TY WATCHED, POWERLESS TO HELP his wife who seemed paralyzed by fear, and unable move.

Walker pushed the gun against Rafe’s temple. “You think I won’t do it?”

“Don’t hurt him! Please! I - I’ll do it. Just don’t hurt him.”

“Just because you get the document back won’t end your troubles.” Ty stalled for time, feverishly working to loosen the rope around his wrist.

“Ah, but then it will be my word against yours that it ever existed.” He actually smiled. “Rafe never saw it. Leo heard him say so. And Emma, well, she didn’t want to know what it said.” He chuckled at her surprised expression. “You’d be surprised how easy it is find out things around here. Leo, go with her.”

The young cowboy looked at Ty and winked. “I’ll take real good care of your purty little wife.”

Emma nervously licked her lips, then looked at him. The fear he read in her eyes doubled the burning rage he held in check. Seeking to reassure her, he said with deliberate calm. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll carve his heart out for you.” He nodded toward Walker. “And help you stomp his sorry ass in the dirt.”

He saw the steel return and she lifted her chin. “Good.” She gave him a tremulous smile and left the room, Leo right behind.

Emma’s knees shook as she walked in front of Leo. I need to get that gun! She slowed her steps as they entered the office.

“Keep moving!” Leo pushed the barrel into her back.

When she reached the desk, she rested her hip against the edge, laying her hands loosely on either side. “Why, Leo? Why would you do this? I thought you cared for me?”

His face contorted, and he snapped, “I loved you!”

“I didn’t know.” She brought a hand up, and nervously fingered the top button of her shirt.

He followed each movement with his eyes.

“You never said anything, Leo. I didn’t know.”

He stiffened as though she struck him. “You knew.”

“No, I didn’t.” She fumbled with the button and it popped open. “If I had known, things could have been so different.”

His nostrils flared, and his gaze blazed amber fire. “I would have done anything for you.” He took a shuddering breath. “I hated him for putting you out there like some kind of prized heifer. What kind of father does that to his daughter?” He nodded. “I knew you hated it, too, so I had to do something.”

“What did you do?” Do I really want to know?

“He was supposed to die before we got back.”

His casual statement shook her to the core. “What did you do?”

He licked his lips and shuffled his feet, studying the patch of skin visible at the vee of her shirt. “A little arsenic. Just one dose, though. He was so weak that should have done him in quick.” He huffed out a breath. “Tough old buzzard.”

The lethal calmness in his eyes made her shiver.

“Then you had to go and marry him.”

He’s crazy! I have to keep him talking while I figure out a way out of this! “I had no choice, Leo!” She tried to sound desperate, “If you had just told me how you felt, I could have done things differently.”

“I hit him twice, he fell in the water and he still didn’t die.” He adjusted his grip on the gun. “He’s got a powerful urge to live.” He ogled her chest. “I wonder why?”

Emma’s heart pounded and her mouth went dry. She had to get that gun.

There was only one way.

She opened another button. “I can show you why, Leo. But not with a gun in your hand.”

He jerked and the weapon pointed down as he sucked in a breath.

“I never knew how much you cared for me, Leo, until now. You’re willing to kill for me.” She opened her shirt a fraction of an inch. “That’s pretty exciting.”

“I love you, Emma,” he whispered.

“Then show me.” She took a step toward him, eyes locked with his. “Put the gun down, and kiss me.”

Ty’s body throbbed with the sheer force of his anger. He struggled for calm, knowing he needed to keep a clear head.

He focused on Walker. “You don’t honestly think this will all just go away.”

He relaxed the pressure of the muzzle aimed at Rafe. “Of course it will.” He moved away slightly and faced Ty. “Like I said, it will be my word against yours.”

The fact that he didn’t mention Rafe confirmed what Ty already thought: he planned to kill them all. “I see what your plan was,” said Ty.

“Do you, now?” Walker pulled a cigar from his pocket, lowering the gun a little more as he struck a match on the rock mantle. “I’m all ears.”

“Your plan to marry Emma yourself fell through since she obviously has good taste.”

The other man’s tight mouth and narrowed eyes were the only indications Ty’s comments hit their mark.

“So you had Leo try to kill me.”

“No proof.”

“Leo is all the proof I need.”

“Providing he’s still around, of course.” Cold, dead eyes glared back at Ty.

“What would be gained by my death? Rafe would still be here.”

“Well, obviously, he wasn’t supposed to be.”

“You black-hearted son-of-a-bitch!” Rafe bellowed and tried to stand but was overcome by a coughing spell and dropped back into the chair.

Walker watched with dispassionate eyes as the old man struggled to regain his composure.

The ropes around Ty’s hands loosened a little more and the blood slowly began to circulate. “So, with me gone, and Rafe ill, it was only a matter of time before some accident took his life, leaving Emma with no one to turn to.”

“Such a shame to have that much fire and passion wasted on a man like you.” He blew a smoke ring. “But she will come around to my way of thinking. Eventually.”

“Will?” His blood ran cold.

“Did I say will?” He chuckled. “Of course, that plan is no longer viable.” His brow suddenly furrowed and he looked toward the hall. “What’s taking so long? They should have been back by now.” He looked at Rafe, then back to Ty as he edged closer to the door, relaxing when he heard footsteps.

The cigar fell from his mouth as Leo walked in, hands clasped over his head, Emma behind him with a .45 in his back.

Too late, Walker brought the barrel of his gun up and swung toward her.

One shot exploded in the tiny room and the lawyer screamed, grabbing his shattered wrist as the gun dropped to the floor.

Leo spun and found the barrel of Emma’s gun – his gun – pressed to his heart.

“Go ahead. Move. Please. I want you to.”

Ty looked down at his hands, surprised to find the ropes had dropped away. He stood and walked to Emma, nodding toward the gun she held pressed against Leo’s chest. “Want me to take that?”

“I’m good. You tie him up. You can get the ropes tighter than me.”

He grabbed Leo’s arm and shoved him toward the chair he just vacated.

When Wally and José rushed in a few minutes later, they found Ty and Emma in a passionate embrace, Rafe reading by the fireplace, and Leo and Walker trussed up like a Christmas turkey on the floor.

Emma lay pressed against Ty’s side, one leg resting on his, fingers smoothing over his chest. “So I just kinda let him think he could kiss me and when he got close enough, I took the gun from him.” She lifted a shoulder. “It wasn’t too difficult to do.” She was silent a moment then continued. “I wasn’t sure if you really told that deputy to send the sheriff out or not. I’m glad it wasn’t a bluff. I sure wasn’t looking forward to having to haul them to town.”

“Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”

“Papa taught me.” She sighed. “I just wish he’d spent a little time helping me learn woman stuff, too.”

His arms tightened and he kissed the top of her head. “You’re woman enough for me, Red. Don’t ever think otherwise.” A soft laugh rumbled through his chest. “Besides, if you were any more of a woman, you’d kill me.” His chest rose and fell on a heavy breath. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me.”

She pushed up on one elbow and glared at him. “What the hell does that mean? Of course you were there for me! When you said what you did about cutting out is heart, I knew no matter what, you wouldn’t let anything happen to me. That’s what gave me the courage to try such a risky stunt.”

When he smiled, she felt the full force of the sexual magnetism he exuded, and her breath caught.

He pulled her on top of him, strong hands caressing her back. “Can we make up now?”

His heart pounded slow and steady beneath her hand and she smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”