“I’m not here for a show.”
“No?” Kane tilted his head. “Then what’re you here for, Blaze? Justice? Revenge? You already got that out there in the hills, didn’t you?”
Blaze’s jaw tightened. “Where is she?”
“She’s safe,” Kane said. “I never laid a hand on her that’d last. Things got...mixed up.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Blaze said.
“I ain’t,” Kane said, his voice sharp now. “You think you’re better than me, boy? You think shootin’ Wilder made you clean? You don’t even know who you are.”
Blaze’s eyes narrowed. “I know enough.”
His heart was hammering in his chest. Every now and then, Blaze glanced in a different direction in hopes of catching a glimpse of his sister.
She must have been here. Surely, she was still here.
Kane stepped closer, boots leaving prints in the dust. “Do you?” he asked. “Your old man wasn’t no saint. He was one of us. A thief, a liar. You got that blood in you same as me.”
Blaze didn’t move. “Maybe. But I got to choose what kind of man I’d be.”
“You sound just like him,” Kane replied with a scoff. “That’s what he said before he ran off with Wilder’s share. You think he was righteous? He just stole from the wrong people. You’re walking in his shadow and don’t even see it.”
“Then I’ll walk my own path,” Blaze said quietly.
“Your own path?” Kane laughed bitterly. “That’s rich. You think the world cares about right and wrong? You think a gun and a few kind words make a man decent? Look around you.”
Blaze’s eyes swept the street. The townsfolk were watching from doorways and porches. Their faces were lined with fear, hope, and dust. That was when he saw her. Rachel.
She stood near the church steps with her hands pressed to her mouth.
Something in his chest eased. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“I see people who’ve had enough of men like you,” Blaze said, turning back to Kane.
“People,” Kane scoffed. “They follow whoever’s loudest. Today it’s you, tomorrow it’s someone else. You’ll learn that when they turn on you too.”
Blaze took one slow step forward. “I’m not here to argue, Kane.”
“No,” Kane said, his voice low. “You’re here to kill me.”
“I’m here to stop you,” Blaze replied.
“Same thing,” he said.
Silence stretched between them. Wind moved down the street, stirring the dust around their boots.
“You could walk away,” Blaze said. “You could leave this town, start over somewhere else. Nobody has to die today.”
Kane looked at him. For a second, something like doubt flickered there. Then it was gone.
“You sound just like your father,” Kane said softly. “He said the same thing when Wilder caught him stealing the gold. Tried to talk his way out.”
Blaze’s voice stayed steady. “I’m not him.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Kane said and smiled thinly. “He had guts enough to run. You...you just stand still and wait to die.”
“Back down,” Blaze said.
