what Joelle had just told him about Owen blackmailing her, it wasn’t a surprise that her fiancé had wanted to stop her from talking.
Or stop her from backing out of the marriage.
But Dallas was a little surprised that Owen would order his men to aim rifles at a federal marshal, especially when that marshal knew exactly what a dirt wad Owen really was.
In hindsight, he should have already gotten Joelle out of the woods and back to town, but Dallas had been so anxious to hear her explanation as to why she was marrying a weasel that he’d now let that weasel get the drop on them.
Later, he’d kick himself for that Texas-size mistake. But for now, he had a situation to contain.
“Put down your gun,” one of the bozos warned. He was lean and mean-looking like his partner, but they weren’t the men who’d been back at the church. “And drop those keys for the four-wheeler.”
If he’d been alone, Dallas wouldn’t have considered giving up without a fight, but he didn’t want Joelle in the middle of a shootout.
“You do know who I am, right?” Dallas pointed toward his badge just in case their boss hadn’t filled them in on who they were dealing with.
“You’re a rogue marshal,” the man answered. He took a step closer. “And you’re to hand Ms. Tate over to us.”
Dallas couldn’t argue with the rogue part, but he sure as heck could with the rest. “Not a chance. She’s in my protective custody.”
Well, almost.
After everything she’d told him, Joelle certainly needed some kind of protection from Owen. Of course, Dallas had his own issues to work out with Owen and that blasted knife.
“I’ll go with them,” Joelle mumbled. “I don’t want any trouble.”
“Too late, trouble’s here,” Dallas told her. “And you’re not going anywhere with them.”
“Remember, Owen can have you arrested,” she tried.
“Not if I arrest him first.” That was the plan, anyway, but Dallas had to accept that he, too, could be taken into custody until all of this got sorted out. Still, it was a small price to pay to make sure Joelle didn’t do something as stupid as marry Owen.
To protect Dallas, no less.
Well, to protect her, too, since Owen had threatened to have her arrested. But that was yet something else that wouldn’t be worked out if he surrendered to these goons and let them haul Joelle back to Owen. He’d just force a hasty “I do” and then whisk her off somewhere so that Dallas couldn’t get to her.
“Put down your gun,” the man repeated.
“Or what?” Dallas answered. “You plan to shoot a lawman, huh?”
The two glanced at each other as if they might consider doing just that. And maybe they would. Obviously, Owen had been willing to go pretty darn far to get what he wanted and hide his criminal activity. Just in case Owen had given these two orders to shoot, Dallas kept his gun aimed at the guy who’d been doing the talking.
There was a snapping sound behind him, and while trying to keep an eye on the men in front of them, Dallas gave a quick glance over his shoulder. He’d hoped the sound had come from Joelle, but no such luck. It was the sound of footsteps, but he didn’t even have time to fully turn toward them before he heard a gun go off.
Dallas cursed, hooked his left arm around Joelle and dragged her off the four-wheeler and to the ground. He came up ready to fire, but judging from the sound and angle of the shot, neither of them had fired it.
It’d come from behind Joelle and him.
And another shot quickly followed.
Dallas scrambled over Joelle, shoving her beneath him to protect her.
“They want me,” she insisted. Obviously still under the stupid assumption that Dallas was going to let her surrender, she tried to get up. He pushed her right back down.
“Stay put,” he warned her.
“But they’re trying to kill us.”
Except they weren’t. Both bullets slammed into the tires of the four-wheeler, making the vehicle impossible to drive. And that was bad news because Dallas had planned on using it to make their escape.
“Drop your gun,” the guy with the rifle repeated, “and no one will get hurt.”
“You sure about that?” Dallas countered. “Because those bullets came darn close to hitting us.”
The man made a sound of disagreement. “If he’d wanted you dead, you already would be.”
And Dallas figured that was the sad truth.
He glanced all around, trying to pinpoint the shooter, but