“Not if I shoot you first,” the man stated.
Chuckling, Lincoln replied, “Good luck with that. I am more than proficient at shooting a gun.”
“As am I.”
Lincoln gave him a look that implied he didn’t believe him. “Are you?”
“I am,” the man answered proudly. “I’ve killed many people over the years, and some never even saw it coming.”
“Did you kill Doris, then?” Lincoln asked.
Amey could feel the man turn his head to look at John. “Is that the woman you were crying about? The one I found wandering in the woods near here?”
John pursed his lips together. “You shouldn’t have killed her,” he insisted. “Doris was a nice woman.”
“She nearly found our hideout,” the man argued. “I needed to ensure her silence.”
“No!” John shouted. “You should have let her go free. The worst thing she could have done was report us to Sheriff Manley.”
“And I couldn’t let that happen,” the man stated.
“Why?”
“Because she saw my face.”
John shook his head. “No one knows who you are here, Billy Joe. I already told you that.”
Amey’s heart began racing at the mention of that name. It couldn’t possibly be the same Billy Joe that she’d been searching for, could it?
“Don’t say my name,” Billy Joe seethed.
John huffed. “It doesn’t matter. You deserve to go to jail for killing Doris.”
“No one is going to jail,” Billy Joe insisted.
Lincoln spoke up. “Either you will go to prison, or you will be dead. It’s your choice.”
“Aren’t you being a little too cocky?” Billy Joe questioned. “I’m the one holding a gun to your partner’s head.”
“It’s of little consequence,” Lincoln said.
Amey could feel Billy Joe turning his head back toward John. “I want you to pick up the woman’s gun, and shoot this man,” he ordered.
John’s brow shot up. “Are you crazy? I’m not going to shoot a Pinkerton agent.”
Billy Joe cursed under his breath before asking, “Are you both blasted Pinks?”
“We are,” Amey replied, seeing no reason to deny it.
Tightening his hold around her neck, Billy Joe shouted, “Pick up the gun, John!”
With a shake of his head, John replied, “I won’t do it.”
“You would refuse me, then?”
Straightening to his full height, John met his gaze. “Yes. I was wrong to help you dispose of Doris’s body—”
Billy Joe cut him off. “I told you to bury her deep in the woods, but instead, you took her to be discovered.”
“She needed a proper burial,” John argued.
“No, she needed to disappear.”
“Doris didn’t deserve to die,” John said, his voice hitching. “She was a good, kind woman.”
Billy Joe growled, “Don’t get soft on me, boy. We’re in this together.”
“No,” John declared. “You went too far when you killed Doris. I won’t go down with you.”
Amey had remained quiet long enough, but she had a few questions of her own. “Are you Billy Joe Campbell?” she asked, holding her breath.
She could feel Billy Joe tense before he answered, “I am.”
Just as she thought.
“You’ve been on the run for two years,” she began. “How did you end up in Longworth, Colorado?”
Billy Joe loosened the pressure of the gun against her temple. “Jonathon Croft is my cousin, twice removed. But that doesn’t seem to matter to him.”
“Why do you say that?” Amey asked.
Billy Joe let out a soft sigh. “When I showed up on his doorstep a little over a year and a half ago, he turned me away. He said he refused to house a criminal. So, I took up residence in his woods and bought the copper contraptions to make moonshine.”
Lincoln glanced over at John. “How did you get involved with Billy Joe?”
“I was setting traps and ran into him,” John shared. “We started talking, and he offered to give me twenty percent of the profits if I helped him make moonshine.” He looked forlorn. “It was easy money, and I was able to help out my family.”
“None of that matters,” Billy Joe barked. “If you don’t kill this agent, then we’ll both go to jail.”
John met his partner’s gaze. “I would rather go to jail then commit murder.”
Billy Joe turned his weapon toward John and shouted, “Do as I say, or I’ll kill you, too!”
“No!” John exclaimed. “I won’t do it.”
Amey heard Billy Joe cock his weapon, and she had no doubt that he’d act on his promise. She needed to create a diversion! She slowly lifted her foot up and slammed her heel back down onto Billy Joe’s weathered boot.
He howled in pain and loosened his grip around her neck. Amey took advantage of that and dropped down low, hoping that she’d given Lincoln a decent shot. A split second later, she heard Lincoln’s pistol discharge and felt Billy Joe fall to the ground.
She turned around and saw that Lincoln had shot the fugitive right between the eyes. His vacant eyes stared back up at her.
“Are you all right?” Lincoln asked from behind her.
She nodded automatically, not trusting her voice, not knowing what to say.
Lincoln placed his hand on her arm and turned her to face him. “I need to hear you say the words, Amey,” he said, his words filled with compassion.
She brought her gaze up to meet his. “I’m all right,” she replied. “I’m relieved that it’s finally over.”
“Yes, we successfully closed the case of Doris’s murder.”
Knowing he misunderstood her, she clarified, “What I mean is that Billy Joe has finally paid for killing my brother.”
“That he has,” Lincoln said, wrapping his arms around her. “He won’t be able to hurt anyone, ever again.”
She relaxed into his warm embrace. “Thank you for saving me.”
“I’ve never been so scared in my life,” he murmured into her hair.
“Truly?” she asked, looking up at him. “You’ve never been in a standoff before?”
Lincoln chuckled. “Oh, I have been in standoffs before.” He reached up to trace a finger over her temple, right where the gun had pressed into her skin. “But I’ve never had so much to lose.”
Unsure of his meaning, she continued to stare deep into his brown
