Menâbad menâwere chasing them down a mountain.
There was no place to hide. Nowhere to escape.
What did Nick do? He kissed her.
Beth was in his arms and her lips were smooth against his. She restored something in him that had been missing this past year. He lifted his head, unable to help the smile that spread across his face.
She looked up and behind them, steadying herself with her hands on his shoulders. âWe should probably get â¦â
âMoving. Right. You going to be okay?â he asked, really curious if the near fall had bothered her as much as the thought of losing her had bothered him.
Small rocks skittered past their heads. âGreat. More than great. Letâs go while we can.â
Choosing a path was hard. He could hear the grumbles about being caught off guard, about not doing her job, not protecting her asset.
âAm I your asset?â
âOf course you are.â
âBeth, Iâve told you this beforeâI can look after myself.â
And just like it had been scripted, he heard the lone shot of a gun and zipped back to the cliff wall, covering Bethâs body.
Prologue
The gun barrel burned against his right temple after being fired during the attack. Nick Burke had made a fatal mistake putting his trust in anyone. A greenhorn like Beth Conrad was his second mistake. He didnât struggle, dropped his rifle to the ground, raised his hands to his ears and watched his captor kick his favorite weapon over the cliff.
He cringed as it whacked its way to the bottom of the ravine. âThat was my best rifle.â
âYou wonât need it, buddy.â Keeping the gun in place, the man frisked the small of Nickâs back.
He had no distinguishing accent. Nick hadnât caught a close-up glimpse of their attackers until now. If this guy was helping the Mexican cartel from the US side of the border, he was the first solid lead they had come across in a year.
Where the hell is Beth? If the DEA Agent had fallen off her horse again, he might do something crazy. Or might just end up dead. What if she was hurt or worse?
Neither was his first choice of scenarios.
âSo whatâs the plan?â he asked, attempting to be casual. In his opinion, he pulled off not caring pretty well. He practiced it every day.
âYou in a big hurry to die?â
âBeen there. Recoveryâs harder.â
âGot that right.â A bit of southern poked its way through that long i.
âSo youâve been shot before?â
âShut it, this ainât no social hour.â The guy shifted his feet, stabbing Nickâs temple with each move. âYou listen up. Youâre gonna take me to your horse and give me directions out of this forsaken place. Understand? Or Iâm going to kill you.â
The cooling cylinder was shoved harder against his skull. Nick could feel the manâs nasally breath on his neck each time he turned. Searching for who? Nickâs partner or his own? He and Beth had followed at least two horses from the drug traffickersâ camp theyâd stumbled upon. And the cloud of dust heâd seen farther up the ravine was probably his captorâs partner.
âCanât help you, so we might as well get this over with.â Nick kept his eyes open, surveying as much as possible without moving. Still no Beth. âWhat are you waiting on?â
âMight be waiting on his partner.â Bethâs steady voice came from in front of them, somewhere off the trail. âBut thatâs not going to happen.â
âGet in front of me with your hands up or this guyâs brains spatter on the rocks.â The man shifted nervously behind him.
âAre you a mind reader? That is exactly what I was about to instruct you to do.â Half of Bethâs tall frame stepped onto the path, the otherâthe half that held her handgunâwas still covered by a juniper tree. She stretched her neck, dipping her chin to look over the top of her sunglasses.
Nick had seen her do that before, just before she fired her weapon to prove how good she was with a gun. She actually could shoot the tip off a cactus from fifty feet. Heâd told her she should be in a Wild West show with that accuracy. That was if she could ride a horse. Heâd never seen anyone as petrified of the animals as her.