Jake dismounted and strode up to the melee, followed closely by Lloyd. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Jake’s here now, you sonofabitch!” Pepper growled at Clyde. “If you’d seen what he did to a man who insulted his wife, wait till you see what he does for insultin’ his daughter! She’s an angel if there ever was one who walked among us!”
“No woman who’s been had by that many men and is still getting herself pregnant is any angel!” Clyde retorted.
Lloyd charged past Jake. “You bastard!”
Jake rushed up to grab him. “You’re not healed enough to be getting into a fight!” he yelled, struggling to hang on to his arm. “One wrong blow, and you’ll be in trouble!”
“I’m healed enough to beat the shit out of anybody who’d say something like that about my sister!”
“Hold on, damn it! He wants this! Can’t you see it in his eyes?”
Clyde stopped his struggling, grinning. “You bet I want it! I’m wearin’ a gun, ain’t I?” Ronald Beck and Tucker stepped forward, all three men wearing guns. By then the three younger boys made it to the scene, stirring up dust as they stopped short, panting and sweating. Ben’s blond hair was plastered to his head with perspiration.
“You boys stay out of the way!” Jake ordered.
They scrambled over to the side, watching with great anticipation. Jake let go of Lloyd, who took a stance beside his father.
“What the hell do you three want?” Jake growled.
“You, Harkner.”
“You’ve been here nearly a month with no trouble,” Lloyd steamed. “Why now?”
“Been waitin’ for the right time,” Tucker answered. “Took a while to get up the courage, but we figure out of the three of us, one of us is bound to make a name for himself.”
Pepper jerked away from the men holding him. “Somebody’s gonna get hurt here today, and it ain’t gonna be Jake or Lloyd, you stupid sons of bitches!”
“I’ve been so involved with making sure Lloyd gets well and getting things back to normal, I didn’t pay enough attention to you three,” Jake thundered. “Who hired you?”
“Pepper did!” Clyde answered.
“That true, Pepper?” Jake asked.
A disgruntled Pepper stood there with fists clenched. “I’m sorry, Jake. I thought they were okay.”
“Where did you find them?” Lloyd asked.
Pepper looked away. “Shit,” he mumbled. He swallowed before answering. “Gretta’s place.”
Jake grinned, surprising Lloyd. “Pepper, you should know better. I know firsthand that when you’re drinking and cavorting with whores, you don’t exactly make the best decisions.” He backed up a little, keeping his eyes on all three opponents as he reached out and grasped Lloyd’s arm. “Step over a little, Son. You keep your eyes on Tucker. The other two are mine.”
The three men straightened. “You’re gettin’ old, Harkner, and your son still ain’t completely well.”
“I’m well enough, you worthless snake!”
“They insulted Evie on purpose, Lloyd,” Jake told him. “It was just a way to get us out here.”
“Sure it was,” Ronald Beck sneered. “But it’s goddamn true. Who’s ever gonna know your granddaughter ain’t the child of a rapist?”
“I know, because she was carrying when they took her,” Jake answered, his smile gone. “And every man here goddamn well knows it, too! They also know that if a man insults a Harkner woman, he’d better already have his tombstone engraved.”
“You just narrowly missed getting hanged back in Denver, Harkner! You’d best think twice about killin’ any of us,” Tucker told him, moving his hand toward a gun. “You’ll end up in a noose. That gives us an advantage.”
“You’re the ones who decided on this,” Lloyd told them. “And you aren’t facing just my father. I might still be a little weak, but my gun hand is just fine!”
The three men braced their feet and put on looks of bravery, but Jake saw right through them. “They’re scared shitless, Lloyd.”
“They should be scared shitless!” Lloyd scanned them. “If I were you, I’d be pissing my pants right about now. Do you realize who you’ve called out? What in God’s name made you think you could take Jake Harkner?”
Clyde kept moving his hands into fists and opening them again, sweat stains beginning to show under his arms. “We’ve talked a lot about it,” he answered. “The name it would get us is worth the risk.”