LITMIR.BIZ

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you for saving my daughter’s life,” Kate Doyle said. “I’d offer to shake your hand, but I’m fighting bronchitis.”

      “I think your daughter saved her own life.” He turned to the deputy. “There’s another bad guy out back.”

      “No, there isn’t.” A second deputy walked into the utility room through the back door. “Sorry, Nate. If you had somebody out there, he’s long gone. Probably jumped into the ravine and took off. We’ll start looking for him.” He walked off, speaking into his collar mic.

      The man who’d held the gun on her at the store had gotten away. Again. Disgusted with himself, Nate shook his head.

      One of the little mosquito dogs, the one with a tiny white blaze in the center of her chest, stepped up to sniff the hem of Nate’s jeans. Her bone-shaped metallic tag said her name was Abby. Nate reached down to give her a scratch on the head. When she rolled up her eyes to look at him, he was pretty sure she was disappointed in what she saw. Nate didn’t blame her.

      The man in the hoodie started to stir. The uniformed deputy took off the twine and cuffed him, then patted him down. He found a folded switchblade in his back pocket and a keychain in the front pocket. That was it. No wallet. No ID. Not even a phone. He started to regain consciousness. Nate and the deputy pulled him to a sitting position.

      “What’s your name?” Nate asked.

      The deputy had already tugged back the man’s hood, revealing short curly brown hair, thick eyebrows and a soda can–sized bruise across the side of his face. He was maybe in his early thirties. Powdery white laundry detergent streaked his face and the front of his shirt. He squinted his red, watery eyes and frowned at Nate. “Who are you?” His gaze shifted nervously back and forth between Nate and the deputy. “You’re that guy who hit me with soda cans in the store.”

      “Do you recognize this guy from anywhere?” Nate asked Lily. “Maybe you’ve seen him someplace other than work?” He turned to her and she shook her head. When he turned back to the thug, he saw him staring at Lily. The man’s confused scowl had morphed into a bold, predatory stare.

      Lily visibly blanched and her eyes grew wide with fear.

      “Hey!” Nate snapped at the thug, drawing the man’s attention back to himself. “Who are you? Who are you working for?”

      The man cursed at him and then looked away, making it clear he wouldn’t answer any further questions.

      The deputy placed him under arrest and read him his rights, then left with plans to take him to the hospital to get checked out before hauling him to the county jail.

      Lily sat down in the living room with the second deputy, who’d returned to the house and was ready to take down her statement. Meanwhile Lily’s mom made a call and a few minutes later Kate’s cousin, Penny, showed up to offer the women comfort and support.

      While his fellow deputy was wrapping things up, Nate mentally rehashed everything that had happened this evening. If those two thugs could find out where Lily lived that quickly and they were desperate enough to try to grab her at home, she was in even greater danger than he’d thought. She was going to need something more substantial than the hand-holding her mother and cousin could provide.

      Lily’s mom had brought out a container of homemade cookies and brewed some coffee. By the time the remaining deputy had taken care of business and gone on his way, there was nothing left but coffee mugs stacked in the kitchen sink and a few butter-pecan cookie crumbs on the kitchen counter.

      “Why don’t you two pack some clothes and spend the night at my place?” Penny asked Lily and Kate.

      “You should go with your cousin,” Nate said to Lily’s mom. He turned to Lily. “And you should come with me to my aunt and uncle’s ranch. It’s just a few miles north of town.”

      “Everybody in the county knows where the Blue Spruce is.” Lily glanced at her mother. “I think my mom and I should stick together.”

      “No one’s after your mom,” Nate said. “She’d be safer away from you.”

      “Oh.” Lily and her mom looked at each other. Kate was still walking around wrapped in her afghan. She was pale and looked as if she’d rather be lying down.

      “The man we arrested might sing like a canary when he gets to booking,” Nate said. “Maybe he’ll tell us his real name and who he works for and everything will be wrapped up tomorrow.”

      “That would be great,” Lily muttered.

      He wanted to take the frightened look from her eyes. But in all practicality, it was too soon. For tonight, at least, he wanted her worried enough that she’d let him take care of her.

      “It’s also possible he’ll keep his mouth shut. And that the gunman who escaped will find you again.”

      Lily picked up one of the little mosquito dogs. “I have a couple of other part-time jobs here in town. I can’t stay all the way out there on that ranch.”

      Her life was in danger and she was worried about some part-time jobs?

      Nate knew she was an intelligent woman. But he could also see she was exhausted and not thinking straight.

      “How about you go with me tonight. That way your mom can rest easier at Penny’s house.” He glanced at Kate, hoping she’d back him up. “You can rethink things tomorrow.”

      After a slight coughing fit, Lily’s mom voiced her agreement.

      Lily pursed her lips and blew out a sad, tired sigh while the dog she was holding sniffed her hair. “All right.”

       FOUR

      Lily cracked open the window of Nate’s truck and let the cold, sharp air swirl in and nip at her skin. Late autumn would be turning into early winter sometime before morning, she could feel it.

      She looked into the darkness as the truck rolled down the highway, her thoughts turning bleaker with every mile. Her plan to get back on her feet after returning to her hometown had already been built on shaky ground, and now this. Her bank account wasn’t going to get any healthier if she had to waste her time hiding out from criminals. It would take forever to pay down her bills and move out of her mother’s house.

      She glanced at Nate, wondering what his life had been like the last few years. He hadn’t mentioned a wife, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t involved with someone. Not that it mattered. She just wondered.

      He constantly checked the mirrors as he drove, watching to see if anyone was following them. Lily checked the mirrors, too. They still didn’t know how those thugs had found her at her mother’s house. They might have simply followed them from the Starlight Mart. But maybe they had access to her personal information through someone at work. She sat up straighter and put a little more energy into scanning for headlights behind them.

      The narrow road they were traveling on was barely more than a line of crumbling asphalt, and they continued to climb to a higher elevation. Most of the time, tall pines lined the road, but every now and then there was a break and she could see the glittering lights of Copper Mesa down below.

      “Can we turn on some music?” The tension and terror she’d felt over the last few hours had given her a pounding headache.

      “Music’s not a good idea right now.”

      “Why not?”

      He didn’t really think he could hear someone following them over the rattling and squeaking sounds his old truck made, did he? “It might be nice,” she suggested again, attempting to sound polite even though she was speaking through gritted teeth. He didn’t deserve her wrath, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t deserve to get attacked—twice—and she wanted to punch somebody. “I think it would help me relax.”

      “Well,

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