Cowboy to the Max Read online

  A loud sigh punctuated the air. Feet moving.

  “Damn, they’re not here.”

  “I thought you saw something,” a second man said.

  “It must have been a deer.”

  “No sign of a vehicle?”

  “No. I guess if he was here, he didn’t ditch it like I thought.”

  “Probably made it to the highway.”

  “It was a truck, right?”

  “Yeah. Dark color. Pretty beat up.” The man mumbled a sound of frustration. “We’ll do a search for stolen pick-ups. Maybe we’ll get a pop.”

  “Let’s go back to the house. If he was there, maybe he left something that will tell us where he’s going next.”

  The other man released a sinister chuckle. “Then we’ll trap him.”

  SADIE FINALLY RELEASED a breath as the sound of the men’s voices faded outside.

  Carter squeezed her hand. “As soon as the chopper leaves, we need to make a run for it.”

  “But what if one of them stayed behind to set a trap?”

  Carter hissed between his teeth. “That’s a chance we’ll have to take. We can’t stay here or they might come back.”

  Sadie nodded against him, thankful for his quiet strength. The next few minutes the strain took its toll. Sadie’s body ached from lying still, her pulse clamored from being so close to Carter, and she began to feel claustrophobic, the darkness closing in around her. Images of the night in the alley when Lester attacked her came flooding back, but she forced herself to block them out, and reminded herself that Carter was holding her now, not the man who’d cut her.

  Outside the wind picked up, the rumble of the chopper’s engine blasting the tense silence. Somewhere nearby Sadie heard another sound—a hissing sound.

  Not Carter this time.

  “Carter, it sounds like a rattlesnake—”

  He tensed, his grip growing firmer. “Shh, I know. It’s behind me on the wall.”

  “Shoot it,” Sadie whispered.

  “No, someone might hear.” He slowly released her and gestured for her to crawl away from the ledge. Sadie held her breath again as she eased herself away from him. But she immediately felt bereft at losing the physical contact.

  “I’m right behind you,” he said gruffly.

  Sadie moved slowly, dragging herself along the cold dirt flooring. Suddenly the rattler’s hiss screamed in the silence, and Carter swung around and slammed a rock on the ground.

  “Is it dead?” Sadie asked.

  “Yeah. Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and they raced toward the entrance. When they reached the narrow entryway, they both dropped down again, and he gestured for her to let him go first.

  Carter removed his gun from his jacket and wielded it in front of him as he crept through the opening. Sadie swallowed hard as she followed him.

  She just prayed no one was outside waiting.

  CARTER PULLED SADIE behind him, weaving between the mesquites and cypresses until they reached the truck. Together they removed the limbs and rotting wood they’d used to hide the vehicle, then he unpocketed the keys, they jumped in and he gunned the engine.

  He turned left, heading away from the direction the chopper had flown and his father’s farmhouse, took one of the dirt roads leading east, checking his rearview mirror to make sure no one was following.

  Sadie fastened her seat belt, the air between them vibrating with tension.

  “Were they cops?” Sadie asked.

  Carter shrugged. “I don’t know. Could have been, or they might have been working with Lester.”

  “I don’t understand what’s going on,” Sadie said. “I assumed Lester killed Dyer and framed you, but you think there might be someone else involved.”

  “It’s hard to say.” Carter noticed a car zooming up the road behind them and swerved onto another side road that wove through the wilderness.

  Cacti, scrub brush and dilapidated buildings that had once been inhabited but now were falling apart dotted the landscape. The air felt hot, thick, muggy, the Texas sun climbing ruthlessly in the sky like a ball of fire that sucked the life from the land.

  The car raced closer, and he clenched the steering wheel with a white-knuckled grip. Sadie whirled around and held on to the seat. “He’s gaining on us.”

  Carter floored the truck, but it was old and rattled with the force of the accelerated speed. Seconds later, the car closed in on them, nipping at his tail. He glanced at the rearview mirror, expecting to see blue lights swirling and to hear a siren, but suddenly the car’s gears ground and the driver swerved the car around and flew past them.

  “Thank God,” Sadie whispered, as it disappeared down the road in a cloud of dust.

  Yeah. Thank God. But they weren’t home free.

  In fact, they needed another place to hide until Johnny located Loretta Swinson. Hopefully she held the key to finding Lester.

  His mouth felt dry, and a headache pulsed behind his eyes. He wished to hell he’d thought to pack provisions in the truck, at least some water, and made a mental note to stock up when they spotted a store.

  Wiping at the perspiration on his forehead, he checked the gas gauge. They had less than half a tank, and he’d driven this road enough times to know that they wouldn’t find a gas station for miles, maybe not until the next small town.

  Unless someone had built a gas station while he was incarcerated. But judging from the desolate emptiness of the land around them, he doubted it.

  He kept his gaze peeled for trouble as the truck ate the next sixty-five miles. Sadie remained silent, seemingly lost in her own world, probably wishing she’d never met him. Her life would have been normal, she’d be safe, she wouldn’t have suffered the trauma of Lester’s attack…and she wouldn’t be running from the cops and a madman now.

  Guilt once again weighed on his chest. If he hadn’t been drinking that night…

  Stop it, he told himself. Recounting his past mistakes wouldn’t help now. Finding Lester and clearing his name was the only way to make things right.

  And he wanted to make them right for Sadie now as much as he did for himself.

  Finally signs for a small no-name town appeared. They were still an hour from Laredo, but they needed gas and to take a breather.

  He swung onto the paved road, noticed a red station wagon ahead then glanced up to see an SUV and a van coming up behind them. Forcing himself not to panic, he slowed his speed, filing into traffic so as not to draw attention to them.

  “There’s a sign for a discount store ahead,” Sadie said. “Maybe we should go inside and look for some kind of disguise.”

  “That’s not a bad idea.”

  Sadie chewed on her bottom lip. “We should probably change vehicles at some point, too.”

  Carter frowned, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “You sound like you’ve done this before.”

  Sadie sighed. “I’ve been running ever since the attack.”

  Carter’s throat clogged with a mixture of anger and remorse. He knew he should keep his distance from Sadie, but he couldn’t help himself. He reached out and drew her hand into his. “I promise you we’ll end this, Sadie, and you won’t have to run the rest of your life.”

  “Neither will you,” Sadie said softly. “We just have to solve the murder so you can clear your name.”

  Her voice held such conviction that he latched on to hope. For the first time in years, he actually felt like someone believed in him, that his future might hold something other than life in that eight-by-ten cell.

  An eighteen-wheeler raced toward them, a police car on its tail. The policeman slowed and cut his gaze toward Carter, and Carter took a deep breath and forced himself not to react.

  But his pulse hammered. Had the police discovered he was driving Brandon’s truck?

  Hell, he’d have to ditch it and steal another mode of transportation. But that was a last resort. And stealing a car would add another crime to his list.

  Then again, he was a lifer. What co
uld be worse?

  Suddenly the police car spun around, its siren blaring, and raced back toward them. Carter’s palms began to sweat.

  Dammit. If the cop caught them, it would be over before he had a chance to prove his innocence.

  SADIE HELD HER BREATH as the police car sped up, its siren blaring. The officer cut around the sedan two cars back, then the SUV behind them and coasted up on their tail. He was going to stop them. Then Carter would be arrested and hauled away, and she’d either go to jail or be left on her own to deal with Lester.

  A roadside vegetable stand that had long since been abandoned appeared to the right, then a turnoff heading back toward the major highway. Carter swerved onto it, obviously hoping to lose the cop.

  But the police car turned as well, and Carter gripped the steering wheel and started to veer to the side of the road. The police car vaulted forward after him, but suddenly a red sports car flew past them.

  The policeman hit the gas and chased after the speeding car, leaving Sadie and Carter behind.

  “I can’t believe it,” Carter said. “I thought he had us.”

  “Me, too.” Sadie plucked at a loose thread on the hem of her blouse. “All the more reason for us to find some new transportation and disguise ourselves.”

  Carter nodded, and they fell into a strained silence, both alert in case the policeman decided to send another cop after them. Finally, a half hour later, they breathed easier and stopped at a gas station.

  Sadie used the ladies’ room while Carter gassed up. She picked up a couple of bottles of water and some snacks, her gaze landing on the newspaper by the counter as she stopped to pay.

  The front-page article featured a story about the prison break and the convicts still on the loose. She grimaced at Carter’s mug shot, then glanced around and noticed the clerk behind the register had a copy of the paper by the cash register. He was looking out the window, squinting at Carter as if he was trying to determine whether he was the face in the news.

  “Excuse me.” Sadie set the water and snacks on the counter. “I’d like to pay for these.” She grabbed a paper and laid it beside the other items.

  “You with that man in the truck?” the clerk asked.

  “Sure thing. That’s my husband, Roger. We left the kids with my folks so we could take a little second honeymoon.” Sadie pasted on a smile and patted her stomach. “We needed a little time to ourselves before baby number three comes along.”

  The pimple-faced kid studied her for a moment, then grinned and began to ring up her purchases. Sadie paid for them, then smiled again, her nerves on edge as he glanced at the paper once more.

  The urge to run hit her, but that would only draw suspicion, so she gave a little wave, then grabbed the water and snacks and sauntered out the door.

  But as soon as she reached the truck, she glanced back to see if the clerk was watching. He was, and he had a phone to his ear.

  “We have to get out of here,” Sadie said. “I think that kid in the store recognized you from the paper. He may be calling the police.”

  Chapter Seven

  Carter clenched his jaw, started the engine and pulled back on the road, careful not to speed away or attract any unwanted attention. “Damn. Did the clerk say anything?”

  “He asked if I was with you. I told him we were married and left the kids with my folks while we went on a second honeymoon.”

  He arched a brow, a glint in his eyes. “You covered for me?”

  “For us.” Sadie shrugged. “I had to do something to throw him off.”

  Us? Carter hadn’t been a part of a couple in so long he didn’t know how to respond.

  He studied Sadie for a long moment, emotions swirling in his chest as his gaze caught the dark hues of her eyes, then dipped to her high cheekbones and those delicate lips that curled upward when she smiled and slashed into a straight line when she was mad or determined.

  She looked determined now.

  She’d been fiercely loyal to her mother, had sacrificed her career to care for her when she was sick, and now she was standing up for him.

  He didn’t deserve it.

  He was a felon on the run.

  If the cops discovered Sadie was helping him, they could arrest her, too.

  He had to keep her with him to protect her. But in the end, he’d make sure the police knew she was innocent.

  He jerked his gaze back to the road, the haunting memory of his first night in jail gnawing at his gut. When the doors on that cell had clanged shut, and he’d realized he wasn’t going to be released, he’d felt so alone and hopeless he’d wanted to die.

  He’d vented that frustration and fear out on his two best friends by blaming them for not giving him an alibi.

  For not lying to save his sorry butt.

  But he’d been wrong to lash out at them. Johnny and Brandon had been like brothers, and he’d virtually cut them off in spite of his desperate need for their support at the time.

  But now they’d halfway forgiven him and were helping him try to clear his name.

  And so was Sadie.

  A car horn honked, jerking his attention back to the road and the situation, and he tried to pull himself together when emotions welled in his throat. Emotions he had to control.

  He didn’t like being vulnerable.

  He’d learned to be tough growing up, and prison had drilled in the need to stay that way. He couldn’t go soft on Sadie.

  Hell, no. She was only staying with him because Lester wanted her dead.

  As soon as he cleared himself and they put Lester away, she would go her own way, and so would he.

  He couldn’t grow attached to her or fantasize about a future for the two of them.

  He’d given up thinking anyone could love him a long damn time ago.

  SADIE FROWNED at Carter’s sudden silence. She didn’t know what she’d said that had upset him, but she sensed his withdrawal as if he had erected a physical barrier between them.

  She knotted her hands together, then unknotted them and toyed with the Indian beads around her neck, silently murmuring a Navajo prayer as she struggled for inner peace and balance.

  She had only been trying to help.

  For the next half hour she lapsed into her own world, focusing on the future she wanted. Life on the reservation had been difficult for her and her mother, but Sadie had always been drawn to nature, to the herbs and plants and gardens. She had loved animals as a child and had a tender side for them as well as humans. And she’d been infatuated with the shaman, with the prayer rituals and healing ceremonies of her people.

  She had studied the Navajo culture as a teenager, yet she’d also witnessed the poverty and ignorance—rather, stubbornness—of some of her people in accepting modern medicine. She’d wanted to know both the traditional Navajo cures and the newest, most modern medical treatments, as well. She’d respected both, and had planned to go to medical school to bridge that gap between the two worlds.

  The sight of a falcon flying across the sky, its long wings splayed as it gracefully coasted over desert land, reminded her of all she loved about her people and fortified her strength.

  She would finish medical school and accomplish what she’d set out to do. And nothing, especially Lester, would stop her.

  Her resolve intact, she relaxed, watching the scenery pass in a blur and appreciating nature. But soon the wilderness gave way to signs of the city as they reached the outskirts of Laredo.

  Laredo was so close to Mexico that it was a prime spot for criminals to cross the border.

  Had Carter considered escaping into Mexico and disappearing forever?

  It didn’t sound like a bad idea at the moment.

  But then she would never be a doctor. She’d be deserting her people and her dreams. And Carter’s name would never be cleared.

  She glanced at his stubborn jaw and stony eyes and sensed he wanted that as much as he wanted his freedom. As much as she wanted her medical degree.

  Runn
ing would not accomplish either.

  She spotted a sign for a discount store. “Look, Carter, let’s stop there. We can buy some clothes to disguise ourselves.”

  Carter gave a clipped nod, then swung into the parking lot, checking the periphery for police as he shifted the truck in to park. When he stopped, he removed his hat and scrubbed his hand through his hair, spiking the long strands and sending it into disarray.

  His labored sigh sounded tired and weary. She wanted to reach out and comfort him. To watch over him for a night so he could sleep without the nightmares that dogged him constantly.

  The sun was beginning to peak in the sky, the oranges and yellows casting a sheen of light across the roof of the store and parking lot.

  The heat was blazing, the temperature near a hundred with no relief in sight. Seconds after the air conditioner flicked off, perspiration dampened her forehead, her shirt sticking to her skin with the cloying heat.

  He reached for his wallet, pulled out a small wad of bills and started counting his cash.

  Sadie covered his hand with hers. “Carter, maybe I should go in alone,” she suggested. “If that kid at the service station recognized you, someone in the store might, too.”

  Carter’s mouth curled downward into a grimace. “You’re probably right.” He shoved a handful of bills toward her, but she pushed his hand back in his lap.

  “I’ll use my credit card. Save your cash for now.”

  Anger darkened his eyes. “I don’t want you paying my way.”

  Sadie rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so macho, cowboy. At the moment, the cops have no idea I’m with you so they’re not watching my credit card. Later on, if they figure it out, we may have to use your cash.”

  She let the statement stand between them for a tense second as she watched Carter struggle to accept the truth. He hated relying on her or anyone else, that was obvious.

  Because he was a prideful man.

  Her heart squeezed, admiration stirring along with regret. Prison must have taken a drastic toll on that stubborn pride, resurrecting her guilt.