by Karen Anders
A semi breezed by, blowing its horn and Austin stiffened and stepped back, cursing a blue streak.
Maxie blinked up at him. Stunned. Dazed. Disoriented. It was the first time in her life she could remember that she was ever speechless. Her lips stung and burned, and her mouth felt hot and wet and ultrasensitive—sensations that were echoed in a more intimate area of her body.
“I’m losing my mind,” he said softly, and then without further ado, he took her arm and put her in the car.
“Would you mind if I took the time to get my clothes?”
“No, but make it snappy,” he said as he drove around the back of the Lucky Star, followed her in, and got her belongings. It took no more than ten minutes and they were back on the road.
They drove in silence until Austin said, “Did you go back there to rub my nose in your spectacular escape?”
“No. I thought about going to another town, but I didn’t really have the heart for it. Besides, I had a shift to do.”
“You think you’re cute, blondie.”
“I went back to Mesa Roja because I like the people and I told you. I just need to stall. I can’t go back to Sedona right now.”
“I know I’m going to regret this, but why?”
“I’ll be convicted, which makes me a felon, and in the great state of Arizona they will not issue a felon a liquor license.”
“So?”
“We need that license to open the nightclub.”
“Can’t Dorrie apply for another one?”
“There’s not enough time. And if we don’t open as scheduled, we’ll lose everything we put into Firecrackers.”
“That’s a good story.”
“It’s not a story.”
“It’s as good as the one about you locking me in a bathroom so you could skip back to the town that I caught you in because you had a shift.”
“You have a very closed mind.”
And she had a beautiful mouth, shaped for kissing. He knew firsthand. Don’t go there, Taggart. She was a little con artist who flashed those baby blues to get what she wanted. He turned away disgusted with himself for even thinking about kissing her again. “So sue me.”
At the bar she’d refused to be browbeaten and refused to step back. She’d faced him like a little general and he couldn’t help but admire her courage. “You do have some spunk, blondie. Not very many people would dare shove me into a bathtub headfirst or otherwise. Not even stone-cold killers I’ve nabbed.”
She turned to him. “I really had no choice.”
He’d acted tough to build a reputation, a reputation that helped him keep his skips in line. But this woman was neither afraid of him, nor intimidated. In fact, she hadn’t taken her eyes off him. Finally he asked with annoyance, “What?”
“You’ve gone after murderers?”
“Yes. I’ve apprehended murderers.”
“Was that…dangerous?”
Not as dangerous as those baby blues looking at him as if he was some kind of a hero. “It’s dangerous.”
“Come on, Austin, can’t you give me more detail than that? We have a long ride ahead of us.”
He stopped at a light and turned to look at her. “Why would an angel want to know about such ugliness?”
“I’m not an angel and I…”
As she trailed off and their eyes connected, Austin’s pulse faltered, and he felt as if his heart was being squeezed in his tight chest. An unexpected kind of intimacy buzzed between them, suspending time.
With time still weirdly suspended, Austin tightened his hands on the wheel, the sensation inside him disturbed his equilibrium and set his heart pounding hard in his chest. A honk of a horn behind them made him realize that the light had turned green. He started forward and when he reached a cruising speed, he spoke, “The guy was really mild-mannered. The kind of guy you wouldn’t suspect of hurting a fly. He kept to himself and didn’t have many friends. He was arrested late in the investigation when it was discovered that he had been in the dead woman’s apartment. With no priors and a strong citizen’s record, he got bail. Of course, he skipped.”
“And you went after him?”
“I caught the skip trace. By then the police had discovered another unsolved murder that coincided with the one in Sedona. They called in the FBI and after more investigation discovered that this guy was a serial killer.”
“And you had no idea because you were pursuing him for the bail jump.”
“Right. I had no idea.”
“What happened when you caught up to him?”
The memory of that dark night, the blood, and the pain was something he didn’t like thinking about. “He used a knife. When I entered the hotel room where I tracked him to, he had his latest victim tied to the bed.”
“Was she still alive?”
“Yes, thank God.”
“What did you do?”
“I untied her and told her to get the hell out of there and call the police. I went out after her to make sure she made it to the office safely and he hit me from behind.”
“Hit you? Do you mean he knocked you out?”
“No. He stabbed me. It went through my shoulder.”
Maxie brought her hands to her mouth, her eyes filled with horror. “Oh my god!”
“It could have been worse. I have a sixth sense. I don’t know how else to explain it. I moved before he struck. The doctor told me that an inch the other way and the weapon would have gone through my heart.”
“What happened after he stabbed you?”
“I brought him down. The police and FBI showed up shortly after that and they took him into custody.”
“Did you get your bounty?”
“I did, but it wasn’t the most satisfying part of that trace.”
“What was?”
“Saving that woman’s life. She had kids and a husband.”
“I’m sure that woman was glad to be alive.”
“So was I,” he said solemnly. “So was I.”
A short while later and he knew she was still studying him with those clear blue eyes, then they shifted to the tiny shield hanging from his rearview mirror. With her manacled hands, she pushed against the talisman. “What’s this?”
“It’s a warrior’s shield.”
“It’s cute. What’s it for? To protect you from evil spirits.”
“Sort of. My grandmother’s a medicine woman. She made the shield for me.”
“Do you have a picture of her, too?”
“Look, I don’t want to get anymore personal with you than I have to.” He was worried he was becoming more interested in the sweet Maxie than he should be. Getting personal with her would only cause him more problems. And those problems he didn’t need. He needed distance.
She clasped her manacled hands together in her lap. “I’ve already seen the picture of Jessica. What would it hurt to see one of your grandmother?”
Outside the window, the harsh and starkly beautiful New Mexico desert flashed by in a long ribbon of gold. Did she have to sound so hurt? He just couldn’t seem to resist her. “Why don’t you look at the pictures of my whole family?”
“Why not?”
“I was being sarcastic.”
“I know you were. It’s a defense mechanism I understand, but I’d like to see them anyway.”
“Why is it a defense mechanism you understand?”
“I wasn’t exactly the proper daughter my mother would have wanted. Dorrie fit that bill pretty good, but I couldn’t seem to stay clean. If I had on a white dress you can bet I’d be the one to find the mud hole.”
Austin chuckled because he could see that pretty clearly.
“It’s true. She would have loved to have had you as a son. I bet your suit was always spotless and you even cleaned up your room.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“No, there isn’t. But good manners and good character usually start with the parents or more importantly, since you’re a man, your father.
They brought you up right.”
“My parents tried to raise me right.”
“Do you have a picture of them, too?”
He wished she wouldn’t glance at him with those soft eyes and tantalizing mouth.
“My father’s dead,” he said suddenly as if it could deter her from her probing questions. He felt almost powerless to stop her from getting deeper under his skin.
“What kind of answer is that? Either you have a picture or you don’t.” She swiveled in her seat to stare at him. He was highly aware of her gaze on him every second of the ride, but she didn’t say another word.
It made him crazy.
It didn’t help that he was also uncomfortably aware of her lightly tanned thighs, which he caught glimpses of every time he glanced at her. It was damn near impossible for him not to think about reaching out and sliding his palm over her velvet-smooth skin to feel the fit firm muscle beneath.
She pushed at his arm and looked at him solemnly. “I’m guessing you do have a picture of your family.”
He leaned slightly forward. Keeping one hand on the wheel, he reached back for his wallet. Dividing his attention between the road and the open wallet, he found the picture and handed her the worn leather.
MAXIE TOOK the wallet, his nearness intoxicating her. She gave into the temptation to take a deep breath. He smelled like something dark, decadent, and wholly forbidden. She looked down at the picture and her heart lurched. He looked just like his son. Handsome devil, tall, imposing and he dwarfed Austin’s tiny mother. Yet, he had his arm around her in an oddly protective gesture. “Your father looks like he’s trying to protect her from a threat.”
“My dad was pretty old-fashioned. He didn’t like cameras.”
“Thought they’d steal his soul.”
“My father was a warrior. He’d protect my mother’s soul before he’d care about his own.”
Maxie thought instantly that Austin was cut from the same cloth. “They look really happy.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“They were. My father died while installing an engine in a Mustang. Heart attack.”
“This Mustang?”
Austin swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. He was a happy man. He loved his family more than anything.”
“Sounds like he passed that love down to you.”
“He did.”
“I bet he was a good man. He also passed that down to you.”
“You’ve known me for a little while, and already you can tell what kind of guy I am.”
“I can. Your parents raised a good boy.”
Her life had been simpler before she’d known of the existence of Austin Taggart, but that was before he’d burst into her life with his seductive scent and eyes that saw through all her barriers. Those shrewd, assessing eyes seemed as if they could look right into her soul. She already had this desperate need to lose herself in his hot eyes. Another lure she had to fight. She wouldn’t get the time she wanted to get to know Austin better. Her situation just wouldn’t allow it. That thought brought with it a regret that speared her heart.
“My father didn’t get a chance to finish the job. I’m more than a little rough around the edges. My mother…”
She looked at him, at his tight mouth, his somber eyes. “Let’s just say that my childhood wasn’t idyllic after my father died.”
“What happened?”
“What happens to a lot of kids when their families are shattered. My mother remarried. He’s white. He didn’t have much use for me. They argued. I left.”
“Where did you live?”
“With my grandmother.”
She looked at the small shield hanging from the rearview mirror that had been painstakingly hand-wrought by his grandmother. It was sepia-toned with simple fluid black lines that formed a buffalo in the center of the shield. She must care for him a great deal to construct such a lovely talisman for her grandson.
Maxie flipped the picture of Austin’s parents over so she could view the next photograph. It was a picture of a young Apache woman dressed in an elaborate beaded buckskin dress. “Who is this?”
Austin glanced over at the photo she held in her hand. “My grandmother on the day she celebrated the Apache Sunrise Ceremonial.”
“She looks so young.”
“She’s about twelve.”
“What’s the celebration for?”
“A gift of spiritual blessings given to a young girl by her family when the girl reaches puberty. The ceremony is usually performed in the summer. If you flip that picture over you’ll see a more recent photo of my grandmother.”
Maxie turned the worn plastic over and gasped. The photo depicted a sweet, wrinkled, old woman with a slight smile, gray hair, and snapping black eyes. “Oh Austin, she’s absolutely adorable.”
When she looked over at him his face broke into a big beautiful smile. Their eyes met for just a moment, but the shared admiration for his grandmother seemed more intimate than the kiss they had shared.
“She is and she’s wiser than Solomon.”
“I would love to meet her. I could use some wisdom about now. Do you have any recent pictures of your mother?”
“Yes, the next one.”
When Maxie reached that picture, she definitely saw where Austin got his good looks. His mother was stunning with big dark eyes, straight black hair, and a winning smile. “She’s beautiful.”
“Yes she is,” he said, taking the wallet from her and putting it back in his pocket.
Austin lapsed into silence and they traveled along until they reached the outskirts of Cimarron, when Maxie spoke again, “Could you stop at a drugstore? I need some supplies.”
“What kind of supplies?”
“Female ones,” she said wryly.
“Do you have money?”
“Yes I do.”
“Part of the money you stole from the bank?”
“I told you, Austin. I didn’t take the money from the bank. I was framed. So, if you’re expecting to collect the reward for discovering where the money is, you’re going to be disappointed, because I can’t tell you, since I don’t know where it is.”
Austin clamped his lips closed. As soon as they saw a drugstore, he parked the car. He unlocked her cuffs. “No tricks, Maxie.”
She looked at him and raised her chin at his challenging tone. Austin felt like an ogre. He’d kill anyone who treated his sister this way. He tried to gentle his features. “Just hurry up.”
Maxie nodded and walked into the store closely followed by Austin. He stood by the door as she walked through the aisles and picked up what she needed. He shifted a couple of times when he saw the male patrons in the store eyeing her. He didn’t like it.
Suddenly a little old woman cried out and her basket toppled, spilling the contents into the aisle. Without thought, Austin bent down and helped the elderly woman pick up her items. She thanked him profusely. With a shot of adrenaline, he remembered Maxie and that she was loose in a store full of patrons with an available back door. He searched for her, but saw that she was standing in the aisle staring in his direction. He shrugged his shoulders and she gave him a little smile of approval.
She walked up to the counter and put down her items. The young guy behind the counter eyed Maxie intently.
“Is that all?” the clerk asked.
It was evident that the clerk thought she was attractive and she thought that was sweet. Maxie was delving in her fanny pack for her money when an idea came to her. It was a hasty, most likely ill-conceived plan, but it might just give her enough time to get away.
“No. I could really use your help.” She fluttered her lashes all the while feeling guilty again that she would have to put Austin in an awkward situation and make him out to be some villain. But she was nothing but a paycheck to him and she was justified in doing this because she was innocent, and eventually she would prove it. Yet, those thoughts didn’t seem to lesse
n the regret she felt. Damn. Why had she asked about his family in the car? She would have really liked to believe that he was a one-dimensional tough guy.
She also had to worry about Dorrie, Firecrackers and the terrible legal situation she had landed in. Austin would survive. “See that man over by the door? He’s holding me against my will.”
The clerk was a young male and, unfortunately, as soon as she mentioned Austin, he gawked at him with obvious distrust and alarm.
When Austin saw the clerk’s face, his eyes narrowed. He moved forward, but the clerk slid around the counter and stood up to him. “You better leave mister, before I call the cops.”
“Look junior, I don’t have time for…”
“Is there a problem here?” Austin turned to find a deputy sheriff standing at his right shoulder. He was in a starched tan uniform that said Deputy Shawn Miller on the shiny pin attached to his chest. He was young, but looked competent.
“Arrest him, Shawn, he’s a kidnapper,” the store clerk said, pointing at Austin.
Austin’s gut clenched. Oh, damn. What had the skip done now? Resisting an impulse to glance in her direction, he said calmly, “There is a misunderstanding here.” Reaching back, he went to pull the bounty papers on Maxie, but his hand never made it all the way to his pocket as the deputy pulled his gun and pointed it at Austin.