Kane’s hand hovered above his holster. “You really think you’re faster than me?”
“I don’t have to be faster,” Blaze said. “Just right.”
Kane’s mouth curved in something close to pity. “You’ve got his eyes, you know. That same fool’s look. Believing the world can still be good if you shoot enough bad men.”
Blaze stared at Kane. He tried not to think about how the same words sounded coming from Wilder.
“I’m done shooting bad men,” Blaze said. “I just need one more.”
That made Kane laugh. “Guess that makes two of us.”
Suddenly, a deputy edged out from behind a wagon with one hand raised.
Blaze recognized him. Deputy Miles. He had been working as a lawman for just a few months.
“Gentlemen,” he said nervously, “you don’t have to do this here. Let’s talk—”
“Stay back,” Blaze said.
Kane’s eyes never left Blaze’s. “You kill me, they’ll remember you as a murderer. You walk away, and you might get to be a hero. Either way, you lose.”
“Maybe,” Blaze said. “But at least Rachel wins.”
That stung. Kane’s jaw tightened, and his hand twitched once near the gun.
“Don’t,” Blaze said.
“Can’t help it,” Kane whispered. “It’s what men like us do.”
The two of them stood like statues in the street.
The whole town seemed to lean forward. They were waiting, listening for the first breath...the first twitch.
Rachel’s voice trembled from the church steps. “Blaze, please—”
Blaze didn’t move. His heart was steady now, calm as still water. He knew what he had to do.
“Guess your daddy taught you patience,” Kane said, grinning faintly.
“He did,” Blaze said. “Told me it wins gunfights.”
“Then let’s see if he was right,” Kane said, his fingers brushing the grip of his revolver.
The world went silent. And then everything happened at once.
Chapter 42
Gunfire split the air.
“Get down!” Blaze shouted to Marisol and Graycloud.
Bullets tore across the main street, smashing glass and chewing through wood, sending splinters raining down like shrapnel. The crack of Kane’s revolver echoed between the saloon and the general store. Blaze dove behind the trough, his hand already on his Colt.
“You think you can take me down?” Kane yelled. “You think you can waltz back here and play hero?”
“You lost the moment you started killing,” Blaze said.
He fired. The bullet clipped the corner of the saloon and sent a puff of dust into the air.
