Chapter Thirty-Six
It was that odd time of day when it was neither night nor morning, but some strange in-between time. It made creeping along the path up the ridge treacherous, as everything tended to fade to a single shade of gray. Still, Cody crept doggedly along, determined to be both unseen and swift.
Somewhere above him, Logan and Amelia waited. That kept his step light despite his fatigue. The ride back to town had been hard, but it was nothing compared to the fear that hovered just out of reach. It galvanized him on better than a pair of silver spurs.
There had been voices, indistinct and echoing, when he’d first begun his climb.
He’d assumed that was Amelia weaving her story about surrendering peacefully to Dean.
The idea of her bandying words with that cretin was enough to set Cody’s blood boiling.
Now, as he was more than halfway up the ridge, the voices had stopped.
It was eerily quiet, and it made the back of his neck prickle.
When he was just at the place where the path began widening out on a sort of bluff, he dropped to his hands and knees and peered up over the last switchback.
There was no one in sight; the only sign of life was a vague glow from what Cody could only assume was a low fire in a dark recess in the bare rock.
He placed both of his hands on the edge and hoisted himself up, his boots scrabbling for purchase.
He winced at the sound, which was loud as gunfire in the silence of the pre-dawn.
He paused, his ears straining, but nothing stirred.
He exhaled through his nose, relieved. It seemed that his approach was undetected.
His eyes scanned the area carefully, his hand hovering over his gun, his entire body tensed like a tightly wound spring.
Cody was still crouched low on his haunches, not wanting to announce his presence just yet.
He took a deep breath, preparing to announce himself.
He was nothing if not fair, and he fully intended to give Dean the chance to surrender.
The flaw in this plan was to assume that Dean would play fairly.
“Well, well,” a voice said from the hollow. “It’s not every day that I get two people come crawling up to me.” The shape of a tall, lanky man materialized from the dark. His face showed the same sardonic expression that his voice had. He held a gun in his hand.
Cody stood and, with a steadiness that surprised him, leveled his gun right at Dean. “I’m givin’ you the option to walk out of here.”
Dean’s brows jolted up in surprise. “You are giving me the chance? No, no, dear boy,” he said, shaking his head slowly.
“I’m afraid you are the one being given chances.
For instance,” he continued, and, lifting his own gun, turned it not on Cody, but back in the direction of the hollow.
“I’m giving you the chance to put your gun down before I put a few more holes into these people.
Come on now, step on up where he can see you,” Dean said, gesturing with his gun.
Amelia stepped forward into the gathering light. Cody couldn’t tell whether it was simply the time of day or fear that made her face look gray. She had Logan plastered by her side, doing her best to shield him.
“You alright there, boy?” Cody asked gruffly, not taking his eyes from Dean.
“I’m fine, Pa,” Logan answered. His voice cracked on the word “fine,” and Cody tightened his grip on his gun.
“No, no,” Dean said, wagging his finger at Cody.
“None of that. You go on and put that iron down before someone gets hurt.” Cody hesitated, and Dean’s expression changed, shifting to one of cold indifference instead of amusement.
“Do you want to play that game? Very well,” he said, and thumbed the hammer back on his gun.
He lifted it at Amelia and Logan. “Would you prefer to lose a leg or an arm there, young man?”
Logan tensed, and Amelia shifted him further behind herself. Anger flashed across her face, a tooth-baring rage that Cody hadn’t ever seen before. Cody understood the feeling. She looked positively ready to spring on Dean.
But as much as Cody loved her for the impulse, he would never forgive himself, not ever, if something happened to her. As it stood, either Logan would get shot, or Amelia would, in the process of trying to protect him.
“Alright,” Cody said, letting his grip on his gun loosen so that it dangled from his finger. “Alright. I’m putting my gun down. See?” he said, slowly crouching and placing it on the ground. He straightened back up, his hands up with his fingers spread.
“Kick it away,” Dean instructed.
Cody obeyed, nosing the gun away with the toe of his boot. It clattered away somewhere over the edge of the ridge. Cody closed his eyes briefly at the sound, feeling hope fading away. All of their careful planning… now gone.
As if reading his mind, Dean began to gloat. “You all thought you were so very clever, didn’t you?” he sneered. “You thought you could send this harlot up here, and I wouldn’t see you creeping up from behind. Absurd,” he said.
“You’re right,” Cody said, trying to keep Dean’s focus on himself. If he could, he might be able to maneuver him away from Amelia and Logan, at least give them a chance to run. That was all that mattered, really—as long as they got away safely. “Let’s discuss this like civilized men.”
“Civilized?” Dean repeated incredulously. “Civilized? Oh, that is too much!” He showed his teeth in an approximation of a grin. “You think you’re civilized? Civilized people don’t go marrying other men’s fiancées!”
Cody could see Amelia open her mouth to argue, but Cody shot her a look that stayed her.
“Civilized, indeed,” Dean continued. “Living out here in the dirt and rolling around with livestock. What woman in her right mind would choose this over the life of plenty that I can offer her?”
“Seems to me like Amelia did,” Cody answered quietly. “If she were really your fiancée, she wouldn’t have married me.” He chose his words deliberately, hoping to needle him into making a mistake.
Dean’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped closer to Cody. “She only married you out of desperation,” he said hotly, jabbing the gun in Cody’s direction. “She chose me. Me! You were just a convenience, nothing more.”
Cody didn’t need to look at Amelia to know that she was fuming at this assertion.
Oh, I’ve got you figured now, Cody thought with a grim triumph.
He knew exactly how to provoke him, what would send him over the edge.
He only hoped that when Dean struck, Amelia would seize the chance and get out of there with Logan.
Already, it looked like Logan had slipped away, which grimly pleased Cody.
Cody looked directly at Dean. He didn’t yell or insult him; he merely smiled gently, the kind of indulgent smile a parent gives a child.
This was enough to goad Dean, exactly as Cody had hoped it would.
All pretense of amusement and control dropped from his face, and he glared at Cody with a naked hatred that Cody had never seen on another person before.
He watched this transition from a distance, almost as if he were outside himself.
With a roar of irritation between tightly clenched teeth, Dean raised the gun, his finger squeezing the trigger. A bang rang out into the silent, early morning, so loud and sudden it sent up a squall of birds from the trees.