Chapter 18: Gunfire

Mara saw the barrel come up and knew exactly where it pointed.

It pointed at her chest.

Forty men were on their feet, and none of them was fast enough.

"If I can't have you home," her husband said calmly, "nobody will."

She heard Wyatt shout her name.

She heard a chair go over.

Then something large moved in front of her, and the gun went off.

The sound filled the church and rang off the paneling.

Rodney stood with his back to her and both arms spread.

He made a small surprised noise.

He looked down at his shirt.

A dark patch was spreading under the ribs on the left side.

"Oh," he said. "That's not good."

He folded sideways, and Mara caught him under the arms.

The lights came on.

Every bulb in the hall blazed at once, and the men along the wall squinted in the sudden white.

Somebody had thrown the breaker.

"Dean!" Wyatt roared.

The side door burst open, and Dean came through it with a rifle on his shoulder and Boone behind him, huge, with a fire axe.

Behind them, Dean's friend from inside the club stood in the doorway with the breaker handle in his fist.

Wyatt stood up.

His zip ties lay in two pieces on the floor.

Mara had taped a razor blade inside her cuff and slid it into his palm when she touched his shoulder.

He kicked the chair into the nearest rifleman's knees and took the rifle out of his hands.

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