Free Troublemaker by Linda Howard Page A

breached so none of those would be safe—and that’s why I’m contacting you out of network. The problem is internal.”
    The dilemma was immediate, and maddening. She needed the money, but she didn’t trust Axel. She didn’t want a strange man—and a wounded one, at that—staying with her, but he wasn’t capable of leaving. So he was staying for at least a short while, whether she wanted him to or not, unless she called Jesse or an ambulance and had him hauled . . . where? There was a local doctor, but as far as she could tell, Morgan Yancy didn’t need medical care, he needed time to heal and regain his strength. If she had him taken to a hospital, he’d be in the computer system, which meant that if she believed Axel even a little bit, she’d be endangering the man’s life.
    Okay. She didn’t trust Axel, though to be truthful she didn’t know if that was because he truly wasn’t trustworthy or if it was simply because she disliked him so much. He evidently had some kind of government job but, considering the government, that wasn’t really much of a recommendation.
    She said, “Hold on,” and held the phone down against her thigh to cover up the speaker so Axel couldn’t hear. Approaching the SUV, she said, “Yancy?”
    He opened his eyes halfway, a gleam of blue in the grayness of his face, and muttered, “Yeah?”
    â€œAxel said there’s no way to trace you to me.”
    He took a deep breath, or tried to. She caught the sudden hitch, as if his chest muscles protested. His throat worked as he swallowed, then he said, “That’s why I drove. No record, and the Tahoe is clean, can’t be linked back.”
    â€œDrove from where?”
    He gave a small shake of his head, meaning he wasn’t going to tell her. Given his condition, he had probably come a fair distance, either that or— Damn it! “Exactly when did you get out of the hospital?”
    â€œThis morning,” he said, and let his eyes close again.
    Double damn it.
    She might regret it, almost probably she would regret it, but a hundred and fifty thousand was a lot of money and even though she didn’t trust Axel, she could see for herself that the man in front of her wasn’t a threat—not now, at least. Even more, he was relying on Axel not to betray him, and presumably he knew her former stepbrother better than she did, which really wouldn’t take much at all because his father and her mother had been married a grand total of eight months. Morgan Yancy was betting his life he could trust Axel.
    She lifted the phone to her ear again. “All right,” she said, keeping it brief. “But if the money isn’t in my account in two days, I’m putting him on the road.”
    â€œIt will be,” Axel said. “It’ll be there tomorrow.”
    Now that the decision had been made, for good or ill, Bo turned her mind toward practical matters. “Let me get my bank account routing number.”
    â€œPlease.” The word was full of disdain. “I already have it.” The phone clicked and the connection was gone; he’d hung up.
    She thumbed the button to cut the connection on her end, then stood looking at the phone. “Now what?”
    Yancy shifted in the seat and lifted his head slowly, as if the effort was almost more than he could manage. He held out his hand, and Boplaced the phone in it. He deftly took the phone apart and removed the battery, as if it were something he’d done a thousand times.
    Having decided enough was enough, Tricks gave another bark, this one special. She had a whole repertoire of different sounds she used to bend humans to her will, and the plaintive, high-pitched puppy bark was her ace in the hole. It was her “Mom, help me!” call, and even though Bo knew she was being manipulated, she was usually so amused that she did whatever Tricks wanted. Right now,