Anvil novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: Standing Up

I turned so my body was between the gun and my daughter.

Birdie's arms tightened around my neck.

"Mom?" she whispered. "Is that Uncle Rhett's gun?"

"Close your eyes, baby."

"I don't want to."

"Close them anyway."

Rhett watched us with his head on one side.

The gun did not move.

"Here's how it goes, Liz," he said. "You hand her over, I walk to my truck, and nobody follows. I leave her at the church steps in an hour. You have my word."

"Your word."

"It's been good enough for three years."

"You drove my brother off Route 9."

I had not known I was going to say it until it was out.

His smile stayed where it was, and something behind it went flat.

"Danny made his own choices," he said.

"He wrote R.V. in his notebook, Rhett. That's you."

"I know he did. I looked for it for three years." He tilted his head toward the building. "Now I'll take the girl, and the box, and the book. And nobody has to be sorry."

"No."

"Lizzie."

"No."

I backed up one step, and my shoulders hit the cold iron door.

There was nowhere left to go.

Then the door swung open behind me, hard enough to knock me forward.

Tucker stood in the doorway with a split lip and blood running down his left sleeve.

Behind him, in a half circle, stood Dutch and six brothers in their cuts.

Two more held the Hollow Dogs president by his arms with his braid wrapped around one fist.

Nobody said anything.

Rhett's eyes went across all of them, once.

He did not lower the pistol.

"Put it down, son," Dutch said.

He had come forward on his cane with his oxygen tube hanging loose on his chest.

"You put your hand on a child. You put it on Danny's niece, in my town, under my patch."

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