Obsidian Butterfly - Laurell K. Hamilton [198]
There was a small, sharp sound, a bolt being drawn back on a rifle, and everything happened at once. Edward had his gun out and pointed at the sound. Olaf’s gun was out but not pointed. Bernardo had his gun pointed, using the door as a brace. I have to admit my gun was in my hand but not pointed. I just wasn’t used to the new holster, and having to lift the shirt with a wounded left hand. Damn, I was slow.
Harold of the scarred face was leaning at the far end of Edward’s house with a high-powered rifle pointed at Edward. He had most of his body hidden behind the house, and held the rifle like he knew what he was doing. If he’d wanted to drop Edward, he could have done it before Edward got the drop on him. That Harold hadn’t shot anyone yet meant they had come for more than just killing. Probably.
Harold said, “Nobody panics, nobody gets hurt.”
“Harold,” Edward said, “when did you guys make bail?” He was still staring down the barrel of his Beretta at Harold. I could almost guarantee he was sighting on the top of the other man’s head, his best killing target from what little he had to shoot at. Edward did not shoot to wound.
“Only Russell got arrested,” Harold said, rifle settled comfortably against his shoulder.
Speak of the devil. Russell came around the corner behind Harold. His nose was packed with white cotton and covered in a hard bandage. I’d broken his nose. Great.
“I thought terrorizing women and children carried more time than this,” I said. I kept the gun behind the open door. I didn’t want to give anyone an excuse to start shooting.
The tall silent Newt came around the other side of the house with a large shiny revolver in his hands. He held it two-handed and moved in a cross-foot glide that said he knew what he was doing. There was a woman beside him, moving like a smooth oiled shadow. She was six foot if she was an inch, and the tank top she was wearing showed off shoulders and arms that made most of the men look puny. Only her breasts pressed against the shirt showed her braless and very much a girl.
Olaf pointed his gun at them. Bernardo moved up with his gun, and the woman turned to him. Olaf turned as Newt moved across in front of him like a long distance dance. The woman and Bernardo were more practical. They just stood a little bit apart and stared at each other over their guns.
Only Russell kept walking and didn’t pull a gun. I tried pulling mine and pointing it at him. He did stop, but his smile got wider and the look in his eyes got worse, as if he had plans for me, and they were all about to come true.
“You shoot me and they shoot your friends. You’re the only one our boss wants,” Russell said.
“But we’re not here to kill anyone,” Harold said, very quickly, as if he wanted to be clear on that. If I were staring down a gun barrel that Edward was holding, I’d want to be clear, too.
Russell started walking towards me, even though I had the Browning pointed at his chest.
“Our boss just wants to talk to you, that’s all,” Harold said. “I promise he just wants to talk to the girl.”
I was backing up with the gun held out. Russell was still walking forward very confident. Unless I was willing to shoot him, he wasn’t stopping. I did not want to be the one who fired the first shot. People were going to die, and I couldn’t control which people that would be.
I could hear the truck now, crunching over the gravel. I did the only thing I could think of, I turned and ran. I heard a surprised, “Hey,” from behind me. But I was over the edge of the slope and down the other side. I suddenly wasn’t worried about tearing my stitches up, or how tired I was. My heart was in my throat, and I found that not only could I walk without falling down, I could run. My mind seemed to be working faster and faster. I saw a dry wash at the base of the slope and a clump of trees to one side. I slid into the wash in a rush of small stones. I landed on all fours, heavy, and was scrambling to my