"But you just said—"
"I know what I said. Now I'm saying to wait." The barrel of the pistol grinding into his spine forced Tom to add, "And put the knife down, too."
"Dammit all, I—"
"Just do it, Henry!"
A foul curse and a crunch of leaves said Henry had obeyed. Thank God! Quite honestly, Amanda didn't know what she would have done if he hadn't. Luckily, she was saved having to find out. Swallowing a sigh of relief, she told herself not to get too excited. Not yet. She'd prevented Jake's immediate death, but that was all she'd done. The crisis was far from over.
Out of the two Rafferty brothers, she deemed Henry the most dangerous. He was bigger, stronger, more insane. Therefore, it was Henry she addressed when she said calmly, precisely, "I want you sitting down in front of a tree by the time I count to five, Henry Rafferty. No second chances. One..."
The additional voice shocked Henry. His spine stiffened, and his head whipped around. His eyes narrowed, squinting into the shadows behind his brother's back. His gaze fixed on Amanda, and his brown eyes shimmered first with shock, then with fury. "And what if I don't?"
In an act of confidence she didn't feel, she tilted her chin and returned his glare. "I'll shoot your brother. Two..."
Henry's laughter was cold, biting. "Honey, I rode with you and that brat for almost two months, As I recall, you don't have the guts to shoot a rabbit, never mind a man."
The truth of his words hit Amanda like a slap in the face, but she refused to let that deter her. She forced herself to meet Henry's gaze, all the while praying he wouldn't sense her uncertainty. If he did, it was all over.
Lifting her chin, and sending him a haughty glare that would have made Miss Henry beam, Amanda decided not to argue or waste time trying to change Henry Rafferty's opinion of her. If she talked too much, it would sound like she was trying to convince herself, instead of them of her newfound courage. A mistake like that could prove fatal.
Amanda flashed Henry a cold, challenging smile that didn't reach her eyes. It was a mock imitation of the many Jake had given her in the past. "Three..."
The ploy worked. Henry licked his fleshy lips and ran his big palms down his thighs. He sent his brother a questioning glance. "Tom?"
The cold metal barrel Amanda ground into the back of his skull convinced Tom Rafferty to keep quiet. It was Amanda's voice that answered. "Four..."
"Honey, I think you'd best take a second to think about what you're doing," Tom said. He moved his head only a fraction, yet still managed to glare at Amanda from the corner of his eye. "You don't want to shoot me." He wavered slightly. "Do you?"
"What I want doesn't matter. What does matter is that if your brother doesn't do what he's told—and do it now!—you're going to die, Tom Rafferty. I will pull this trigger. Fi—"
"Okay, okay! I'm going!" Henry bellowed. His brown eyes were wide, and he looked convinced that Amanda Lennox would end his brother's life if he didn't do what he was told. His hands, which had lain atop his huge thighs, lifted in defeat.
Faster than a man his size should be capable of moving, Henry was on his feet. Like a disgruntled grizzly, he moved to sit in front of the tree to which Jake's left hand was tied.
"Now what?" Tom growled over his shoulder.
"Now you tie your brother up."
"And then...?"
"Let me worry about that." Amanda nudged Tom with the gun. His shoulders stiffened, and the muscles in the back of his neck pulled taut. "And now, I'm giving you the same amount of time I gave Henry. If he isn't tied tightly to that tree by the time I count to five, I will kill you."
Tom hesitated. Unlike Henry, who'd given in much too easily, Tom wasn't convinced Amanda Lennox had the guts to spill a man's blood. Hell, hadn't Henry said that the first time he'd skinned a rabbit in front of her, the prissy little
thing had scampered into the underbrush and vomited? Surely a woman that sensitive couldn't put a bullet through a man's head. Surely!
Or could she?
The hell of it was, Tom wasn't sure. The Amanda Lennox that Henry had described wouldn't have had the guts to sneak up on a man and aim a gun at him, let alone threaten to pull the trigger. Yet she'd just done both. Maybe she could kill after all, if the stakes were high enough? Christ, what a gamble!
Tom's gaze shifted to the breed, who was staring at Amanda Lennox with those predatory grey eyes. He saw pain in the breed's gaze, no doubt from where Henry had sliced into him. And he saw fury. But there was something else there; something vague that simmered just beneath the surface.
Desperation?
Fear?
Tom wasn't sure, but whatever it was, it was informative. It told him something about the breed and the woman that, with luck, he could use against them. If he lived that long.