Free Maggie's Man by Alicia Scott

Portland
and instantly swept Kathy off her feet, Cain had figured it was for the best.
Kathy had seemed happy. She'd always liked men with an edge and Ham certainly
had that. But Ham had also seemed to have turned over a new leaf. He'd claimed
that he'd left the militia movement and their father's racism behind. Cain had
figured that must be the case for Kathy was Jewish, something that Ham never would
have tolerated before.
    Cain had never suspected a thing. Down to the
last moment, he'd never suspected the truth about his brother.
    I knew you were many things, Ham. But a
murderer? A murderer?
    God, how could he have not seen that coming?
How could he have let Kathy pay for his mistakes with his family? For not
realizing just how deep Ham's hatred ran, just how dangerous Ham had become?
    He'd tried to tell everyone at the trial. He'd
testified on his own behalf, telling the judge, the jury and Kathy's family
what Ham had done. But the weapon was Cain's hunting knife with Cain's
fingerprints. Then Ham got on the stand, calmly swore on the Bible he held
sacred and proceeded to tell the room how he'd witnessed Cain's attack on Kathy
in a jealous rage. And Cain had no alibi to back up his version of events.
    It had been over after that. No one believed
him. Not even Kathy's brother Joel, whom he'd considered a good friend, not his
boss, not his co-workers, not anyone. Cain had no proof on his side and no one was
willing to listen to him otherwise. They all just said they never had felt very
close to him, they never had felt as if they truly knew him. No one believed in
him at all.
    He stood alone. He went to jail alone. He held
the truth alone.
    And the first six months in prison, he'd
listened to the cell doors slamming shut every night, kchnk, kchnk, kchnk, and
dreamed of Kathy calling his name.
    "Cain?"
    He was so disoriented, it took him a moment to
realize the voice wasn't in his head.
    "Cain?"
    He forced himself back to reality, blinking his
eyes and peering belatedly at his passenger. She was chewing her lower lip and
staring at the gauges. "I think we get to walk soon," she said.
    His gaze swung to the gas gauge. It already
rested on Empty. "I am having such a bad day," he muttered at last.
    "Really?" Maggie chimed. "Mine's
been rather nice." She smiled glumly.
    "Try to locate us on the map again. We
either find civilization or take up hiking."
    Maggie retrieved the map, her mind moving
quickly. She thought they were still heading toward Tigard and Tualatin. What
if they did run out of gas? Then they'd walk. Could she run for it? Somehow,
she didn't think he'd unhandcuff her to walk. Most likely, she'd be glued to
his side. But what if someone came along in a car? He wouldn't want to arouse
suspicion by having someone see them handcuffed together. Maybe he'd undo the
handcuffs then.
    She could try running for it. She wasn't
exactly dressed for the occasion, but maybe a car would spot her and offer
help.
    Or maybe Cain would pull out his gun, shoot the
other person and steal yet another vehicle. He hadn't actually done anything
violent yet, but he'd gone to prison for murdering his girlfriend. That seemed
to suggest he could be lethal when provoked.
    Oh God. She started searching in earnest for
their road on the map.
    "Okay," she said after a moment.
"I think we're almost in Tualatin."
    She directed him across another few streets,
down 99W, across another few back roads and then they were in Tualatin, right
off I-5. The library, Safeway, and K mart was on their left. Fred Meyers
appeared on their right. Banks and liquor stores. Surely there had to be a gas
station somewhere.
    "We're ditching this vehicle," Cain
said and whipped them into the long strip mall with K mart.
    "And stealing another," she filled in
morosely.
    "I promised the last person would get his
car back and Idaho is a long walk."
    "I don't think returning someone's stolen
car is considered a good deed if you just turn around and steal another."
    "Any better