Only 03 - Only You

door, she risked a fast glance over her shoulder, wondering why no one was shooting.
    Slater had known immediately that he was no match for the stranger. Hands held away from his sides, he watched Reno with reptilian intensity.
    Raleigh was neither as bright nor as fast as his friend. He believed he could draw and shoot quicker than Reno could. Raleigh died before he understood his mistake.
    As the abrupt thunder of gunshots exploded in the room, a man called Steamer stepped partway between Eve and Reno. She watched, horrified, as Steamer drew his gun to shoot Reno in the back.
    There was no time for Eve to pull her derringer free of its hidden pocket. She jammed her hand in the skirt pocket, grabbed the small pistol, and pulled the trigger. The layers of red silk didn’t slow the bullet one bit, but the hasty shot almost missed.
    The bullet burned across Steamer’s thigh. He gave a startled cry, his arm jerked, and the shot he triggered went into the ceiling.
    Before Steamer’s finger could squeeze the trigger again, Reno turned and shot him in a single fluid motion. As Steamer fell dead to the floor, Reno spun back around to face Slater.
    Shocked by the stranger’s lethal speed, Eve stood and stared for a moment before common sense took over. She bolted for the nearby stable.
    Eve had prepared well for this moment. She had traded the battered Gypsy wagon that belonged to the Lyons for an equally battered saddle and saddlebags. She had been surprised to discover that, once free of the traces, the gentle oldgelding called Whitefoot was both fast and eager for the trail.
    Whitefoot was saddled, bridled, and ready to go. All of Eve’s possessions were in the saddlebags and bedroll tied behind the saddle. Later she would take time to change into trail clothes. For now, speed was more important than modesty. She jammed the ring on her right hand, pulled the rope of pearls over her head, and stuffed the journal and gold coins into a saddlebag.
    In a wild swirling of crimson silk, Eve threw herself into the saddle, spun Whitefoot on his hocks, and headed out of town at a dead run. By the time Whitefoot passed the saloon, the scarlet skirt had climbed to Eve’s thighs.
    From the corner of his eye Reno glimpsed a flurry of crimson and a breathtaking length of leg clad in cotton pantalets so sheer, they were little better than going naked. The drumroll of horse’s hooves filled the ringing silence that had followed the crash of gunfire.
    Slater smiled grimly at the man who was watching him over the barrel of a six-gun.
    “Looks like she suckered both of us,” Slater said calmly.
    “Looks that way,” Reno agreed.
    “Friend of yours?”
    “No.”
    Slater grunted. “Just as well. Man would have to be crazy to turn his back on that bit of scarlet.”
    Reno said nothing.
    Slater fell silent. It was dealer’s choice, and the man with the six-gun was the dealer.
    Without looking away from Slater, Reno assessed the men remaining in the saloon. Raleigh and Steamer were dead.
    “Friends of yours?” Reno asked.
    “Not particularly. I don’t cotton to stupid men.”
    “But you ride with them.”
    “No,” Slater corrected. “They ride with me. ”
    Reno’s smile was sardonic.
    “Well, you’ll be riding a little light,” he said, “but not for long. God must have loved fools and horseflies. Sure to hell he made a lot of them.”
    Reno’s ice green eyes counted the men remaining in the saloon. Three of them were drifters. The rest were part of Slater’s gang. All of them were being careful not to give Reno a reason to shoot.
    “Might your name be Reno?” Slater asked.
    “Some folks call me that.”
    A sound went through the men in the saloon. As one, they eased backward, giving Reno all the room he might want and then a bit more just to be safe.
    The only move Slater made was to nod as though a private guess had just been confirmed.
    “Thought so,” he said. “Only a few men can move like that.”
    Slater paused, then asked with real interest, “Is the Man from Yuma still hunting you?”
    “No.”
    “Too bad. Hear he’s fast. Really fast.”
    Reno smiled. “You heard right.”
    “Did you kill him?” Slater asked. “Is that why he isn’t hunting you anymore?”
    “I had no reason to kill him.”
    “I do.”
    “So I hear. Pity you weren’t with your twin brother, Jed, when he died. Then Wolfe could have made it a clean sweep.”
    Slater became very still. “You were the third one there that