She looked at Clive, then she shrugged a little. “I don’t mind,” she said. “He’s not quite in one piece. He’s a waste of time.”
Shep grinned. “A jane like you ain’t got no right running with a nance,” he said seriously.
Clive said in a low voice, “Get to hell out of here, all of you.”
Annabel said, “May I get my things?”
Duffy shook his head. “You can come as you are,” he said. “I want to talk to you… come on.”
She giggled. “I love you when you get like that,” she said. “Let’s talk; I’ve got lots to tell you.” She waved her hand at Clive. “About him and Morgan. You’ll eat it up.
Clive drew his lips off his teeth, then he shot her. Duffy just caught the slight movement under the rug as the gun roared. The rug began to smoulder.
Duffy fired at Clive, but the big Colt kicked up and the bullet smacked against the wall two feet above Clive’s head. Moving with incredible rapidity, Shep flung himself on Clive.
Duffy walked cautiously over to Annabel, looked at her, then shoved his gun in his hip pocket and knelt down beside her. She lay on her back, one hand clenched tightly to her right side. She opened her eyes and looked at him, then she began to cry.
Duffy said, “Take it easy. You’ll be all right.”