Free NaturesBounty by J. Rose Allister Page B

caught in the crossfire when gunfire broke out.”
    “That’s terrible. So you just quit, even though it wasn’t
your fault?”
    “Not my fault? I ducked, and he caught a bullet meant for
me.”
    “That doesn’t make it your fault.”
    “So everyone says, but I decided to hang up my hat anyway. I
just didn’t have the stomach for it anymore. Then Asa talked me into one last
job. You.”
    “Lucky me.” She flinched at his glare. “Maybe you just
aren’t as retired as you thought. Maybe deep down, you know you can still work
for the public good. Not in my case, of course.”
    “The only reason I did it was because my cut of the bond
amount would see me through another year. Even so, there were two conditions.
One, I wanted a quiet capture. No team of macho mean stirring up a shit storm.
Two, minimal force. No guns. Since you were a first-time offender wanted for a
white-collar deal, it seemed more likely I’d get my wish.”
    “But Asa obviously didn’t trust that I’d be taken that
easily, so he sent backup and guns that you didn’t want.”
    He shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’s it.”
    “What, then?”
    The glow of red brakes lit up the dark road ahead, and he
slowed down. He’d forgotten what a bitch Southern California traffic could be.
“He didn’t send them as backup. He told me they weren’t supposed to be there.”
When they’d stopped in the row of cars, he looked over at her. “They were
supposed to jump us quietly after we got back over the state line.”
    Her eyes widened. “Why?”
    “He won’t tell me. Says we have to meet face-to-face first.”
His eyes narrowed. “Except I highly doubt it’s so he can explain. He’s after
something, and I think it’s sitting right next to me.” He gave her a pointed
look.
    “Well, obviously he’s after me. That’s his business, right?
Tracking down fools like me who try to run away from lying, unscrupulous
bosses.”
    “Then he could have just let me do my job. You’d have been
in his hands tomorrow.” He felt a jab of unexpected irritation at the thought
of her in another man’s hands—in any capacity.
    “Maybe those other guys tried to get me away from you
because they want your cut of the reward. Whoever hands me over gets the money,
right?”
    “It doesn’t quite work that way. This isn’t the old days
where anyone could capture guys on wanted posters to get the gold. Bond
enforcers don’t go around stepping on one another’s toes because we aren’t all
given the same assignments. We’re hired to do a specific job, and we do it. Asa
trusted I could do this one, or he wouldn’t have brought me out of retirement.”
    She shifted in her seat, obviously uncomfortable. “You’re
right. It doesn’t make sense.”
    Traffic crept forward again. “He wanted me,” he muttered to
himself. “ Me in particular. He knew I could find you fast.” He glanced
at her. “It’s a talent.”
    “I’ll admit it bruised my ego a little. I thought I did
pretty good throwing you guys off the trail.”
    “I have my ways.”
    The words sank in.
    “My ways,” he repeated. “My conditions. That’s why he wanted
me. He knew I could find you fast, but he also knew I’d do it alone and
unarmed. The last time we talked, he made sure of it.”
    “So?”
    “That would make it easier to intercept you afterward.”
    “Intercept me for what?”
    “Good question.” He blew out a breath as the freeway resumed
normal speed. He pressed the button for the window, took one final look at his
phone, and chucked it into the freeway’s concrete center divider. “Shit. I
liked that phone.”
    “What did you do that for?”
    “Same reason you apparently dumped yours in New Mexico. So
people like me couldn’t follow you.”
    “So they’re following us now?”
    “ Now , they can’t.” He gave her a hard look. “But I
have an ugly feeling both of us are about to be officially declared fugitives.”
    “And neither of us deserves to