Free Packing Heat by Penny McCall

strategy.”
    “Nope. I’m laying my life on the line, too. I get a say in what we do.”
    “I have contacts at the Bureau,” Harmony countered. “I’ll have the intelligence—”
    “And you’ll share it with me.”
    “Your job is to hack into the accounts and move the money,” she reminded him, “but only where and when I tell you.”
    “Because?”
    She huffed out a breath, but she didn’t answer his question.
    “You’re right,” Cole said. “I agreed to help you. That makes us partners in my book, and partners watch each other’s backs. I can’t do that if you’re not straight with me.”
    “We’re partners?” she said in a voice that sounded like an awww should go along with it. But she dropped that tone and became all business again. “You were right. I’m going after Richard. I need you to move enough money to fool the kidnappers into thinking we’re cooperating. I’m scheduled to call them tomorrow night. We only have to show them enough progress so they believe we’re doing what they ask. So they won’t hurt Richard.” Or kill him. “And we need to get as many miles behind us as we can.”
    “To give you time to find out where he is and come up with a way to rescue him.”
    “Yes, but you won’t be in danger.”
    He snorted. “You come with your own warning label. And then there are the people trying to capture me and take me back to jail.”
    “That problem will be going away,” Harmony said. “Once we get out of Pennsylvania, we won’t have the state police to worry about anymore, and as soon as they’re out of the picture, the FBI won’t have any way of knowing where we are.”
    “Famous last words,” Cole said. “Those are your last words, right? We’re going to be partners in this. Full partners. No secrets.” Except the ones he was keeping.
    “Yes,” she said, no hesitation, which didn’t mean she was telling the truth, just that she’d decided her course, same as him.
    “Except . . .” she added just when he’d begun to relax, “you can’t have a gun.”
    “I don’t want a gun.”
    “Why not?”
    “People have a tendency to shoot back at you for one thing. And when I get caught with a gun, it’ll only go harder for me.”
    “ If you’re caught,” she said. “You really should try to have a little faith in me.”
    “No problem,” Cole said. “I have just as much faith in you as you have in me.”
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chapter 6
    HARMONY WOKE UP WITH COLE WRAPPED AROUND her like a big, warm blanket. Straw poked her everywhere, and she had a face full of dog parts. It was still dark, but she could see two black-and-white speckled dog legs and a blaze of white dog chest about two inches in front of her face. The dog was licking Cole’s face, and since Cole was behind her, there were a couple of soft dog ears brushing across her cheek. Not to mention the drool.
    Cole didn’t seem to be enjoying the adoration. “A little help here?” he said, his breath warm on her neck.
    Harmony shifted, the dog backed off far enough to snarl at her, upper lip curled back over really big teeth. She froze. “You’re on your own.”
    “If he doesn’t like you, he’s not going to like me,” Cole said.
    The dog sat down and let out a low whine, which told Harmony two things. “It’s a she,” Harmony said. And apparently Cole was a babe magnet regardless of species. “I think she has a crush on you.”
    The dog snarled at Harmony again.
    “He’s all yours, Fido.”
    The mutt’s ears perked up.
    “Awwww—” Harmony began.
    Cole’s arm tightened around her ribs. At the same time Harmony heard the barn door roll open, followed by the sound of footsteps and the clank of something metal. She raised her head—careful not to piss off Cole’s canine fan club in case the bite was worse than the bark—and peeked over the edge of the loft. A farmer, complete with overalls and a straw hat, hung a lantern from a hook on the other side of the barn and