he was a terrified, furious boy again, holding a rifle in ambush. Sweat greased his palms as he lifted the weapon into position.
Jose and Manuel struggled futilely in the arms of their captors. That fact alone made Tyler see red. Grown men terrorizing helpless innocents had that effect. His finger itched on the trigger as he lined up his shot.
They wanted him. He could hear their shouts. Tyler wished for a real Pecos Martin right now. But he knew damned well that for some insane reason, these bastards thought he was Pecos Martin, and they wanted him dead. Every word carried clearly. He could go down there and maybe they'd drop the boys. Maybe.
He hadn't ever wanted to get involved again. He didn't want to do this now. He knew what would happen. Something in him was screaming in denial as he took aim. But it had to be done, just like last time.
Without a shadow of a doubt of his ability to wreak destruction, Tyler squeezed the trigger. A shrill scream echoed up from the street. Taking the time to adjust his aim for the chaos erupting, he pulled the trigger a second time.
The boys were breaking free and running. He could see Ben grabbing them and jerking them back under cover. The sheriff was headed this way, Evie close on his heels. Tyler pulled the trigger again. The bastards weren't dead yet.
Fury flew through his veins. He wouldn't let them get away with this. Tyler watched as one man got up and limped for his horse. His finger closed over the trigger. It felt good again. He could feel the power whipping through him. Should he take the bastard's ear off? Go for the heart? How about a long, excruciating death with a shot to the belly? Savagely, he pulled the trigger and watched the man stagger and fall.
Only the vision of Evie running down the street, her gaze scanning the rooftops stopped him from finding the second man in his sights. She avoided looking at the bloodied men lying in the street. She couldn't even look at what he had done. Anguish hurtled up at him through her eyes and ears. Not until then did Tyler lower the rifle.
* * *
The shooting had stopped. Keeping her cries and screams inside, Evie ran up on the porch and grabbed the boys from Ben, wrapping her arms around both of them at once and hugging as hard as she could. The sound of shots still rang in her ears. She couldn't stop hearing the boys' anguished cries for help. She wouldn't look at the carnage behind her.
Tyler had done that. She knew it deep down in her soul without even looking at Ben. She didn't know if there could have been a better way of doing it. She didn't know anything except the boys were alive and in her arms.
Tears rolled down her face, and Manuel had wriggled free of her embrace by the time Carmen and Daniel made it down the street. Jonathan Hale hurried down from his office to help Evie stand up and to steady her. He murmured reassuring words and tried to steer her in the direction of the hotel lobby. She scarcely even knew he was there.
She waited for Tyler, but he didn't come. Horror and fear wove a suffocating web around her heart. The sheriff was busy rounding up the injured man and giving orders for taking care of the dead one. Daniel and Carmen held the boys firmly in hand. A crowd had started filling the street. But still Tyler didn't come.
She glanced at Ben. His dark face was expressionless, but he gave a curt nod toward the hotel door. Then he stepped forward to usher the children out of the crowd and toward the alley.
That was all the signal Evie needed. Shaking herself free from Hale's sympathetic embrace, she picked up her skirt and headed for the hotel lobby under her own sails, leaving the lawyer behind. By the time he followed her in, she was halfway up the stairs. He called after her, but she ignored him.
She knew where Tyler's room was. She had seen him standing in the window, watching over the house late at night. There had been times she had been tempted to go to him, but she knew the physical realities of romance now, and she had resisted. She wanted more than he had to offer.
But she didn't give a fig for reality right now. She