The Man Who Loved Cole Flores (Dig Two Graves 1)

“I worked for them, but I don’t anymore! You said yourself that it wasn’t right what Tom did back in Three Stones! He poisoned half the town, Cole!”

“I’d be dead if it wasn’t for him,” Cole cried and replaced the revolver in the holster, rushing at Ned with the injured hand still painfully limp. “I chose to leave him for you. And you’ve been lying to my face this entire time? I’m gonna kill you with my bare hands!” He charged and knocked Ned over with the force behind his weight and speed.

Ned tasted blood and ylang-ylang as he dropped, but all he could think about was Cole, and his injured arm, so he grabbed Cole’s ribs to steady him and grunted as pain chewed through his unprotected back. “He was a sick fuck who deserved what he got!” Ned rasped, rolling away to avoid the swing of Cole’s fist as the dust rose around them in a cloud of fury. “I said, let’s go! They’re still after us!”

Cole stumbled to his knees and gave a heart-wrenching cry that seemed to come from the very pit of his stomach. “No. What have I done? You betrayed everyone, you damn lying cunt!”

Ned’s heart broke, but it meant nothing when he could almost sense the ground trembling under the weight of horses rushing their way like a storm cloud, ridden by men armed with weapons capable of casting lightning bolts. “No, not you. Not you. Never you.” He dropped to his knees by Cole’s side, but Cole slapped his face.

“I’m gonna kill you. I’m gonna cut you open from top to bottom and feed your innards to pigs! I will never forgive you,” Cole mumbled, shaking his head as he grabbed the revolver again.

Defenseless, on his knees, with his stallion slowly dying, he wouldn’t survive a confrontation with the law. Ned wanted to reason with him, explain, but it was no use. He glanced over his shoulder, and there they were— four men crossing a far off hill.

“Goddamn it!” Ned jumped to his feet, fighting the nausea thickening in his throat. “We have to go!”

Cole shook his head, his face glistening with sweat, still so very pale. “Go! Run! But I’m gonna find you. I will kill you if it’s the last thing I do!” he roared through gritted teeth. The gun shone in his hand, pointing at Ned, and the moment Cole pulled the trigger, all of Ned’s life rolled in front of his eyes. The good times. The bad times. And the moments when Cole had smiled at him—those that had made everything else worthwhile.

Cole never missed. Not with the target standing so very close, but the bullet swished through the air, forcing Ned’s hat off his head. Another flew past him when he climbed on Nugget’s back, soon followed by one more, yet the only pain Ned felt lay deep in his heart. Dull and merciless, it was the infection that would rot him from the inside until it was no use, and he’d have to amputate his heart. Cole meant what he’d said. He’d never forgive Ned. Their one chance to flee the Gotham Boys in every way, was gone now, and they were left stranded on the steaming rubble of broken trust.

The revolver jammed, out of bullets, and Cole tossed it into the dust before slapping his empty hand against the dirt. Ned took off the gun belt he’d gotten from Cole and threw it to him, along with the revolver sitting in the holster.

“I’ll handle them. Leave!” Ned yelled to Cole who stared at the belt with parted lips, eyes like two bullets aimed for Ned’s heart.

With the one gun he had left in his hand, Ned spurred Nugget straight at the approaching posse, and together they floated, leaving behind a trail of dust that carried his broken dreams. But Ned’s life was of no importance anymore. He needed to lure the law away from Cole, whatever it took. Whether Cole wanted him to or not.

Only four men were in pursuit, but as Ned charged, getting closer with each of Nugget’s frantic pants, he recognized the two at the front right away. Thaddeus and Homer Craig. The two agents had plucked him out of his simple life at the ranch and set him on the path he hadn’t been strong enough to walk with honor. They hadn’t been the ones to destroy him and Cole, but they would pay the price for it nevertheless.

Ned had become a true outlaw, and for Cole, he was ready to sacrifice even his sense of decency.

He’d never gotten as proficient at shooting as his lover was, but there were a couple of lessons that had stuck with him, whispered close to Ned’s ear as Cole had stolen a touch under the pretense of teaching him. If you’re not close to them, aim high.