Page 57 of Love on the Run

“Jesus,” she hissed, stepping back to help him.

“Callie, just go,” he gasped. “The car isn’t that far. The keys’re in my pocket…” He couldn’t reach them without either dropping his gun or moving his other hand. Callie ignored his directive and put her hand on his side. “I can’t just leave you here!”

“For Christ’s sake, Callie, just listen to me.”

“Shut up,” a new voice said. Both Callie and Ty looked over to see a man step into view, his gun out and trained on Ty. “Drop it,” he ordered, looking at the gun in Ty’s grip.

Ty allowed his arm to drop down for a moment, but then simply whipped around and aimed at the man’s foot, squeezing the trigger. The man yelled in response, dancing away as the bullet struck the ground inches from his body.

“Run!” Ty yelled at Callie.

Callie ran, but not far. She barely got fifty feet when another shadow stepped into her path and knocked her down.A pain like fire shot through her, and she knew the stitches in her leg just ripped.

“Aww, if it isn’t our little Calliecat,” the shadow sneered. “Finally.”

Callie looked up as the shadow coalesced into a figure she knew. “Skinner?” she asked, although she already knew the answer. Skinner was one of Malcolm’s main enforcers.

“That’s right, pumpkin.You didn’t really think you could get away from us, did you? Though I gotta say, I like the secret escape route.”

“How did you find me here?” Callie gasped, clutching at her leg. Was it really possible? Malcolm had tracked her all this way?

“Ed’s car.”

“But only the police knew that. And my name wasn’t even listed.”

“Malcolm knows everyone, sweetheart. He’s had people looking for you from the moment you ran off.We can put two and two together. You couldn’t drive that car forever. So we watched the system. You can’t hide.”

“Let me go,” she pleaded, more to buy time than out of any hope he would listen.Where was Ty?

“Um…no.” Skinner grinned wider.“I didn’t go through all the trouble of setting some fire to get your little watchdog off you just to let you go. Maybe you weren’t going to talk, maybe you were smart enough not to run to the Feds.But Mal didn’t get where he is by betting on maybes.”

“So you’re here to kill me?”

“If I was, Calliecat, you'd already be dead.Get up.We’ve got somewhere to be.”

The first man appeared through the trees, putting a gun back into a holster at his side. “I see you’ve got her.”

“Hey, Fox. Did I take down that other guy?”

“He’s toast,” the man said confidently.

Callie felt sick to her stomach. Could Ty be dead? He’d only come out to help his friend. How could she have hurt so many people?

“Who was he, Callie?” Skinner looked back at her. “Not the sheriff.”

She evaded giving a direct answer. “Just someone who wanted to help me.”

“Yeah, you’re a real damsel in distress,” Skinner laughed.

“You want me to check him for ID?” the other man asked. “The car we saw had Montana plates, but no way he was local.”

“Nah, skip it,” Skinner decided.“We gotta get to the Sunset.”

9

After realizing what an idiot he’d been, Jake hastily explained the situation to Kyle and left him in charge of the fire. Kyle offered to join him, but Jake convinced the deputy he was needed at the fire, since it was a crime scene. In truth, he was afraid of what he’d find back home, and he didn’t want any more people involved than were absolutely necessary.

He drove back home at an unreasonable speed, hitting the siren when he encountered another car on the road. The sun had climbed into a cloudless blue sky, and the day would be a hot one. He was already overheated from the fire, and worrying about Callie didn’t help. When he spotted an unfamiliar vehicle at the head of his own drive, he suddenly braked, the truck skidding slightly on the gravel. Jake started down the drive slowly, not knowing what to expect, but sure he wouldn’t like it. Close to the garage, he stopped the car and got out, his senses alert like they hadn’t been since he’d been in active duty. “I hate this,” he muttered to himself.

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