The Lawman Meets His Bride

She thought about her cell phone. Had he been thinking like a real bad guy, he would have taken it from her. But he didn’t. She could get it out, dial 911, and perhaps whisper to the emergency operator. Give their location and let the police take it from there.

Yet, she made no move to try. It wasn’t just fear he’d wake up and catch her. As much as she hated to admit it, she was starting to see this mess from his perspective, too.

If he was innocent—a strong possibility in her mind—then she might be condemning him to prison—or worse. If he were simply running to get away, Billings was the last place he’d head for. From frontier days to the present, Montana fugitives chose the Canadian Rockies to the north as their favorite refuge from the law.

Even as all this looped through her mind, a blue-and-yellow sedan eased by her in the passing lane—a Montana state trooper.

Her pulse leapt into her throat. The cop wasn’t pulling her over, just passing on his way to someplace else.

Flick the bright lights on and off a few times, she thought. That cop will pull you right over.

And then what? Loudon was armed and desperate—this time he might not aim high.

Wracked by indecision, she did nothing as the red-glowing taillights receded ahead.

She assumed Loudon was sound asleep. So hearing his voice made her nearly crawl out of her skin.

“Missed your chance,” he told her in a sleepy voice. “S’matter, you soft on crime?”

“Maybe I don’t want to get caught in the middle of one of your shootouts.”

“Oh. Here I thought maybe it was my sexy eyes.”

Heat came into her face. “I could floor it and still catch that cop.”

“You’re the driver.”

Despite his exhaustion, she detected a smug, mocking tone to his voice. He had called her bluff. It wasn’t bad enough that he had kidnapped her—now he had to toy with her to amuse himself.

“Since you’re awake, kindly remove your head from my shoulder.”

He complied, slumping against the passenger’s window.

“Do you know how nice you smell?” he murmured sleepily. “Your perfume is Gardenia Passion, right?”

He was right, but she said nothing. He didn’t even wait for a reply, going back to sleep immediately.