LITMIR.BIZ

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involuntary grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.

      “What’s so funny?” she demanded with her arms folded across her chest.

      Maybe he was still giddy from that amazing kiss, but The Look amused him. She meant for her scowl to be menacing, to strike terror into his heart. Instead, he saw a strong, sensible woman who was plenty ticked off but fair enough to hear him out.

      “A question,” he said. “What are you charging me with?”

      “Let’s start with attempted murder, two of them.” Her eyebrows pulled down, and her full lips thinned into a straight, angry line. “That was you, shooting from the trees.”

      “Let’s call it self-defense,” he said. “More accurately, defense of you and Ty.”

      Right on cue, his old pal tromped up the hill. “We could have handled it.”

      “You’re welcome,” Wade said.

      “Incorrigible,” Samantha growled. “The least you could do is pretend to be sorry. You have so much to apologize for, Wade. Not just to me but to all your friends, all the good people who showed up at your memorial service. Your sister couldn’t stop sobbing, and she claimed to be glad your parents were dead so they wouldn’t have to go through this tragedy. And then there’s Jenny.”

      He watched The Look fade from her face, replaced by an empty gaze and vacant sadness that could never be fully expressed. When she spun on her boot heel and walked away from him, it was a knife in his heart.

      She muttered, “I can’t stand to look at you.”

      “Samantha, wait.” He heard the desperation in his voice. “I can explain everything.”

      As she continued to put physical distance between them, she straightened her shoulders. “Ty, I’m going to contact Dispatch and tell them we need an ambulance, maybe two. Keep an eye on our suspect.”

      Wade’s head dropped forward on his chest. Earning Samantha’s forgiveness was going to be harder than hell. It was one thing to say that he’d faked his death so she and Jenny would be safe, and another to prove it.

      “You’re in big trouble.” Ty hunkered down beside him on the hill. “Consider yourself lucky that all she did was throw you on the ground and slap on the cuffs.”

      The handcuffs were mostly a joke between them. Long ago during a particularly wild session in their bedroom, he’d shown her how to pick these locks. With his hands still behind his back, he dug into his pocket for the Swiss Army knife he always carried. His gaze locked with Ty’s. He wanted to trust this guy he’d known since high school, wanted to believe that Ty was on his side 100 percent. Ty was one of a handful of lawmen who knew Wade had faked his death. He’d been nothing but supportive. But Wade had been betrayed by others. He had to be careful.

      While he opened the knife and went to work on the cuffs, he said, “Kind of a coincidence, don’t you think?”

      “What are you talking about?”

      “You and Samantha just happened to be on this particular stretch of road. You just happened to find Morrissey’s body.”

      “Accusing me? Really?” Ty sat back on his heels. “You’re a real piece of work, Wade. Do you really think I’d put Sam in danger?”

      He wasn’t sure what he thought or whom he believed in. “How did you get to be here? In this particular spot?”

      “I sure as hell wouldn’t call down an ambush on myself.”

      “Tell me,” Wade said.

      “Sam received a call from the fire marshal, who told her that the chopper pilot spotted three hikers near Horny Toad Creek. The marshal couldn’t spare the manpower to pick them up, so Sam volunteered, since we were in the area.”

      Ty’s story sounded plausible and bore no resemblance to the conspiracy theories that were running rampant in Wade’s head. It wasn’t likely that the pilot, the marshal and Ty were in cahoots. Still, he said, “And why were you and Sam in this area in the first place?”

      “I asked Sam to come with me while I checked out the safe house. And, yes, I had an ulterior motive. As soon as I heard about your escape, I figured you’d hightail it back here. And I wanted to warn Sam, maybe even take her and Jenny into protective custody.”

      “The hell you will.” The pocketknife he was using to pick the cuffs slid across the metal and nipped into his thumb. “I know what protective custody is like. I’m not putting my wife and child through that.”

      “How are we going to keep them safe? When word gets out that you’re alive, the cartel will use them. They’ll threaten harm to your family unless you turn yourself over to them.”

      Wade wasn’t sure how many people knew that he was still alive and waiting to testify against a former DEA agent and a member of the Esteban cartel who were in prison awaiting trial. He was the witness who could make sure those men were convicted of murder, conspiracy, drug trafficking and gun smuggling. His testimony would seal the deal...if he lived long enough to get into the courtroom.

      “I’ve got a bad feeling,” Wade said. “I think too many people already know.”

      “Is that why you broke out?”

      “You make it sound like a great escape.”

      “Wasn’t it?”

      “Nothing so dramatic,” he said. “After this last trip to the federal courthouse in Austin where—as you know—the trial was delayed for the seventh time, I went back to the safe-house motel with my handlers. Later that night, I climbed out the bedroom window.”

      “You just quietly sneaked out, huh? I heard you knocked both guards unconscious. One of them has a bad concussion.”

      “Not true. I wouldn’t hurt anybody.”

      Ty cast a cynical gaze at the carnage spread across this smoky mountain meadow. “Yeah, you’re a peaceful pussycat.”

      “I’m telling you that if my handlers were injured, I didn’t do it. Whoever hit them could have been after me.”

      “None of the people who know you’re alive have reason to want you dead.”

      Wade thought differently. Three days ago in Austin when he was leaving the courthouse, he caught a glimpse of a face he’d seen before. He didn’t know the man’s name but seeing him set off alarm bells. He needed to get back here, back to Samantha and Jenny as quickly as possible.

      He regarded Ty with a steady gaze. His friend’s easygoing manner was well suited to his ranching background, but Wade wasn’t fooled for a minute. This laid-back cowpoke could move as fast as a rattlesnake’s strike. Ty was sharp and smart. He was a good man; he’d earned an FBI Shield of Valor for his work on a kidnapping case.

      The question was: To trust him or not to trust him? Even if Ty was brave and loyal, he was also a federal agent who wouldn’t want to risk his job. “I’m going to ask you for a favor, Ty.”

      “Shoot.”

      “Don’t tell anyone you saw me today.”

      Vertical worry lines creased between his brows. “That’s asking a lot, brother. Those guys you shot are going to mention the mystery rifleman. And the forensic investigators are going to find bullets from the rifle.”

      Wade nodded toward the gun on the ground. “There it is. You can say that you were using it.”

      “You got it from the safe house, didn’t you?”

      “The rifle and two handguns,” Wade said dismissively. There were more important issues at stake. Yes, he’d breached the sanctity of a federal safe house. So what? The place was never used. “I’m asking you for twenty-four hours. By nightfall tomorrow, I’ll know what I need to do.”

      “I

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