Read Online The Gunslinger by Lorraine Heath - Free Book Online Page B

fella today.”
    â€œThat’s what they say.”
    She stared at him, comprehension slowly dawning. “ They say you’ve killed twenty-six men. They say you’re fast. They say you always work for the best offer. But you don’t say.” She angled her head thoughtfully. “How many have you killed?”
    â€œBefore I came to Lonesome?”
    She nodded, wondering whether to welcome or dread the truth, if it was what she suspected or far worse than anything she could imagine.
    â€œEight.”
    Relief swamped her, washing away the tension that had mounted while she’d waited for his answer. He had killed, but not to the degree she’d believed. “Tell me about the woman in Dripping Springs. The one who paid you a pig.”
    â€œTwo pigs. She paid me two pigs to make her neighbor think twice before trampling his herd through her garden.”
    â€œHow did you stop him?”
    â€œPaid him a visit, told him she was under my protection and that I’d take it kindly if he’d keep his cattle on his land. He obliged by putting up a fence.”
    She laughed lightly. “You’re not as tough as you pretend to be.”
    He narrowed his eyes into silver slits. “I’m tough, lady. Never make the mistake of thinking I’m not. I’ve been on my own since I was fourteen.”
    â€œWhat happened when you were fourteen?”
    He hesitated.
    â€œAre you afraid to tell me?” she goaded. “Afraid I might realize you aren’t so tough?”
    She saw a muscle in his jaw clench.
    â€œI went hunting . . . with my brother. James was four years older than I was. It’s been ten years, but I can see him clearly—like he was standing in front of me. We lived in Palo Pinto. Lot of renegades and outlaws causing trouble back then.” A far-off look came over his expression, as though his mind were traveling back to an earlier time, a different yet familiar place. “We separated, thinking we’d have better luck finding game. Then I heard him scream.” Anguish reshaped the lines of his face. “By my count close to two dozen renegades had taken him by surprise. They were torturing him, and his screams for mercy were echoing around me. I couldn’t save him.”
    Compassion swelled in her for the child who had witnessed his brother’s anguish. It had nearly torn her heart in two to see Toby hurt when they’d been attacked in town. She couldn’t fathom how Chance must have suffered hearing his brother’s screams. “What did you do?”
    As though catapulted from the past, he snapped his icy gaze to her. “I killed him. One bullet between the eyes. I’ve always been a damn good shot.”
    His words hit like a physical blow. The horror of what he’d done—not that he’d done it, but that he’d been left with no choice except to take his brother’s life in order to spare him the torment. How much courage it must have taken. How much love. How much regret. Tears welling in her eyes, she touched his arm, knowing it was far too late for comfort but needing to offer it anyway. “I can’t imagine how awful it must have been for you, but it was an act of mercy. I have no doubt that your brother was grateful to be spared further agony.”
    He laughed mirthlessly. “My parents didn’t see it that way. They kicked me out with nothing but the clothes on my back. According to them, I should have at least tried to save him instead of taking the coward’s way out.”
    They thought him a coward? Dear God, she thought he’d been more courageous than anyone had a right to be. He had to have known the demons that would haunt him after he pulled the trigger, yet he’d done it anyway. He had to have known the doubts and regrets that would dog him.
    â€œWhat you did was an incredibly selfless act of love. Had you attempted to rescue him, you would have suffered