“In the tunnel.”
Cain grabbed Clyde’s lantern. “Stay with Nick. I’ll be right back.” He strode toward the tunnel entrance and disappeared inside.
Nick walked toward her. Clyde still lay on the ground, unconscious. She could see Nick had zip-tied the man’s hands behind his back.
“You’re bleeding,” Nick said, turning her face with his hand to survey the injury. He frowned. “It doesn’t look too bad, but Cain’s not going to like it.”
“I think I might have killed Bart.”
Nick’s jaw hardened. “Self-defense, sweetheart. There won’t be any charges.”
She swallowed. “I suppose I should feel something, but I don’t. I’m just glad it’s over. I really appreciate your helping Cain find me.”
Nick smiled. “He didn’t need me. If he’d had to, he would have turned over every rock in Yavapai County to find you.”
Her eyes burned. “Bart knew Cain would figure it out. He planned to kill him.”
“Thanks to you, that isn’t going to happen.”
She heard Cain’s voice then as he walked back out of the tunnel. “The bastard’s still breathing. He was just getting to his feet when I found him.” His knuckles were scraped and spotted with blood. “They’ll need a stretcher to get the sonofabitch out of there now.”
“He still got his balls?” Nick asked.
“I was tempted to even the score for Sun King. But I wasn’t sure Jenny would approve. Odds are he’ll live, but he’s not going to feel very good when he wakes up.”
“I’ll call the sheriff,” Nick said. “And an ambulance. With any luck, Bart will die on the way to the hospital.”
“Or in a prison cell,” Cain said darkly. He turned to Jenny and opened his arms. Jenny went into them and just hung on.
He frowned at the blood on the corner of her mouth, took out his handkerchief and gently wiped the trickle away.
“I should have finished the job you started,” he said.
“Let’s let the sheriff handle it,” Nick said. “You don’t need more trouble.”
Cain looked down at her, saw the abrasions on her hands and the side of her face. “I wish I’d killed him.”
Jenny said nothing.
Cain ran a hand over his jaw. “We should probably wait for the ambulance. Get you checked out when it arrives.”
“It’s mostly just scrapes and bruises. I want to go home, Cain.”
He kissed the top of her head, hesitated. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“All right, we’ll go home. Your place or mine? As long as you’re with me, it doesn’t matter.”
Jenny slid her arm around his waist and looked up at him. “Your place. I don’t want to face any more problems tonight.”
“You’re right. Tomorrow’s another day. Tonight we just take care of each other.”
Jenny leaned up and kissed his mouth. Cain loved her. He wasn’t a man who spoke rash words. If he said it, he meant it. And God knew, she loved him. She had never met anyone like him. She was sure she never would again.
Tomorrow they would talk things over, try to straighten out the rest of the problems they were facing.
Try to end the danger lurking at the Copper Star.
