Hot Pursuit (43 page)

Ben focused on Angel when she continued talking. Micah wouldn’t chance studying her as she spoke. But Ben had that liberty. He would like to think he’d be able to tell by her body language, if not how she spoke, whether she was lying to them or not.

“It’s just that I saw those four men in the alley outside my store,” she reminded them, looking at Ben as she spoke. When she looked toward Wolf and the gun aimed at him, her voice cracked as she continued. “You raced outside,” she said, nodding at Ben. “You didn’t grab your coat. I saw your gun in it.” She looked again at Wolf, her voice quivering. “Wolf went outside but was behind Ben. Neither of them could have shot those men,” she finished, her voice trailing off to a whisper as she stared past Ben to Micah.

“Who else knows this?” Micah demanded without looking away from Wolf.

Angel started crying. “God.
Please
put that gun down.”

“Who?” Micah yelled.

“Don’t bully her, motherfucker,” Wolf snarled, and started toward Micah.

Micah raised his other arm, holding the gun now with two hands. “Move another inch,” he hissed, “and I’ll end this fiasco.”

“Answer the question,” Maggie insisted, begging more than demanding. “Angel, answer the question,” she repeated. “Who else knows?”

“All of you, I guess!” Angel wailed.

“Who in Zounds?” Micah clarified.

“No one!” Angel yelled. “I guessed, okay? Now put that goddamn gun down now!” she yelled.

“You’re right,” Wolf said, his voice calm. He held out his hands in surrender. “End this fiasco. Shoot me or put it down. Everyone has had enough.”

“I’m not going with you,” Micah said under his breath.

“I’m not going without you.” Wolf continued standing with his hands extended. “I’ve spent too much time searching for you. There is a million-dollar bounty, and I’m going to collect it.”

“That’s what all of this is about, isn’t it?” Micah asked. “A million dollars. It doesn’t matter who I am, or what you think I might have done.”

“Good one,” Wolf snarled.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” Micah pushed. “This fiasco all of us are enduring at this moment is because you want a million dollars.”

“Don’t think for a moment that I’m the bad guy here.” Wolf shook his head and pointed one of his extended hands at Micah. He shook his finger at Micah. “You’re the one with the bounty on your head. I’m the bounty hunter, the law-abiding citizen.”

“And at least five people in Zounds know you assisted in sending four men to their watery grave.”

“Because you killed them!” Wolf roared.

Micah didn’t say anything for a moment. The silence once again grew. Micah was contemplating something. Ben watched him. His expression never changed. The day was brisk, seen with the sun shining high above all of them. Ben could feel himself sweating under his coat but swore there wasn’t a gleam of sweat anywhere on Micah. He looked very cool and collected.

“Maggie, sweetheart, come here,” Micah said finally.

Ben stepped to the side when Maggie darted to her husband. Micah kept his gun trained on Wolf but put one arm around Maggie and whispered in her ear.

“What’s this all about?” Wolf demanded. “I don’t have all day and—”

“Yes, you do,” Micah interrupted him, then continued whispering to his wife.

Maggie looked up at him, nodded, and ran to the cabin.

“She will only be a few minutes,” Micah informed Wolf once the door to the cabin closed behind Maggie. “I’m going to give you your million dollars.”

“You aren’t going to
give
me a dime,” Wolf snarled. “I earn my keep. And I’ll earn my million dollars when I turn you over to the officials. I do believe that Angel, rather conveniently, has the FBI arriving in Zounds sometime today. They might find it odd that her store is closed when they arrive.”

“Something she should have thought of before coming up here,” Micah said with an indifferent shrug.

“I put a note on the door saying I’d be back in an hour.” Angel looked at Wolf apologetically. “I guess I’m a bit too possessive for my own good, but I think I’m falling in love with you,” she admitted, and her cheeks blazed instantly a deep rose color that made her eyes an even more brilliant blue. “You have taken off so many times since we’ve met without a word of explanation, and a few times without even saying good-bye. Right after Ben and Zoey left, you disappeared out the storeroom door, and this time I was going to go right after you. Serves me right for following you, huh,” she finished with a nervous chuckle. “But Micah,” she continued with barely a breath, “if you are indeed the Mulligan Stew assassin, as far as I’m concerned you’re more a martyr than a criminal, because, if Wikipedia is correct, all of your alleged murders were people as bad as Cortez, if not worse. Wolf isn’t a bad man. I understand that you don’t want to go with him, but shooting him isn’t your style. If you do kill him, it will make you as bad as those you’ve killed—allegedly.”

“I’m not going to kill him,” Micah told her, his voice softening as he took a moment to look at her for the first time.

Wolf took that same moment and tried lunging in the direction of his gun. Micah fired again. Zoey screamed and rushed into Ben. Although he wasn’t as prepared as Wolf had been when Angel had run into him, Ben managed to keep Zoey from moving any closer to Micah. He pulled Zoey into his arms and held her close to him as she trembled. Angel let out a terrible wail and Ben wasn’t able to grab her before she ran toward Wolf, who had slid to the ground and now held both his hands in the air over his head.

“I hope your boyfriend doesn’t make any more stupid moves,” Micah said, and for the first time lowered his gun.

Maggie raced out of the cabin. “What happened?” she shouted.

“Just keeping everyone on their toes,” Micah told her, and even took time to glance over his shoulder at her. “How’s it going?”

“Just another minute.” She ran back inside.

“I’m good enough to shoot off the tip of your finger without the bullet grazing any other part of your body.”

Wolf lowered his hands. Angel had slid to the ground and knelt next to him, her face tearstained. “Wolf, oh crap,” she whispered. “What are we going to do?”

“What the two of you are going to do,” Micah began before Wolf could say anything, “is get up and come here.”

Wolf leapt to his feet and pushed Angel behind him. “She isn’t coming anywhere near you, or that gun.”

“I already told you I’m not going to kill anyone. Do you want your bounty, or not?”

“Put down the gun.”

Micah lowered it, cocked his head, and smiled. “I could put it in my back pocket and still shoot you before you found your gun.”

Wolf started toward Micah but pushed Angel at Ben. “What’s your game, Mulligan?”

Micah stepped toward Ben as well and handed him the gun. Ben frowned, reaching for it slowly, and gave Micah a questioning look. The gun was warm from Micah having held it all this time. Wolf paused, equally confused, but Ben barely spared him a glance. Wolf might not be thinking it through, but he had more than Micah against him. Ben wasn’t going to let Wolf take Micah anywhere, and Ben didn’t want to think what Maggie would do to protect Micah. Although Ben was fairly certain at the moment she was packing the two of them up to leave.

“I’m going to need you to cover my back, if you don’t mind,” Micah told Ben.

“You’re committing a felony.” Wolf pointed at Ben.

“Shut up,” Ben snapped, and took the gun.

Micah gestured toward the cabin, and Wolf started walking. Angel rushed to his side, leaving Ben’s.

“What are you going to do?” she demanded, slipping her arm around Wolf’s but looking worried when she glanced over her shoulder at Micah.

“Don’t bother asking questions,” Wolf told her, but stopped when they reached the door to the cabin, blocking it so Micah would have to push him out of the way to open it. Instead he faced Angel and pulled her into his arms. “I love you, too,” he whispered, and kissed her on the forehead.

“Oh, Wolf,” she gasped, and another rush of tears streamed down her face.

Maggie saved Micah from having to break up the moment. She opened the door on her end and stepped to the side. “Come inside,” she invited, making it sound as if she’d just had guests show up for a party.

“Ben, keep the ladies in here.” Micah pointed to the living room but pushed Wolf toward his kitchen.

Zoey put her arm around Angel and gave her a fierce hug. Ben didn’t have to worry about either of them. They held each other in the middle of the living room. For good measure, in case Angel did try to do something stupid, he closed the cabin door and locked it. Then keeping the gun aimed at the floor, he glanced around the corner into the kitchen.

A kitchen chair had been pulled away from the table and placed in the middle of the room. Ben looked at Micah and Wolf in time to see Micah push on Wolf’s shoulder, with a bit of force, and pick up a pair of handcuffs that were on the table.

“Run all you want, but I’ll find you,” Wolf swore.

Micah pulled Wolf’s arms behind the chair and handcuffed him. “That won’t be necessary.” Before Wolf could say anything else, Micah picked up a folded bandana, shook it out, then gagged Wolf.

Maggie came to the door carrying two suitcases. She placed them by the door and handed Ben a piece of paper. Without any explanation, she then turned to Zoey and Angel.

“I’m going to miss both of you,” she told them, and tried for a group hug.

Angel took a step backward, hugging herself. “What did you do with him?” she asked, her eyes puffy and bloodshot as she nodded toward the kitchen. It was incredibly quiet from that end of the house.

Maggie gave Zoey a fierce hug but then released her and dropped her hands to her sides. “Angel, my husband is a very good person, better than most men, and I’m the luckiest woman in the world to have him. He already told you, and he doesn’t lie, he isn’t going to hurt Wolf.” She then turned to Zoey and with the same loving touch as a mother might administer stroked the side of her head. “You’re going to love L.A.” Maggie gave her a piece of paper similar to what she had just given Ben. “When you have time, look up my parents for me. Let them know I’m happy, head over heels in love, and miss them.”

Zoey simply nodded, smiled, and dabbed at her face with her fingers when a tear fell. “Take care of yourself,” she whispered.

“Most definitely.”

They all jumped when there was a knock on the door. Maggie laughed and unlocked it. Micah stepped inside the doorway and picked up the suitcases. “Until next time,” he told Ben, grinned, then held the door for Maggie to come outside. “I’m sorry I don’t have keys to those handcuffs,” he added, then let the screen door close and headed across the yard to their car.

Angel skidded out of the living room into the kitchen and yanked off Wolf’s gag, which allowed him to immediately let out a spew of profanities. Zoey remained in the doorway, staring outside as Micah and Maggie disappeared down the driveway.

“Think they will make it?” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder at Ben.

He had no doubts. “Most definitely.”

Chapter Nineteen

Ben had friendlier conversations on the phone with Greg and Haley, but he understood their apprehension. In spite of what Greg had told him when they talked, Ben knew they were coming home because they were curious about Zoey. Not that he would tell Zoey that.

“Is that them?” Zoey peered around his shoulder when Ben opened the door to his apartment and stared down at the nice rig the Kings had, with Greg’s Harley on a three-wheeler being towed from behind.

“Yup. Come on,” Ben said without ceremony, taking Zoey’s hand and pulling her outside into the warm early-evening sunshine. “Let’s go see how their trip was.”

“Okay,” she said slowly.

In the week since they’d been back in L.A. her face was finally bruise-free. A few walks on the beach, something Ben had seldom done before, had brought the luster back to Zoey’s naturally tan skin. He’d taken her to his doctor, the doctor Haley had insisted all her employees went to for annual physicals, and Zoey was given a clean bill of health. Ben had given Zoey his room, had been crashing on the couch, and was taking a lot of cold showers.

At the moment, though, he dragged her down the stairs. “You two sure know how to take a long vacation!” he yelled the moment they reached the parking lot.

“It’s always one of my boys,” Haley said, sounding as if she were complaining but with a huge grin on her face. “I have to be close to take care of you.”

She closed the passenger door to their motor home and held her arms out. Haley was tan, her hair windblown, and had never looked better. Ben didn’t know if he’d ever tell her that she meant more to him than his own mother, whom he’d never told that he’d left L.A., let alone was now home. He let go of Zoey’s hand to give Haley a big hug.

“Did you save the world while I was gone?” Greg asked in his booming baritone. At six and a half feet, he looked down at Ben, shook his hand with a mean grip, but then let go and tilted his head.

Zoey had disappeared behind Ben. He didn’t let her stay there but took her hand and pulled her to his side. “Greg, Haley, this is Zoey Cortez. Zoey, these are my bosses.”

“Bosses?” Haley was still grinning. “Lord, make it sound so impersonal.” She stepped forward, took Zoey from Ben, and gave her a hug. “I’m Haley. You’ll call me that. This is Greg. Don’t let his size intimidate you. He’s a pussycat.”

“Roar,” Greg grumbled, glaring at his wife. “I’m not a pussycat.” He extended his hand and shook Zoey’s as soon as Haley let go of her. “Good to meet you, Zoey. We’re glad you’re here.”

“Yes, we are.” Haley put her arm around Zoey and started away from the men. “Let these two do their guy-talk thing. They get boring when they start trying to outdo each other with their stories of saving the world.” She made a face at her husband. “We’ll go have girl talk. That is so much more fun. Ben, I really hope your apartment is clean.”

Ben watched Zoey walk away next to Haley, knowing Haley would learn every detail about what had happened in Zounds, and how Zoey felt about being here in L.A. before either man was welcome in Ben’s apartment.