Once they were alone, Nathaniel chuckled. “I know what’cha are.”
“I’m the person who shot five of the men sent after you and yours. I’m also the person who just dug a bullet out of you, instead of letting your unpleasant brother muck it up. That’s all I am,” Charlie warned, dead serious.
Nathaniel gave a weak, shit-eating grin. “That’s more than a scratch. Tend to it quick before he gets back.”
The man had a good point. Moving towards the unused first aid supplies, Charlie pulled up layers of clothing, a smooth stomach smeared red from a slice in need of stitching exposed to eyes that saw entirely too much.
Supine, Nathaniel took in the tapered waist he’d felt under the layers, resting his gaze on the stranger’s exposed, star-shaped scar. “Who shot you?”
Ignoring him, Charlie stripped off the gloves and those same slender fingers reached for the jar. After taking a deep swallow, liquor was splashed on the bleeding cut. Panting hard through the burn, it took three tries before Charlie got the needle threaded. With steady hands, the needle was jabbed right on in.
“Watch your breathing,” Nathaniel parroted, grimacing at the woman in pain.
Blue eyes darted to his as she smirked. Wicked, whispering sweetly, Charlie agreed, “Words of wisdom, Nathaniel Emerson.”
Ten more stitches, another painful splash of moonshine, and Charlie pulled her shirt down, covering her stomach just as Matthew’s boots sounded on the steps.
Bloodshot eyes above a ticking grin watched her hide all trace of femininity under layers of homespun cloth. “I’ll keep your secret.”
“Good. After fixing you, I don’t really want to kill you and put all my hard work to waste.” Her mocking was playful, and on a whim, Charlie ruffled Nathaniel’s unkempt hair. “I’m not in the mood to kill anyone else tonight.”
By the time Matthew was in sight, Charlie sat eating the food Alice had prepared, watching over her gagged prisoner as if nothing had happened in the time he’d been gone.
Striking a match to ignite the tip of a fresh cigar, Matthew spoke around the tobacco. “At dawn, Eli will take you where you need to go.”
Charlie tapped down the brim of her hat. “Much obliged.”
Theirs was not a friendly exchange. Matthew was only going to ask once, and it was clear if he didn’t get the answer he was looking for, all bets were off. “The men outside?”
“Last I heard, the two I recognized worked for Harrison McCray. I take it you know who he is?”
Matthew nodded.
Gangland was simple, elegantly nasty, so Charlie offered a bit of advice. “If you’ve met him, I assume you got the impression that
he rubs people the wrong way.” After pausing to take a bite, she went on, “There’s a reason he moved his game to your shithole foothills. The man has far more powerful enemies than you. Killing him might just be in your best interest—so long as the right folks knew you did it. It could be good for business.”
“He came after my kin,” Matthew growled, shifting back towards his brother. “He’s good as dead.”
Maybe they had something in common after all.
Family mattered to Charlie. Family was the reason she had a prisoner in chains. And family was the reason Matthew chose Eli to drive her to New York. Charlie could see clear as day that he wasn’t going to let the chirpy youngster get involved in something that, win or lose, would be incredibly bloody.
Speaking the understanding aloud, Charlie warned, “I ain’t babysitting your fool cousin. That leaves you about six or so days before the boy will be back.”
Chapter 1
Six months later
“Come on…”
Those two impatient words had been coming out of his cousin’s mouth all damn day. Whereas earlier in the afternoon the complaint had been muttered under Eli’s breath, building excitement and the setting sun had churned eagerness into aggravating enthusiasm.
Already out of the truck, Eli stood with the last crates of shine stacked in his arms, eager eyes darting towards the Willards’ barn where the party inside was going full swing.
Matthew leveled a warning glare on the boy, saying wordlessly he’d better cool it. After all, there was still work to do before play.
They’d spent a long day driving around Monroe County, talking briefly with their neighbors and selling jars of Emerson moonshine on the cheap.