I chanced a glance to my side and saw Lee’s head turn to Hank.
“Stand, the fuck, down,” Hank repeated, not taking his eyes, or gun, off Bil y.
Bil y moved us to face Hank and Lee gave a nod to Vance and then to Luke, then he dropped his gun arm and stepped back.
This was for show. I figured Lee was a faster draw than just about anyone. Don’t ask me how I knew this; I just knew it like I knew that Wolford hosiery was the best, bar none.
I felt, rather than saw, Luke and Vance drop their weapons to their sides. I had no idea what the other men did. This should have changed the danger level in the room but instead, with Hank facing off against Bil y it heightened so it was palpable.
“Let her go,” Hank demanded and something about the way he said it made it sound like he was demanding more than just Bil y taking his hands off me.
“She’s mine,” Bil y returned, understanding Hank’s demand and giving me a jerk to make his point.
“Let her go. Now. If you do, no harm wil come to you. If you don’t, I’l shoot you myself,” Hank said.
you don’t, I’l shoot you myself,” Hank said.
It was clearly time for me to intervene. I didn’t know, in such a situation, if Hank would get in trouble for shooting Bil y but I didn’t want to find out. What I did know was that Bil y was prepared to shoot Hank, he’d already tried it once and I wasn’t about to let that happen again.
“Bil y, let me go,” I said quietly.
“No, Roxie. You and I are gonna walk out of here. We’re gonna disappear,” Bil y replied.
“Bil y, look around you. We’re not going anywhere,” I told him.
“You gotta learn, Roxie. It’s you and me, just you and me.
That’s al it’s ever been. That’s al it’s ever been for me. My life began when I met you,” Bil y said and his voice was beginning to sound funny. It was not his slick talk, there was a thread going through it that made it tremble.
I closed my eyes and when I opened them, Hank was looking at me.
I kept my gaze on Hank, direct and steady, and said to Bil y, “You know, he took me on a horse drawn carriage ride on our first date.”
Bil y’s already tense body went solid as a rock.
“You promised me that, remember Bil y? Said we’d go to New York City, have a carriage ride in Central Park. Do you remember?” I asked, my voice was not cruel; it was soft with the sad memory of an unfulfil ed promise.
“Don’t, Roxie.” Instead of sounding angry or crazy, Bil y’s voice sounded like a plea.
“He has a dog,” I continued, stil looking at Hank. Bil y knew how much I liked dogs. “A Labrador,” I went on. Bil y knew how much I liked dogs. “A Labrador,” I went on. Bil y also knew how much I liked Labradors. He’d never let us have a dog. We were on the move too much and anyway, he didn’t like dogs. In the last few years I didn’t get one because I didn’t want to bring a dog into my life with Bil y. It wouldn’t have been fair to the dog. I kept going. “You’ve seen him, when you were watching me. He’s a sweet chocolate lab named Shamus. He sits on my feet and I’m going to teach him to play Frisbee.”
“Roxie,” Bil y’s voice was now an ache and I guessed I stil felt enough for him to feel it slice through me.
Nevertheless, I kept my eyes on Hank.
“He’s got a good job, a nice house. He protects people for a living,” I carried on and I felt Bil y’s tense body start to go slack behind me, as if my words were pul ing al the energy out of him. His gun lowered a little and I knew I was getting somewhere.
“He has nice parents and his sister told me he did up the house himself. You ever fix anything Bil y? You ever make anything that was going wrong, go right?” Again, it wasn’t an accusation, just a soft question.
“God, Roxie,” Bil y murmured, even low, his voice was shaking.
“I feel like I’ve been waiting,” I said to Bil y, looking at Hank. “Waiting for a long time, but I guess I know what you mean. My life began when I met him.”
At my words, to my surprise, and likely everyone else’s in the room, Bil y just gave up.
His gun arm wrapped around my middle and he shoved his face in my neck.
“Roxie,” he muttered there.
Hank started toward us, slowly, not lowering his gun, not taking his eyes off me. They were not lazy, not in the slightest, they were hyper-alert and so intense, I thought they might burn me.
“You want me to have that, don’t you, Bil y?” I asked quietly, my eyes on Hank.
“I want you with me,” Bil y said against my neck.
I took my eyes off Hank and turned to face Bil y. He lifted his head at my turn and I put my hands to his cheeks. I looked at him and ran my thumbs down the stubble below his cheekbones. His blue eyes were fil ed with pain.
I wanted to care, but I didn’t. If that made me a bad person, so be it.
“Bil y, I don’t want to hurt you but I don’t think I’ve ever been with you.”