went on, “then my second and third triggermen have orders to shoot. He’ll start with your brother by the stairs and then move on to the others in the back bedroom.”
Clayton didn’t respond to that right away, but she heard him take several more of those forced breaths. “Declan, where’s Wyatt, Cutter and the others?”
“Can’t tell, but I’m guessing they’re being held at gunpoint.” Declan paused. “But Harlan, Dallas and Slade are on the way.”
Lenora had no idea if that last part was true. She prayed it was. They could definitely use the backup from three marshals, but the question was—if Declan had managed to contact his brothers and inform them of the attack, would they arrive in time?
“Put your guns on the floor,” Quentin ordered again. “You first, Lynnie.”
She didn’t rush to do that. Instead, she leaned out just a little so she could take in the entire room. Well, what she could see of it, anyway. The strobe light was blaring on Clayton, who was trying to shield his eyes from it, but it also made the rest of the room—including where Quentin was standing—hard to decipher.
“How did you get inside the house?” Lenora asked Quentin. She wanted him talking so she could try to figure out what to do.
He made a sound to indicate that was obvious. “It’s easier to keep track of everyone when one of my men has infrared. We knew when to sneak into the pasture and let out the horses. To create a distraction. Like what you’re trying to do to me now. Put your gun on the floor.”
The anger in Quentin’s voice went up a significant notch. He obviously wasn’t going to fall for her tricks. Still, surrendering her weapon was a huge risk. No way for her to return fire if she did that.
“Do as he says,” Clayton told her.
Even though she couldn’t see Clayton’s face, she knew he wouldn’t want her to give Quentin’s triggerman a reason to start firing. So Lenora stepped in the doorway of the bathroom and stooped so she could put the gun on the floor.
“Kick it across the floor, away from your lover,” Quentin instructed.
It was the second time Quentin had referred to Clayton as her lover. Maybe because he knew that Clayton was her baby’s father. Or maybe there was another reason.
A sickening one.
It was possible that Quentin had used the infrared he mentioned to watch them have sex. Of course, he wouldn’t have been able to actually see them with the infrared, but Quentin could have figured it out. She hated that he had violated her in so many ways.
Lenora pinned her attention to Quentin and gave her gun a kick. It landed by the edge of the bed. Out of her reach, but Clayton might still be able to dive for it.
“Good girl,” Quentin said in that mocking tone. “Now, Clayton, it’s your turn. Put your gun on the floor and shove it toward me.”
Clayton leaned forward, but he didn’t let go of his gun. “What are you going to do with Lenora?”
“I’m surprised you’d want to hear all the dirty little details.” Quentin didn’t wait for Clayton to respond. “In a nutshell, I’m going to make her pay for what she did. And I need time and privacy for that.”
It turned her stomach to think of what Quentin wanted to do to her. She wanted to fight back now, but it was too big a risk to take with the gunman below her. Maybe once they were out of the room she’d have a better chance of escaping, because there was no way she could leave the ranch with this man who wanted to torture her.
Quentin cursed. “Must I keep repeating myself? Put your gun on the floor.”
Clayton moved again. Just a little. Clearly, he was trying to stall, so Lenora helped him out by asking Quentin another question. She didn’t care what the answer was, but she wanted to buy Clayton some time.
“Why would you possibly work for a man like Riggs?”
“I’m not,” Quentin quickly denied. “In fact, Riggs refused to fund this little adventure. Thought it was a setup of some kind.”
If their lives weren’t on the line, it would have been a relief to hear that, but it didn’t lessen the danger to know that Jill’s killer wasn’t involved.
“All that bank account info I gave you was just to muddy the waters,” Quentin continued. “The gun, Clayton.”
Clayton moved again and put his gun on the floor, but he