Hot As Sin (16 page)

“He wants to drop us at the truck,” he said suddenly. “Figures he can get us both quick, with the first two shots. Fewer trees in the way. No maze of angels and granite memorials to mess up his shot. Yardage is a
little shorter too. Not much, but enough to up his odds. And he won’t have to leave that heavy cover to do it.”

Emma pulled away finally. She shivered and huddled in her parka. “What do we do now?”

“
We
don’t do much of anything. You keep your head down and your feet ready. I’ll take care of the problem.”

“How?”

“Any way I can.”

Gabe ignored the cold radiating from the frozen ground. Nor did he dwell on the discomfort caused by crouching in one position for far too long. The only thoughts he allowed himself were the ones that began with “what if?”

What if there were two of them?

What if he couldn’t approach without alerting the sniper?

What if the sun didn’t catch the scope again?

The game was Gabe’s personal version of twenty questions. Every conceivable scenario played quietly in his head while he waited for the sun to kiss the scope again and give him a location. When it flashed, the glint came from a spot slightly below a trio of ancient cedars. Gabe smiled. He had the bastard now.

Before he moved, he glanced down at the cemetery. If the sniper wanted her, he was going to have to find a way to put a bullet through two feet of solid granite. Nothing of her could be seen from there, not the top of her head, not a shoulder, not a foot. Satisfied that Emma was scared enough or smart enough to hold tight, Gabe began to work his way around and above the cedars.

Emily didn’t ordinarily believe in omens, but it was hard to ignore the obvious.

The stone angel above her had broken wingtips and the battle scars of vandalism. From her perspective on the ground, flaws like that should have been easy to miss. Instead, the imperfections jumped out at her—a warning that no one was immune from violence. Nothing was sacred. Not holy symbols, and certainly not human life.

Violence fed on itself and played by no one’s rules. It caught hold of people and wouldn’t let go until the urge to protect dissolved into the need to attack. The one slowly becoming the other.

Like now.

She wasn’t running. She was cornered. The only way to survive was to attack. Protecting her meant Gabe had to complete the circle of violence.

Emily tried to ignore the cold, but she couldn’t. It was all around her. In the ground, in the granite, and in her heart.

As she shifted, the sound of a shot drove the cold deep into her soul.

When the shot rang out, Gabe abandoned his careful, silent assault. His only concern was to prevent the second shot, in case the first one hadn’t torn through her.

Why didn’t you stay down, Emma? Dammit, why didn’t you do what I told you to do?

Heedless of the sting of icy evergreen needles, he practically slid the last fifty feet into the sniper’s base. A split second was all Gabe needed to let his concern for Emma fade and focus on the shooter. Time stretched, drawing out his actions in slow motion, a feeling that was so familiar to Gabe.

The shooter was about forty and carefully dressed in a hunter’s worn-out camouflage coverall and flapped hat. Surprise registered on his face as he turned his head, but not the rifle, toward Gabe. Surprise matured into fear, and the sniper’s hands convulsed on the high-powered rifle too late. There wasn’t enough time to bring it around or change his position to get the shot.

“Don’t,” Gabe ordered. “Scoot away from it. On your belly.”

“All right. All right. I didn’t do anything.”

“Shut up.” Gabe risked a glance in Emma’s direction. He couldn’t see much from this distance.

His gaze swung back to the man on the ground and registered the detail he’d completely missed. The guy’s rifle wasn’t aimed at the cemetery. Gabe didn’t like what he was thinking. Not at all. Odds were, he’d caught a poacher and not a sniper.

“What the hell were you shooting at?”

“Nothing.” The word was muffled against the ground. “I didn’t hit anything. I was just practicing with my new scope.”

“That so? You’re either incompetent or a liar or both.”

Walking closer, Gabe knelt down—the Beretta ready in his hand. The shooter—still on his belly—was silent, determined to play the tough guy.

“So which are you? Incompetent or a liar?”

“You a ranger?”

“No.”

“Then why the hell do you care what I shoot?”

“I’m funny that way.” He checked the rifle, the scope, and the ammo. Then he looked at his man on the ground. “What kind of hunter carries this much firepower?”

By the time Emily heard Gabe holler her name, she had made so many promises to God that she couldn’t remember them all. Most of them were about keeping
Gabe safe. She hadn’t worried about escaping or whether the man with the rifle would close in to pick her off. What she had worried about was Gabe’s life.

Something inside her had broken when she heard the shot.

“It’s okay, Emma,” he called again.

Relief surged through her, burning away the cold as she let go of the fear. She scrambled up as fast as her stiffened muscles would let her and peered over the monument base. Gabe casually pointed a rifle at a man who marched in front of him. Standing all the way up, she took her first full breath in half an hour.

The only thing stopping her from running to him was the fact that her legs wouldn’t move. She’d never been more thankful to see anyone in her entire life. As they got closer, she tried to spot bloodstains or any sign of weakness.

“I heard the shot. I thought—I was sure—”

“Nothing is ever sure, Emma. Which is why I’d like to introduce you to Joe Honeycutt. You can stop right there, Joe. Is he the one?”

Emily studied him, trying to find any feature that struck a chord. But there was none of the apprehension she’d felt in the bar. None of the recognition. Unexpectedly, a crushing disappointment filled her. The horrible waiting, Gabe’s risk, it had all been for nothing.

“No. It’s not him.”

“Didn’t think it was.” Gabe lowered the rifle. “But I couldn’t take a chance.”

Joe turned, dropping his hands but not his voice. “You are a lunatic!”

“Maybe, but I’ve got the gun.”

Joe settled himself down, moderating his voice. “I told you the lady wouldn’t know me. Give me my stuff like you promised.”

Gabe tossed him a wallet, which he caught with one hand. “I don’t think I can give you the rifle.”

“You don’t think you can— Do you know what that piece cost? What the scope cost?”

“Almost to the penny.” Gabe motioned for Emily to circle around and come to his side. “You want it back, Joe? Check at the police station in Rock Falls. You can claim it there. As a favor, I’ll report having found it leaning against a tree.”

“How the hell am I going to explain how I lost a rifle?”

“I don’t know,” Gabe said with what sounded like genuine concern. “Would it be easier if I took you to the ranger’s station? How much explanation do you think they’ll need?”

That shut Joe up long enough for Emily to ask, “What’s going on?”

Gabe systematically ejected the cartridges from the rifle. “Mr. Honeycutt is loaded for bear. Literally. Black bear. There’s a certain internal organ that’s a prized Oriental medicine component. Worth a thousand dollars. Then there’s the pelt and the meat.”

“He shot a bear? You mean he’s not—”

“No,” Gabe interrupted before she could say anything more. “He’s not. He’s just a bad shot with too much gun. Damn bear was probably groggy as hell, waking up just long enough to forage for food, and Joe here missed him anyway.” Gabe handed her the rifle and pulled his Beretta. “Go away, Mr. Honeycutt. My
wife has a fondness for bears. I don’t want to keep her upset over this mess.”

The hunter was red with rage, but walked away. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are.”

“A concerned citizen.”

Gabe put his arm around Emily. She didn’t object. She needed some reassurance after that morning’s emotional roller coaster, and she doubted he’d ever offer again. Not after she told him about Patrick. Later, she promised, later, when she was calmer. When they were home.

After Honeycutt disappeared into the trees, she shivered. The cemetery, surrounded by the wilderness, was too quiet again. Honeycutt might have been harmless, but he was a reminder nevertheless that she was someone’s prey. A hunter was stalking, a hunter who wanted her dead.

“Are we through?” she asked. Emily pulled the pad out of her pocket and handed it to Gabe.

“No,” he said, an odd expression on his face. He lowered his head until his lips met hers. Awareness rushed through her, a chain reaction of feeling that erased the last of the numbness inside her. The kiss was deep and hard and quick.

Gabe pulled away and said, “We’re not through, but we can go.”

Neither of them spoke much on the way back to Rock Falls. Gabe thought Emma needed some time to come to terms with what had happened in the cemetery.
This time they were lucky, but they both knew that luck ran out eventually.

True to his word, he stopped by the police station to turn in the rifle. “This will only take a minute,” he promised. “I’ll tell ’em why I’m here and then come back for the rifle.”

“Take as long as you need. I’m fine.”

Gabe didn’t believe that for a minute. Her voice was hollow, as if she operated on automatic. Her eyes totally confused him though. Fear, even terror, he expected to see, but not guilt. Once more he promised, “I won’t be long.”

The station was a little busier than yesterday, but not much. Willis was pointing out something in a folder to another officer. He handed the file off and waved Gabe over. “What brings you back so soon? Another rock?”

“No, my luck’s changing. I found a rifle in the woods up by my cabin. Expensive gun, with a scope to die for. I’m hoping no one will claim it.”

Willis snorted and finger-combed one of his sideburns. “Some rich hunter laid it up beside the tree and forgot it. He’ll be calling every official between here and Tacoma.”

“That’s what I figured too. I’ve got it out in the truck. Didn’t want to surprise you guys by walking in with a rifle. I’ve found out I don’t like being shot at in my old age.”

Looking around him, Willis spotted Emma in the truck. He straightened and grinned at Gabe, a sly grin. “That’s not all you got in that truck. Who is the babe?”

Gabe didn’t like his tone and didn’t like the way he leered. “Emma Gabriel. My not-so-ex-wife.”

“Message received.” Willis laughed and threw his hands up in a mock attempt to push Gabe back. “Bring her in. I’d like to meet her.”

“She’s shy.”

“She’ll be frozen by the time we finish with the paperwork. Come on.” Willis’s words were softly spoken, more invitation than order. “Bring her in.”

Gabe knew he’d made a tactical error. He should have dropped Emma at the bar first, but he hadn’t wanted to leave her alone that long. Their “couple” cover was designed to fool people who really didn’t care. Willis, on the other hand, was in the business of turning over rocks just to see what was under them. Trotting their act out in front of him would be like putting a show on Broadway without a rehearsal.

In this situation he didn’t have much choice but to raise the curtain.

“I’ll ask her,” Gabe told him.

“No, no.” Willis clapped him on the shoulder and walked out to the truck with him. “
I’ll
ask her. Then she can’t say no.”

The wiry young officer strolled out of the police station right behind Gabe, clapping him on the back and laughing at a joke of some kind. As soon as she saw the officer, Emily choked back a giggle and thought,
Oh, my God. Elvis lives!

The urge to laugh faded the moment the officer approached the truck and gave her an oddly confident
smile. By then she could see his eyes—blacker than dark brown but still not jet black. They seemed out of place and much too old for a cop several years younger than she. His face smiled, but those eyes didn’t. Those eyes were busy picking her apart and alarmed her much more than the stiff frown on Gabe’s face.

Gabe hauled open the door and nodded approval to the other man, who opened her door. “Emma, this is Derick Willis, one of Rock Falls’ finest. I’m going to have to answer some questions about the rifle, and he was afraid you’d be too cold out here.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Derick leaned an arm casually against the edge of the door and held out his hand to help her down. “We couldn’t have a fatality in the parking lot of the station. You come on in, and I’ll get you a cup of coffee while you wait.”

Without Gabe having to tell her, Emily knew to tread carefully with this cop. Nothing she said would completely erase the suspicion she saw in the officer’s gaze. It seemed a natural part of the man, just like the badge. But the right attitude would soften his suspicion and turn it into simple curiosity. So “Emma” heaved a great big sigh of relief and threw herself at Derick as she scrambled out of the truck.

“Oh, thank you. I am so glad there is at least one man in this town who has the guts to stand up to Gabe. God knows why I married him, but the reason I divorced him is coming back to me.” She spared a displeased look at Gabe—making sure Derick had a good view of the way her lip curled. “It was plain and simple jealousy.”

“Was it?” Derick shot Gabe a speculative glance. “I
never figured Gabe for the jealous type. I never figured Gabe for the marrying kind either. He told me once he was a confirmed bachelor.”

Bingo
, Emily thought. That’s why Derick was so pushy about her coming in. He’d caught Gabe in a lie.

“Ha!” she exploded, aiming her comment at Gabe. “Doesn’t that just figure. If the man had his way, he wouldn’t mention me to anyone. He’d keep me locked up in a room somewhere.” She crooked her finger for Derick to come closer, and prayed that Gabe would do his part. “The man is positively stone-henged.”

“That’s
stone-aged
,” Gabe snarled at her. “Stone-aged. If you’re going to insult me, then at least get it right.”