“Stop calling Emma Jane a shrew.” Jasper pulled out his gun. “Emma Jane is a decent woman.”
Though it didn’t look as if Jasper had any intention of shooting, Ben drew his gun and fired. Mel seemed to catch the motion of Ben drawing because Mary heard her shout something just before jumping in front of Jasper.
Next thing Mary knew, Will had shoved her to the ground. His body trapped her against the soft carpet. She couldn’t see what was happening, but the sound of rapid gunfire echoed through her ears. Don’t let Will die for my sake, Mary prayed. She thought to Jasper, and Mel and Rose. She tried to lift her head, but as soon as she moved, Will pushed it down with his hand. “Don’t be stupid.”
“But—”
“Stay still and be quiet or we’ll both be dead.”
A bullet grazed the floor beside them. Mary clamped her mouth shut. Then the shooting stopped. As suddenly as it began, all was quiet. Still. Like death. Though it must have only lasted a few seconds, the exchange seemed to have gone on for hours, Will’s body pressing her against the ground the entire time. He’d been so close. Making her feel so safe.
Yet as the air stilled around them, Mary was more terrified than ever. She’d come to rely on Will.
“You idiots,” Ben said, his voice growing louder as he crossed the room toward them. “I was only trying to nick the boy and teach him a lesson. What were you thinking, opening fire like that?”
“Sorry, boss,” one of the men mumbled. “We thought—”
“I don’t pay you to think.”
Will stirred, allowing Mary to shift her head to watch as Ben hit one of the men with the barrel of his gun.
How had she fallen in love with a man like Ben? No, that wasn’t love, Mary realized as Will’s solid mass remained firmly covering her. Love was a man who would shove a woman to the ground and cover her with his own body to keep her from getting hurt.
Not a man who would use a woman as a cover to steal.
Ben’s boots crunched the floor around him, probably from the broken glass of lamps being shot out, and stopped in front of them. “You can get up now. These numbskulls aren’t going to shoot.”
Will rolled off Mary and got to his feet before helping her up. Once they were standing, she saw her sister, huddled in a corner, but obviously alive.
Mary looked over to where Mel had covered Jasper. Mel lay motionless.
“Get a doctor!” Jasper’s voice was muffled by Mel’s body.
None of this was supposed to have happened. Will dashed over to Mel and Jasper, quickly rolling Mel off his friend.
So much blood.
“I’m fine,” Jasper said before Will could ask. “It’s Mel. She’s been shot good.”
“No doctor,” Mel rasped. “No time.”
The gurgle coming with her voice agreed with her. Her lungs were filling with blood, and she’d be dead before the doctor arrived. Even if a doctor arrived before Mel died, there was no saving her. Will had watched too many others pass this way.
“I...” Jasper looked worse than Mel as he seemed to comprehend what she was saying. “You saved me. Why?”
“Can’t let an innocent...” Mel gasped, choking on her blood. Will tried to prop her up better to make it easier. Not that there was anything easy about dying this way.
Mel’s sacrifice humbled Will. Sure, Jasper was the son of one of the wealthiest men in the state, but Mel’s sacrifice wasn’t about money. It was about doing the right thing and protecting an innocent man.
“I can never repay...” Jasper’s voice wavered as he shifted to better accommodate Mel and make her last moments more comfortable.
“Yes,” she said, her voice thready and garbled. She wouldn’t last much longer. “Help.”
Mel tried to cough, but the effort took more color out of her skin. “Daisy.”
The word was but a whisper of a breath and barely discernible. But Will heard. And from the look on Jasper’s face as Mel closed her eyes for the final time, so did he.
Ben gave them no time to reflect or mourn. As Mel slipped from the earth, Ben let out such a cackle that Will had to wonder if such evil could exist in a mere mortal.
“Touching, but let’s not waste our breath on a harlot. We still have the matter of Will’s arrest and—” Ben blew on his nails in such an affected gesture that Will wanted to punch him “—a wedding to arrange.”
Ben turned his gaze toward where Mary had crawled over to Rose. “Personally, I’ve had the younger sister, so I’d much rather the elder. But, my dear, you’ve turned into quite the shrew yourself. I suppose the question is, which one of you can I most tolerate as my bride?”
“You don’t honestly think you’re going to get away with this? Pastor Lassiter won’t allow it.”
Will took a step toward Ben, but Rusty pushed aside his coat, showing his guns. “The noose or my revolver. Don’t tempt me.”
He was serious. Just as serious as the look on Ben’s face.
“Here’s how I see it. We have a dead woman of no consequence. A man about to go to jail. A sheriff and his deputies who will testify to the truth of whatever I say. Which leaves me with two potential brides and a dandy who skipped out on his wedding night. Having made myself a reputation in gambling circles, I can safely say that marriage to one of these young ladies is a good bet.”
Another cackle twisted Ben’s face into an expression that bordered on demonic. “I have enough ladies here who can make sure that their tales of Jasper Jackson’s wedding night make anything he has to say sound like the ravings of a madman desperate to keep his
