The Lawman's Redemption by Pam Crooks

Author:Pam Crooks [Crooks, Pam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-11-28T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Grace yelped in horror and scrambled to sit up.

“You’re no better than your mother, are you, Grace?” Boone taunted coldly. Feet spread, weapon pointed, he leveled her with a scathing stare. “A whore, just like she was.”

“Shut up,” Jack snapped.

If he was perplexed about why Boone would say such a thing, he didn’t show it. His fingers banded Grace’s wrist, and his body shielded hers as he slowly, carefully, stood up. She rose with him, her heart in her throat.

The insult about her mother burned and came perilously close to revealing why Boone knew Bess Reilly, but Grace had to think more of how precarious their situation had become. Jack intended to protect her, but he’d be powerless against a bullet.

Boone’s piercing black eyes latched onto Jack. The rifle jerked. “Take off the gunbelt. Throw it under the bed.”

“I want Grace out of here.” Jack made no move to obey the command. “She’s innocent of everything you’re involved in.”

“She’s dead if you don’t do what I tell you.”

“What do you want?” Still holding onto her, Jack unbuckled the holster with his free hand, each movement methodical. On edge. “You already have the library money, don’t you? Thousands of dollars in cash. What else could you want?”

He dropped the gunbelt to the floor. With the toe of his boot, he kicked it into the dark shadows of the bed frame. Grace swallowed at the loss of his only defense.

“I want Grace,” Boone said softly. “Hand her over to me.”

Jack’s fingers tightened over her wrist. “Go to hell.”

Boone lifted the rifle higher, to his shoulder, and leveled the barrel over Jack’s heart. “Do what I tell you, or you’ll die right here.”

Only a fool would refuse to believe every chilling word he said. It took every ounce of Grace’s dignity and pride to hide her fear and do what she could to prevent him from taking her. She was Bess Reilly’s daughter, and Boone had to know she could be as fearless as her mother had once been.

Grace angled her body in front of Jack’s, as far as he’d let her go. Boone studied her with those fierce black eyes, like he could eat her alive.

“You’ve changed, haven’t you, Alexandre?” she said, infusing calm into her voice. “A great deal, in fact.”

He jerked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You had me fooled at first. I almost didn’t recognize you.” She shook her head, feigning amazement. “Alexandre Thibault, isn’t it? Your real name?”

He went still. Very still.

“Perhaps you don’t remember.” Grace kept talking to keep her courage up, his defenses down. “We met some time ago. In Minneapolis. My friend, Allethaire—”

“You’re wrong.”

“—threw a party. You were there, as Charles Renner’s guest.”

His lip curled, showing a row of strong teeth. And one crooked eyetooth. “You’re talking stupidity, woman. Stop it.”

“You were quite handsome in your tuxedo, as I recall. You drank brandy that night and had all the ladies in a twitter over you.”

Above the collar of his fringed coat, his throat moved.

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