Excerpts from...
Murder in the Rockies
Coyle dove under the table. A gun barrel intruded through the broken window. Another shot sounded louder than the first as it pierced the late afternoon. Coyle reached up from under the table to turn off the lamp. He needn’t have bothered. A third shot smashed the lamp to smithereens.
The flames jumped from the former lamp and almost instantly spread through the entire cabin. Coyle started for the door, but remembered the shooter could be out there in the shadows waiting for him.
Smoke immediately filled the one-room cabin. Coyle’s eyes were burning and he could not stop coughing. He dropped to his knees. There was less smoke next to the dirt floor. He could breathe better. He crawled back to where Dixon slumped against the wall. Coyle took off his coat and used it to beat back the flames. He grabbed Dixon under the arms. Coyle dragged the wounded man through the inferno. From the spot he and Dixon had just escaped, he heard the crashing sound of a falling roofing timber as it smashed into the dirt floor.
Coyle was still coughing uncontrollably. By that time, Dixon was barely breathing. Coyle heard more groaning timbers announce their collapse. The cabin roof succumbed to the flames.
Two Miles High and Six Feet Under
“I told you there is more than the Ice Palace going on in town. That platform and those tracks are part of the Crystal Carnival. These are toboggan runs. One starts at that platform. See the steps going up?”
“Goodness,” Sarah was truly amazed, “that stand looks to be twenty feet high.”
“That’s the Avenue Slide. The starting platform actually is 26 feet above the ground and the run is 1,200 feet long.” Coyle was getting carried away with the trivia he had learned the day before. “And right around the corner is the Palace Slide. If you come over here you can see where it comes around the corner. I can see it from…”
Coyle heard the swooshing sound of a sled bottom scraping against ice. Half a split second later, he was hit in the midsection with the force of a locomotive. He heard all of the of air in his lungs escape with a whoosh. In the darkness he heard the thud of his head hitting the street. Coyle had no way of knowing how long he had been unconscious. He heard voices. When he opened his eyes there was a hand offering to help him to his feet.
Coyle dove under the table. A gun barrel intruded through the broken window. Another shot sounded louder than the first as it pierced the late afternoon. Coyle reached up from under the table to turn off the lamp. He needn’t have bothered. A third shot smashed the lamp to smithereens.
The flames jumped from the former lamp and almost instantly spread through the entire cabin. Coyle started for the door, but remembered the shooter could be out there in the shadows waiting for him.
Smoke immediately filled the one-room cabin. Coyle’s eyes were burning and he could not stop coughing. He dropped to his knees. There was less smoke next to the dirt floor. He could breathe better. He crawled back to where Dixon slumped against the wall. Coyle took off his coat and used it to beat back the flames. He grabbed Dixon under the arms. Coyle dragged the wounded man through the inferno. From the spot he and Dixon had just escaped, he heard the crashing sound of a falling roofing timber as it smashed into the dirt floor.
Coyle was still coughing uncontrollably. By that time, Dixon was barely breathing. Coyle heard more groaning timbers announce their collapse. The cabin roof succumbed to the flames.
Two Miles High and Six Feet Under
“I told you there is more than the Ice Palace going on in town. That platform and those tracks are part of the Crystal Carnival. These are toboggan runs. One starts at that platform. See the steps going up?”
“Goodness,” Sarah was truly amazed, “that stand looks to be twenty feet high.”
“That’s the Avenue Slide. The starting platform actually is 26 feet above the ground and the run is 1,200 feet long.” Coyle was getting carried away with the trivia he had learned the day before. “And right around the corner is the Palace Slide. If you come over here you can see where it comes around the corner. I can see it from…”
Coyle heard the swooshing sound of a sled bottom scraping against ice. Half a split second later, he was hit in the midsection with the force of a locomotive. He heard all of the of air in his lungs escape with a whoosh. In the darkness he heard the thud of his head hitting the street. Coyle had no way of knowing how long he had been unconscious. He heard voices. When he opened his eyes there was a hand offering to help him to his feet.