Cowboy to the Max. Rita Herron

the air. A bullet whizzed by their heads, and Sadie screamed again.

       “Dammit, he was waiting.” Carter yanked her behind the corner of the building. “It was a setup to lure us out of the house.”

       “Do you see him?” Sadie asked.

       “No.”

       She scanned the black corners of the alley, trembling as she watched Carter lift his gun and peer around the edge of the building. Voices echoed from somewhere down the street. An engine rumbled. Tires screeched.

       She followed Carter’s gaze, checking the tops of the buildings nearby, the back entrance to the deserted warehouse two doors down, the corner of the street across from them.

       Two cars were parked on the curb. The first, a dented green Ford that belonged to the junkie in the apartment next to her. The other, a silver Jeep that had been abandoned days ago and had been stripped, hubcaps and all.

       Another shot pinged off the concrete wall by Carter’s head, and he pressed his back against the building to dodge it, then pushed her head lower. “Stay here. I’ll see if I can draw him out.”

       Panic streaked through Sadie, and she clutched his arm. “No, don’t go, Carter. He might kill you.”

       Carter swung his gaze back to her, seemingly startled that she might care. “I’ll be fine, Sadie. Just stay here.”

       “No.” She held on to him like a lifeline. “We’re in this together.”

       He narrowed his eyes a fraction, doubt darkening the hues of his eyes, then gave a quick nod. “All right. Let’s make a run for my truck.” He gripped her arm with his hand. “But promise me, if I get hit, you’ll go to the police and tell them everything.”

       Fear closed her throat. “Don’t talk like that. You aren’t going to get hit.”

       “Promise me,” Carter said. “If you can’t make it to the police, call Johnny Long or Brandon Woodstock. They’ll protect you and help clear my name.”

       Sadie nodded, although it terrified her to admit that they might not make it out alive. But if Carter did get killed, she would need help. She couldn’t keep running scared for the rest of her life.

       And without Carter, it was only a matter of time before she ended up dead.

      CARTER REFUSED TO DIE in this damn alley. And he would not let Sadie become a victim to this lowlife.

       Not again.

       He sucked in a sharp breath, then pulled Sadie behind him, keeping low as he crept along the edge of the buildings. Pulse jumping, he searched the alley and streets, his senses honed. Where the hell was the shooter?

       A trash can lid rattled, then rolled across the alley ahead. Footsteps clattered and a shadow moved. A flash of something metal caught in the darkness and drew his eyes toward the roof of the run-down apartment building next to Sadie’s.

       The shooter. Was he up there? Watching? Taking aim?

       His mind raced. The pipe bomb had been thrown into the house from the main level. So if this cretin was on the roof, he had a partner.

       Another bullet pinged off the metal awning above his head.

       “Dammit, this guy is pissing me off,” Carter growled. He turned and fired back at the direction the shot had come from. Not the roof but from behind the Jeep.

       His truck was a few more feet away. “Come on.” He yanked Sadie around the corner then cut through another alley in between the warehouses.

       A mangy dog pawed at a garbage can, knocked it on its side and began to scrounge through the trash. Voices rumbled from inside the next building, and through the foggy cracked window, he spotted two men. A drug deal going down.

       They glanced up, both scowling, mean looking and armed. One headed toward the door as if he thought they might be cops, and Carter picked up his pace, dragging Sadie behind.

       Another bullet pinged toward them just as he reached the truck. He shoved Sadie down behind the bumper, jostled his keys from his pocket, opened the driver’s door then coaxed Sadie inside.

       “Get down on the floor!” Carter shouted, as he spotted the shooter leaving his hiding spot behind the Jeep to chase them. Another bullet shattered the front windshield, spraying glass as Carter jumped inside. He ducked again to avoid being hit, punched the gas and tore from the curb.

       His tires squealed as he raced down the street, and he swerved from side to side to throw off the shooter.

       But the sound of another shot bouncing off the truck bed echoed behind him. He glanced in the rearview mirror hoping to see what the man looked like, but he wore a black face mask, black jacket, black clothes.

       Only the shiny metal of his automatic weapon gleamed in the darkness.

      SADIE CROUCHED LOW, her stomach lurching as Carter spun the truck down the road. The sound of the bullet pinging off the back made her cover her head, and the glass on the floor was digging into her knees.

       Carter screeched and swerved to the right in a fast turn. Car horns blared, and another vehicle’s tires squealed as if the car was about to hit it. She braced herself, but Carter must have managed to miss the collision, then he whipped the truck around onto the highway. For the next few minutes, she closed her eyes and prayed as he wove back and forth through town, then she heard the hum of other traffic and realized he’d turned onto the main road.

       “I think it’s safe. You can get up now,” he said in a gruff tone.

       Sadie was shaking all over. The truck cab swirled as she lifted her head and looked up at him. His jaw was clenched in anger, the beard stubble making him appear rough and dangerous.

       So did the feral look on his face.

       “Where is he?” she said in a raspy whisper.

       “I think we lost him.” He reached his hand out to help her up, and Sadie stared at it for a moment, unsure if she was ready to completely trust him.

       Regret flared in his eyes. “For God’s sake, Sadie. I’m not going to hurt you.” He lowered his hand and brushed glass from the seat. “If I’d wanted to, I would have back there at the house.”

       But he had threatened her. And he hated her.

       Still, he was all the protection she had, and he had saved her life. So she slowly pulled herself from her shock and climbed in the seat.

       “Buckle up,” Carter said. “For all I know he had a partner waiting to ambush us.”

       Sadie nodded and hooked her seat belt, then leaned her head back, her body racked with tension.

       “Did you get a look at him?” Carter asked.

       She shook her head. “No, did you?”

       “Not his face. He was a big guy, dressed in all black. Wore a face mask.”

       “It has to be the same man who threatened me,” Sadie said. “The last few days I sensed someone was following me.”

       Carter jerked his head toward her. “You mean since I escaped?”

       She clenched her hands together. “Yes. I thought it might be you.”

       Carter worked his mouth from side to side. “He probably figured I’d come after you to find out the truth.”

       “Because I was the only one who could clear you,” Sadie said, the guilt once again suffocating her.

       “Right. And of course, I played right into his hands.” He shot her a dark look. “That means he won’t stop until he kills both of us.”

       A shudder rippled up Sadie’s spine, and she turned to stare through the window. Clouds gathered in an ominous gray haze, obliterating the stars. A quarter moon hung low in the Texas sky, the dim glow casting