Sometimes her father had let him wield the whip during someone’s punishment, and she knew of at least twice Pickens had nearly killed the person on the receiving end. The sight of blood seemed to excite the man, and he didn’t know when to stop.
“You shouldn’t have raised that rifle, old woman.” Tiny tightened his steely grip around Addie’s arms. He could probably break Eleanor in half with his bare hands if he had a mind.
“Fire that weapon, mister, you’ll bring every outlaw in this town running.” A smile grew on Eleanor’s face. “You don’t have the sense to realize that you’re boxed in. There’s only one way out—how do you plan to get there? You’re not too bright if you ask me.”
Pickens’s confidence slipped. His gaze swept the area, a crease appearing between his brows.
Tiny swallowed hard. “Don’t we have another way out, Pick? You said this would be easy. Slip in, grab her, and leave. I think this old woman might shoot us.”
“Shut up, moron. Adeline’ll make a mighty good shield. They won’t shoot.” Pickens waved his gun at Addie. “We just want to ask her one question.”
“Ask away, sonny,” Eleanor snapped. “Only she can’t talk. Maybe it was you who scared the words right out of her.”
Pickens faced Addie, his eyes heavy lidded and cruel. “We just want to know where the kid is. Tell us where you hid him, and we’ll leave.”
Addie shook her head, her eyes flashing. Never.
The unmistakable click of the hammer of a pistol came from behind the pair. Pickens and Tiny froze, Tiny’s grip loosening.
“I hope you said your prayers before you entered our town, boys.” Ridge stepped from the brush on the side of the path, followed by Clay, Jack, and Travis. All had their guns drawn. Relief weakened Addie’s knees. She’d never been so glad to see them.
Ridge shot her a quick glance. “Are you all right, Addie? Did they hurt you?”
She shook her head and took the chance to run from Tiny and stand beside Eleanor.
The men closed a circle around the two varmints. “I recognized your kind when you came into town.” Ridge took their guns. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I will protect my wife to my last breath.”
Tiny glanced from one face to the other and licked his dry lips. “We weren’t gonna hurt her. I swear.”
“We haven’t had a hanging yet in Hope’s Crossing.” Jack poked Pickens in the back with his gun. “Might be time to change that.”
Clay studied Tiny, looking him up and down. “Just because we haven’t had one doesn’t mean we don’t know how a hanging’s done. In fact, we know better than most.”
“We don’t even need a judge or a gallows, either,” Travis added with a cold smile. “We can make it short and sweet.”
“Hell, man, hold on there.” Tiny’s eyes bulged, a rivulet of sweat running down his face.
Pickens swung his stony gaze to Addie. “We ain’t done nothing but talk. If she says different, she lies. No law against talkin’.”
Ridge snorted. “It appears to me that we stopped you before you had a chance to carry out whatever it was you meant to do. We’ll put you in our strap-iron jail until we decide what needs doing. Now march.”
Once the others were gone, Ridge put his gun away and went to Addie. She snuggled against him, safe and warm in his arms.
And she rather liked it.
Fifteen
Ridge understood Addie’s quiet mood on the way home. Pickens and Tiny had given her a big fright. He was just grateful that he’d seen them ride in earlier that day and realized who they were. Since the guard had only been on the lookout for Hiram, he’d let them pass. The two had hung around the saloon for a good bit, then Ridge had followed them to Eleanor’s. He trembled to think how easily he could’ve lost Addie today if he hadn’t been paying attention.