At least they didn't seem to have harmed her yet. She looked all right. Jane thought carefully as she searched for Wylie and Gorman. If she could find them in one place close together, she might be able to take them both out. She could fire without warning, take the first one through the head, and then immediately fire several rounds at the other, who would be a moving target by then. If she got the second one, she could move around the corner of the house to the kitchen window, and maybe shoot Maloney from behind as he stepped to the other room to see what had happened. Sarah had seemed smart when she had visited Jane. She could only hope that Sarah was also alert enough to know that when shooting started she should duck and run from a man with a shotgun. But Jane knew it was a terrible plan. It depended on so many unlikely breaks. She craned her neck to see if anyone was in the living room to her left.
'Hold it.' The voice was Wylie's terrible Texas drawl.
Jane turned her head slowly in the direction of the voice. She could see him at the corner of the house to her left. Only his right arm and gun hand and his right eye were visible. Jane was standing in front of a lighted window, her body not even turned far enough toward Wylie to see him clearly, let alone take her gun out of her pocket, aim, and fire at him. Her right leg was still weak from the wound in her thigh, and she couldn't hope to run fast enough to avoid getting shot.
Jane threw her body backward between the bushes, rolled and pushed her gun into the center of a thick, dense yew bush, then kept crawling back away from the house and the light.
Wylie fired once and hit a tree, exploding particles of bark above her. Then he fired low and to the side, missing her again and spattering dirt in the air. 'Last chance. You've got no place to go.'
Jane's heart beat harder with anticipation. That was exactly the impression she wanted him to have-that she was unarmed and helpless. She stood and raised both hands in the air.
'That's right,' Wylie said. 'Much better.' In the corner of her eye she saw him come slowly around the house. His gun was still aimed at her, but his body was fully visible now. 'Let's walk slowly to the front door.'
Jane took two steps forward, and that brought her up to the low yew bush where she had hidden her gun. In a moment she would drop to her left knee, snatch her gun from the bush, turn, and fire. One more step.
'Not that way.' It was a second voice, coming from the opposite direction. It was Maloney. 'Over this way toward the light.'
They had her in a cross fire. Maloney was aiming his gun at her with both hands, and he had a perfect view of her back, with nothing to shield her. Jane's heart dropped to her stomach. She had told herself she would never let herself be taken alive by these men again. The reason she had taken such a foolish risk was that she didn't want Sarah to be in their hands as she had been. Now they had not only Sarah, but her. She should have shot Gorman through the window as soon as she'd seen him, and taken her chances with the others. If she picked up the gun now, they would kill her in a second.
'Come on. What's it going to be'
Jane stepped past the yew bush toward the light, her hands in the air. She had just thrown her life away, and probably Sarah's, too.
The front door opened before she reached it, and Maloney came up behind her and put his hand in the center of her spine. He pushed her in. Jane saw Sarah across the room, standing with her back to the wall with Gorman, who held the shotgun on her.
Jane stared straight ahead so she could hold all three men in her peripheral vision and detect any sudden movement. She would get another chance, she told herself. She only had to be ready to take it. And her gun was still a secret. It was in the yew tree with its safety off and a round in the chamber so all she had to do was grasp it and pull the trigger.
The next few minutes were unbearable. It was worse because this time she knew all of it before it happened. Wylie and Maloney searched her together, roughly and with no restraint. Jane made sure to seem as weak and injured as possible, to be barely able to stand. When she thought it was over, Wyle knelt and lifted her pants legs to be sure she didn't have a boot knife. He ran a finger around the inner elastic of her socks to be sure there was nothing else, then stood. She knew that as soon as they had reassured themselves that she had no weapons, they would begin with, 'Where's Shelby' They would go on from where they had left off in Los Angeles. She knew every painful sensation that was coming, every stifled wave of fear.
'Where is Shelby right now' Wylie asked. 'I'm sure Sarah would like to hear about her brother.'
'I don't know,' Jane said. 'I was supposed to meet him in Salt Lake City. Because of you, I got there late and he had already left. I thought this would be the first place he'd come.' She braced for a punch.
Wylie grasped her shoulders so hard she winced from the pain, and looked into her eyes as though he were searching for the truth. Then, surprisingly, he shrugged and pushed her. She fell, as though she could barely stand.
'What' Jane said.
'You're probably right. He seems to be the sort of guy who will travel across the country and end up here at some point. I'm not surprised that you're faster at it than he is. He's not a pro like you.'
While Maloney watched her, Wylie stepped into the kitchen and returned with a length of rope and a roll of duct tape. He tied her wrists in front of her with rope, then wrapped duct tape around the wrists and covered the knot so she couldn't untie it or slip out of it. Then he knelt and took a second length of rope and tied it around her ankles, so she could take a stride of only about a foot.
He stood and looked at her. 'That ought to do it. With that bullet hole in you, I guess you won't get in too much trouble.'
Jane gave him a frightened, defeated look, but she was elated. He had missed the two razor blades taped to her feet under her socks.
Wylie said, 'You're wondering why I'm not worried about Shelby anymore.'
She looked as though her immediate predicament left little room for caring. 'A little.'
He put his face close to hers. 'Because he's practically dead already. The cops will get him in the next few days, probably, and if they don't, we know he'll turn up here eventually. You're the one we're thinking about. Now that we've caught you, we'll be able to take the next few years off.' He turned. 'Hey, Gorman. You're the best kiss- ass we have. Give our esteemed employer a call and tell him what we've got.'
Gorman pulled his cell phone out of the pocket of his jeans and walked out of the room through the short hallway into the kitchen. His voice could be heard muttering and mumbling through a conversation that took place mostly on the other end.
Wylie said, 'This is going to be about you.'
'What about me'
'It's the auction I was trying to get arranged when we were in Los Angeles. As soon as he gets the bidders here, we'll go ahead with it. Since you showed up, Jim Shelby is a minor worry for him.'
'I thought you said you weren't interested in Shelby anymore, and you'd let the cops arrest him. Why is he a worry at all You could let Sarah go, and forget trying to trap Shelby. He can't harm you.'
'We can't just drop it, because that's the way our employer is. It's what made him rich. He doesn't leave things to chance; he makes sure.'
'Why Shelby'
Wylie moved close to her ear and said quietly, 'Because our boss is the one who killed Shelby's wife.'
Jane heard Sarah Shelby's indrawn breath. She must have heard what he'd said, even though it was close to a whisper. Jane kept her face expressionless. 'What for'
Wylie shrugged. 'Beats me. He wanted her for a while, and then I guess he didn't.' He smiled. 'That's just an observation. He doesn't talk about his love life to me.'
Gorman came back into the living room, putting his phone back in his pocket, and Wylie stepped away from Jane.
'What did he say' asked Wylie.
'He's happy. I think he's going to have a party or something. He kept saying we'd get part of the take.'
Wylie took Jane into the bathroom. 'Stay in here for a few minutes. Don't try anything, and don't come out until I let you out.' Jane stood in the bathroom, her ear to the door.
'How much' It was Wylie's voice.
'He didn't say anything you can get a grip on. He said half, then he said, `You'll get a slice,' and then it didn't sound like enough, so he said, `a big slice for the three of you.''
