Beverly Barton - The Outcast

"What are you going to do?" Tracy asked.

"Hey, man you can't-" Jeffie said.

"Hush!" Tracy gave Jeffie a sharp jab in the ribs.

"I'm going to kill Reece," Harry said. "Then I'll call the sheriff and collect that big reward your husband is offering."

"No." The word escaped from Elizabeth's lips like a whisper on the wind.

"Look, Harry, I know you hate me, and if you're determined to kill me, then so be it." Reece took a tentative step toward Harry. "But there's no need to involve anyone else. Let everyone else leave and you and I will settle this between ourselves."

"Stay where you are." Harry pointed the gun directly at Reece. "Nobody's going anywhere. I'm ready to kill the lot of you, if I have to."

"You don't have a quarrel with anyone else," Reece said.

"Maybe I do and maybe I don't." Harry waved the gun in the air, then aimed it at Reece. "He was a smart-mouthed kid." Harry glanced over at Elizabeth. "Always trying to stick up for his mama. His sweet, whore of a mama. How the hell was she supposed to forget about B. K. Stanton when the man's bastard was around all the time?"

Elizabeth sensed an unnatural hatred for Reece emanating from Harry Gunn. She shuddered at the thought of the man's rage. He wanted to see Reece dead. Nothing else would satisfy him.

"Yeah, Blanche never could get over being in love with Stanton," Harry said. "She never loved me. It was always B.K."

Elizabeth knew with certainty that Harry Gunn had hated B. K. Stanton enough to kill him, but she could not sense his guilt or innocence. Harry was too consumed with his hatred for Reece, his determination to kill his stepson.

Harry stood several yards away from Reece, who was only a few steps from the back door where Jeffie held Tracy in his arms. Reece heard Tracy speaking to her lover in a quiet, quick voice.

"Go back inside the house and get to my car. I've got a cellular phone. Call the sheriff's office and tell them what's going on."

Harry jerked his head around, his gaze momentarily leaving Reece to focus on Tracy and Jeffie.

Now, while Harry was momentarily distracted, might be Reece's best chance for jumping him. If Harry was intent on killing him, he might not be able to stop his stepfather, but there was a chance that he could save Elizabeth, as well as Tracy and Jeffie, if he could wrestle the gun away from Harry.

"What are you mumbling about?" Harry asked, staring at Tracy. "You cooking up some scheme to save your old lover? Well, don't try nothing. Harry Gunn ain't no fool."

Tracy glanced over at Reece, then back to Harry. "You're wrong if you think I give a damn whether you shoot Reece full of holes or not. He doesn't mean a thing to me. Hell, if he's dead or rotting in prison, he can't collect his share of B.K.'s fortune, can he?"

"You're lying." Harry turned completely around, grinning at Tracy. "You think I don't know all that boy's talent is between his legs. Women been chasing him all his life. If he was a girl, he'd be a whore just like his mama."

All the anger, the pain, the uncontrollable hatred Reece had felt boiled up inside him. In one, quick calculated move, Reece rushed Harry Gunn, who turned sharply, the gun in his hand gleaming in the glow from his car's headlights.

"Now!" Tracy cried out. "Go now, Jeffie."

Jeffie rushed inside the cottage. Tracy leaned forward, her feet unmoving as she opened her mouth in a silent cry. Just as Reece lunged forward, Harry turned, aiming his gun. Elizabeth ran between Reece and Harry. The gunshot exploded, the sound echoing over and over again in Reece's ears. Somewhere, as if at a great distance, he heard the sound of a woman screaming. Tracy.

Elizabeth felt the impact of the bullet when it entered her side. Searing hot pain gripped her. The world began spinning around and around. Slumping over, clutching her side, she fell to her knees.

Reece slammed into Harry Gunn with deadly force, like the bullet that had wounded Elizabeth. Knocking his stepfather to the ground, Reece grabbed for the gun that Harry held tightly. Reece swung his fist into Harry's face, then lifted the man's head and beat it against the cold, hard earth. Harry's hand opened. The gun fell onto the damp grass.

Mindless, feeling nothing except pure hatred, Reece hammered his fists into Harry Gunn's pale, wrinkled face, then sent several hard blows into Harry's midsection.

Tracy ran out into the yard, kneeling beside Elizabeth. "Jeffie's calling the sheriff. They'll get you to the hospital."

Elizabeth clasped Tracy's arm. "Stop Reece. Please stop him from killing his stepfather."

"Why the hell would you care?" Tracy stared down at the blood covering Elizabeth's side. "The guy shot you."

"I don't care about Harry Gunn," Elizabeth said. "I care about Reece. No matter how much he hates Harry, he would never forgive himself if he killed him. Please, Tracy. Stop Reece."

"All right. I'll try."

Reece drew back his fist to strike again. Tracy grabbed his arm. "Don't hit him anymore, Reece. He's unconscious."

"I'll kill the son of a bitch! I'll kill him."

Tracy circled Reece's arm with both of her hands, tugging on him, trying to pull him away from Harry. "He can't hurt any of us now. He's unconscious. Do you hear me? Elizabeth... Elizabeth wants you to stop."

Reece tensed at the mention of her name, suddenly realizing where he was and what he was doing. "Elizabeth."

"She doesn't want you to kill Harry."

Reece glared down at his stepfather, a crumpled heap of flesh and bones, a dirty, stinking, sick old man. Reece stood, his whole body trembling. He saw Elizabeth huddled on the ground, her life's blood seeping out of the bullet wound in her side.

God in heaven, don't let her die. Reece fell to his knees beside her, then sat on the ground, lifting her into his arms. "Elizabeth?"

Gazing up at him, she tried to lift her hand. "Don't worry. I'll be all right."

"Sam knew this would happen. This was what he was afraid of." Reece held her close, tears forming in his eyes. "It's my fault. You shouldn't have been with me. Oh, God, Lizzie, don't die, sweetheart. Please don't die."

"I'm not going to die," she told him. "Not for a long, longtime."

"Are you looking into your future?" He kissed her forehead.

"I did that.. .last night." Despite the pain and weakness, Elizabeth felt a great sense of peace. How could she tell Reece that she knew she wasn't going to die because she had to live to give birth to their child?

Jeffie ran out the kitchen door, halting abruptly when he saw Reece sitting on the ground, holding Elizabeth. "What happened? When I heard a gunshot, I thought old Harry had killed Reece."

"Elizabeth ran between Harry and Reece," Tracy said.

"Damn! Is she hurt bad?" Jeffie walked out into the yard and slipped his arm around Tracy.

"I don't know."

"She's going to be all right," Reece said, cradling Elizabeth in his arms, holding her close. Tears streamed down his face.

"I called the sheriff," Jeffie said. "I told him to send an ambulance."

Elizabeth closed her eyes. She felt herself drifting. Reece kept repeating her name, calling her Lizzie. She opened her eyes and lifted her hand to his face. She touched his wet cheek.

"You're crying," she whispered. "Oh, Reece." Then Elizabeth closed her eyes again, drifting into unconsciousness.

Reece had no idea how long he sat on the cold ground, holding Elizabeth in his arms-five minutes, ten minutes. Finally Tracy touched him on the shoulder.

"Let's take her inside where it's warmer."

Reece lifted Elizabeth in his arms and carried her into the cottage. He laid her down on the bed they had shared only hours ago. Reece clenched his teeth at the sight of her bloody sweater. Lifting her sweater, he used it to wipe away the blood. The bullet had entered her upper left side and exited from the front, at her waist.