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“Where are the others? Rye, Banks?”
“We spread out. We needed to find you and Kit as quickly as we could…”
He paused and I took over. “Here, hold this,” I said, applying more pressure to his arm. Once his hand replaced mine, I used my teeth to tear off a strip from the bottom of my skirt. “Who is it? What do they want?”
“Cook Blackstone and some of his men,” Jay said, wincing a bit as I tied the piece of fabric around the bandage as tightly as I could. “And as for what he wants? He wants every Barrett dead.”
I looked up from my work to see he was serious. Fury like I’d never known filled me. Jay’s face was pale, his body trembling, probably going into shock from the loss of blood.
I bent forward to brush his hair off his forehead. “Well, fuck that.” I kissed his cheek, but his good hand cradled the back of my head, pulling me in for a proper kiss. It was quick, but it was one that had my heart filling as his hand dropped away. Plucking the gun from his right hand, I made sure to keep it pointed away and my finger off the trigger… at least for now.
He gave me a wobbly smile and nodded. “Be careful, Goldie. I don’t want to lose you. I’m going to check the grounds more while you go see if Kit is hiding in her room or something.”
I didn’t like the idea of splitting up, but I knew there was no time to argue. “You be careful too,” I said.
I didn’t know much about their past, didn’t know exactly who this Cook man was or why he was here, but I did know he was threatening my family and I just wasn’t going to put up with that shit.
21
Goldie
I ran from the trough to the chicken coop, trying to avoid looking at the man sprawled on the ground. I’d have to run across several yards of open ground before reaching the cabin. Reminding myself not to run into the clothesline, I leaned against the chicken wire, my lungs already aching from the shorter distance I’d run, but only rested for a moment. I didn’t know where the others were, what sort of shape they were in, but I knew Jay needed help. Dashing across the yard, I zigzagged, trying to make myself a more difficult target, but thankfully, the move proved unnecessary. No one shot at me. Pressing against the wall of the house, I realized I hadn’t heard any shots for several minutes. Were all Blackstone’s men dead? Were we all safe? As much as I wanted to believe that, I also hadn’t heard any of the brothers or Kit calling.
Though I doubted Kit could have slept through the shootout, I knew I needed to check the cabin. I peeked around the corner, and not seeing anyone, I eased my way around it, keeping my back to the wall. I gave a relieved sob as I finally slipped in the back door. Only a short time ago, I’d come out of this same door with nothing more serious on my mind than what vegetables I could pick for supper.
A few minutes later, I knew nobody was in the cabin with me. I’d searched every room. I’d looked through my window, flinching at the sight of another body lying by the large tree in the side yard, but breathing easier when I realized the man had blond hair.
He wasn’t one of my men.
I’d looked out Rye’s window that overlooked the front of the house, seeing nothing but a few chickens pecking the ground. Other windows provided the sight of yet another dead man, this one easily identifiable as a bad guy as he was wearing suit pants and shiny black loafers and not work-worn boots and jeans.
Satisfied no one was upstairs, I only had the basement left to check. I ran down the stairs toward the kitchen. I was at the basement door, turning the knob when the door behind me opened. Whirling, I lifted the gun and then dropped my arm.
“Damn it, Jay! I could have shot you!” I said, pressing my free hand against my chest. “What are you doing here? Where did you get that gun?”
“Off the dead guy,” he said as if going near a dead body was a perfectly normal activity. His color hadn’t really improved, but he was standing a bit steadier. Evidently, the blood flow had at least slowed. “You can’t shoot someone unless you pull the trigger, Goldie,” he said, using his gun to gesture toward the one I had hanging down at my side. I realized I’d not changed my grip to hook my finger around the trigger.
“Is Kit here?”
I shook my head. “No, but I haven’t checked the basement yet.”
“Let’s do that quickly.”
Seeing him take a step and wobble a bit, I shook my head. As much as I didn’t want to go down there alone, I wasn’t going to let him attempt navigating the steep stairs. If he collapsed, I’d never manage to get him upstairs again.
“You stay here and stand guard. I’ll be right back.”
The fact he didn’t argue told me he wasn’t anywhere near as stable as he’d like to appear. Before I could scare myself into a heart attack, I yanked the basement door open and raced down the stairs.
“Kit, it’s me. Where are you, honey?” I called, no longer that concerned about keeping quiet. She didn’t answer, and I didn’t hear as much as a squeak. “Kit, it’s okay. You can come out now.” Light shone through the small window above my head but didn’t reveal the young woman. If she wasn’t in the house, she had to be outside.
Where Blackstone’s men were.
Where bullets were flying.
Where there was a fire blazing.
Where the rest of the men I loved were.
