Kane answered back with two shots. Both were wild and close. One struck the ground inches from Blaze’s boot.
“Stop this!” the deputy shouted, voice trembling but steady enough to carry. “Lay down your weapons! Both of you!”
Kane spun. “You stay outta this, lawman!”
He fired once.
The deputy cried out and fell against the porch rail, clutching his shoulder. Blood spilled through his fingers, dark against his tan shirt.
“Hell,” Blaze muttered.
“Still wanna play lawman?” Kane called out. “Ain’t your badge worth dyin’ for?”
“Leave him be!” Blaze said.
He moved from cover, rolled behind a barrel, and fired again. Kane ducked half a second before Blaze’s bullet was anywhere near him.
“Always did like a good fight,” Kane said. “Your old man sure did too.”
“Don’t talk about him,” Blaze said.
“Why not?” Kane asked. “He was my kind of man. Took what he wanted. Never apologized for it.”
“You’re nothing like him,” Blaze replied.
Kane’s laugh turned to a snarl. “You don’t know him like I did.”
Blaze’s pulse thudded hard in his ears. The world had shrunk to the stretch of street between them. All the locals had scattered to avoid getting hit by a stray bullet. Marisol and Graycloud had abandoned their horses as soon as they realized it was quicker to get to safety on foot.
He had lost sight of them, but he knew they were nearby.
“Come on then,” Kane said. “Let’s see if the son’s got the grit the father never had.”
“You want me, come get me,” Blaze said.
He fired, the shot grazing Kane’s arm. Kane cursed and ducked behind a wagon. The boards cracked where the slug hit.
Blaze darted out and moved low. His boots slid through the dirt as he took cover behind a post. The deputy tried to push himself upright.
“Stay down,” Blaze said.
“I can’t. I gotta—”
“You’re bleeding,” Blaze cut him off. “Stay still.”
Deputy Miles nodded, panting through gritted teeth.
“You can’t hide forever, boy!” Kane shouted.
“Not hiding,” Blaze replied and waited.
The dust drifted. A hot wind stirred the hanging sign above the saloon, creaking like a clock counting down.
Then he saw it: a flash of movement behind the wagon. Kane’s boot.
Blaze lifted his revolver. Kane beat him to it.
Two shots thundered at once.
