Hot Pursuit (32 page)

“Yeah,” Maggie said slowly. “The obvious happened. Depending on how you look at it, it was the only mistake Micah ever made. But if he hadn’t made that one mistake, a very good woman would be dead right now. And yes, Micah ran. He had no choice. His freedom was over.”

“He ran to you?”

“He ran to a church.”

“A church?”

Maggie’s cheeks were damp. She blotted at her eyes and offered Zoey a smile. “My church,” she said, her voice thick with fresh tears that suddenly streamed down her face. “It’s been a year and I still can’t think about any of this without crying. Micah went to his father and uncle, who were just outside L.A., and told them he was done. He went to my priest and confessed every kill he’d ever made. That’s where I found him. I hadn’t seen him in days. He was trying to protect me from himself,” Maggie said through a choked sob. She waved her hand in the air, as if emotions and memories could be wiped away that easily. With a heavy sigh, apparently accepting the fact that they couldn’t be, Maggie continued, her eyes glassy with tears when she smiled at Zoey. “Before we left, Micah had to do one thing. He knew how much Ben wanted to be a bounty hunter, and that because of personal problems in his previous life he wouldn’t ever make it as one until he’d saved up a lot of money. Micah left Ben enough money to clear his record and get his private investigator’s license. We don’t know how Ben got wind of Wolf Marley, but we do know Ben came to Zounds to warn Micah that Wolf is in Zounds to find Micah. I tried warning Angel, but I couldn’t tell her too much.” Maggie looked at Zoey. “And you can’t say anything, either. These two men are in Zounds only to hunt Micah, although both for very different reasons. Ben doesn’t want the bounty. He wants to warn Micah that a very real bounty hunter is very close to sniffing him out, and putting Micah behind bars, or worse, getting himself killed trying.”

Chapter Fourteen

“How long have you two been here?” Ben asked.

Micah smiled at him. Ben wasn’t sure he’d ever seen his friend look the way he did now. He was tanned and more muscular, and his hair was longer. From the looks of the woodshop Micah had behind the cabin, Ben guessed he’d built himself up hauling his own timber. But there was something else. Micah seemed relaxed, happy.

“Not long enough,” Micah told him, grinning.

It dawned on Ben that he’d never really seen Micah smile before.

“I hope you can stay here for many years,” Ben said, taking in the serene surroundings. “Sure is peaceful here.”

“All a man could ask for,” Micah agreed.

“You don’t get bored?” So much paradise could also make a man restless.

In Micah’s case, getting restless could mean a death sentence. For someone else, or even for Micah.

“With a town like Zounds at our fingertips?” Micah laughed, something else new to the man. “That Marley friend of yours is rather entertaining.”

“Wolf Marley?” Ben quit taking in the view of rolling hills packed with thick forest, a postcard view stretching out farther than he could see, and looked at Micah. “He’s not a friend.”

“I didn’t think so,” Micah said. Long dark waves of hair curled under before touching his shoulders, which were packed with bulging muscles. In spite of this new lighthearted side of Micah, the dangerous, intimidating killer still hung close to the surface. “He’s got an impeccable reputation as a bounty hunter.”

“He showed up at KFA the same day I got my private investigator’s license. Got in Greg King’s face.”

Micah humphed. “I would have loved to see that. What made Marley head up this way?”

“He broke into my apartment and destroyed the place. He took the two postcards that you sent, the second one postmarked ‘Zounds.’”

Micah let out a sigh. “I’m really sorry he destroyed your place, man.” He said it as if the destruction were personally his fault.

Ben saw how Micah would see it that way. He brushed off the apology. It wasn’t necessary. “He’s serious about finding you, Micah. And like you said, he’s got a good track record.”

“And he’s been in Zounds almost a week and is still looking.”

Ben studied Micah. “He’s not going to give up.”

Micah shrugged. “He doesn’t bother me.” Micah nodded to the house. “That is what concerns me, Ben.”

“Maggie?”

This time when Micah laughed there was no humor in it. “Maggie is a blessing I’ll never deserve,” he said seriously. “But no, I didn’t mean Maggie. I’m worried about Zoey Cortez being with you.”

“What?” Ben frowned at Micah. Here Ben was trying to express the danger hovering too close to Micah and the man was worried about him? “I’m not the one to worry about, Micah. Think about it, will you? Wolf Marley has a reputation. You’ve admitted that yourself. Whether he succeeds or fails—”

“He won’t succeed.”

“Whether he does, or not, sooner or later others will get wind that he’s here. You’ve got a million-dollar bounty on your head. Jesus Christ! That’s a hell of a lot of money.”

“Money I’m sure our government will balk at paying whether I’m brought in dead or alive.”

“Damn it, Micah!” Ben fought to control his temper. Micah was being way too nonchalant about this. If he didn’t take Ben’s warning seriously, Micah would get caught. Ben didn’t want to live to see that happen. He honestly couldn’t say what he might do if Marley actually found Micah. “Pull your head out of your ass. You’re not invincible, regardless of your history. You get too cocky and you’ll get caught. End of story!”

Ben held his ground when Micah closed in on him. Although a few inches taller and possibly fifty pounds or so heavier with solid-packed muscle, Ben had never feared Micah. He sure as hell wouldn’t now, especially since he was right.

“I’ve always taken everything I’ve done in the past, as well as everything I’ve done on a day-to-day basis ever since, very seriously,” he said in a harsh whisper. “Every day I wake up wondering if this will be the day. Not one minute goes by when I’m not looking over my shoulder. Our home here, the layout of the place, the positioning of each piece of goddamn furniture is done with careful thought in regard to our safety. Maggie worries every time she goes into town. Remember how she reacted when you first found her at the grocery store,” Micah hissed. “I wouldn’t wish this life on anyone, and definitely not on you. I’m not the one who needs to pull my head out of my ass.”

“I’ve never told a soul about you,” Ben insisted, staring hard at Micah’s face. “It’s been a year. No one follows me. No one questions me. That is, until Marley showed up.”

“Others will come sniffing around. It’s a lifetime sentence, my friend. This isn’t the way you want to live.”

“I never said I did,” Ben countered. “But I will go to any length to help make sure you’re always safe. That’s just the way of it,” Ben stated, slicing his hand through the air. “Having lawmen sniff around from time to time isn’t shit in form of payment for what you’ve done for me.”

“I don’t expect to be paid back for helping friends.”

“You helped me out. I’ll always have your back even if it means getting in your face when you aren’t seeing things straight.”

Micah took a slow, deep breath, and his body noticeably relaxed. Bulging muscle smoothed under tanned skin. Ben hadn’t noticed until then how tightly wound he had been as well. He, too, breathed in, then blew out the breath and a bit of his frustration.

“I’m seeing things straight,” Micah said, his voice drained of emotion.

Ben turned from him. “Have you taught me so much that you can’t hear when I’m trying to tell you what’s right under your nose?” he muttered, and put some space between them.

Walking toward the small shed, he glanced inside the open door at the magnitude of tools neatly organized inside. He didn’t dwell on how much money would have been spent in order to have everything Micah had. None of that mattered to him. Instead he fought to find the right words.

Convincing someone with words had never been his strong point. If someone didn’t get what was clearly in front of his nose, a good right clip usually took care of matters. Ben had never scrapped with Micah before. He would, to make a point, if need be. Ben had gone through a lot to find Micah. And Ben would drive his point home one way or another. Micah wasn’t safe.

“You’re a good friend to trail Marley up here,” Micah said behind Ben’s back.

“I didn’t trail him.” Ben ran his finger against a table that supported a jigsaw. It looked homemade and of superior design. Micah was apparently a man of many talents. “That would be like trailing Greg King.”

Micah snorted. “You trying to tell me Wolf Marley is as good a bounty hunter as King?” Micah didn’t sound worried. His tone was more curious.

Ben turned around. Once again his temper was getting the better of him. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” he snapped. “It’s going to play out that you either run again, or kill a man. Is that how you see it, Micah? Is that how you want it to be? Just kill the man and come home to dinner set nicely on the table?”

Micah shrugged and Ben saw red. So Micah had been the Mulligan Stew assassin. “Had been” being the key words. Micah had retired. He had lived in L.A. and worked alongside Ben as a law-abiding citizen. Ben knew what it took to get a private investigator’s license in California. Micah had gone through the same process just so he could get a job working at KFA.

Or wait a minute. “Am I the goddamned fool here?” Ben sneered. “Wolf Marley being in Zounds doesn’t bother you a bit. Cortez terrorizing Zounds doesn’t matter to you.” Ben waved his hand at the perfect and rather pricey-looking spread Micah had created for himself and Maggie. “Have you really retired? Did you pull the wool over my eyes? Over Greg and Haley King’s eyes? Is there anything real about you other than you are the perfect murderer?”

Micah stiffened. His dark features were suddenly darker. Ben saw the killer in Micah surface with a vengeance. It was a demon living inside Micah like a parasite. Ben welcomed taking on the murderer inside his friend. The quiet man who had always kept to himself, the man who had been honorable and had fought to uphold the law alongside the best law enforcer in the state of California, was the real Micah Jones, or Micah Mulligan, or whatever the man’s name was.

“I’d like to think there is,” Micah said, his mouth barely moving when he spoke.

“Who the fuck is that guy then?” Ben challenged. “I come up here to warn you a bounty hunter with bloodlust on the brain is hot on your trail and you tell me you aren’t worried. Why is that, Micah? Is it because you’re tired of running and simply ready to turn yourself in?”

Micah studied Ben. Maybe he was wrong, but it seemed as if Micah might actually be hearing him. Ben didn’t regret pissing his friend off or using words to hit where it counted and make Micah open his motherfucking eyes.

“If I turn myself in, the deaths of all the men and women who were killed would have been in vain.”

“All the men and women you killed.”

“Yes.” There wasn’t any regret. Micah agreed to the charges without an ounce of guilt or remorse on his face.

“Forgive me, man,” Ben said, swiping his hand through his hair and looking away from those dark eyes that seemed a bit too focused on him at the moment. “I have a hard time seeing you without a soul.”

“I have a soul, Ben. And I have a conscience.” Micah didn’t make a sound when he moved to stand by Ben at the worktable in front of the shed. He pressed his hands flat on the table and leaned on it. There were puckered scars on both his hands. Old puckered scar tissue, and some newer, more recent scars were white against his tanned arms. It was impossible to imagine the life this man had led. “Many can’t justify killing monsters. There are those who don’t see the justice in wiping out a man, or a woman, who has brought too much harm to those around them. That bloodlust you mentioned this bounty hunter has in him can’t possibly hold a flame to what burns in my veins on a daily basis. I found an outlet for mine, and yes, it was lucrative. But, my friend, I am retired. I will never accept money for another kill as long as I live. That part of my life is over, whether you believe it, or not.”

Maybe he had an impeccable record as a mass murderer. Maybe he had been smart enough, to this point, not to get caught. But whatever it took, Ben would drive it into Micah’s thick skull that Wolf Marley meant business. Though he hadn’t found Micah yet, Marley wasn’t going to give up until he did.

“Good to hear,” Ben muttered. “But whether you justify all the blood on your hands, and I’m not judging you, the government doesn’t.”

“I’m aware of that,” Micah said tightly.

Ben ignored him. “The charges against you aren’t ever going to go away.”

“Know that, too.”

“So does Wolf Marley. To him, you are the ultimate bounty, the cut on his belt he can’t wait to carve. He is going to sniff through every blade of grass in this county until he finds you.”

“Ben,” Micah said with a sigh, turning and facing him. “You’ve got to let me worry about Marley. You’ve got to trust me and know I’m going to take care of me and Maggie.”

Ben glanced at his friend. “I’m not sure what I would do if he found you,” he confessed.

The smile on Micah’s face didn’t reach his eyes. “You would do whatever you believe is right at that moment,” he said, pushing away from the worktable, and walking around it. For a moment he stared out at the incredible view of tree-covered hills that rolled into a faded blue sky. “As much as you worry about me, I worry about you, too,” he said, his back to Ben.

“I’m fine, Micah. I’ve got my job to return to when I go back. I’m up here with Greg and Haley’s blessing.”

Micah nodded once and turned his attention to the rustic cabin. He stared at it with a fondness, with something that for Micah might almost have been affection. “They are good people. You’ll be one of the best before long. I have no doubt.” He shot a side-glance at Ben as he raised his hand and pointed to the cabin. “But that is what I’m worried about.”

Ben looked at the cabin. The women were in there. Ben could only imagine what Zoey and Maggie might be talking about. Zoey had been so excited to see her friend. It was rather ironic that Ben had run into Zoey the first night he’d arrived in Zounds and it turned out she was best friends with the wife of the man Ben had come here to find.