Taking a deep breath—there’s no going back now, Rollins—he let her weapon dangle from his finger by the trigger guard. Holding it out to her as a peace offering, he said enticingly, “That’s what I’m hoping you’ll help me figure out.”
She took a hesitant step forward. She eyed him like a mouse watching a snake when she lifted a hand toward the weapon he offered.
“Take it,” he said softly. “It’s yours.”
In a flash, she snatched the weapon and spun it around so that the deadly hollow eye aimed center mass. She was smarter than she’d been before. This time, she kept more than an arm’s length of distance between them.
“Why should I believe anything you say?” Her nostrils flared. “You had no problem lying to me this morning.”
He watched her closely for the span of a dozen heartbeats. Noted the lovely way her breasts stretched tight the top button on her blouse. And decided he would give it to her straight and risk pissing her off further because he needed her to know. Needed her to realize this one fundamental truth.
“Now’s probably not the time to split hairs.” He shrugged. “But I never lied to you.”
“The hell you didn’t.” Her grip on the pistol was rock steady.
“You asked me when Knox called me the last time,” he explained, keeping his tone even. “I told you the truth when I said it’d been months since I talked to him on the phone.”
“You’re playing the semantics game with me?” Her jaw sawed back and forth. “Seriously?”
“I’m hoping to make you understand that, yes, I may have taken advantage of your wording and answered in a way that, while truthful, was also misleading. But, Julia…” Her lips parted oh-so-delicately when he said her name. “I neverliedto you. Iwillnever lie to you. That’s a promise.”
Her mouth snapped shut as she narrowed her eyes.
“It’s the truth,” he said simply. “But regardless of whether or not you believe me, the way I see it, you have two choices. You can arrest me, hold me, and miss out on the chance to figure out the truth about my brother. Or you can trust me, come with me, and help me blow this entire case wide open.”
He reached for the sidearm concealed beneath his jacket to sweeten the deal.
“Iwillshoot you,” she warned, instinctively putting more distance between them.
He lifted his hands, palm out. “You certainly weren’t of a mind to do that when you pressed that there bang stick against the back of my head.” He hitched his chin toward the gun in her hand. When she frowned, he clarified. “Your finger wasn’t even on the trigger. If ithadbeen, your lovely little digit would be pointing ninety degrees in the wrong direction.”
Why did he feel so smug about that? About knowing shehadn’twanted to kill him?
“Yeah, well.” She snorted. “I learned my lesson. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“If you humor me, I’m about to give you a second weapon that you can use to end me,” he assured her. “You know, if you decide you’re of a mind to.”
The creak of the barn’s siding sounded particularly loud as she watched him, debating. Then, she nodded. “Pull your jacket wide so I can see your every move.”
It was too dark for her to see hiseverymove. But he refrained from pointing that out. Instead, he used one hand to pull the flap of his jacket wide, revealing his shoulder holster and the Berretta M9 it held.
Using only his thumb and forefinger, he carefully unsnapped the safety strap and slowly pulled out the sidearm that had seen him through the Black Knights’s hairiest missions.
This is my gun. There are many like it. But this one is mine.
The rifleman’s creed shouted through his head—that iconic little ditty made famous by the Marines. It went against the grain, every soldier’s instinct, to give up his weapon. But the situation called for a sacrifice. And for Julia’s sake, he was happy to make it.
Holding the butt of the gun gingerly between two fingers, he offered it to her.
Her gaze flicked from his pistol to his face. Hehatedthe distrust he saw in her eyes. Hated that he’d given her any reason to think he’d double-cross her. And he wasn’t surprised when she snatched the weapon from his grip only to point it straight at his chest.
Now he hadtwopistols aimed center mass.
Lucky me.
“It has an ambidextrous external safety lever,” he explained calmly. “So you can disengage it from either side.”
“Iama trained agent,” she snarled. “I know how to use a handgun.”
