“I wouldn’t,” I warn, pleased when he puts his hands up. “Glad we’re finally listening.” I survey the other men in the alley, all of whom are now also acting a bit twitchy for my liking. “Toss your weapons.”
“Do it,” Maddock orders with a jerky nod, and fortunately, they all obey, except the kid, who picks this moment to finally make a run for it. I let him go. One less to worry about.
“All right,” I say, my hand perfectly steady as I hold my weapon in place. “Now, we’re all going to have a nice, calm chat. Nobody needs to lose their life tonight.”
“If you really think I’m going to let you—” Maddock starts, the words breaking off in a satisfying yelp when I pull back the hammer on my gun.
“Have had enough from you for a bit,” I tell him, finding the silence to be tremendously satisfying even if there’s something I want to hear more. “Cypress, can you repeat what you were saying? So I’m sure I understand.”
He grins again, and I decide that however much I might be starting to enjoy this, I have nothing on him. “Got a little overzealous at the table with his wagers tonight toward the end,” Cypress supplies. “He bet the horses. Including Helios.”
I blink at him. “Who?”
“The mustang,” Cypress clarifies. “I’ve been thinking of names for you, since you told me he didn’t have one. Thought Helios would be good since…” He trails off, perhaps due to the look on my face. “We can talk about it later.”
“Yeah, let’s,” I say, pointedly glancing around at the other men present. “You going to help me out here or…?”
“Oh, yes.” He finally starts moving, collecting the guns from where they landed and frowning at each of them in turn before chucking them in a nearby empty barrel. “None of them really appear to be worth keeping.”
“Well, no, they wouldn’t. Considering they’re notyours.”
“Of course,” he says, pulling out his own weapons now. “Sorry, old habits and all that.”
I roll my eyes, then press my gun harder into Maddock’s head so he knows I’m talking to him. “You bet and lost the mustang?” I ask, thinking of the now useless piece of paper in my pocketbook. “The one you agreed to give me in exchange for protecting those interests of yours?”
He laughs bitterly. “However much good that seemed to do me.”
“Well it certainly doesn’t do you good now,” I mutter, angling my head toward Cypress and wondering how I keep finding myself further entangled with him at every turn. “You won him? He’s yours?”
He shakes his head, pistols momentarily dipping. “Yours. I wouldn’t—”
“Ah, I see now,” Maddock says, tone seething. “You’re working together. He runs the scam, and you make sure he gets away. Then you split it. That how it works?”
“No,” I say, right as Cypress says, “Sure.”
I look at him again, dumbfounded. “What the fuck are you sayingsurefor?”
“Well,” he replies, shrugging, “it’s not a terrible idea.”
“Thehellit isn’t. We are not—”
A single shot rings out in the alley, the bullet ricocheting off the wall, everyone suddenly going for cover in the resulting chaos, and my first thought is that it must be the calvary coming in. That is, before I have a chance to look toward the mouth of the alley. To see the one lone shooter, shaking like a leaf.
So much for one less to worry about.
Everything that happens next seems to happen all at once.
The second shot aimed too high, the shouting from Maddock and his men, the brush of Cypress’s shoulder against mine as he turns to fire back...
In the initial scramble, we’d ended up closer to one another, both choosing the same old stack of barrels and crates to duck behind, which makes it easier for me to intervene, my arm coming down on top of his to force him into a crouch and to force both of his pistols toward the ground. “Don’t.”
He looks at me, clearly surprised. “Don’t what?”
“The kid,” I snap, having to bend closer to be heard over the noise. “Don’t shoot him.”
“I wasn’t going toshootArty. Just scare him a bit,” Cypress replies, appearing slightly hurt. “Although, I might point out, he is trying to shootus.”
“Yeah, well…” I back up against the alley wall as I wait for the next shot. “He’s doing a piss poor job of it.”