Page 27 of Big Daddy Sheriff

“Reckon we’ll get going then,” the man said, offering a friendly wave. “Thanks for the help.”

Quinn watched him walk around toward the front of the building. Only when he was a few yards ahead did Quinn follow, wanting to ensure the strangers were really moving on.

The car pulled away, careful to use its signal and obey the speed limit.

Across the street, sweeping the porch of the café, Marsha called, “Did they find their niece?”

Wearing a puzzled expression, Quinn crossed the street and approached her. The sound of the corn broom’s whisks sliding across the porch’s hardwood floor reached his ears.

“They were looking for someone?”

“Sure. Were asking if I’d seen a young woman. They said she was having car trouble, and they were coming to help. I told them about that young lady you ate dinner with but didn’t know if she was still in town or not.” She stopped sweeping and looked at Quinn. “I hope I didn’t mess up.”

“No. It’s fine,” Quinn reassured her.

It wasn’t fine, but none of that was Marsha’s fault.

“Did they say where they’re from?”

“Over in Arkansas.”

A sinking feeling nearly overwhelmed Quinn, but he fought it off and focused on the task at hand. “Thanks, Marsha.”

With that, he took off back across the street, toward his office, where his cruiser was parked.

He was going to run those strangers down. And heaven help them if they ever tried to hurt Little Alyssa.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Joe, can you go to my place and look in on the ladies?” Quinn asked.

His cell was patched in through his cruiser’s speakers, allowing him to keep both hands on the wheel.

“I’m on it,” Joe said.

Quinn smiled, feeling a little better about the situation. One of the good things about a town as small as Big Cedar was that it didn’t take any of the residents long to reach their destination. Joe could walk to Quinn’s house and be there in a matter of minutes.

Quinn thanked Joe and then ended the call as the SUV zoomed down the two-lane highway. Mountains and forest surrounded him. The road rose and fell. At the speed he was traveling, the dips caused his stomach to drop a little, like he was on a rollercoaster, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

The engine roared loudly as he pushed forward. He crested a steep hill and saw a car down at the bottom, probably half a mile away. It was just an indistinguishable dot at the moment, but Quinn had no doubt it was the one he was after.

He turned on his lights and mashed the pedal down.

With the red and blue now flashing, he increased the speed until he was going close to a hundred miles an hour.

He was closing in fast on his targets.

“Shit. It’s that cop,” Bruce said.

With a cigarette dangling between his lips, Hector turned in the passenger seat to cast a glance behind them.

“I’m a convicted felon,” Bruce said. “If he gets us on something, I’ll be back?—”

“Just shut up and drive,” Hector growled.

“Run from a cop?”

“What do you want to do? Pull over and let him run your license and registration?” Hector asked.

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