Outlaw Lawman (17 page)

Caitlyn reached for Farris’s gun so that he wouldn’t be able to snatch it up, but reaching for it was as far as she got.

Someone hooked an arm around her neck, and her body snapped back. She landed right against his chest. And before she could make a sound, someone shoved a gun to her head.

Chapter Seventeen

Harlan had to restrain himself, but part of him wished that Farris was dead so the man could no longer torment Caitlyn.

But he wasn’t about to murder an unarmed man.

Especially one he could restrain. He grabbed Farris and hauled him to his feet so he could drag him to the truck and get a pair of plastic handcuffs from the glove compartment.

Harlan stopped when he caught a movement from the corner of his eye, and without loosening his grip on Farris, he whirled in Caitlyn’s direction.

Everything inside him came crashing down.

No, hell, no. This couldn’t be happening. But it was. Caitlyn was standing there, white as a ghost in the pale moonlight, and someone had a gun on her.

“I didn’t see him in time,” she whispered.

That felt like a fist around his heart. She was apologizing for being put in another life-and-death situation. One not of her own making. It was Farris’s making.

Or maybe not.

Harlan had to amend that theory when he caught a glimpse of the man’s face. Not some hired gun. He knew this man.

Curtis.

“You said I could have Caitlyn,” Farris practically shouted. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her.”

“There’s been a change of plans.” Curtis’s voice was eerily calm, and unlike Farris, his hand wasn’t shaking.

The mark of a cold-blooded killer.

“Marshal McKinney, you need to put down your gun and step away from Farris,” Curtis ordered.

Harlan didn’t budge, but Farris struggled, fighting to get away from him. However, Harlan held on. He didn’t want Farris going after Caitlyn. Not with that gun right at her head. Even if Curtis didn’t have plans to shoot her, the gun might accidentally go off.

“This guy isn’t dealing with a full deck,” Harlan said, tipping his head to Farris. “If I let him go, he might try to kill all of us.”

“He won’t.” And there didn’t appear to be a shred of doubt in Curtis’s tone, which meant they’d worked out some kind of sick deal.

Caitlyn didn’t say a word. Didn’t take her gaze off Harlan, and he cursed when he realized that she was still giving him an apologetic look.

“Your gun,” Curtis reminded Harlan. “And let go of Farris so he can leave.”

Farris made another of those outraged sounds. “I’m not leaving without her.” Again he tried to tear himself away from Harlan, but Curtis shifted the gun toward Harlan and him.

“My advice—cooperate.” And coming from Curtis, it didn’t sound like a suggestion. “If things work out as planned, you might be able to have Caitlyn after all.” Curtis’s mouth tightened. “Though why you’d want a woman in love with another man, I don’t know.”

It was twice in one night that someone had accused her of being in love with him, and if Harlan hadn’t been between this rock and a hard place, he might have given it some thought. However, the only thoughts he had right now were how to get out of this.

Caitlyn muttered something and shifted her body weight as if she might drop to the ground. Curtis hooked his arm around her neck, snapped her to him and pointed the gun at her again.

As bad as it was to see that gun right on her—and it was bad—Harlan had to look at the bigger picture here. He had to keep Curtis’s mind off the fact that Harlan was still armed. The longer he could hang on to his gun, the better.

“Where’s Declan?” Harlan wanted to know the answer to that, but he wasn’t sure he’d get the truth from Curtis. Still, the conversation might distract him until Harlan could figure out a way to get that gun from his hand.

“He’ll join us soon. At gunpoint, of course.”

Harlan didn’t doubt the gunpoint part. In fact, there might be several hired guns in on this. But why was he bringing Declan here?

“You plan to use Declan for more leverage?” Harlan asked. But he already had the ultimate leverage with Caitlyn.

“You don’t need Declan or Harlan down here if you have me,” Caitlyn volunteered. “You can let them go.”

Curtis made a sound of disagreement. “I need you both, actually. You and Harlan,” he clarified, aiming a glare at Farris. “Temporarily. Just hold on to your sanity a moment or two longer, and you might get what you want from this.”

Because Harlan still had a grip on Farris, he felt the man’s muscle tense. “I paid big money to get her,” Farris shouted. “Hell, I funded this entire operation for one reason.
Her.
”

So that explained, well, pretty much nothing. Farris had the money to pay for an attack like this, but Harlan still didn’t know the reason Curtis would plan their capture and murder.

But he could guess why.

“It’s your fingerprint they’ll find on Sherry’s neck,” Harlan challenged.

Curtis didn’t jump to deny it. “There’ll be no fingerprint to find, because right about now someone’s blowing up the morgue.”

Harlan had no idea if that was true, but at that exact moment his phone buzzed. He couldn’t take his attention off Curtis to see who was calling and why. But maybe if someone had tried to set an explosive at the morgue, then the person watching the place had managed to stop it.

He could hope anyway.

Curtis obviously hoped the opposite because he smiled. For a moment or two anyway. Then he glanced down at his watch and cursed.

Was this profanity for Declan because he hadn’t arrived yet? Or was something else going on? Either way, Harlan hoped he had his own backup in the area. Certainly by now Slade and/or Clayton should be nearby, and he hoped like the devil it didn’t take them too long to get here.

“This is the third time I’ve asked you to put down that gun,” Curtis warned Harlan. “If I have to ask again, I start shooting, and Caitlyn will get the first bullet.”

Now Harlan cursed. Because he knew time for distraction was over. He couldn’t risk Caitlyn’s life, so he dropped his gun on the ground. Right by his feet. Maybe he’d be able to get to it in a hurry if things turned bad.

And he was afraid
bad
was just getting started.

“You murdered Sherry,” Caitlyn concluded, obviously trying to make her own distraction. “And now you’re trying to cover it up by using us.” Despite the gun at her head, she tossed Curtis a glare. “Did you kill Tiffany, too?”

“I had to. I’d already killed Sherry and needed a way to cover it up.” Curtis lifted his shoulder. “I figured if the Rangers would try to link Tiffany’s death to Webb’s murder, then they’d try to link Sherry’s, too.”

“And you wanted Sherry dead because she was asking questions about some of your shady business investments.” Plain and simple, it was a guess, but judging from the way Curtis’s eyes narrowed, Harlan had hit pay dirt. “So you sent out those threatening notes to make everyone believe her disappearance was connected to Rocky Creek.”

“I sent those notes,” Farris piped up.

Curtis huffed as if dealing with an annoying insect. “Because I told him to do it. Farris isn’t much of a self-starter when it comes to detailed plans like this one. All that psychosis gets in the way.”

Taunting a crazy man wasn’t how Harlan would have gone about this. However, it was obvious Curtis wasn’t pleased with the man who’d paid to cover up a murder, all so he could get his hands on Caitlyn.

“I’m guessing that Curtis promised he’d draw out Caitlyn for you,” Harlan asked Farris.

“He promised more than that,” Farris confirmed. “He contacted me out of the blue and said he could draw her out. He told me I could do whatever I wanted and that I wouldn’t have to go back to that place.”

To the institution, no doubt.

Curtis checked his watch again. Cursed some more. The man was obviously unaware or just didn’t care that Farris was about to snap.

“Henry?” Curtis called out. Probably to the man who’d kidnapped Declan.

No answer.

And that only made Curtis’s profanity even worse.

“You think Curtis will keep his promise to you?” Caitlyn asked, her attention nailed to Farris now. “You really believe he’ll let you out of this alive? Not a chance. No way would he let a loon like you go so you could spill to every lawman in the state.”

Farris stopped struggling, his gaze locked with Caitlyn’s. Hell. She was baiting him. The very thing Harlan didn’t want her to do, even if she was trying to get Farris to go after Curtis and not her.

“Don’t listen to her,” Curtis snapped.

“He doesn’t want you to listen because he knows I’ll tell you that you’ve been duped. All that money you spent, and he has no intention of following through on his promises.” She paused, managed a syrupy smile. “Because he intends to keep me for himself.”

Farris froze. Unlike Caitlyn, Harlan couldn’t see the man’s expression, but he didn’t need to see it to feel the rage roar through Farris’s body.

Before Harlan could stop him, Farris ripped out of Harlan’s grip and, screaming, lunged for Caitlyn.

Just as a shot blasted the night air.

* * *

T
HE
SHOT
CAME
so close to Caitlyn’s right ear that she felt the heat from the bullet. And the deafening noise. God, it was awful. The pain stabbed through her head, and she would have fallen to her knees if Curtis hadn’t kept a death grip choke hold around her neck.

But Farris was the one who dropped to his knees.

With his gaze frozen on her, he slipped to the ground. “I’ll always love you,” Farris said.

Even though the pain made everything sound like a roar, she somehow managed to hear the words. Sickening words from a sick man.

Farris reached out as if he might try to touch her, but Curtis kicked at him, his boot connecting with Farris’s hand. Grunting in pain, Farris pulled back his hand and clutched it to his chest.

Where the bullet had slammed into him.

“Goodbye, Caitlyn,” Farris mumbled, and he slumped into a heap.

Caitlyn didn’t have to feel his pulse to know he was dead. She could see it on his now lifeless face. There was no way she could feel sorry for him. Not after everything he’d done, but she was also painfully aware that the biggest threat wasn’t Farris.

But rather Curtis.

Now that he’d killed Farris and confessed to Sherry’s murder, there was no way he’d let them walk out of there alive. Of course, there was no way she and Harlan would just stand by while he shot them either. But Curtis was the one with the gun.

There was a rustling sound to her left, and while keeping her firmly in his grip, Curtis pivoted in that direction. Harlan moved, too. Toward his gun on the ground next to Farris.

“If you pick it up, she dies,” Curtis warned him.

Harlan stopped, but the rustling sound didn’t.

“Henry?” Curtis called out.

“Not Henry,” the person answered.

Slade.

Caitlyn felt instant relief followed by instant fear. Slade sounded close. Very close. And that meant he could be hurt. It was bad enough that she and Harlan were in danger—Declan, too—but she didn’t want to add any more of Harlan’s family members to the mix.

“Who are you?” Curtis demanded.

“Marshal Slade Becker. And I’m guessing you’re about to be dead.”

That didn’t help with her fear. Yes, Slade was likely a good shot, but Curtis’s gun was still pressed right to her head. Worse, at any second he could turn that gun on Harlan.

Curtis dragged her toward a tree until his back was right up against it. That would make it much harder for Slade to get off a shot.

And that meant this was likely a standoff.

“Where’s Declan?” Harlan called out to his brother. He didn’t take his attention off her, and his body was in a position as if he was primed and ready for a fight.

“Safe and with Clayton. He’s a little groggy from being drugged, but he’ll be okay. We’ve cuffed the kidnapper.”

Caitlyn had no idea if that was true, but prayed it was, because it meant Curtis had no backup.

Curtis reacted to what Slade had said by cursing and digging the gun barrel into the side of her head. She felt the skin break and the sting of pain. Felt the warm blood, too.

But the worst was seeing Harlan’s reaction.

Anger seemed to jolt through his entire body, and she shook her head, praying he wouldn’t do anything that would get him killed.

“They found a guy at the morgue, and he had a bag of explosives with him,” Slade continued, his voice calm as if discussing the weather. “I’m guessing so he could blow up the place with Sherry’s body inside. The sheriff called in a SWAT team and they have him surrounded.”

“Shut up!” Curtis yelled. He cursed and shoved her forward. “Caitlyn’s coming with me, and you’ll both back off because if you don’t, she dies.”

This couldn’t play out in her favor. Either Harlan would get shot trying to stop Curtis, or if Curtis did manage to take her, she wouldn’t live long. She, Harlan and now Slade were the ultimate loose ends.

Maybe even Declan, too.

She had to do something to stop this from becoming worse than it already was. But what? Hard to do much of anything when she didn’t have a weapon and Curtis was bigger and stronger than she was.

“I’ll go with him.” She kept her gaze pinned to Harlan when she said that and hoped he would get out of the way when Curtis started shooting.

And he
would
shoot.

Maybe in the next second or two. He was probably counting on the shots to draw out Slade, since Harlan’s brother wouldn’t be able to return fire as long as she was Curtis’s human shield.

“I’m going to hold you to that dinner date,” Caitlyn added.

She saw surprise flash through Harlan’s eyes, and she also felt Curtis move the gun away from her head.

Mercy.

He was taking aim at Harlan.

Harlan reacted, already moving down and to the side. Or rather trying to do that so he could scoop up his gun. But she knew there wasn’t enough time, because Curtis already had him in his sights.

Caitlyn screamed at the top of her lungs and twisted her body so that she could shove her side against Curtis. It didn’t knock him down, but it did cause his hand to move at the exact moment that he pulled the trigger.

The bullet flew past Harlan and smacked into the tree next to him.

Harlan didn’t waste any time, and he didn’t stoop to pick up his gun. He came right at them, looking very much like a linebacker going after an opposing player. Caitlyn tried to grab Curtis’s hand to stop him from firing again.