The Gallant Outlaw by Gilbert Morris

Author:Gilbert Morris
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781441270412
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2005-09-01T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Best-Laid Plans

Dawn had not yet come, but a thin, milky line of light had begun to appear in the east. The face of Lorenzo Dawkins was hidden under the shadow of the brim of his hat so that Lanie could only see his lips as he spoke. “I know you two don’t wanna shoot nobody, but we’ve gotta do whatever we can to make this work. Even if you can’t hit nothin’, you can let off a few rounds and make ’em think we’re an army.”

As the small group bunched around the marshal, they could feel the warm breeze of the coming morning. And yet, despite the warmth, both Lanie Winslow and Wesley Stone were chilled. Neither of them had slept that night, and one time Wesley had said to her, “Lanie, I don’t think you ought to do this. You’ll think about it the rest of your life.” She had shaken him off, but now, with the action upon her, she began to wonder if he had not been right.

As if discerning her thoughts, Dawkins gave her a penetrating look. “Missie, you sure you wanna go on with this? We can back off right now. Or, we can take you back, and me and Lobo can try to get at it another way.”

But Lanie knew that the “other way” would still involve shooting and killing. She was convinced from what she had heard of Vic Perrago that he would never give up Betsy without a fight. So she answered briefly, “No. I want Betsy back now.”

“All right then,” Dawkins said, and his voice grew hard as granite. “We’re gonna surround the house. Missie, you and Mr. Stone, take these here guns. If anything happens, fire off as fast as you can in the air. We’re gonna make ’em think they’re outnumbered.”

“I don’t want to have anything to do with it,” Wesley Stone said stubbornly. In the light breaking upon the landscape, he looked older and very scared. “I just don’t think I could kill another person.”

“You won’t be doing any killing,” Lobo shrugged. “Just pull that trigger. We won’t have any trouble with just two of ’em down there.”

“That’s right,” Dawkins agreed. “If anything happens and you see we’re in trouble, just shoot up in the air, like I tell you. Now, they’ll be comin’ out pretty soon. So, Lobo, let’s mosey on down and take up a position behind them rocks. Soon as the two men come out, we’ll pop ’em and this’ll all be over. You think we need to worry about Montoya?”

“Angela’s an old friend. I think we can leave her alone. What if the men come out one at a time?” Lobo asked, eyes roving over the layout.

Dawkins shook his head. “No good. Only chance we’ve got is to get both of ’em away from the girl. Best thing is gonna be to get ’em both at once. They’ll have to come out together sooner or later.”

“Well, everybody keep still and quiet then ’til that happens,” Lobo ordered.

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