“LEFTY” UNGER’S EYE twitched. He seemed torn between scratching it or reaching for the .45 on his hip. Either move would get him killed. There was a hundred-dollar bounty on his head and Anna’s sight lined up square on his chest.
Hot wind sliced across the desert. Unger must’ve thought traveling over solid rock would obscure his tracks, but he’d never been hunted by Anna before. His little campsite was littered with the gear he was shedding for the next stretch. Standing a few yards away from them, his exhausted horse didn’t even have the energy to run away, its reins dangling on the ground.
Footsteps scraped nearby. Someone approached. Unger smiled, his teeth as jagged as the stone outcroppings around them.
She didn’t move the sight from his chest. “You got nothing to smile about, Unger. Unless you’re looking forward to facing a judge.”
The footsteps neared.
Unger let out a ragged laugh. “No law’s dropping a gavel on me.” He glanced to where the footsteps were coming from. His smile dropped when he saw who it was.
Jack stepped from the shadows of the rocks, pushing a crestfallen man before him with the barrel of his pistol. “Either a gavel or a hammer. One of them’s getting dropped on you.”
“Damn it, Theo.” The twitch sped up in Unger’s eye.
Theo whimpered, “But it’s … it’s Jack Hawkins.”
Jack added, “And Anna Blue.”
The twitch stopped altogether. Unger went still as death. Very slowly, he unbuckled his gun belt and let it fall to the ground.
She allowed herself a little smile for Jack. “It’s so nice when they behave.”
He pushed Theo toward Unger, then nudged a coil of rope with his boot. “Tie him up.”
“With all this rope?” Theo held up more than a hundred feet.
Jack raised his right hand, flashing the metal in the sun. With a quick twist of his wrist, Jack snapped a four-inch blade from between the iron knuckles. Theo flinched and Jack grinned with menace. He slashed out, cutting two lengths of rope. The terrified man collected them and tied up his partner in crime.
Flicking the blade back into his hand, Jack moved to stand next to Anna. “Never get tired of Song’s addition.”
They’d hunted down at least a dozen bounties since rescuing the doctor and sending the Man O’ War to whatever hell was reserved for those half-men/half-machines. She and Jack lived well together, with quiet understanding. In a gunfight, they covered each other’s backs. On the trail, they moved with the efficiency of a single predator. And when they were alone, they delighted in discovering new ways to pleasure each other. All the while, their trust increased, bonding them closer. Their intimacy was held strong by emotions neither knew the words for.
Jack fished in his inside vest pocket, pulling out an envelope.
“Another telegram for a bounty?” She couldn’t quite see the contents as he fiddled with it.
He shook his head and pulled two cards, covered with fancy engravings. “A night off.”
Some of the writing looked Italian. It didn’t make sense.
“Opera tickets.” He held them still so she could see. “San Francisco. Back row, of course, so there’s no one behind us.”
Even in the punishing sun she felt a quick chill, a ghost of her old life in the shadows. But it passed, and she warmed with Jack so close to her. “Thank you.”
The criminal was done tying up his partner and sat down on the ground, waiting for his next instructions.
Jack came close, planted a kiss on her cheek before whispering, “Thank you. Thought I’d seen it all until I found you, Anna Blue.”
She leaned into him, feeling his strength, and how they both held each other up. “You brought me a whole new world.”
He pocketed the tickets and put his hand around her hip. They still faced their bounty, guns drawn. As it should be.
But his voice was just for her. “You and me, together. We go anywhere we want.”