“If you touch her, if you breathe on her, I’ll put a hole in you.”
Slowly Joe turned. Devin was less than three yards back on the path, his weapon drawn and aimed. Rafe MacKade was behind him. As Joe’s eyes darted in search of an escape, Shane stepped out of the trees. And Jared moved up the path behind Cassie.
“Drop the gun, Dolin, take it out slow and drop it, or I’ll kill you.”
“You’re plenty brave, MacKade.” Joe wet his lips as he took the gun out with two fingers, stooped to set it on the ground. “When you’ve got four guns on me, and your brothers standing by.”
“Kick it this way.”
“Yeah, a real hero, long as it’s not one-to-one.” Joe gave the gun a shove with his foot. “You’ve been helping yourself to my wife, haven’t you?”
“You don’t have a wife.” Devin turned, handed his gun to Rafe. “Stay back,” he demanded, then skimmed a glance over his other brothers. “All of you.” He looked at Cassie briefly, saw the bruises already forming. And felt hatred wash through him. “Get to the cabin, Cassie. Savannah will take you back to the kids.”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Oh, yeah. I do.” And he smiled. “Let’s go, Joe. It’s been a long time coming.”
“What’s to stop one of your brothers from shooting me in the back once I beat you to a pulp, MacKade?”
“Nothing.” Now the smile turned feral. “This is the last shot you’re going to get at me, though, you yellow son of a bitch. So make it good.”
Joe shouted ferociously as he lunged. All Devin had to do was pivot and pump upward with a fist to send Joe reeling back.
“Tougher when it’s somebody near your own size, isn’t it?” Devin taunted. “Tougher when it’s not a woman, or a little boy. Come on, you bastard. Try again.”
Blood spilling from his lip, Joe came at him like a bull. The woods cracked with the sound of bare knuckle against bone, of men grunting. Cassie forced herself not to cover her face with her hands.
It was for her. Each blow Devin threw or received was for her. So she would watch.
All the fear she’d felt of Joe ebbed as she did. He was exactly what she had called him. A pitiful bully. His size, and the wildness of his attack, helped him land a few blows. Certainly, it was that size that had him overbalancing Devin to the ground.
But even there, even outweighed, Devin dominated. His fists were fast, brutal, and the look on his face was so concentrated, she knew he felt none of the hits he took.
She didn’t turn her face away from the blood, hold her hands over her ears to block out the sound. This was the end, finally the end, and she needed to bear witness.
The rage was on him so thick, so cold, that he could see nothing but Joe’s face. Each time his fist hammered down, each time the power of it sang up his arms, he felt nothing but dark, deadly pleasure. His knuckles were raw, his shirt was splattered with blood, some of it his own, but he couldn’t stop his fist from pumping.
“That’s enough.” Jared stepped forward to pull Devin off, and nearly got a fist in the face for his trouble. “That’s enough,” he repeated, but it took all three of them to drag Devin to his feet.
“That’s a satisfying sight,” Rafe commented, studying Joe’s battered and unconscious face. “I guess I can’t be too ticked you didn’t leave a piece of him for me.”
“Looks like he resisted arrest, right, Jare?” Shane shouldered his rifle, scratched his chin.
“That’s the way I saw it. Come on, Dev, let’s haul this carcass in. You need a beer and an ice pack.”
But the rage hadn’t faded away, not completely. Devin jerked his brother’s hand from his shoulder. “Leave me alone.” He turned, looked to where Cassie still stood, pale, bruised, eyes wide with shock. “I’m finished.” He took off his badge, tossed it into the dirt. “Take him. I’m going home.”
“Devin.”
When Cassie started forward, Jared put out a hand to stop her. “Give him some time,” he murmured, watching Devin cut through the woods, toward the farm. “He’s hurting.”
She tried. She went to her children and comforted them. She let Regan and Savannah come to her and fuss over her bruises. She spoke to her mother, briefly, on the phone and reassured herself that, though her mother had been bruised and terrified, there was no serious damage. And, perhaps, there was some understanding between them that they’d never shared before.
In the end, she gave in and took the sedative that was pushed on her and slept like the dead through the night.
But in the morning she knew she hadn’t finished facing her demons. She let Regan deal with breakfast and readied herself to go to the farm and face Devin.
The only thing she needed to take, she tucked into the pocket of her slacks.