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"Carter, let her go Now"

Carter was dead still for several seconds Then a feral smile twisted his lips

"Coood these Bowie knives are I can slit her jugular in less than a second"

His eyes never leaving Carter’s, Matt dise

"Stop there, or she’s a gusher, I promise," Carter said

Matt stood motionless, aware of the knife at Darcy’s throat He didn’t look at her, though He kept his eye contact on Carter

"It’s over, Carter The FBI is looking for you"

"Theyfor me, Matt But they won’t find me Hey, we both know this place Get into the ood"

"Carter, if you let Darcy go noe can work so out"

"I don’t think so, Matt Actually, this is rather areat Sheriff Stone The Stone of Stoneyville Negotiation, yep, that’s one talent you really pride yourself with having Talk, stall, talk, stall And i on beneath your nose, and you didn’t know! You know, once you kill, you figure out that’s it’s really pretty easy Especially when you get involved with the right people Wouy, true love, support and warmth and all that crap Pretty ones, of course Only probleo, they turn out to be bitches, all judgmental, not really what they pretend to be at all I’m no maniac, Matt"

Matt put his hands on his hips "So what, then? Carter? You’re going to kill Darcy in front of me? You make anotherto ot a rifle there, but hell, no shot You’re a reenactor today No real bullets--on anyone Too er to the crowd"

"I’ll kill you with my bare hands, Carter," Matt said with low but vehement sincerity "I swear it"

"So…we all die Here and now," Carter said

"Carter!"

The cry came from a woman Darcy could barely move her head; she could almost taste the steel at her throat, but she strained to see past Matt and was a down the trail Her beautiful violet eyes were huge; her usually perfect hair had escaped its Civil War coils and was a tangle around her face

"Carter!" she tried again, gasping too hard to speak more

"Did you know that we had a hot and heavy affair, Matt?" Carter said casually "For once, I bested the great sheriff! It was actually hard not to let you know, but then again, I loved the ease of hanging around Melody House"

"I don’t give a damn if you slept with Lavinia, Carter"

Carter s past Matt at Lavinia "Did you coun on you? If so, just go ahead and shoot the sucker"

That, at last, drew Matt’s eyes from Carter He stared at Lavinia in amazement and horror Had she been in on it? Had she become so involved with Carter that she had actually been his accoun, secreted away in her voluminous skirts?

Lavinia found her voice at last "Carter, for the love of God, let her go!" she said

"Lavinia, you’ve turned pansy on me Didn’t you want a wild life of reckless adventure, far ive you, no ree?"

Darcy could feel the blade, chafing into her flesh She felt a thin trickle of blood drip down her neck

"Carter, let her go," Matt said "I swear, if you do, you’ll get a trial with the best lawyers If you hurt her in any way, I’ll rip your throat out with my bare hands, I swear it"

Darcy felt his hand jerk The blade cut more deeply She was certain that she was dead Matt would avenge her, of that she was certain, too

But she would be dead already A new ghost to haunt the realm of Melody House

It was then that the white e, between Matt’s position and the place where Carter had her back arched over the bridge

"It’s Susan!" she cried, "Carter, she’s here! It’s Susan"

"Bull--!" he began But his eyes widened suddenly Darcy didn’t knohat anyone else saw; she wasn’t certain what she saw herself But the mist moved, and Carter froze, as if paralyzed with disbelief and horror

"It’s Susan, and she’s coe her own death!" Darcy breathed