Denton didn’t dare tell her anymore, only because the lie was getting deeper and deeper. The more he lied, the more he’d have to remember what he’d told her so that she wouldn’t suspect him of leading her astray.
“Well, it’s hard to say,” he began, but a split second later, a man ran into Courtney, knocking her to the ground. Denton stumbled himself since she had been holding his arm, but he kept upright. The man held a bulky leather bag against his chest. Covering the lower half of his face was a bandana.
Denton glanced toward the building the man was running from, just in time to see another man coming toward them, clutching a leather bag and wearing a matching bandana over the lower half of his face, too. Denton didn’t need to ask questions. He’d been catching criminals for too long not to know what was happening.
Immediately, he fisted his hand and punched the man in the face who had knocked Courtney to the ground. As the man grabbed his bloody nose, he dropped the leather bag. When it hit the ground, coins spilled out of it. Courtney gasped loudly, but Denton didn’t have time to see if she was all right. He quickly pulled out his pistol and pointed it toward the second man, who came to a sudden stop as his face lost color.
The man staring at him with angry eyes fumbled with his pistol, but because he was trying not to lose his money bag, the man was clumsy in his efforts. Using the toe of his boot, Denton kicked the gun out of the man’s hand. When it fell beside Courtney, she released a little cry.
“Pick up the gun,” Denton told her, “and point it at the man next to you.”
She lifted the gun with shaky hands and pointed it toward the first bank robber, still holding his nose as blood gushed over his fingers. Her arms shook, and Denton knew if it came down to her, she wouldn’t be able to shoot anyone in that frightened state.
Taking great caution, Denton reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “Drop the bag,” he told the man, “and assume the position. I’m sure you’ve been arrested before, so you will know that you can’t outrun me.”
The man’s glare darkened, and he hesitated to do as Denton asked. He would have problems with this one, he was sure. “I mean it,” he warned.
Immediately, the second man threw the money bag at Denton, but he was prepared and didn’t try to catch it. Instead, he kept the gun pointing at him. At that moment, the bank robber took his first step away from Denton, but he was prepared again and so jumped on the man, knocking him to the ground. He yanked the robber’s hands behind him and slapped the iron cuffs on.
As soon as he was satisfied that the robber wasn’t going anywhere, he quickly jumped up and moved to the first man, still howling over his broken nose. Denton quickly yanked the bandana off the man’s face and used that to tie his wrists together before rolling him next to his friend. By this time, a few people had gathered, especially those who were from the bank. Denton rested his gaze on the middle-aged man with white hair, wearing a crisp, clean suit of someone who works at the bank.
“Have someone fetch the sheriff,” Denton told the man, who then turned to a younger man and pointed toward the middle of town. Once the younger man took off running, the middle-aged man and two others started collecting the money spilled out of the bags.
Finally, knowing that everything was taken care of, he turned to Courtney. Two women had helped her to her feet, but Courtney’s white face told of her scare. Her gaze darted around at the people but mostly stayed on Denton. She held her folded arms against her trembling body.
Denton knew she’d ask about what had just happened... about what he’d done with the robbers. After all, most men don’t carry a pistol around, and they especially didn’t carry around handcuffs.
Inwardly, he groaned. It appeared that the truth would come out sooner than he’d wanted.
FIVE
AS THE SHOCK OF THEupheaval slowly wore off, Courtney’s mind began to work properly, taking her thoughts momentarily off her bruised rump. She pieced together everything that had happened – everything that Denton had done – and she still couldn’t believe it all. Had she really seen him hit the man in the face and break his nose? And could she have imagined him taking control over the second bank robber? Where had the handcuffs come from, andwhywas Denton carrying them in the first place?
Although she wanted to admire him for being a hero, things were not adding up. If Denton’s occupation was to set up livery stables, he might carry around a pistol. However, livery stable owners didnotcarry handcuffs. Only men who worked for the law carried handcuffs. Which meant...
Her heart sank as her chest tightened. Meeting Denton hadnotbeen an accident. In fact, she was willing to bet he wasn’t even related to Timothy Graham. Was Denton a sheriff or a deputy? Or... a bounty hunter?
