Trouble With A Badge
A woman and baby on the run. A Texas lawman sworn to protect them both.A tip about a serial killer's next target sends former big-city lawman Levi Crockett on a fool's errand. The willowy blonde he finds isn't the intended victim. But Alexa Dearborn is on the run and needs Levi's protection. So does the newborn she's guarding with her life.With Alexa's WITSEC identity compromised, the Texas deputy is Alexa's best hope of survival. And although Levi isn't ready to trust her after the tragedy that tore his family apart, he'd never turn his back on the PI and baby girl in her care. Still, as a ruthless murderer stalks them, Levi finds himself fighting an even more powerful enemy: the dangerous desire bringing them closer together…
Читать Trouble With A Badge онлайн беплатно
Levi did something he was certain he would regret. He pulled Alexa into his arms.
Despite the situation, he felt the very thing he didnât want to feel.
The heat.
Oh, yes. It was there mixed with all the fresh emotions and spent adrenaline from the latest attack.
âYou donât want this,â Alexa whispered.
Even though she didnât qualify what she meant by this, Levi made a sound of agreement. He didnât want the problems that could come from the attraction he was feeling for her.
But he did want her.
And he did something about it when she leaned back to look at him. He slipped his hand around the back of her neck and he kissed her.
It felt like a truck had hit him in the chest. Oh, man. He hadnât wanted her to taste like something he was certain he could never get enough of. Heâd wanted the kiss to satisfy this need stirring inside him.
Didnât happen. The need soared.
DELORES FOSSEN, a USA TODAY bestselling author, has sold over fifty novels with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. Sheâs received the Booksellersâ Best Award and the RT Reviewersâ Choice Best Book Award. She was also a finalist for a prestigious RITA>® Award. You can contact the author through her webpage at www.deloresfossen.com.
To my amazing daughter-in-law, Dr. Tabitha Fossen.
Contents
Was the killer already here?
Deputy Levi Crockett didnât see anything or anyone suspicious, but he felt the twist in his gut, letting him know something wasnât right. He eased his hand over the Smith & Wesson in his holster and stepped from his truck.
The winter air snapped at him, the bitter cold going right through his buckskin jacket and cowboy hat, but Levi kept walking. Kept making his way to the side of the Outlaw Bar. Not near the door. But to the back so heâd be able to see when or if the killer arrived.
The bar was within a half hour of closing, but eight vehicles were still in the parking lot. No one was inside any of them though. No one he could see anyway. The vehicles likely belonged to the cocktail waitresses and bartender. Customers, too. Maybe one even belonged to the killer.
And not just any ordinary killer, either.
But the Moonlight Strangler, a serial killer.
If the tip from the private investigator was right, the killer had staked out this bar as the site of his next murder and would be arriving any minute now.
Too bad Levi hadnât gotten more notice from the PI or he could have arranged for a better net to catch this dangerous snake. However, the call had come just a few minutes earlier when Levi was on his way home to his familyâs ranch. Heâd literally been driving right by the place, and that was why he hadnât even bothered to call for backup.
Not yet anyway.
He would though if he saw or felt anything to confirm that the PI was right. After all, one of his brothers was the sheriff. Another was a deputy. And they could be there in less than twenty minutes if Levi needed them. Still, this was one killer Levi preferred to take care of himself.
Because it was personal.
This killer had spilled family blood, and he was going to pay and pay hard for what heâd done to all those women heâd murdered.
Levi eased into the shadows away from the pulsing neon bar lights and he listened. Waited. It was hard though to pick through the sounds of the crackling lights, the wind and his own heartbeat drumming in his ears.
But somewhere there was the sound of an engine running.
Because the driver had the headlights off, it took Levi a moment to realize the car wasnât approaching from the street, but rather from the back of the bar. No road there, just a park-like area that the local teenagers used for making out. It could also be the very route a killer would likely take.
Before the car eased to a stop, Levi whipped out his gun and took aim. He froze. And not because of the weather.
A person stepped out of the car, the watery lights just bright enough for him to see her face. Not the Moonlight Strangler, but someone he did recognize. The pale blond hair. The willowy build.
Alexa.
Of all the people Levi thought he might run into tonight, Alexa Dearborn wasnât anywhere on his radar. Heck, she shouldnât be anywhere near him, this bar or the town of Appaloosa Pass.
Because she had a bounty on her head.
Word on the street was that the hired guns who were after her had orders to shoot to kill.
Itâd been five months since Levi had last seen her. Marshals had whisked her away into WITSEC to an unnamed place. Given her a change of name, too. But five months wasnât nearly long enough for the memories to fade.
Bad memories.
Of a woman strangled to death. Paige, his brotherâs wife. And Alexa was right smack dab in the middle of those nightmarish memories and images that began to jolt through him.
