One Tough Texan. Barb Han

       Chapter Two

      Alice’s voice was high-pitched and had that listen-up-or-I’ll-shoot quality. The attitude registered with Joshua as law enforcement. Was she on the job? Alice had that same swagger he’d seen in the officers he knew; granted hers was a heck of a lot sexier than theirs. Based on her reactions so far she was covering something—something big. She wasn’t breaking the law, or at least not currently, so he was even more confused by the fact that she was adamant about not bringing in the police. He figured this wasn’t the time to tell her about his law enforcement background or the fact that he had an application in at the FBI—a fact he hadn’t shared with his brothers yet. He shoved the guilty feeling aside. He’d deal with that later.

      “I’m running out of time. Word of advice. Forget what I look like,” she barked. “And forget all the details about tonight.”

      Joshua put his hands up, palms flat, in surrender mode. “Sorry. Too late for that. But it’s not for you. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

      She shot him another look that told him he didn’t have a clue.

      “I’m serious about this next part so listen up. When the law arrives, tell them that you’re being hunted by Marco Perez. Do you hear me?” she asked with seriousness in her voice that left no room for question.

      He nodded, keeping watch on her and the door while tamping down his reaction to the name she’d just thrown out. The name Marco Perez was on every watch list and that’s why his face had looked familiar.

      “Also, and I can’t stress this next part enough, you need to surrender to protective custody. Tell the sheriff what I said about seeing Perez and he’ll arrange everything.”

      “We can talk this through and get help for you.” Joshua wasn’t ready to tip his hand about his own background, especially since she hadn’t figured him out.

      She shook her head.

      “This whole situation can be sorted out. You don’t have to keep running. Nothing is as bad as it seems,” he added, trying to stall. She was the one who needed protection and most likely a skilled attorney.

      “I know he saw you,” she said, backing toward the door, keeping her intense gaze on him. “And he’ll come back for you. Mark my words. No one who has ever seen Perez in action has lived to tell about it.”

      “Whatever it is you think you need to do...don’t,” Joshua said. He didn’t need to be reminded of that rumor about Perez. His gaze bounced from the gun that had been tossed onto the floor to her again. He’d protect himself from Perez. Who did she have?

      She made a move to open the door, keeping a close eye on him.

      Joshua had no plans to be shot in the men’s room of a gas station. That wasn’t even a good cliché.

      “Hold on,” he said, trying out that same authoritative voice she’d used on him a few minutes ago. It was his cop voice.

      Her gaze kept bouncing from him to the door, and instincts honed from years of police work told him she was about to flee. Given that she was obviously in some kind of trouble, even though she seemed more concerned about him at the moment, he needed to act fast or she’d disappear and he couldn’t help her. Joshua held out his wrists. “Fine. You win. Take me into protective custody.”

      She balked.

      “You need someone in law enforcement to do that,” she said in that crisp, do-as-I-say-and-don’t-ask-why voice and he’d be darned if it didn’t sound sexy coming from her. With everything going on around them he shouldn’t even notice. Being turned on by a woman who’d pulled a gun on him twice now wasn’t his brightest move.

      Then again, she was beautiful and his body reacted with a mind of its own. Logic had nothing to do with it.

      “You’re right about that. I do need someone in law enforcement to put me in protective custody.” He didn’t budge. “And since your cover is blown, it might as well be you.”

      The only thing he couldn’t figure out was why she wasn’t coming clean about being on the job. Best he could figure she’d been on some kind of detail, which made more sense as to why she fought when she did earlier. Was she in the middle of an undercover operation? Then again, if she was wouldn’t she want police protection now?

      Not necessarily. If she was in deep, she’d want to stay that way. Before he could raise another argument, she slipped out the door. He immediately bolted toward it but she’d managed to secure it with something on the other side.

      Joshua muttered a curse as he pulled out his cell. Explaining this whole scenario to his friend Tommy ensured that he’d be ribbed about this forever. He’d allowed himself to be locked inside a bathroom while the “teen” he’d been trying to save got away.

      Best case scenario? Tommy was already pulling up in front of the gas station. The door opened at the same time Tommy’s line rang.

      “Turn that thing off.” The mystery woman had returned. The business end of her gun pointed squarely at his chest. “And my name’s Alice Green.”

      “If you’re running from the law, it wasn’t your best move to come back,” Joshua said flatly.

      “I know that. So, don’t make me regret it.” There was something else in her eyes this time. Fear?

      Curious, Joshua ended the call. He didn’t know what she’d gotten herself into but preferring a murderous criminal’s company to the sheriff’s didn’t signal good things about her head being on straight.

      “You have to decide right now,” she said, her gaze bouncing from him to the hallway leading to the store as the sound of sirens moved closer.

      He didn’t budge.

      “Please.” There was a desperate quality in her eyes that tugged at his heart. She could’ve shot him twice now and hadn’t so he figured she wasn’t planning to hurt him. And he was more than mildly curious what she was really up to.

      “Okay. But you’re going to tell me what this is about,” he said, bending over to retrieve the weapon they’d discarded earlier.

      “Don’t even think about it,” she said as he made a motion to pick it up.

      “I leave it here and they finger you immediately.” If it was her service weapon then they could trace the serial number. Joshua at least wanted to hear what she had to say before he hauled her in to Tommy. He might even be able to convince her to turn herself in and that would make things a lot easier on her legally. But then, she would already know that.

      “Where are we going?” he asked.

      “Do you live nearby or have a ride anywhere around here?” She kept a brisk pace as round two of pouring rain flooded them.

      “Yeah, my Jeep’s a couple blocks away. But it won’t do any good.”

      “Why not?” she asked, navigating them out of the dark parking lot as the sound of sirens neared.

      Either she or Perez had shot the light out in back of the convenience store and his money was on her. “Out of gas.”

      She muttered a curse as she led him into the field.

      “Stay low,” she directed.

      “You know that clerk can give the police our descriptions,”