Bucking Bronc Lodge 04(68)

“If you do,” Jordan continued in a gentle tone, “I’ll let everyone know what you did for him.”

“The whores had to die,” Dugan shouted, then waved the knife at his mother’s face. “They had to die for their sins.”

“Just release Timmy,” Jordan said. “You aren’t angry at him. It’s your mother that you’re mad at for how she treated you.”

Dugan slowly pivoted his head to look at her, then down at Timmy, whose face was pale, his eyes huge in his little face. “Please, mister,” Timmy said. “I wanna go home with my daddy.”

“See, Timmy has a father that cares about him, that will treat him right,” Jordan continued. “I know you wanted that all along, didn’t you, Robert? You wanted your daddy to come and rescue you from your mother and what she put you through.”

Dugan nodded, a tear slipping down his ruddy cheek. He had once looked polished and smug, but now he looked like a sick, crazed animal caught in a trap.

“Come here, Timmy.” Jordan eased closer and held out her hand. “Let him go, Robert, and you can be a savior, like the man you always wanted to save you.”

Dugan suddenly released Timmy, and Timmy ran toward Miles, but Dugan grabbed Jordan by the arm. Miles jerked Timmy behind him, then his gaze met Jordan’s. She gave a quick nod as if she’d read his mind and knew he was going to shoot.

A second later, Jordan ducked and he fired. The bullet slammed into Dugan’s chest. He looked shocked for a moment, then his hand flew to his chest where blood pooled, and he staggered back against the kitchen sink.

Jordan jerked away and raced toward him. Miles caught her, and she grabbed Timmy and cradled him against her, pulling him back toward the opened door.

The old woman muttered a string of profanity, berating Dugan and spilling hatred for her own son. “Got what you deserved,” she said, then broke into another terrible cough.

Dugan suddenly lunged toward Miles, but Miles fired another round, and Dugan slumped to the floor with an anguished cry at his mother’s feet.

She shoved his body away with her foot, and Dugan rolled over and looked up at her, blood seeping from his chest. “It was your fault,” he choked out. “All those women... I wanted to kill you instead.”

“Go to hell,” the old woman muttered. Then she turned her head toward Miles. “Untie me now.”

Miles glared at her, the disturbing inclination to let her rot for what she’d done to her son eating at him. She had started the chain of events that had led to so many senseless deaths, to Dugan’s sickness.

And to the fact that Miles had almost lost his son.

But he was a man of the law, and he knew he had to do the right thing. His son was watching, and he’d seen enough violence and evil in his lifetime. Miles wanted to be a man he would be proud of.

Then his son whispered his name, and Miles knew he had a second chance.

He would never let Timmy down again.


Five days later

JORDAN WATCHED THE special awards ceremony where the boys’ achievements over the past two weeks were acknowledged with a mixture of joy and sadness. Carlos, Justin, Wayling, Malcolm and Rory all received awards for bravery, and Timmy was awarded a special certificate for toughest cowboy on the horizon.

Two days ago, the press had run a story, complete with photographs of her, the kids and Miles, detailing the events that had led to Ables’s arrest and Dugan’s death. Miles had been the true hero though and was receiving a commendation from the governor for finally solving the Slasher case. Janet Bridges had also come forward and admitted that Dugan had hidden his dark side from her; she had found trophies of the victims, but run out of fear for her life.

Ables had been born when Dugan was a teen and the old woman had given him away, but he’d come looking for his family and thought he might find it with his brother.

Pride filled Jordan as Timmy stood up to speak in front of all the other kids. He had made tremendous strides in his progress since they had returned to the BBL. The nurturing hands of the workers, the other boys who talked more openly about their own struggles and Miles’s constant attention had turned him back into a happy child once again.

Not that he didn’t still grieve for his mother, but Jordan had helped him realize that talking about her was okay, that missing her was okay, that his mother would want him to be happy though, and that she was always with him.

She walked to her cabin, her heart aching. She had fallen hopelessly in love with Miles, but since their return, they hadn’t shared a private moment. Hadn’t talked about the night they’d made love.

In fact, an awkward chasm had fallen between them.