Love on the Line - Deeanne Gist [137]
“Don’t use me as an excuse for your choices, Alec,” he said. “This isn’t a competition. Never has been.”
Looking up, Alec pushed back the brim of his brown felt Stetson. “No? What about right now? When we leave this room, one of us will be the winner. One will be the loser. Sounds like a competition to me. And one I don’t intend to lose.”
“I’m the one holding the gun. And make no mistake, I’ll use it.” It wasn’t until that moment he realized it was true. The inscription on his pistols flashed through his mind. Never Draw Me Without Cause or Holster Me With Dishonor.
The very best way he could show his love and loyalty to Alec was to stand firm on what was right and what was wrong. Compromising his word would not only be dishonorable, it would do a lot more harm than good. It was his sworn duty and moral obligation to protect innocent lives. If that meant arresting Alec, so be it.
Luke gave a quick upward jerk with his chin. “Put your hands in the air. You’re under arrest.”
“And if I refuse?” His eyes clouded, making them as opaque as a thick curtain. “You gonna shoot me down in cold blood? Your own kin?”
Luke’s pulse hammered so hard he could feel it in his neck. “Get them up.”
After a tense moment, Alec lifted his arms and slowly rose, approaching as if he were a deadly cobra preparing to strike. “It’s over, Lucious,” he snarled. “Ragston’s out there. He’ll have freed the boys. Threaten me all you want, but you’re not leaving here alive.”
A shot rang out in the distance. Georgie’s scream pierced the air. Luke jerked toward the sound.
It was all the advantage Alec needed. Lunging forward, he knocked the barrel aside, wrenching the butt away from Luke’s torso.
Tightening his grip, Luke took advantage of the rifle’s momentum, whipping the stock against the side of Alec’s face. The crack of bone sounded loud in the small room. Screaming, Alec staggered back, then charged him again.
Desperate to reach Georgie, Luke hit him once more with the rifle’s butt, putting his weight behind the blow. Alec crumbled to the ground.
Snapping a handcuff on his brother’s wrist, he hauled him to the stove, locked the other cuff to it, then sprinted out the door and into the brush, weaving his way under its cover and toward the place he’d left Georgie and the hack.
Chapter Forty-Four
Even with her hands propped on the pillows, the pistol’s weight tested Georgie’s strength. As its five pounds grew heavier and heavier, so did her eyes. The warmth of the morning sun wrapped her in its blanket. She’d slept very little and the men’s quiet conversations against a backdrop of birdsong beckoned to her like a soft feather bed.
A gunshot exploded from the direction of Ragston’s place, jerking her to attention. The men exchanged glances, speculation in their eyes.
“Who ya think it was?” Duane asked. “Luke or Ragston?”
“Sounded like a rifle.” Blesinger shifted in the seat, his chains rattling. “But that could mean anything.”
Georgie’s heart took up a rapid beat. What would she do if something had happened to Luke? Should she try to intervene? Or should she go for help while the men were still shackled?
But who would help? The entire town had already refused to become involved. What if she drove these men all the way to town only to have the sheriff release them? What if Luke was lying on Ragston’s floor bleeding to death?
Before she could decide what to do, Finkel whipped his head around. “Some-von is coming.”
Her grip on the gun tightened.
Blesinger held up his hands. “Easy, Miss Georgie. Relax your shoulders. You don’t want that thing going off by accident, now.”
All attention swerved back to her.
After a lifetime of priding herself on doing anything a man could, she suddenly felt very inadequate. Seeing Luke’s mastery with guns and horses, hearing the men whisper of his escapades, and watching him single-handedly round up the Comer Gang had been eye-opening. But the thought of finishing this job without him brought everything into immediate perspective.
She