“Who’s dead?” he asked. He tipped his head to the blankets. “And is the body on the backseat?”
Alexa sucked in her breath and made another sob. “Tasha’s dead. The man at the gas station killed her when he found us. We’d gotten away. We thought we were safe. But we were wrong. I was wrong,” Alexa corrected. “Her body’s at the gas station, too.”
Hell. Two dead bodies. “What’s Tasha’s last name?”
“McKenna. That’s her real name. But she’s been in hiding for the last couple of months and using a couple of different aliases.”
Yeah, he was definitely calling this in.
But the sound stopped him. A whimper of some kind. And then Levi saw the movement of the blankets.
He reacted fast, shoving Alexa aside, trying to get to the injured or dying woman. Alexa had said this Tasha was dead, but someone was definitely alive and moving. Maybe in need of immediate medical attention.
Levi threw open the door, bracing himself to see blood and heaven knew what else. However, it wasn’t an injured woman in those covers.
It was a baby.
A newborn from the looks of it.
“You have to protect her,” Alexa said, her voice trembling. “You have to tell everyone she’s yours. That I left her with you for safekeeping.”
And before Levi could even react, Alexa turned and started running away from him.
Alexa heard Levi curse. He also called out for her to stop.
She didn’t.
Couldn’t.
If these hired killers were after her, then the best way to save the baby was for her to get as far away as she could. If the men had been after only Tasha, then having Levi lie would keep the baby safe. Either way, it was best if Alexa got out of there fast.
Alexa’s eyes were already burning from the bitter cold and the tears she was fighting. Her heart already thudding in her chest. Her legs felt like lead, but she ran as fast as she could.
It wasn’t nearly fast enough.
Levi used his football running-back skills from high school to catch up to her within a matter of seconds, and he latched on to her shoulder to whirl her around.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he snarled.
“What I have to do to keep that little girl safe.”
That clearly wasn’t a good enough answer, but Alexa didn’t want to take the time to explain. She tried to bolt again. Levi didn’t let that happen. He latched on to her, hard, and practically dragged her back to the car. He pushed her against the cold metal of the door and pinned her there with his body.
Which wasn’t cold.
Something she shouldn’t have noticed.
“Start talking,” Levi demanded.
Alexa shook her head. “There isn’t time. You need to get the baby to a safe place now.”
But he didn’t budge. And even in the dim light she could still see the glare he aimed at her. “You had a baby?”
There was plenty of skepticism in his voice. Probably because he didn’t consider her the motherly type. It was reasonable. She’d never considered herself that way, either. Not with her stellar gene pool and mess of a life.
“She’s Tasha’s baby. She gave birth to her three days ago. In secret. She’s been hiding from a stalker.”
“Tasha,” he repeated. “The dead woman at the gas station.”
Levi cursed again and let go of her so he could take out his phone. No doubt to call someone she didn’t want him to call. “Don’t you dare take off again.”
Alexa didn’t attempt it, mainly because Levi still had her pinned to the car. He wasn’t overly muscled. More on the lanky side. But it was clear he was in good shape, probably because of the backbreaking work on his family’s ranch.
“Please don’t call anyone and tell them I’m here,” she begged. “I think the man who killed Tasha has a police radio. And even if he’s dead, his partner could still be monitoring the calls. I don’t want anyone to know that the baby’s Tasha’s. I want everyone to believe she’s yours. Ours,” she added.
“Ours?” he challenged.
She nodded. “I know we were never even close to being lovers, but no one other than us knows that. Whoever killed Tasha might not go after the baby if they believe she’s your daughter. Please. Just do this to protect her.”
In addition to the renewed scowl Levi gave her, she could also see the debate going on in his stormy brown eyes. He stared at her from beneath the brim of his black Stetson.
“Get in the car,” Levi ordered through clenched teeth. “I’ll drive the baby and you to the sheriff’s office, and I’ll call my brother on his personal phone so it won’t be on the police radio. Then you can tell me everything, and I mean everything.”
Not everything.
She couldn’t do that. But maybe she could tell him enough to convince him that the newborn on the backseat needed him and his lie. After that, Alexa had to get the heck out of town or else she would put the baby in danger again. It was only a matter of time before Marcos Culver or those thugs found her.
Levi opened the driver’s side door and practically stuffed Alexa in, moving her to the passenger’s seat. Alexa immediately checked on the baby, who thankfully had gone back to sleep. Maybe she would stay that way until Levi had her in a safe place.
Which likely wouldn’t be the sheriff’s office, not for long anyway.
Though that was the call Levi made as he pulled out of the parking lot of the Outlaw Bar. Alexa prayed this wouldn’t turn out to be a fatal mistake. She kept watch around them, looking for anyone suspicious and wishing that she had a gun. Too bad she hadn’t been able to get the one from the man who’d attacked them.
“Jericho,” Levi said when his brother answered. “I need you to send one of the night deputies out to the gas station on Shaw Road. There might have been some kind of attack.”
Even though Levi didn’t put the call on speaker, Alexa had no trouble hearing Jericho’s answer. “What kind of attack?”
“Just check it out. My source isn’t reliable.”
That was a generous way of putting it. And his doubt was deserved. After all, she’d lied to Levi and the Crocketts before.
It hadn’t turned out well.
However,
