Daisies In The Wind (42 page)

“No more talk.” Les Hart suddenly went tense
with readiness, his eyes razoring in on Steele once more. “Steele,
you never shoulda killed our brother.”

“We’ve been waiting a long time to git you,
and we’re not goin’ to wait a minute more,” Mustache growled. “I
jest wanted to see the look on your face and now ...”

“Watch out! Behind you!” Annabel shouted, her
arm lifting to point and instinctively the two men jerked
around.

At the same moment Roy Steele knocked her to
the ground.

Then the street exploded in a thunderous,
violent blur.

Gunshots rent the air, dust and smoke
billowed, blood erupted. Annabel, face down in the dust, heard
herself screaming.

She stopped at last, jamming a dirty fist
into her mouth and lifting her head to stare in disbelief at the
bloody tableau.

The Hart brothers sprawled dead in the alley.
At least one was dead, she amended, gulping down the sick nausea
that rose in her throat. The other still twitched in a grotesquely
horrible little dance. After what seemed like endless seconds, his
elbows and knees went still and the gurgling in his throat
stopped.

Roy Steele stood calmly, feet planted apart,
surveying the scene. He looked as cool and remote as a glacier. His
gaze flickered to her, his black eyes gleaming above the wisp of
blue smoke that curled upward from his Colt .45.

“I
told
you to run.”

* * * * * * * * *

Jill Gregory is a
New York Times
and
USA Today
best-selling author of more than thirty
historical and contemporary novels and has been honored with the
Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as with
back-to-back Reviewer’s Choice awards for Best Western Historical
Romance. Her books have been published in more than twenty-four
countries. Jill grew up in Chicago and received her bachelor of
arts degree in English from the University of Illinois. An animal
lover, Jill loves long walks, reading, hot tea on a winter’s day,
and the company of friends. She lives in Michigan with her husband,
and enjoys her home overlooking the woods where the deer, rabbits,
squirrels, and an occasional owl or hawk come out to play. Visit
Jill on the web at
www.jillgregory.net
.