Page 99 of The Outlaw and the Heir

His chest heaved under my touch, but the tugging against my hold abated as he stared at me with wide eyes. Eventually, he snorted, turning away from his brother and tossing the knife aside. "I could. But I don't want to. He isn't worth it."

"You're damn right he's not," I said with a smile. "There are ways to deal with people like him that don't involve killing him."

"Fine, we'll..." His jaw tightened, and without him saying anything, I knew what was going to happen, so I stepped back. Sure enough, Ambrose twisted around and drove his fist into his brother's jaw. Joseph went rigid, eyes rolling up into his head before he dropped to the ground in a slump, "deal with him later."

"That's…fuck!" I snapped as the front doors burst in, and we all whirled around. We calmed immediately when we saw Walter and a handful of men, fully armed, pushing into the house. "Jesus Christ, Lord above, what is wrong with you all?"

"We heard gunfire," Walter said, looking around as he gripped a rifle in his hand. "Got a few men together and came as quick as we could."

"And about sent me onto the great beyond in the process," I huffed. "There's still some men in the?—"

"They're gone," a new voice piped up, and we turned to find Hipolita walking out. I raised a brow at the iron pan in her hand, which I'd seen her use before, but?—

"The blood stain is new," I noted.

She smiled. “Those boys were awfully nice not to tie me up as tightly as they did you. When everything started happening, some of them ran out. The others didn't know what they wanted to do. All it took was a good smack, and the rest made up their minds and fled. Can't imagine they'll get very far, but?—"

"But not our problem," I said with a smirk. "I knew I liked you."

"The fire?" Ambrose asked, turning to Walter.

"As good as it's gonna get right now. We got it under control," he said, looking around again. "Kinda looks like you got everything under control here, 'cept your brother, that is."

A harsh shadow crossed Ambrose's face. “Speakin' of, take him and...you know what? Lock him up where we were keepin' these three. We can find other places for 'em to stay because all three of 'em proved themselves several times, especially tonight. Lock it up tight. I don't want him gettin' out while we figure out what to do with him."

It was the first time I'd seen Ambrose give an order and be met with hesitation. It was unsurprising that it was Walter who recovered first, giving a nod. “Alright, we can do that...tell me more later?"

"Sure," Ambrose said with a grunt and nod. "Get everyone back on duty to keep that fire contained. We'll set up a work and sleep roster for the next few days for the clean-up. I'll be out there soon."

"You got it," Walter said, and he and another man grabbed Joseph's unconscious body and carried him out, nodding respectfully toward us before leaving.

"Lord," Hipolita sighed. "This mess is going to take forever to clean up. We might do with a couple of men to get the bodies out of here. The girls and I can take care of the blood. Suppose it's only right that I get the cooks going on some meals. It sounds like we're going to be busy."

"That...is a good idea," Ambrose said, frowning at her. "We'll get the bodies out soon."

"Good, then I'll get the girls moving and the cooks back to the kitchen," she said, bowing to us and leaving.

"She...did not seem particularly bothered by all this gore," Ambrose said with a frown.

"Clearly, she's seen a lot in her lifetime," I said with a shrug. "Haven't you learned that people can surprise you?"

He glanced at me, smiling. "Yeah, I guess ya got a point there."

Elizabeth set her gun down and turned to her father. “Where are the kids?"

"My office," he said, the first words he'd said during the whole thing. "It's the only place with a lock, so they wouldn't need a guard."

"Where is the key?"

"Where else?"

"Right."

Elizabeth walked over to Elias' bloody corpse and bent down to search his pockets and his belt, pulling out a ring of keys. She slid them around until she found the one she was looking for and walked off. I figured she’d be back after checking on the children but wouldn't bring them with her. As much as kids in this part of the country got used to seeing violence and blood, there wasno point in unduly exposing them to it when they were still so young.

"You know," I said after a moment. "I imagine Joseph probably had plenty more to say on his behalf. In fact, I'm sure he had a book's worth of reasons for what he did, and you cut him right off."

"He can't make this right," Ambrose said. "And him tryin' to explain it away is just gonna make me wanna punch him again and maybe not stop."

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