Page 20 of Handcuffed By the Bounty Hunters

“Upsie-daisie,” Cameron says, nudging Penny to get up.

She clambers to her feet, but it’s cold and she dresses quickly. Her hoodie isn’t dry yet, so I offer her my rain jacket. Now that she isn’t in handcuffs, she can put it on properly, although the bottom hits just above her knees.

Cameron gives her an affectionate smile, mirroring the one I’m probably wearing.

We’re both so far gone for Penny…I wonder if she can tell.

Penny

The forest floor is soft beneath our feet. Although it stopped raining a while ago, drops of water fall from the pine branches over our heads.

“That ridge up ahead,” Roark says, pointing through the trees. “If we can get on top of that, we might find a signal to call Ironwood to pick us up.”

“Is there a reason we aren’t going toward town to make the call there?” I ask.

“We want to stay out of sight if possible,” Roark says. “Oberon not only hired us through Hunter’s Guild—a bounty hunting firm partnering with Ironwood, but he also announced that you’re missing and is offering a reward.”

“So that’s why I was getting the attention from the clerk,” I say.

Roark nods.

I move closer to him and Cameron. They’re walking on either side of me. It could be that they’re afraid I’m going to bolt, but I hope it’s because they’re trying to protect me. I’m not going to run. Not anymore.

“Why are you so scared of Clive, anyway?” Cameron asks. “Seems like you can just turn in your evidence, he goes to jail, and you don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

I shiver, but it doesn’t have to do with the chill in the air. “He’s so well-connected, I’m not sure who I can trust to give the files to. And…”

“And what?” Roark asks in a low voice.

I stop walking, unsure. I want to pretend I never saw it, that it never happened.

Roark and Cameron stop walking, too.

“You can tell us, Penny,” Cameron says, tilting my chin up so I can look at them both.

“He killed someone,” I say.

“He—you saw this?” Roark’s voice is sharp.

I’m putting a lot of trust in them by admitting this. If Clive sent these men specifically after me, they could kill me right now to shut me up. But I’ve seen the way they look at me. I don’t think the affection I see in their eyes can be faked.

I hope I’m not wrong.

“Yeah,” I say. “I saw it. He was at a construction site with this guy—I think he worked for John Parker.”

“The mayor of San Esteban?” Cameron says.

“Yeah.”

Roark rubs my arm, his touch reassuring even though it has to travel through several layers of fabric. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You can tell us. But you don’t have to if you want to wait. We’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

Their patience with me is why I trust them.

“I was supposed to meet Clive for dinner,” I say, “but I was early and I wanted to see how far the building was coming along. Clive didn’t know I was there. I went up eight stories before I saw him. They were standing next to this railing. They didn’t see me. The guy said something…I guess Clive didn’t like it, and he just…he shoved the guy over the railing. The drop went all the way down to the first floor of the building. I can still hear how he screamed.”

“Shit,” Cameron says. “I’m sorry, baby.”

I take in a deep breath. “I hurried back down the stairs. Eight flights. Then I waited outside the building like I should have done all along. A few minutes later, Clive came outside, talking on the phone and telling the crew they needed to finish filling the concrete within the hour.”

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