Their Tempting Bride by Lacey Davis
22
Daniel would kill that son of a bitch. This morning after he’d gone to the sheriff, Bartlett showed up at his office. He barged in past Jones, the man who worked for him, and entered his office, firing one shot.
The bullet hit a steel button on his chest and deflected, the force knocking Daniel to the ground. Stunned, he lay there and watched as he shot Jones before he walked out the door.
The gunshots alerted the sheriff and he came running, but by that time, Bartlett was already on the road.
When the sheriff, entered, Daniel was holding a towel against Jones’s wound. The man aimed for the older man’s heart and his employee ducked enough that the bullet hit his shoulder instead.
“Bartlett is headed to Bridgewater to take my wife,” he said between gritted teeth. He wanted to run out the door, but if he left, Jones would die.
One of his neighbors had gone to fetch the doctor and as soon as he got here, Daniel would go after Bartlett.
“I’m going to kill him,” he told the lawman.
Jones nodded. “He shot Daniel and then he shot me.”
“I don’t see any blood,” the sheriff said looking at Daniel.
Daniel pointed to his shirt and showed him the twisted steel button that caused the bullet to ricochet. “I think if you look in my office, you’ll find it in the wall.”
Shaking his head, the lawman stared. “He’s lost his mind. He can’t get away with shooting people.”
“He’s now going to try to steal my wife.”
Just then the doctor walked in the door and knelt beside Jones. “What happened?”
“He’s been shot, Doc,” Daniel said.
“Go, Daniel,” Jones said with a sigh, “catch him before he gets to your lovely wife.”
That was all Daniel needed to hear as he went to his desk and pulled out two revolvers.
“I’m going with you,” the sheriff told him.
Daniel just glanced at him. “Don’t get in my way.”
He shoved both revolvers down the waistband of his pants, grabbed his hat and ran out the door. It took him about five minutes to get to the livery where his horse was tied to a post. Knowing the man had a good head start on him, he dug his heels into the sides of his horse and took off.
After today, Bartlett would never be a problem again.
