Free All I Need Is You by Johanna Lindsey

landed right between his eyes, not exactly what she’d been aiming for, but with him being so tall, it was hard for her to gauge. That, of course, had him reaching for her again, whether to throttle her or restrain her, she didn’t wait to find out.
    She drew her gun. He halted immediately, clenching those large fists at his sides. His face was turning red with what was now impotent fury.
    Oddly enough, Casey’s temper was gone, now that she had the upper hand. Hitting him had helped some as well, not that she’d hurt him any, using her left hand as she did. But she knew better than to use her gun hand for hitting things. And she ignored the present throbbing in her left hand.
    “Real fair about this, aren’t you?” he gritted out in a sneering tone.
    “Considering your size, you betcha.”
    The calmness of her tone served to enrage him even more. “You knew those banks were going to be robbed, didn’t you? Didn’t you!”
    Casey didn’t answer that, said instead, “Let’s take this off the street, tenderfoot.”
    Not that they were drawing any notice or being overheard, with half the town crowded in front of that alley trying to get a look-see. In fact, the nearby store that she pushed Damian into was quite empty, the owner just as curious as the rest of the citizens in town about what all the shooting had been about so early in the morning.
    But as soon as she closed the door behind her, he repeated his question. She saw no reason to deny it now.
    Her curt nod didn’t satisfy him, because he demanded, “ How did you know?”
    She saw no reason to keep that to herself any longer either. “I was in this hellhole a few weeks ago down south, and recognized one of the gang members. I was going to take him, was moving in for it, when I heard what he was talking about, or I should say bragging about, to his friend.”
    “About robbing the banks here?”
    “Yes.”
    “The man was actually discussing it where he could be overheard?”
    “He didn’t know he was overheard. I can be good at going unnoticed when I want to be. Besides, he was swimming in rotgut that night. He wouldn’t have noticed a fly on his nose, much less me.”
    “So you knew exactly what was planned here and said nothing. Dammit, Casey, I could have been killed in that bank. Couldn’t you havementioned this last night when we spoke of it?” he asked, disgruntled.
    “I only share that kind of information with lawmen. You should have trusted me and taken the warning as it was intended—to keep you safe and out of the line of fire. Why the hell didn’t you?”
    To give him credit, Damian did flush slightly, having been so obviously caught ignoring her advice. “I was only going to be in that bank for a minute or two. I just wanted to make sure that I could get funds transferred out here if I needed them. And now they are needed, since those bank robbers relieved me of my cash again.”
    “The least you deserve for not listening to me,” Casey said unsympathetically. “And let me tell you something else. There’s folks laying dead all over the street out there, if you hadn’t noticed, when they shouldn’t be. I could have prevented that if I had gotten here yesterday as I should have, and why didn’t I? Because you showed up. It’s also cost me a lot of money, your slowing me up, more’n ten thousand dollars in rewards for that bunch.”
    He stiffened at that point. “Just a damn minute, kid. You can’t put the blame for those deaths on me, or any lost rewards. Or are you under the impression that you could have captured them all single-handedly, without a shot fired?” Damian scoffed. “I hardly think so.”
    Casey sighed. “It’s what I do, Damian, remember? I track, hunt, and capture outlaws, while they do their best to avoid it. If I find a bunch of them gathered together, all the better. Most men aren’t foolish enough to draw aweapon when they’ve already got one aimed at them. That’s just asking for a visit from