by Jodie Bailey
“I realize now they wanted me to find them up by Lake Dillon. They included the recreation hall in the video they sent me so I’d know where they were. They knew I’d be too afraid for my mom’s safety to call the cops. And they knew that if they could get me there, with a dead body on the scene, I’d be so tangled up dealing with the cops that they could get away. They took a chance, and it paid off for them. They know there are rules bounty hunters have to play by if they want to stay on the good side of law enforcement and remain in business. Like reporting dead bodies as soon as they find one. And remaining on the scene.”
Martin was already in the middle of the town of Jameson. He turned into the mall parking lot. “You’re on the bad side of the cops right now, Daisy. We’re going to have to get that straightened out. But, first things first. Where exactly are you?”
“Behind the movie theater.” The theater was in a separate building on the edge of the mall complex. “Park your rig close to the stores and then walk over here on foot. You can hunker down out of sight in the back seat of my SUV, and hopefully the bad guys won’t know that you’re here. I haven’t seen them, so I don’t think they’ve arrived yet.”
“Copy that. Be right there.” He parked, then grabbed the bottled water and protein bars he normally kept in his truck.
Much as he wanted to run to her, Martin made himself walk over to the movie theater so as not to draw attention to himself. He could see Daisy watching his approach through her front windshield.
“Hey,” he said after opening the door, glancing around to make certain no one was watching, and then climbing in. He quickly lay down on the back seat. “You all right? You injured?”
“I’m worried about Mom,” Daisy said dully, sounding as if she was in shock. He couldn’t blame her.
“We’ll get her back. Here, I brought you something.” He passed a bottle of water and a protein bar to her. She tossed the bar onto the passenger seat beside her, but she uncapped the water and took several long swigs.
“So, what’s the plan?” Martin asked.
“A straight exchange. They drive up. They both hold on to Mom as they let her out of their vehicle and walk toward me. I walk toward them. They let go of Mom and grab hold of me. That’s it.” She took a sip of water. “I didn’t have time for a fancy plan. I’ve got a gun. I’ve got my martial-arts training. I figured I’ll come up with some genius move on the fly.”
Ah, the Daisy Lopez bravado. Sometimes it got her out of jams. Sometimes it made things worse.
“Well, now that you’ve got me here to help, what’s the new plan?” Martin asked.
“Once my mom’s in the clear and they’re holding on to me instead of her, we take them down. You pop out of the SUV. They’ll be surprised. I pull out my gun and take on whoever is on my right. You take the other one.”
A highly risky plan, but they were backed into a corner right now with few options.
Daisy’s phone chimed. “No,” she muttered. And then much more forcefully she said, “No, no, no.”
Martin’s gut clenched. Something was obviously wrong. “What’s happening?”
“I got a text from the thugs we’re chasing. They want to do the exchange in a different location.”
Martin’s heart sank. A last-minute change made the situation more unpredictable. And much more dangerous.
Copyright © 2021 by Virginia Niten
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ISBN-13: 9781488072185
Under Surveillance
Copyright © 2021 by Jodie Bailey
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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