Page 54 of Cowboy Mountain Man

He lowers the phone and looks toward the utility vehicle.

Hope’s hands separate as the tie gives. She keeps them together. I feel the first clean breath I’ve taken since the call. Smart girl.

Pike puts the phone in his pocket. Then reaches for her. “Up.”

She rises slowly.

Her left hand drops beside her thigh. Pike catches her elbow with his free hand.

I step out. “Let her go.”

His head snaps toward me. For half a second, the gun points at the ground. Then he drags Hope against him. The barrel comes up beside her ribs.

I stop, keeping my pistol steady. Hope’s eyes find mine. She’s pale. There’s dirt on her cheek. But she’s looking at me.

“Harlan,” Pike says. “You don’t listen very well.”

“Neither do you.”

“Put it down.”

“Move the gun away from her.”

He digs his fingers into her arm. She winces. Everything in me goes cold.

“Easy,” I say. I’m talking to her. I hope she knows.

Pike looks past me into the trees. “Alone?”

“You asked for the card.”

“Then show me.”

I reach slowly into my jacket with my left hand. The card is in a clear case. I hold it up. His gaze fixes on it.

Hope’s hand moves. Barely. Toward the shelf beside the door. I see the red cylinder sitting there. Fire extinguisher.

Pike doesn’t.

“They’ve got copies,” I tell him.

“No, they don’t.”

“The label she photographed matched the warehouse theft. Sheriff knows exactly what’s in those cases.”

His face changes. Hope’s fingers close around the extinguisher handle.

“The camera won’t fix this,” I say. “Neither will the card.”

“Shut up.”

“Let her walk away.”

He brings the gun higher. I can’t fire. Not with her pressed against him.

Hope looks at me. Then drops. Her weight tears out of his grip as she grabs the extinguisher from the shelf and pulls the safety pin.

Pike swears. The nozzle points up. White powder blasts into his face.