Elise didn’t have any idea who he was, but at least she now knew that it wasn’t Colt who was trying to murder her.
Not at the moment, anyway.
She’d seen the hatred in his eyes. Felt it, too, but thankfully that hadn’t put him in a killing rage.
“Don’t go out there,” she warned him in a whisper when she felt Colt move.
Colt stopped but drew his gun. And he kept watch. Just as she did.
Elise’s heart was in her throat now, every part of her geared up for fight or flight. She was hoping it was a fight that she could win, but it was hard to think straight with her head pounding like a bad toothache.
The man walked from the front of Colt’s truck and down the shoulder of the road. Toward them. But he wasn’t looking exactly in their direction. His gaze was firing all around him.
So, maybe he hadn’t seen them, after all.
Part of her wanted to run out there and confront him, and the other part of her just wanted to see what he planned to do. She figured he wanted to finish what he had started on the Miller’s Creek Bridge.
“Is that the guy who ran you off the road?” Colt asked, his voice barely making a sound.
“I’m pretty sure it is.”
Elise had only gotten a glimpse of him. Or rather a glimpse of his clothes, specifically the midnight-black Stetson that looked identical to the one the Colt had worn since he was a teenager.
Maybe a coincidence.
But with everything else going on, she wasn’t so sure. She had only been back in Sweetwater Springs for a month. Had barely unpacked her things at the house that’d once belonged to her grandparents. But since Elise had arrived, she’d known she wasn’t exactly welcome in town.
“Had you seen him before tonight?” Colt continued, sounding very much like the lawman that he was.
“Earlier today, I saw someone watching me from the parking lot at the grocery store. I thought it was you.”
He made a sound in his throat to indicate it hadn’t been. “I need to bring him in for questioning. This could be just some kind of misunderstanding. I heard something about your previous tenant not being happy about having to give up the place when you moved back.”
No, he hadn’t been. In fact, the guy had trashed the house and left a rude message for her. “I know the tenant, and he’s not the guy.”
Colt stayed quiet a moment, watching the man walk closer to them. “Stay put,” he told her.
And that was the only warning she got before Colt stepped out from cover. “I’m Deputy Colt McKinnon,” he called out. “Who are you?”
It was hard to see much of anything with just the watery moonlight, but the man didn’t lift his gun in their direction, and he stopped, staring across the narrow clearing at Colt.
“Toby Gambil,” he said, practically in a growl.
She repeated the name under her breath, trying to remember if she’d ever heard it. But she hadn’t. And she didn’t recognize that voice, either.
Elise wished she had her laptop handy so she could do a quick check to see what she could pull up on him. It was something she did almost daily. Her job as a corporate security analyst gave her access to all sorts of dirty little secrets.
And she had a bad feeling this guy had some.
“Any reason you’re out here this time of night?” Colt pressed.
“Yeah. Some bimbo ran me off the road. I suspect she was drunk, and I came looking for her.”
Elise frantically shook her head, but if Colt realized what she was doing, he gave no indication of it.
“You know this woman you claim ran you off the road?” Colt asked.
“Never saw her before in my life. I was just out here in Sweetwater Springs looking for an old army buddy. Got lost. Then, when I tried to get across the bridge not far from here, she smacked right into me with her car.” He tipped his head to the front of his truck. “I want to find her because I’ll need to make an insurance claim.”
The man made it sound so innocent. As if it was all her fault. And it wasn’t.
“You ran me off the road,” Elise shouted out to him. Colt glanced back at her, scowled, but that didn’t deter her. “You acted like you were trying to kill me.”
The man took his time answering, and if he had any outward reaction to her accusation, he sure didn’t show it. “Well, little lady, it seems we have a difference in opinion as to what happened.”
His condescending nickname irritated her almost as much as his smug attitude.
“Just give me your name, and I’ll be on my way,” the man added. “I’ll let the insurance company sort it all out.”
“You already know my name,” she snapped. “Because you were watching me at the grocery store earlier today. It’s Elise Nichols.”
Again, he didn’t jump to respond. “Seems you’re mistaken about that, too. It’s my first night in town. Never been here before in my life. Maybe you’re not thinking straight after the little wreck you caused.”
Again, he was cocky. And that tone chilled her even more than the night air. It must have done the same to Colt, because he stepped in front of her.
“Let’s drive back to the sheriff’s office on Main Street,” Colt ordered. And there was no mistaking the fact that it was an order given by a man with a badge. “I’ll follow you. I can get your statement and call for a medic to come and check out Elise.”
The moments crawled by, and Elise figured the guy would flat-out refuse. But he didn’t. Gambil finally nodded, then shrugged and, as if he didn’t have a care in the world, he strolled back to his truck.
“Just follow the signs to town,” Colt instructed Gambil. “It’ll take you straight to Main Street.”
Colt got her moving again, staying just slightly ahead of her so that he was between her and Gambil. Once the man was inside his truck, Colt practically stuffed her inside his and hit the master switch to lock her door.
“Any chance what he’s claiming is true?” Colt asked, taking out his phone. He didn’t reholster his gun, and he didn’t take his eyes off the other vehicle that was parked just a few yards ahead of them.
“No chance whatsoever,” Elise insisted. “He ran into me, and when he got out, he was coming right at me with a gun.”
“But he didn’t shoot? And he didn’t say anything to you?”
“No.”
That’s where her explanation ground to a sudden halt. Because he’d certainly had time to shoot her. Or at least verbally threaten her. She’d had to get out from beneath the air bag, exit on the passenger’s side and then start running.
He could have put a bullet in her at any time.
So maybe this had all just been an accident. Except it hadn’t felt like one.
And still didn’t.
Colt started the engine and turned on the heater full blast. Until the warm air started to spill over her, Elise hadn’t realized she was shivering. He also punched a button on his phone.
“Reed,” he said a moment later. Reed as in Deputy Reed Caldwell from the Sweetwater Springs Sheriff’s Office. “I need you to run a license plate.” And Colt rattled off the number of Gambil’s truck. Waited.
Looked at her.
Of course, no look from Colt was ever just a mere look.
They shared too much history for that, and those bedroom blue-gray eyes always had a way of cutting right through her. Elise tried not to let that happen now. In fact, she tried not to think of anything from their past—including the sizzling-hot attraction that’d once been between them.
No.
Best not to think of that.
Even though her body always reminded her of it whenever she was within breathing distance of him. Thankfully, over the past decade or so there had been plenty of distance between them, but she couldn’t rely on that any longer. Not with them both in the same small town.
“Toby Gambil,” Colt repeated. “Yeah, that’s right. Anything suspicious on him, like maybe an arrest warrant?”
She cou
ldn’t hear what Reed said, but judging from the way Colt’s mouth relaxed, the answer was no. Nothing suspicious. Well, nothing except for his behavior after he’d crashed into her with his truck.
“I’m on Ezell Road right now. I’ll be bringing both Gambil and Elise Nichols in to take their statements about a car accident,” Colt said to Reed. “Run a quick check on Gambil for me. And have a medic come to the station.” He paused. “No, but Elise might need a few stitches.”
She certainly hadn’t forgotten about the cut on her head. It was still throbbing. But a few stitches were the least of her concerns.
Colt ended the call, put his truck into gear and flashed his headlights to let Gambil know they were about to leave. Elise held her breath, to see what the man would do, but Gambil eased out onto the road, and Colt followed right behind him.
It seemed, well, normal.
“You think I’m crazy,” she mumbled. Heck, she was beginning to think that, too.
But the words had barely had time to leave her mouth when she heard the sound that she didn’t want to hear. Tires screeching on the asphalt.
Ahead of them, Gambil’s truck sped away.
“Hell.” Colt tossed his phone into her lap and slammed on the accelerator, too. “Call Reed. Tell him we might have a problem.”
Elise didn’t have time to feel even an ounce of justification that she’d been right about this situation. Ahead of them, Gambil fishtailed, his back tires skirting across the wintery road, but he quickly corrected the truck and went even faster.
Colt was right behind him.
“Let Reed know that I’m in pursuit of Gambil’s vehicle,” Colt said, his attention nailed to the road and the truck.
Even though her hands were shaking, Elise managed to pick through the numbers and find Reed’s. The deputy answered on the first ring, and she began to relay Colt’s message.
“Tell Colt to back off,” Reed said before she’d even finished talking. “I believe Toby Gambil is an alias. I don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
Elise knew. They were dealing with a man who’d tried to kill her. A man who was now trying to flee the scene. A man who’d likely given a fake name to a deputy sheriff who was questioning him.
There weren’t many good reasons for a person to do that. She relayed what Reed had said to Colt.
“He could be dangerous,” Reed added. “I’m on my way out there now, and I’ll see about setting up a roadblock.”
The moment Elise pressed the end call button, Gambil slammed on his brakes. Colt cursed again, hit his brakes, too, but had to swerve into the oncoming lane to stop himself from plowing right into the back of Gambil’s truck.
“Don’t you dare say I told you so,” Colt grumbled.
The thought hadn’t crossed her mind. Right now, she was only worried about what Gambil might do next. After all, the man was armed, and Colt’s and his trucks were now practically dead level with each other. Gambil could fire right into the cab and kill them both.
That’s probably why Colt threw his truck into Reverse to drop back behind Gambil. But they didn’t hold that position for long. Gambil hit the accelerator again, shooting forward like a bullet.
“Go after him,” Elise insisted.
Yes, she was scared. Terrified, actually. But if he got away, they might never know who he really was and why he’d come after her like that.
Colt seemed to have a split-second debate with himself about what to do, but she must have convinced him, because he took off after Gambil.
“Watch for Reed,” he told her.
She would. And she’d also try to watch for other cars. Elise prayed that everyone in Sweetwater Springs had stayed in tonight because with the way Gambil was driving, he could run into someone who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
There was a flash of red ahead of them. Gambil’s brake lights. And he turned onto another road. But not just any road. The one that led to Miller’s Creek Bridge where he’d first rammed into her.
“Why’s he doing this?” she mumbled. “Why would he go back there?”
Colt only shook his head and kept following the man. However, they had only gone about a quarter of a mile when she heard the sound. As if the truck had backfired.
Almost immediately, Gambil started to swerve. And it got worse. His truck pitched to the right, heading straight for the ditch.
“Hold on,” Colt said just as he put on his brakes. He had to careen around Gambil, but he somehow managed to avoid another collision.
Gambil wasn’t so lucky.
His truck left the road, going airborne when it vaulted over the raised shoulder, and the front end slammed into a cluster of small trees.
Elise had braced herself for something bad to happen, but she certainly hadn’t expected that.
Colt and she sat there. Breaths sawing. Her heartbeat going like crazy. But Gambil didn’t get out of the truck.
“Call Reed again,” Colt told her. “Let him know where we are.” And with that, he shifted his gun and opened his door.
“You’re not going out there.” However, she was talking to the wind because Colt was indeed going out there.
“If you move, I’ll arrest you,” Colt growled at her. He also shot her a warning scowl to go along with that and started toward Gambil.
Only then did Elise remember that Colt still had her gun, and she didn’t like the idea of him not having some kind of backup.
Not that she would be of much help.
At best she was a lousy shot, a disgrace for someone raised on a Texas ranch, but if Gambil came out with guns blazing, she might have been able to scare him by firing over his head or something.
Now, she didn’t even have that option.
With her stomach churning and her heart in her throat, she watched as Colt approached the truck. He took slow, cautious steps, his attention pinned to the driver’s side.
His gun, too.
He had it pointed right at Gambil.
Gambil’s headlights were still on, cutting through the silvery fog that was drifting from the nearby creek. That, along with the moon, gave her plenty of light to see Colt’s expression when he threw open Gambil’s door. He froze for a moment when he looked inside.
Colt’s head snapped up, his gaze no longer on Gambil but on the road. And on her.
“Get down!” Colt yelled.
Elise froze, too, wondering why the heck Colt had told her that and why he was sprinting back toward her. He jumped into the truck, threw it into gear and hit the accelerator as if their lives depended on it.
A split second later, Elise realized that it did.
Because Gambil’s truck exploded into a giant ball of fire.
Chapter Three
With his phone sandwiched between his shoulder and ear, Colt waited on hold while he watched the medic put some stitches on the side of Elise’s head. She didn’t even wince. Didn’t even seem to notice.
Because her attention was nailed to Colt.
She was no doubt on the edge of her seat, waiting for answers about why this nightmare had happened, but Colt figured those answers might be a long time coming.
Especially since their suspect was dead.
Now he needed to find answers to a couple of whys. Why had Gambil come after Elise in the first place? And why had the explosives been in the truck?
Colt had only gotten a glimpse of the device on the ceiling of the truck, but he’d recognized the type of explosive and figured it was time to get out of there. He’d been lucky that he’d gotten far enough away to get only a few nicks and cuts from the flying debris. A couple of seconds later and he would have been a dead man, too.
Yeah, he definitely wanted to know why, and that started with learning everything about Gambil that there was to know.
There was a slight sound on the other end of the line to indicate he’d been taken off hold, and he heard Reed’s voice. “It’s not good, Colt.”
Hell. Colt had already had his fil
l of bad news for the night and didn’t want more. “I’m listening.”
“We just fished Gambil’s body from the rubble, and it looks as if the explosion wasn’t what killed him. He already had a gunshot wound to the head.”
Colt was about to say that wasn’t possible, but then he remembered the sound that he’d heard right before Gambil ran off the road. A sharp pop. He’d thought it was the truck backfiring, but it could have been a gunshot.
“Check the area for any sign of a shooter,” he told Reed.
Elise stood even though the medic was still trying to put a bandage on her head. Her gaze locked with his, and Colt clicked the end call button so he could fill her in on something that she wasn’t going to want to hear.
“Looks like somebody shot Gambil,” Colt explained.
She released her breath as if she’d been holding it. “So, all of this is real.” She swallowed hard and caught onto the edge of his desk when she wobbled.
Colt went to her in case he had to stop her from falling or fainting, but the grip on the desk alone seemed to steady her enough. Still, it probably wasn’t a good idea for her to be on her feet. He thanked the medic after he finished the bandage, dismissing him, and Colt took Elise by the arm and put her in the chair next to his desk.
“I know I asked you this already, but do you have any idea why Gambil wanted to hurt you?” Colt insisted.
She was shaking her head before he even finished the question. “I never saw him before today.”
That didn’t mean there wasn’t a connection, and even though it was getting late and Elise would need to crash soon, he wanted to find out as much as he could while the events were still fresh in both their minds.
“What about your job?” Colt asked, trying for a different angle. “Are you working on anything controversial? Maybe running a background check on somebody who didn’t want you to find something?”
Elise didn’t immediately dismiss that. Not good. Because so far Colt hadn’t been able to rule out anything. He wanted to be able to check something off his list, and he apparently wasn’t going to be able to do that by eliminating anything work related.
“I’m working on two cases right now.” Elise idly rubbed her head and winced when her finger raked over the freshly bandaged stitches.
The Deputy's Redemption Page 2