“Things are different than they were back then,” Melanie replied dismissively, a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth. “Peter told me to come get you and for both of us to return for backup. I am a female deputy now, or at least an honorary one. I am coming with, and I will hear no arguments about it.”
Chris’ expression was a mixture of disbelief and confusion, but she could also tell that he was impressed by the twinkling in his eyes. “If you managed to get that old bear to agree to something like that, then who am I to argue with you? Let’s get going; we’ve already wasted enough time.”
They ran together back in the direction of Johnny’s home, Melanie doing her best to ignore the stitch that soon formed in her side from all of the running. She silently reminded herself that she would need to become a little more active in her daily lifestyle after this. The feeling of being winded was one that she did not particularly enjoy. She could see some of the other men milling around the front gate to the Carrington estate, the others mysteriously absent from view.
John was one of the men standing near the gate, and he raised his hand in greeting. “About time that you two caught up. Let’s get going. One of my other deputies already heard a shot being fired.”
“What are we standing around for? That maniac Johnny could have shot Darwin. We need to get back there and help him,” Melanie protested. “Our hesitating is going to get someone killed.”
“We only just got here!” Chris protested.
“Those men don’t seem to have those kinds of qualms. They are assaulting Darwin and are about to kill both him and Peter. Doesn’t that take just a little bit more importance?” Melanie said, trying hard not to shout. “You need to stop lollygagging and act like men!”
John grinned widely at that. “I told Iris there was a reason that I liked her. You had best listen to her before she goes off and does something crazy.”
Chris shook his head. “What should we do?”
“If we don’t do something now, we’ll have both Peter and Darwin’s blood on our hands. I don’t know about you, but I’d like not to have either!” Melanie spat, rounding on one of the men nearby who was carrying a hunting rifle. “Is that loaded?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the bearded deputy replied, holding it up to the light in front of her. “I got a spare revolver on me if you want it. I can get it loaded if you give me a couple of minutes.”
“No time for that!” Melanie replied, wrenching the rifle firmly from the surprised man’s grip before he had a chance to gather himself. She raced around the house as quickly as her worn shoes would allow. She nearly slid on the slick patches of mud on the ground near the corner of the house, holding in a soft grunt as she slammed into a nearby wooden post, turning herself at the last moment so her back slammed into it instead of the rifle in her hands.
She kept a firm grip on the weapon in her hand as she rounded the corner of the house and saw Peter slam his fist into Johnny’s face, sending the other man staggering. Darwin had managed to push himself away from Johnny, but the boy was limping badly. She felt a surge of righteous anger well up inside of her, the words of her father echoing in her mind. If you are going to fire a gun at a person, let it be the absolute last option. When all other options have been exhausted and the lives of those precious to you are on the line, you will find your inner peace in that moment. Then, when you take that shot, your aim will be true.
Melanie hefted the rifle so that she could line her vision up with the sights of the gun. As she leveled the gun so that it was pointed at Johnny, she had a moment of hesitation. If she took this shot and accidentally hit Peter, she would never be able to forgive herself. If she aimed a little higher than she wanted to hit, perhaps the additional compensation would help her accomplish what she needed. Straining to raise the relatively heavy gun into position, Melanie aimed for right above Johnny’s hat and let out a shot, the gun slamming back into her shoulder from the recoil.
Johnny’s hat suddenly flew back from the top of his head, and the crack of the rifle was still echoing in the air. The effect it had was exacerbated tenfold by the sudden shouting of Chris and the other men as they began rushing around the opposite side of the house. She ducked to the side and crouched down right before she saw the group of men race past her, biting her bottom lip to prevent herself from laughing. She was rather proud that she had managed to hit Johnny’s hat, even if it wasn’t the real target she’d wanted to hit.
She could have left the rest to Chris and the others, but she hadn’t been raised as a coward. Ignoring the mud that now covered her dress, Melanie moved around the back of the house and found Peter standing over Johnny, while Darwin had scurried over to rest against the back of the house. She moved over next to him, ignoring the look of surprise on his face at the sight of the rifle in her hand. “Darwin, are you okay? I’m so sorry that we didn’t get here sooner.”
“You got here pretty quickly, all things considered,” Darwin wheezed faintly, clutching his stomach. One of his eyes was swollen shut and black, and his face was covered in a series of cuts and ugly purple bruises in the shape of knuckles from where he’d been struck over and over. “I couldn’t believe that Peter came here all by himself.”
“I can’t believe that you agreed to come with Johnny,” Melanie scolded. “You should have known that he would come for you. Why didn’t you let Peter and I help? Don’t try to say you were trying to keep us out of it, because that was a futile endeavor from the start. These men are actively targeting Peter, and for whatever reason, you decided you were going to tag along in all of it.”
“Peter needed a man on the inside who could find out about these things before they happened. That way, he could keep the real big things under control. I tried to warn you and him countless times, but I couldn’t be obvious about it in front of Lawrence because he would have just come back and told Johnny about it. Just like I assumed happened this time,” Darwin spat, anger etched on his face.
“There is no time for that now. We need to try and help Peter with Johnny. That revolver of his can hold four shots, and I don’t think that he’s fired any of them yet. That means until we’ve gotten him subdued, he’ll continue to be a danger to all of us,” Melanie commanded, hefting the rifle defensively in front of her as she centered her sights on Johnny once again.
Chris came out of nowhere from behind her and dragged her and Darwin back around the side of the house right before three back-to-back shots cracked through the air like lightning. Melanie’s grip on the rifle slackened as she was pulled off balance, dropping it to the ground before she whirled on Chris. “Are you out of your mind? I can’t afford to lose that rifle; it doesn’t even belong to me,” she huffed. “And what about Peter?”
“I’ll grab the rifle, and Peter is dealing with Carrington right now. Besides, I think you’ve done enough, you crazy spitfire,” Chris replied, holding up his hand to stop the stream of protests that Melanie was about to give him. “Please, just do this for me. You want to be a team player, so let’s follow the leader for now. We are fortunate that you didn’t kill Johnny just now.”
Chapter 24
As the hat fell to the ground and various men around him scrambled for cover, Johnny tried desperately to center his men again but was drowned out by their cries and shouts of fear. Peter capitalized on Johnny’s distraction, his eyes centered on the revolver still held in his hands.
The two men fell to the ground together with Peter on top of Johnny, the men rolling around while Peter tried to wrestle the revolver out of Johnny’s hand. One wrong move could result in his untimely demise, so Peter was doing his best not to let Johnny get the upper hand. He pulled back his fist as best as he could and launched a punch toward Johnny’s jaw, striking the man in the chin. Johnny responded in kind by smacking Peter across the face with his revolver, a small cut appearing on his cheek.
His face stung, but he didn’t allow it to distract him. He could feel that familiar old bloodlust trying to rise ins
ide of him as he gazed down at the man who had single-handedly made his life hell for the last few months. It was enough to make him want to beat Johnny within an inch of his life, but Peter knew that wasn’t the kind of thing a sheriff could do. He had to do things a little more cleanly or risk being accused of abusing his power. He could already see how Johnny might be able to spin the tale of what happened tonight to make it sound bad for Peter, but there was nothing he could really do about that now.
He just had to hope that whatever judge that oversaw Johnny’s case could understand the circumstances that had brought this situation on him. He hadn’t asked for Johnny to bring trouble to the town, but he was sure ready to punish him for doing so. His inner outlaw was telling him to deal with the man once and for all, and that sparing him would only allow Johnny to try more mischief. Even as he stared down at Johnny, Peter could still see the gleam of hatred in the man’s eyes. Peter might have managed to temporarily pin down the hand that held the revolver, but that meant Johnny was still dangerous.
Johnny caught him off guard with a sudden left hook, knocking Peter back just enough that he lost grip of Johnny’s hand. He took advantage of Peter’s sudden unbalance to level his revolver toward Peter’s chest, his thumb pulling back the hammer. Peter dove forward and grabbed the gun from the side, turning it away just in time before Johnny squeezed the trigger, firing off another shot.
Peter grit his teeth as the sound of gunfire cracked through the air, his ears ringing. His vision blurred for an instant, forcing him to squeeze his eyes closed. He forced them back open a moment later, just in time to feel Johnny slam his fist into his jaw once again. “Curse you, you filthy outlaw. You may have fooled everybody else, but I know you are still the same garbage human that Michael brought here in chains.”
“You are wrong, Johnny. I was a handful back in my old days, but that isn’t who I am anymore. It isn’t who I want to be anymore. You have just been so absorbed in your bitterness that you can’t see the goodness in me,” Peter snarled, looking down at him. “You tried to kill me just now. Do you know what the penalty for trying to kill an officer of the law is? You messed up big time tonight, Johnny. I’ll make sure that you sit in that cell for a long time, whether you have the money to bail yourself out or not.”
“Don’t think for an instant that this is over or that you’ve won, Matherson. I am going to have the last laugh, you mark my words,” Johnny snarled in return, still struggling beneath Peter to throw him off. “I’ll spend every moment making sure that you don’t spend a second in peace. I’ll run you ragged until you can’t even think straight, and I’ll be the dagger in the dark that you have to worry about stabbing your back at any moment. You’ll never know who is friend or foe, balking at even your closest friends until you are left in isolation.”
“That sounds like a very thought out plan you’ve created, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to reject that offer. You are going to sit in jail until I get you in front of a judge, and then I’m going to bring my witnesses in to testify in front of you, and we’ll see if you don’t end up fashioned with one of those lovely rope neckties you seem so eager to give me,” Peter replied, seeing the fear pass momentarily in Johnny’s eyes before he raised his hand to fire off another shot, this one whizzing past him to slam into the back of Johnny’s own house.
“Get off me! You can’t treat me like this. I’ll see to it that I have your badge for this!” Johnny cried out, firing one last shot into the air before Peter finally had enough and slammed his fist directly into Johnny’s temple. Taking advantage of having temporarily stunned the man beneath him, Peter wrenched the gun away from Johnny’s grasp and hurled it to the side. The sound of the weapon dropping into a rainwater-filled barrel brought the tiniest of smiles to his lips.
“I’m afraid that when I’m dealing with a criminal who is trying to resist arrest, I can deal with you however I want to so long as I don’t permanently injure you and I don’t maim you. Even then, accidents can happen during an altercation that a lawman like me couldn’t be held responsible for,” Peter whispered warningly. “As a former lawman, you should know that.”
“Former? I will always be a lawman, whether you decided to force me out of the sheriff’s office or not. You think that you hold more sway in this town than me? I’ll be laughing when I manage to get out of jail within a few days, and you can bet that I will start my plans right back up again when that happens,” Johnny snarled, his struggling starting to grow weaker as his energy finally began to fade.
“I will be right here waiting for when that time comes, Johnny. I’ll always be ready to sniff out your crimes whenever you scheme them,” Peter said.
“We’ll see about that, Matherson,” Johnny replied in disbelief. “We’ll see who has the last laugh.”
Slamming his fist into Johnny’s temple, Peter watched as the man that had caused him so much grief up until now slumped unconscious to the ground. The sheriff pushed himself to his feet, panting from exertion as he spit blood from the side of his mouth. He could feel that one of his teeth had been knocked out in the altercation, his tongue running over the newly created gap.
He saw a blur from out of the corner of his eye and braced himself right before Darwin slammed into him from the side. The young boy was babbling an apology, his eyes gazing up at Peter with more awe than he’d ever seen Darwin show him before. He rested his hand gently on the top of the boy’s head, relieved that he seemed to be alright for the most part. “We are going to need to get you patched up by the town doctor, Darwin. You look like hell.”
“You’re one to talk,” Melanie said with a laugh, appearing out of nowhere and hugging him on the opposite side. Peter felt his cheeks burn red in embarrassment, but he didn’t try to push them away. In all honesty, he was relieved to see them hale and hearty for the most part. “You had us all worried sick. Don’t you keep telling us not to play the hero?”
“I’m the one who is supposed to play the hero,” Peter replied, chuckling weakly. “I’ve told you that before, haven’t I?”
“I feel like I’ve heard it too many times already,” Melanie countered, smiling playfully. “Don’t you have any other gems of wisdom?”
Peter just laughed at that, feeling genuine relief flowing through his body. “Chris, get some rope and tie up Mr. Carrington. I want to be able to escort him personally to his new jail cell, just like I promised him. Melanie, can you take Darwin to Doc Brenner and get him patched up? I’ll be along once I’ve got things wrapped up here.”
“Okay, Peter. Just try not to take too long. You have quite a few bruises on your face. I wouldn’t mind you getting them checked out by a doctor,” Melanie said, gently taking Darwin by the arm and guiding him away as Chris rushed past Peter to bind Johnny. Peter took a deep, slow inhale, his heart rate gradually slowing back to normal. That had been a stupidly close call today.
Chapter 25
A good while later, when the sun had finally begun to sink out of view, Melanie and Peter were sitting together at the station. Darwin lay asleep on a nearby bench, his face and hands wrapped in cloth bandages. He’d managed to come out of the affair with some hefty bruising, but none of his bones seemed to be broken.
Peter grabbed them some dried jerky and bread to snack on, Melanie forcing herself to eat despite her lack of an appetite, watching the sheriff all the while. She was bursting with pride and wanted to ask Peter how he’d liked her accuracy, but part of her didn’t want to take all the credit for what had happened. Peter was the hero today, not her, but that didn’t stop her from slipping in a snide remark about it. “Thank goodness someone with decent aim took that shot at Johnny. I’m not sure what would have happened if you two had remained in your stalemate.”
She watched Peter’s eyes briefly widen in understanding, a deep chuckle erupting from his chest. “I should have known you were the one to take that shot. None of my other deputies could have managed that level of marksmanship no matter how lucky they were. You really
saved me today, Melanie.”
“Well, I couldn’t make myself a sitting duck after the earful that you gave me last time, so of course I had to come armed. Thank the man who runs the trading post next time you see him. I used his rifle to take the shot,” Melanie said, feeling bashful from his sudden praise. She wasn’t used to him being this nice to her, and it kind of worried her. “You feeling alright? Are you sure one of Johnny’s punches didn’t knock something loose in that head of yours?”
“I don’t think so, but who can know for certain,” Peter replied, shrugging. “I just know that I am glad that things can finally get back to normal around here. Maybe I’ll actually be able to have a full night of peaceful slumber when I lay my head down tonight. That would be fantastic.”
“You have certainly earned it. No one would begrudge you getting some well-deserved rest. You’ll need to stay on your guard,” Melanie said cautiously. “Someone could try to free him.”
“When you are right, you are right.” Peter nodded, his hand moving so he could gently pluck a fragment of a tooth from his mouth and drop it into the nearby wastebasket. “I guess I am just going to need to keep the keys to the jail out of the station at night. They can’t get through these bars with any tools they have at their disposal.”
A Bride to Melt the Sheriff’s Iron Heart Page 13