Page 69 of Stolen Time
A warning Charles had made before. In that moment, though, Seth couldn’t help wondering if his brother was truly concerned about his physical well-being, or whether he simply wanted to avoid the kind of messiness that might draw the eyes of the authorities toward the McAllister clan.
Or maybe it was a little of both.
Devynn had been watching the back-and-forth, a bit like someone surveying a particularly intense volley session during a tennis match. Now, though, her arched brows pulled into a frown and she said, “I can wait here, or I can go with you, Seth. But I don’t want your brother to drive me back to Jerome.”
“A lovely display of trust,” Charles drawled, and her eyes narrowed further.
“I don’t think you’ve given me much of a reason to trust you,” she retorted, then went on before he could respond. “In fact, it’s pretty clear to me that you were the one involved in bootlegging, and now that you’re engaged, you want to fob it off on Seth. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Had anyone ever stood up to Charles like that before? Seth somehow doubted it. The women in their clan were no shrinking violets, but as the eldest son in his immediate family and the one who would have inherited the store if he hadn’t become Abigail’s consort, he also held a position of some respect in the McAllister clan.
“It doesn’t matter what I tell you,” he replied, his tone unconcerned, “since it’s fairly clear to me that you’ve already made up your mind on the subject. And if you think it better to stand here in this damp, chilly mine shaft for the greater part of two hours while my brother does the job he promised to do, so be it. You will not, however, accompany him to Prescott. He can’t spare the time. Understood?”
For a moment, Devynn only stood there, matching Charles stare for stare, hands placed on her hips. It wasn’t as if she relented, precisely, rather that she seemed to decide the matter wasn’t worth any further argument.
“Understood,” she replied. “But you don’t mind if I walk him to his truck, do you?”
“Not at all,” Charles said smoothly. “You can help carry the rest of the cargo to the vehicle. That way, we’ll make up some of the time we’ve lost bickering over this foolishness.”
Her mouth set, but she didn’t say anything, only marched over to the little alcove where the rest of the jugs he’d already prepared were waiting and scooped up several of them. Feeling resigned, Seth bent down to pick up the ones he’d originally been carrying when all of this started, and Charles did his part as well, going to retrieve his load of contraband.
They all headed out to the truck, which was now shrouded in true shadow, with the sun set well behind the mountain. Because of this, Seth didn’t even notice the tall shadow that stepped out from behind a concealing boulder before it was too late.
“Quite the party here, McAllister,” Lionel Allenby said, and Seth froze.
What the hell was he doing up here?
Charles startled — and then seemed to realize it was better to affect an attitude of unconcern, even as Devynn continued setting the jugs of moonshine on the floorboard in front of the truck’s passenger seat. Speaking quickly, he said, “My brother ismaking the new shipment as promised. Everything remains on schedule.”
“Does it?” Allenby returned, moving closer. He flicked a negligent glance at his wristwatch and added, “Because it seems to me as if you’re running a bit late.”
“I’m leaving right after this,” Seth said, knowing he needed to say whatever he could to salvage the situation, even as he prayed like hell that none of the tension gripping his body had found its way into his voice. “It’s a difference of fifteen minutes at the most. I can make that time up on the road.”
Lionel Allenby didn’t appear moved by that argument. His mouth flattened into an ugly line, and then he said, “It seems I was right in coming here to check on you tonight, since I didn’t believe you could handle two back-to-back shipments when one job was given to you at the last minute. I still wasn’t convinced by your brother’s argument that the transition would be seamless. He had a fire in his belly for this work, while you” —a contemptuous flare of his nostrils — “always seemed like the worst sort of Goody Two-Shoes. And to bring a woman into all this?”
Now finished with putting the moonshine in the truck, Devynn turned back around, her expression indignant. “He didn’t ‘bring’ me into anything,” she said. “I came here without him knowing, and I offered to help to get things back on track.”
The sneer never left Allenby’s face. “How very Christian of you,” he replied. “But you see, you’ve only proven how careless he is, if you could sneak up on him without him even noticing. We can’t afford to have that sort of sloppiness in our operation.”
“It won’t happen again,” Seth cut in. He definitely didn’t like the way Lionel Allenby was looking at Devynn — not with desire, but with the expression of a man who needed to rid himself of an unexpected complication.
“Oh, I know it won’t happen,” Allenby replied. With one hand, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pearl-handled revolver.
Devynn released a startled gasp, although she didn’t move, and Charles said hurriedly, “There’s no need for this, Allenby. They’ll keep their mouths shut.”
“Yes, they will. What’s that old saying? Dead men tell no tales? I suppose that goes for women as well.”
The sound of the pistol going off was much louder than Seth had expected. Devynn cried out, hands going to cover the splotch of blood on her midsection, a stain that spread even as he watched with horrified eyes.
“You bastard!” he bellowed.
His first instinct was to run to the man and tear the pistol from his grasp, but Charles was much closer. One hand went up and hit Allenby solidly in the jaw, and the man staggered backward. He fired again, but this time, the bullet went wild, ricocheting off the rocky hillside above them rather than finding its target.
And then Charles got hold of the pistol and flung it off the cliff before battering his opponent with more blows, sending him to his knees.
All this happened in what felt like a single flash of a moment, both men moving almost too quickly for Seth’s mind to grasp, and at the same time, feeling like a still frame rather than real life.
But he realized Devynn had sunk to the ground, her breath coming in shallow pants, and he hurried over to her so he could pull her into his arms.