The Unexpected Partner

Chapter 27

Claire had been in scary situations before. She was a little girl when her father pushed her into the river, in hopes she would learn to swim. Learning to swim, she did, but the fear she felt when faced with a life-or-death situation, she never forgot. In her teenage years, she had been attacked by a stray bull. The fear of life and death was real in that situation too.

All the times that she had been between life and death flashed before her eyes. But none of the fear she felt before could compare to the fear she was feeling with a pistol pressed to her temple. She was literally frozen in place. Numb.

"Let her go," Shane said sternly, in a tone that could kill.

"Let my brothers go," Jake replied.

Mr. Reddings and Shane were put in a conundrum. Although they did not want to let the bandits go, they knew for a fact they did not want anything to happen to Claire. Especially Shane. He really did not want anything to happen to Claire.

"Let my brothers go or I promise you this girl will get a bullet in her head." For the first time in his life, Jake felt scared for his brothers. He didn't want to lose them. And although he knew that one day fate would catch up with them, he told himself that he was willing to sacrifice himself so that his brothers would live. Whether they knew it or not, they mattered to him more than anything in the world, they were the sole thing that made his horrible existence bearable.

Shane quickly spoke up. "I will let them go, but I need your word that you won't shoot us, that you won't shoot her!"

Jake's face stayed in a straight line. "Don't worry, nothing will happen to your whore. You have my word."

Claire felt rage as she heard the words that came out of the man's mouth. She hated being reduced to a 'whore' for simply being a woman.

Shane also felt rage about Jake's choice of words. But Jake continued to speak. "You need to let your weapons down, along with my brothers. I swear if you don't do so in the next thirty seconds, she won't be standing anymore."

The two men looked at each other, knowing what it was they had to do. Slowly, Mr. Reddings and Shane released the two Flenning brothers from their hold and lowered their revolvers to the ground.

Claire watched in horror, not really knowing what was going to happen next. She still felt numb. Too numb to even move.

Once they were free, Morgan and Arthur grabbed the guns that belonged to Mr. Reddings and Shane before running to the side of their other brothers. At the same time, Glen looked at Jake who gave him a nod, a signal to remove his hold from Claire.

Glen removed the gun from Claire's temple causing her to elbow him and quickly run to the side of Shane and Mr. Reddings.

"Soiled dove!" Glen exclaimed, holding his abdomen. He pointed the pistol at her.

Automatically, Shane stepped in front of her, covering her figure with his larger one. Claire felt a strong feeling erupt in her heart at his actions, she was so close to touching his back, so she leaned herself on it and all the fear she had felt seemed to diminish in that single touch. She was so numb to the situation, so unaware of how scared she would get when it came to guns being pressed against her head. But being overshadowed by Shane's figure, she felt safe.

"Stop!" Jake yelled at his younger brother causing Glen to reluctantly lower his gun. "I promised I wouldn't kill them... for now."

Mr. Reddings wanted to lash out at the four brothers. In all his ten years of being the town sheriff, he had never encountered such ferocious men. He knew that they needed to be locked away, but how to do that without getting killed, he did not know. Right now, all he was focused on was surviving.

Turning to face Claire, Shane saw the shock and fear in her eyes. He knew she was in a state of panic so to help her calm down, he rubbed her shoulder while still keeping his eyes on the brothers. Claire reacted, much to his surprise, by putting her head on his chest and wrapping him into a hug.

Shane was taken aback by the sudden display of affection, but he didn't mind it one bit. He felt his arms going up and around her waist, hugging her tightly. "It's all right." He gently rubbed her back, feeling an excitement in him that he had never felt with any woman.

After a brief moment, Claire let go of him but still held on to his upper arm. Just by that embrace, she felt invigorated. And although there was a lot of fear pasting through her, she also felt a sense of excitement when she grasped Shane's arm.

She looked into the eyes of the four men in front of her, they had climbed on their horses by now, and on one horse was both Glen and Morgan. Although they had normal, human faces, to her they all looked like animals. Savages.

Jake contemplated pointing his pistol in their direction and shooting them all dead. After all, that was what he said he would do if John Conley told anyone of their situation. But things had changed. He did not know John had a daughter. Hell, he even felt a little remorse for her.

Before the brothers started to ride off, Jake took a closer look at Shane's face. The realization clicked to him. Shane was the boy's brother! The boy from the tavern. He realized it because aside from the darker hair and the stronger build, Shane looked exactly like his brother Aaron.

"Let's get going," Jake said.

The brothers started to ride a little but before they got too far, Jake turned around and spoke to Shane. "If you try to follow me...or any of my brothers... I'll do to you what I did to your brother, in the tavern."

Shane felt the world spinning around him at the mention of his brother and the tavern. How does he know?

It was strange but Jake realized the shocked look on Shane's face. "I will do the same thing to you if you mess with my business."

Before Shane could talk, Jake beat him to it again. "It's a shame what accident befell Frank Thompson but we both know it was no accident. Maybe unlike your naive brother, you'll know not to cross me."

Shane kept his rageful glare on Jake as he continued to speak. "Or maybe..." he started to say slowly, "I'll do to your little whore what I did to Aaron." With that said, he turned around and started galloping away from them. The Flenning brothers were riding in the direction of the house; first to get Glen's tied horse and then to go back home in a path that was harder to track.

Claire felt confused at what he was referring to. Shane has a brother named Aaron? And what did this man do to him? Who's Frank Thompson? So many questions crept into her mind.

Mr. Reddings, on the other hand, understood what was going on. He understood perfectly.

Jake Flenning was the one who killed Aaron Jackson.