twice now wasn’t his brightest move.
Then again, she was beautiful and his body reacted with a mind of its own. Logic had nothing to do with it.
“You’re right about that. I do need someone in law enforcement to put me in protective custody.” He didn’t budge. “And since your cover is blown, it might as well be you.”
The only thing he couldn’t figure out was why she wasn’t coming clean about being on the job. Best he could figure she’d been on some kind of detail, which made more sense as to why she fought when she did earlier. Was she in the middle of an undercover operation? Then again, if she was wouldn’t she want police protection now?
Not necessarily. If she was in deep, she’d want to stay that way. Before he could raise another argument, she slipped out the door. He immediately bolted toward it but she’d managed to secure it with something on the other side.
Joshua muttered a curse as he pulled out his cell. Explaining this whole scenario to his friend Tommy ensured that he’d be ribbed about this forever. He’d allowed himself to be locked inside a bathroom while the “teen” he’d been trying to save got away.
Best case scenario? Tommy was already pulling up in front of the gas station. The door opened at the same time Tommy’s line rang.
“Turn that thing off.” The mystery woman had returned. The business end of her gun pointed squarely at his chest. “And my name’s Alice Green.”
“If you’re running from the law, it wasn’t your best move to come back,” Joshua said flatly.
“I know that. So, don’t make me regret it.” There was something else in her eyes this time. Fear?
Curious, Joshua ended the call. He didn’t know what she’d gotten herself into but preferring a murderous criminal’s company to the sheriff’s didn’t signal good things about her head being on straight.
“You have to decide right now,” she said, her gaze bouncing from him to the hallway leading to the store as the sound of sirens moved closer.
He didn’t budge.
“Please.” There was a desperate quality in her eyes that tugged at his heart. She could’ve shot him twice now and hadn’t so he figured she wasn’t planning to hurt him. And he was more than mildly curious what she was really up to.
“Okay. But you’re going to tell me what this is about,” he said, bending over to retrieve the weapon they’d discarded earlier.
“Don’t even think about it,” she said as he made a motion to pick it up.
“I leave it here and they finger you immediately.” If it was her service weapon then they could trace the serial number. Joshua at least wanted to hear what she had to say before he hauled her in to Tommy. He might even be able to convince her to turn herself in and that would make things a lot easier on her legally. But then, she would already know that.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Do you live nearby or have a ride anywhere around here?” She kept a brisk pace as round two of pouring rain flooded them.
“Yeah, my Jeep’s a couple blocks away. But it won’t do any good.”
“Why not?” she asked, navigating them out of the dark parking lot as the sound of sirens neared.
Either she or Perez had shot the light out in back of the convenience store and his money was on her. “Out of gas.”
She muttered a curse as she led him into the field.
“Stay low,” she directed.
“You know that clerk can give the police our descriptions,” Joshua hedged.
“He was too surprised to pay attention. He won’t be able to give them anything more than a general idea. You’re tall and that might mean something outside of Texas but all the men seem over six feet here. Plus, we rushed in and straight to the back without showing our faces. No way will that young kid be able to give them anything they can work with and any recording will be too grainy to make out,” she responded matter-of-factly.
More proof that she knew a little too much about the process to hold up her claim of not being in law enforcement. Plus, he picked up on the fact that she was from out of state because of her height reference. No one in Texas really thought about whether or not six feet was tall.
“Why are you running?” Joshua asked.
“I’m not,” she dismissed him.
“Maybe the appropriate question is, Who are you running from?” It couldn’t be Perez since she was trying to be captured by him. She’d said they had boys together, another reason he should ignore any sexual current flowing between them. Once they were safe he’d ask her about her family situation.
“Stay down and be quiet if you want to get out of here alive,” she said, irritation lining her tone.
Since Alice, if that was her name, was already belly down he figured he’d better do the same. She’d holstered her weapon and that reminded him of the fact she wore an ankle holster in the first place. No one did that outside law enforcement.
“Where are you from?” he asked.
“Tucson,” she said.
“Why are you really here?” he asked, retrieving his hat.
“I already told you,” she said. “My ex.”
“You can drop the act,” Joshua said, not bothering to hide the fact he was done with lies. Besides, the thought of her returning for an ex stirred a different reaction inside him—jealousy? “Nobody and especially not me believes you came all the way out here to be abducted by the father of your children.”
He intended to find out what she was really up to and how much of what she’d said was the truth.
* * *
WAITING FOR OFFICERS to clear out of the gas station while lying belly down in two inches of water wasn’t Alice’s idea of a great Friday night. Then again, being dumped by the father of her twins two weeks before the babies had arrived hadn’t been, either. Fridays were right up there with poking her eyes with hot sticks.
Soaked to the bone, she shivered as she waited for the cruiser to leave the gas station. The cold front that had been promised was moving in. Experience told her that the clerk hadn’t actually witnessed a crime so there wouldn’t be much to investigate. A deputy would take a statement, file a report and move on. Then, he or she would keep an eye out for anything suspicious in the area for the rest of the night.
The deputy left ten minutes after he’d arrived.
“Take my jacket,” Joshua said, sitting up, water sloshing as it rolled off him and hit the puddle on the ground.
“It’s okay. I can handle it,” she said quickly. Being on the force, Alice had learned not to admit weakness. Officers depended on one another in life-threatening situations and being a woman she felt that she had to prove herself even more so than male officers. Men had
