scoundrel that rode into town pretending to be a common gunslinger looking to add you to his list of kills. You know he nearly scared me to death. Remember how long it took for him to tell
you
who he really was? You said yourself you weren't sure he could be trusted. And you
know
he probably shot and killed Bart Havens, so what makes the man worth saving?” Emily Wagner held out a cup of coffee to Sheriff Cotton Burke. “Even though killing Havens was certainly in
your
best interest.”

Cotton was stuffing a couple of freshly boiled shirts and
some socks into one side of a saddlebag. The other side was filled with coffee, some beef jerky, flour, beans, and extra ammunition. Emily leaned on the door frame watching him prepare for his trip to Silver City, to see for himself what bounty hunter Thorn McCann had done to earn him a date with the hangman's noose. Her expression was a mixture of skepticism and disdain. Whether Cotton believed Thorn deserved to pay the ultimate price for his misdeeds was something else entirely. He was neither judge nor jury, except when faced with the choice to kill or be killed by another's hand.

“Didn't say anything about savin' his, uh, butt.” He brushed a shock of brown hair back from his forehead, took the cup, and raised it to his lips. “Thanks.”

From the perspective of recent events, Thorn had probably been guilty of many crimes, although Cotton couldn't put his finger on exactly what those crimes were. He had been asked to come to Silver City and see what could be done to save a man's life, and Cotton Burke was the type of person to honor such a request. Besides, he still had a lot of unanswered questions for McCann concerning the death of Bart Havens. So he'd assigned his deputy, Memphis Jack Stump, the task of keeping Apache Springs safe until he returned. It was a decision he hadn't made lightly, especially since Jack had a tendency to drink a little too much and spend a little too much time in the bed of a prostitute named Melody, with whom he lived. Other than a touch of irresponsibility from time to time, Jack was a generally dependable friend and a damned good man with a gun. Still, a lot was riding on his ability to take being a deputy as seriously as was needed.

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