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reservation.
Hannah stared at the ground intently, using the tip of her knife to
gouge deep grooves in the dirt between her legs for several silent
moments.
Chris waited for her to come at him and cut his throat for being
such a smart aleck.
Instead, she raised her head to look him directly in the eyes, the
fire beside her casting an unnatural glow across her face. Her hazel
eyes glimmered like the fire and sent a chill down Chris spine. She
raised her knife to point at him.
I really don t have anything against you, you know not you or
Troy. He s been good to me. He has. Sometimes he even reminds me
of my brothers the way he likes to take care of people and make sure
they re okay. Protective like, you know what I mean?
Chris silently nodded. He knew exactly what she meant. He had
been the recipient of Troy s care and concern since he d landed in
Wolf Creek several days ago. He also knew the best thing for him to
do was to keep Hannah talking about herself and her life. Maybe then
she d forget about him for a while and what she had planned for him,
Troy, and James. Maybe, if he kept her talking long enough, he could
find out what those plans were. He had to get her to reveal herself,
because if he got out of this alive, he wanted to be able to give James
Three Men and a Bounty 159
and Troy as much information about Hannah as possible, anything
that would help them all make sense of this.
So if she didn t have anything against him and Troy that
left& James?
She satisfied his curiosity with her next words. It s that colored
marshal, it is. He s the one I m after. He s the one that really deserves
to be punished.
Chris winced at the ugly way she said the word, wondered how
James dealt with her sort of attitude and hatred every day of his life as
Chris knew he had.
You don t like me maligning your precious lawman, do you?
What has he ever done to you to deserve your judgment?
He took the best things in my life away from me!
Chris flinched as she lunged forward, waving the knife right under
his nose.
Whoa, easy now, pardner.
He waited in silence while Hannah settled back on her heels,
simultaneously slipping the knife back in her boot. She took several
deep breaths as if to get a hold of her emotions.
I didn t mean to yell at you.
It s okay.
It s just that I get so all-fired angry when I think about that high-
and-mighty lawman and what he s taken from me.
What& what did he take from you?
My brothers, Connor and Court. He s got them rotting in some
jail cell. Where they don t belong, I might add.
Oh, boy, he had to tread carefully with his next words. How did
he ask what her brothers had done without sounding accusatory or
making it seem that her brothers deserved whatever James had seen fit
to do to them? He knew James would never have arrested anyone who
didn t deserve it.
What did James claim they did?
160 Gigi Moore
The marshal claims they re outlaws. They ain t hardly no such
thing. They re just family men trying to provide for the ones they care
about is all. They did what they had to do, and the marshal arrested
them for it.
Just like he thought, the girl wouldn t see the truth of things, too
blinded by the idea of her noble brothers suffering at the hands of the
law unjustly. It wouldn t matter what Chris said to her now. She had
her mind made up, and he remained sure her brothers were probably
more than a little responsible for her determination.
He had to try to get to her, though.
Your brothers older or younger?
They re both older. They left home to make a way for me and
our mama, make sure we had enough to live comfortable-like.
Chris reckoned he knew how Connor and Court had made a way
for their sister and mama. They d probably done what so many other
young men who didn t follow the cowboy and mining paths did.
They d resorted to easy money, robbing and stealing. He d seen it
over and over since he d come out West. Connor and Court s kind
was the exact kind out for a quick fortune, no matter what they had
to do to get it who kept James and his kind in business.
He cleared his throat before saying, I reckon you would miss
them.
Something terrible. They re my only family left now after my
mama died. And it s your marshal s fault! She died of a broken heart,
she did. Died grieving my brothers imprisonment.
God, this was getting out of hand. Seemed no matter what he said
or did, he set the girl off. Chris had to get out of the
He caught movement from the corner of his eye, something in the
shadows.
Hannah peered into the darkness beyond Chris right shoulder.
Had she caught it, too?
She quickly bounded to her feet and dusted off her trousers.
Enough dilly-dallying. We need to get ready for our guests.
Three Men and a Bounty 161
I reckon you re right.
Chris released the breath he had been holding. He never thought
he d be so happy to hear anyone s voice in the whole world as he was
right then when James stepped out of the darkness to his right with his
hands raised.
That didn t explain the movement he d caught on his left,
however. He didn t think even James could move that fast.
Troy!
Chris heart pounded as James slowly approached Hannah.
That s far enough, marshal.
James stopped when Hannah moved to Chris side and held her
gun just under his chin.
God, she was fast, as fast with the gun as she seemed with the
knife.
He knew her threatening him wouldn t stop James, though. He
knew that James had more up his sleeve than met the eye. He had
Troy lurking in the shadows, waiting for his chance to take Hannah
down.
Why don t you just put the gun down so we can talk about this?
You mean so you can arrest me like you arrested my brothers.
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