The Rebel of Copper Creek by R.C. Ryan

around.
    He was halfway there when he realized the back door was standing wide open.
    Drawing near he heard Juliet’s voice: “…kind of trouble?”
    â€œAn accident.” Mitch’s voice sounded extremely agitated. “Cooper said I should come and get you.”
    Griff stood in the shadows. By the glare of the overhead light in the mudroom he could see Juliet clearly, her hair disheveled, wearing a baggy T-shirt that fell to her knees.
    â€œBut what can I do? Why didn’t Cooper phone the police?”
    â€œYou’ll have to ask Cooper. Come on. Let’s get moving.”
    â€œI can’t just leave with you. I have two little boys asleep upstairs.”
    â€œYou said yourself they’re sleeping. I’ll have you back before morning.”
    â€œHow do you know that? What if we have to haul the accident victims all the way to town?”
    â€œWe’ll stop here and pick up the kids. Come on. You’re wasting time.”
    Juliet dug in her heels. “You go ahead. I’ll put my boys in the back of the truck and drive myself to the hills.”
    â€œYou won’t know where to find us.”
    Her voice turned to ice. “I’ll call Cooper and have him direct me to the camp. But right now, I need you to leave so I can go upstairs and deal with my boys.”
    Mitch made a sound that could have been a laugh or a groan of frustration as he kicked the door shut. “You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you? You’re just too damned smart for your own good.”
    Her head came up sharply. Her eyes narrowed on him. “What are you—?”
    He snaked out a hand and caught her by the wrist. “You look mighty fetching in that getup, ma’am.” He dragged her close. “You’ll look even better in nothing at all.”
    Before he could say more, the back door was kicked open and Griff’’s voice, deadly soft, was the only sound. “Step away from the lady, or you’re a dead man. You have five seconds to live.”
    â€œWho do you think—?” Mitch spun around.
    He took in the sight of Griff standing in the open doorway, eyes hard as granite, rifle aimed directly at Mitch’s head.
    The wrangler shot a look at Juliet. “So. It’s like that, is it? I can’t wait to spread the word around town that the MacKenzie bastard’s a new boarder at the widow Grayson’s ranch.”
    Griff never raised his voice. It was still little more than a whisper. But every word cut razor-sharp. “You had to the count of five. Now you’re down to four. Want to try for three?”
    Mitch’s furious reaction was to press one beefy arm around Juliet’s throat and twist around to face Griff, holding her firmly against him as a shield. “You wouldn’t want to shoot the wrong one now, would you?”
    Griff’s words remained deadly soft. “When I take aim I never hit the wrong target, whether it’s an enemy in combat or an ordinary scumbag. Now you have two seconds left.”
    Juliet dug her elbow into Mitch’s midsection at the same moment that she planted her heel in his groin with as much force as she could muster.
    Stunned, he released his hold on her.
    Griff used that moment to haul her behind him before taking careful aim.
    Mitch lifted his hands in a gesture of defeat. “Hold on. You can’t kill an unarmed man.”
    â€œI can and will if you’re still here in one second. It’d be justice for what you planned on doing to the lady.”
    At Griff’s words, Mitch raced past him and dashed out into the darkness.
    In that same instant Griff saw all the color drain from Juliet’s face as she sagged against the edge of the table.
    Instead of giving chase as he’d planned, he gathered her into his arms. When she went limp, he scooped her up and cradled her to his chest.
    The sound of a truck’s engine broke the