to make a statement. Something to let everyone know they needed to fear him.
Dawson stood in the middle of the street, a hundred yards down, feet spread, hand inches from his gun,
A cold anger began to build deep in Luke’s gut. The trial had been fair and above board. He’d followed society’s rules to the letter. Yet, Felton couldn’t accept the town’s judgment. No. He thought he and his family was above it all. That they deserved to be treated special like.
As he marched up the street people rushed to get away from the fight they knew was coming. From the corner of his eye, he saw Seaver closing the shutters over his new plate glass windows. The man had to send all the way to San Francisco for them and was terrified of a stray bullet shattering them.
Further up the street, behind Dawson, cowboys were untying their horses from the hitching post and pulling them around back of the saloon.
Dawson seemed oblivious of all the chaos. Standing there straight and steady, in the center of the street, his fingers twitching, ready to draw.
Luke bit back an angry snarl as the fury overtook him. This man didn’t care about the ruin he was about to create. To him, it was but a job. A job he’d been paid well for. After, he would take his money and disappear into the west. One more man hiding from the law only to reappear again when someone desperate and with too much gold was willing to hire him.
“That’s enough Parker,” the man yelled as he hunched his shoulders, ready for his opponent.
Luke ignored him and continued to march forward. The anger had taken over. He wanted to get his hands around this man’s throat and squeeze the life out of him.
“Stop,” Dawson yelled as his eyes began to grow. Luke could see it in the man’s face. He was used to a good distance between his enemy. He knew that at a healthy range the first shot usually missed. He counted on that fact. It was his advantage. He knew he was more accurate out at a far distance. His experience kept him calm enough to kill before he was taken down. But with each step, Luke eliminated that possibility. Getting so close he couldn’t miss.
Dawson took a step back and held up his hand. “You come any closer and I’ll draw.”
A calmness replaced Luke’s anger as he realized he had been training for this moment his entire life. Ever since he had strapped that gun on when he was thirteen. The days of practice. The lessons from Zion. The war had only honed it to a sharp edge.
No, he had been built for this moment.
The gunman’s eyes grew even bigger as Luke stepped to within a dozen feet. Then, without warning the man’s hand dropped to his gun.
Luke reacted without thinking. His gun appeared, the sights aligned, he fired. It was as he had done a thousand times before.
Dawson lurched back, firing his gun into the ground at Luke’s feet, a red hole appearing at the top of his left shirt pocket.
Luke held his fire. He knew where his shot had landed. There would be no need for another. As he watched, Dawson took another step back then twisted to fall face down in the dirt.
Taking a deep breath, Luke let the rest of the world return to his awareness. The heat of the sun on the back of his neck. The smell of dust and horses, the thought of the pretty girl waiting for him. All of it rushed back in to replace the focused anger that had filled him.
Ignoring the dead man in the street, Luke twisted and started for the Hotel.
“Felton!” he yelled. This ended now. Too many men were dead. First Cooper, and now Dawson.
“Where is he?” he barked at the hotel clerk.
The man swallowed hard and pointed to the back door.
Luke grumbled under his breath. The man had run. He’d known Luke would come after him and he’d run. He was finished. Turning tail like that would ruin him. The mighty Joshua Felton had run from a fight. People would laugh at him behind his back. His men would drift away, unwilling to work for a coward.
Suddenly, Luke realized he was done. A shudder passed through his body as he realized it was over.
“Luke?” Becky whispered from behind him.
He turned to see the woman he loved standing there with the light behind her. Her face etched with