Montana Sky

out of my way now, or I might change my mind.”
    He crept to the back door, quiet as a snake, and looked through the glass.
    And there she was. Sweet little Lily, he thought. Sitting at the table drinking tea and reading a magazine. Waiting for her Indian lover to come stick it to her. Faithless bitch.
    The rumble of thunder threw him off a moment, made him look up at the starless sky. Even the weather was on his side, he thought with a grin. A nice rain would be fine cover on the trip south.
    He turned the knob slowly, stepped in.
    “Adam, there’s an article in here about wedding cakes. I wonder . . .” She trailed off, her gaze still glued to the page, but her heart thudding. Beans was growling under the table. And she knew, even before she gathered the courage to turn, she knew.
    “Keep that dog quiet, Lily, or I’ll kill him.”
    She didn’t doubt it. He looked the same—even with the darker hair, the length of it, the moustache, he looked exactly the same to her. Those beautiful eyes slitted mean, his mouth frozen in a dangerous smile. She managed to get to her feet, put herself between Jesse and the dog.
    “Beans, hush now. It’s all right.” When he continued to growl, she watched in horror as Jesse took a gun from his belt. “Don’t, please, Jesse. He’s just an old dog. And they’ll hear you. They’ll hear if you shoot. People will come.”
    He wanted to kill something, felt the urge bubbling up. But he wanted it quiet more. “Then shut him up. Now.”
    “I—I’ll put him in the other room.”
    “You move slow, Lily, and don’t try to run.” He liked the feel of the gun in his hand, the way the butt curled neatly into his palm. “I’ll hurt you bad if you do. Then I’ll sit right here and wait for that Indian you’ve been spreading your legs for. And I’ll kill him when he walks in.”
    “I won’t run.” She took Beans by the collar, and though his pudgy body was tense and he strained against her, she dragged him to the door and through it. “Please put the gun away, Jesse. You know you don’t need it.”
    “Guess I don’t.” Still smiling, he slid it back in his belt. “Come here.”
    “This is no good, Jesse.” She struggled hard to remember everything she’d learned in therapy, to stay calm, to think clearly. “We’re divorced. If you hurt me again, they’ll put you in jail.”
    He laid a hand on the butt of the gun again. “I said come here.”
    Closer to the door, she thought. There might be a way to get through. She had to get through to warn Adam, everyone. “I’m trying to start over,” she said as she walked toward him. “We can both start fresh. I never did anything but disappoint you, and—” She cried out, not in shock but in pain, when he slapped her backhanded across the face.
    “I’ve been waiting to do that for more than six months.” And since it felt so good, he did it again, hard enough to send her to her knees. “I’ve been right here, Lily.” He gripped her hair, yanked her to her feet by it. “Watching you.”
    “Here?” The pain was too sickeningly familiar, made it too hard to think. But she did think. Of murder, of madness. “You’ve been here. Oh, God.”
    Now the fear was paralyzing. He used his fists, she told herself. Just his fists. He wouldn’t rip people apart.
    But all she saw when she looked in his eyes was blind rage.
    “Now you’re coming with me, and you’re going to bequiet and do just what I say.” In case she didn’t understand his meaning, he gave her hair another vicious yank. “You mess with me, Lily, I’ll hurt you and anybody else that gets in the way.” He continued to talk, his face close to hers. In the other room the dog was barking wildly, but neither paid attention. “We’re going to take a nice long trip. Mexico.”
    “I’m not going with you.” She took the next blow, reeled from it, then shocked them both by leaping forward, attacking with nails, teeth, fists.
    The force of her headlong rush rammed him back against the counter, and pain bloomed in his hip where it struck the edge. He howled when she drew blood from his cheek, too stunned to strike back until she’d raked his face a second time. “Fucking cunt!” He knocked her back into the table, sent her pretty teacup flying.
    The dogs howled like wolves and scratched madly at the door.
    “I’ll kill you for that. I’ll fucking kill you.”
    And he nearly did. The gun was in his hand, his finger on the trigger