NaturesBounty

by J. Rose Allister

  She wasn’t sure how, but she knew he was going to do something crazy about a split second before he made a move. With his foot, he lifted the coffee table, grabbed it, and in a smooth motion, hurled it at the two men. It hit one of them dead on, and a gunshot went off.

  In a single beat of Lydia’s racing heart, Nate followed the table across the room. The pop of the gun was so much louder than she expected, rattling her skull and dulling the sounds of the scuffle between Nate and the man he’d just stunned the hell out of. Her hands flew over her ears as she fought to control the swell of panic.

  Why the hell was he fighting these guys? Weren’t they all on the same side?

  Lydia pushed herself upright on her knees as the second guy, a hard-looking blond who clearly meant business, came straight for her.

  “Stay on the ground!” he shouted at her, the gun trained on her most unnervingly. She froze, but her eyes flicked over to where Nate flashed out with a punch that sent the other guy to the floor. He sprawled out on his back and stayed there.

  What exactly possessed her in that moment, she wasn’t sure. Her mind was screaming at her to do exactly what the scary man with the gun told her. But the devil inside whispered that if she let him get a hold of her, it would be very, very bad.

  “What the hell,” she whispered.

  Lydia reached up and yanked her bikini cups aside, spilling her breasts into view. The ridiculous move rewarded her with a brief halt in his advance, and his gun hand wavered for just a second while he stared at her tits. It was a momentary reprieve that wouldn’t have gained her a thing if not for the man coming up quietly behind him. She glanced over in time to see Nate swing the remaining half of the coffee table. The blond guy whipped around and saw it as well, exactly two seconds after it was too late to react.

  The table connected with the man’s upper half and sent him reeling back into the wall, where he knocked his head hard. He slid to the floor, clearly dazed.

  “The guy with the bigger weapon,” Nate said, dropping the remains of the table. He had a wild gleam in his eye when he turned to Lydia and held out his hand. A gun that he’d apparently relieved the other intruder of was in his other one.

  “Come on,” he said.

  “What for?”

  “No time to sit around wondering how to get your security deposit back. We’re getting out of here.”

  “We are?”

  She took his hand and he promptly yanked her upright. He half dragged her to the window, and she pulled back when she realized what he had in mind.

  “Out there?”

  “They might have a guy posted on the front exit. Hurry up.”

  He helped her out the window onto a fire escape that seemed rickety and utterly terrifying from the third floor. The handcuff still fastened to her wrist dangled wildly while she grabbed the ladder and started descending. Nate was right behind her, but they didn’t make it far before they heard a shout.

  “They went out the fire escape!”

  “Double time,” Nate called down to her.

  Her limbs ached, and the threatened hangover headache was pounding in full force ahead of schedule, but she somehow made it to the ground without either landing in a gunman’s clutches or falling and breaking her neck. The drop from the bottom ladder jarred her a little, however, making her doubly grateful that Nate had also managed to get her good sneakers on before their unexpected guests had arrived.

  Nate landed beside her with ease and jerked his head toward the beach. “This way. I hope you weren’t lying about being a runner.”

  “Why should I come with you?”

  “I’m helping you escape, obviously.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re making sure you’re the one who gets the bounty for my capture.”

  “We don’t have time to argue. And I have a gun now, by the way.” He pointed to his waistband, which had the gun tucked into it.

  She let out a grunt of frustration. “Damn it.”

  He grabbed her hand and they took off at a full jog along the boardwalk, dodging startled tourists, hippies and dog walkers who were all out for an evening stroll along the beach. Her breasts were still exposed and bouncing crazily as she ran like hell, and she frantically tried to stuff them back where they belonged while Nate pulled her along.

  He suddenly veered off the boardwalk through the grass, cutting up between two buildings and heading for the street.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, out of breath. Her legs burned, and so did her chest. Sure, she went for a morning jog a few times a week, but not at a dead run with no warmup.

  “My car.”

  They darted through evening traffic as they crossed Pacific and headed up a side street.

  “Where the hell did you park, back in Colorado Springs?”

  By the time they made it to a parking garage and ducked inside, her legs were ready to give out. When they finally stopped beside a blue Ford with Colorado tags, she slumped hard against the trunk and fought to catch her breath.

  Nate stood by the driver’s door, constantly checking behind him while he pulled out his cell phone and started fiddling with the buttons.

  She eyed him warily. “Don’t you think you should get us out of here before calling your mother to tell her you’ll be late for curfew?”

  “My fucking keys are back at your place,” he said, swiping his finger across the phone screen. “They’re in the duffel bag.”

  “And I’m supposed to stand around while you call a cab?”

  He shot her a quick glance and then pointed the phone at the car door. The lock clicked, and he tugged the door open with a smug grin.

  Lydia’s jaw fell open. “How did you do that?”

  “I have an app that unlocks the door.” He fished in his pants pocket for a moment and came up with a key that he did happen to have. “Turn around and let me deal with those cuffs.”

  Her brain was so fried that she didn’t stop to think why she had to turn around for him to take them off. It didn’t dawn on her until she found both wrists behind her again with the cuffs locked back in place.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” she shouted, her voice bouncing off the concrete walls. “I thought we were on the same team now?”

  Nate took her by the upper arm and led her around the car, where he pulled open the passenger door. “Get in. Watch your head.”

  Since he pushed her down by the head, she had little choice as she got in the front seat. He did the knee-on-legs, ponytail-grab maneuver while he buckled her into the seat belt. Then he held up some kind of nylon strap that he fished out from near her lower legs.

  “This is in case you’re thinking of getting creative with your feet,” he said, and he buckled it firmly across her lower legs. “So sit still and enjoy the ride.”

  He shut her in while she sat there, fuming and tugging at the cuffs behind her. When he leaned into the driver’s side, she shot him a vicious glare.

  “What, you’re not stuffing me in the backseat with a cage between us? That’s what the cops did when they arrested me. Wrongfully, I might add.”

  He reached in to flip a switch, and she heard the trunk pop open. “And have you behind me where I can’t see what you’re up to? I’d rather not get kicked in the head, thanks.”

  Then he disappeared again. After a minute of rooting around, the trunk slammed and he climbed in beside her.

  When he stuck a key in the ignition, she frowned. “I thought you said you left your keys behind?”

  “I keep a spare set in the trunk.”

  The engine fired up, and he wasted no time putting the car in reverse and executing a rapid get-the-hell-out maneuver.

  “You lock up your spare keys?” she asked while he whipped around the corner. “Do you not see the flaw in that plan?”

  “Did you not see how easily I got around it?”

  He glanced nervously into the rearview mirror, and she took a peek at her side mirror as well. No one was running after them, yelling and
pointing, and there were no suspicious cars behind them, either. Maybe they were home free.

  She glanced at his profile while he focused on traffic. “And what if you’d lost your cell phone too, Einstein? What then?”

  “I have a lock pick set in my wallet. Or I could break the window and hotwire the car.” He turned and gave her a quick, annoyingly sexy grin. “I’m a man of many talents.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Stripping apparently not being one.”

  “Why, are you disappointed that you missed that part of the show?”

  “You wish. You made a terrible stripper, just so you know.”

  “Good enough for you to let me in the door. Among other things.”

  “I should have tied those balloons to your nuts and floated you off over the ocean.” The cuffs dug into her skin, and she tried shifting in her seat to take the pressure off. “Putting on handcuffs isn’t among your talents, either. These are breaking my wrist.”

  “Just be happy I don’t use the zip-tie kind,” he said, craning his neck as they approached a line of businesses up ahead. “I don’t like them. They get damn tight and can’t be adjusted once they’re on. I’d have to cut you out of them and hope your skin didn’t come off as well.”

  “I know,” she said, staring out the window. “I was recently treated to the fab new age of plastic police restraints.”

  “Some things are better old school.” He nodded up ahead. “Is there an ATM in that shopping center?”

  “How should I know? Do I look like Google Maps?”

  “You live here now.”

  “I was hiding here now. I didn’t exactly get out much.”

  They turned into a line of chain stores and small restaurants, and Nate cruised through the parking lot until he found what he sought. He managed to use the walk-up cash machine without taking his eyes off Lydia, who made faces at him until he came back.

  “I’ll say this much for you,” he said when he pulled out of their spot. “I can’t say I’ve had a skip who was more entertaining.”

  “Why, don’t you always do a fuck-’em-and-suck-’em before dragging helpless captives down the fire escape?”

  “Helpless, my ass.”

  “You never did answer me about why you fought those guys. They’re bounty hunters too, right? Isn’t there honor among thieves and all that?”

  The look he gave her sent a chill through her, and not the good kind she’d felt when she’d thought he was her birthday present.

  “That’s the problem,” he said. “I don’t think they were bounty hunters. Not at all.”

  Nate pulled out his phone while he felt Lydia’s eyes burning through him. “What do you mean, they weren’t bounty hunters? They had on all that gear that said so.”

  “I’m not the only guy who can put on a costume. Now be quiet a minute.”

  He ran through the whole scenario again, from the minute they kicked in her door to the way they had targeted him. As though he, not the bond jumper, were the actual threat.

  He dialed Asa’s number and waited for him to pick up.

  “There’s a whole lot of something fucked going on,” Nate said. “This was supposed to be a cake job. Go out easy with a decent severance, you told me.” He glanced at Lydia in time to catch the look of disgust. “Instead it’s turned into a clusterfuck. I should raise my fee.”

  “What do you mean?” Asa asked. “You didn’t get her?”

  “What I got was a pair of wannabe cowboys rammed up my ass. What the hell’s going on, Ace? Who were those assholes who just crashed my farewell tour?”

  “You’re not making any sense. What assholes?”

  “A couple phony bond agents just broke down the door where the jumper was holed up. They tried to put a bullet in my parade.”

  He heard Asa swear. “They showed up there?”

  “Yeah. And who’s ‘they’? Do you know those guys?”

  “I’m sorry, man. It wasn’t supposed to go down like that. They must have followed you there.”

  Nate, who was still staring at Lydia, frowned. She frowned back, even though he was reasonably certain she couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation.

  “What wasn’t supposed to go down like that?” he asked.

  Asa paused for a moment.

  “God damn it, Ace.”

  “They were going to do it nice and clean and quiet once you got back over the state line. They swore it.”

  An ugly tingle crawled up Nate’s spine. “Do what? You better tell me exactly what the fuck is going on.”

  “Did they take the girl?”

  “No.” He paused. “I have her.” As soon as he said it, he wondered whether he should have. He’d known Asa for years and worked for him almost as long. It never would have occurred to him not to trust the man.

  “Where are you now?”

  Nate shook his head. “Uh-uh. First, you tell me who the freak jobs were and why they’re here.”

  “I can’t, not over the phone.” Asa sighed. “Look, just get here as fast as you can. I’ll tell you everything then. I promise.”

  “No deal. Tell me now.”

  The man lowered his voice. “Not over the airwaves. I’m guessing it’ll take you about twenty hours and change to get here. Don’t be late.”

  He clicked off the call. Nate swore and dropped the phone in his lap.

  “What is it?” Lydia asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “He played me,” Nate said, looking out the rear windshield for anything suspicious. “I don’t know how or why, but he played me. Damn it!”

  “So those men really aren’t bounty hunters?”

  Nate shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Then who are they?”

  “No idea. But I’m sure as hell not going to waltz into the bail bonds office to find out. Asa’s far too eager for me to do that.”

  “Asa’s my bail bond guy.”

  “Yeah.” He started the car again and drove off.

  “So we’re not going back to Colorado?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Wait.” She started wriggling in her seat, a motion that shook her full breasts back and forth until he had full-color memories and images in his head that he shouldn’t be thinking about. “You’re supposed to take me back. Stop.”

  He put on the brake and glared at her. “You stop. Quit fidgeting around or else I’ll hogtie you in the back seat.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “Try me. Spare car keys aren’t the only thing I’ve got stocked in my trunk.” She settled down, and with a satisfied nod, he drove off again. “Are you really in that big a hurry to go back to jail?”

  “No, seeing as how I’m innocent.”

  He snorted. “Funny, I hear the same thing from pretty much every skip I collar.”

  “Except it’s the truth this time.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I have proof. Copies are sitting in two different states in case the original got lost or stolen.” She sighed. “And since that’s back at the beach house, I’d say it’s gone. And as for you, I may not be anxious for my boss to succeed in framing me, but that doesn’t mean I want to be a hostage in some game of yours. This is kidnapping.”

  He shot her a glare. “I’m not a kidnapper. I was duly authorized to bring you in.”

  “Yeah, by a guy you apparently think is up to no good.”

  Nate set his mouth in a grim line and got on the highway. “It just doesn’t make sense. Why would he screw me over? He posted your bond. Getting you back sooner than later is in his best interest. That’s why he pulled me out of my brand-new retirement. He needed my expert nose to track you fast.”

  He merged into traffic and stomped on the pedal.

  “You were retired?”

  “Barely. My last job didn’t go so well. It spun out of control.”

  She grunted. “So far, this one doesn’t seem to be much better.”

  Nate curled his lip while he changed lanes to
stick to the I-10 East. “Considering someone wound up dead the last time, I’d say we’re still ahead of the game.”

  There was silence for a moment. “I’m sorry,” she said somberly. “Was it someone you knew?”

  He tightened his grip on the wheel. “An innocent bystander. He got caught in the crossfire when gunfire broke out.”

  “That’s terrible. So you just quit, even though it wasn’t your fault?”

  “Not my fault? I ducked, and he caught a bullet meant for me.”

  “That doesn’t make it your fault.”

  “So everyone says, but I decided to hang up my hat anyway. I just didn’t have the stomach for it anymore. Then Asa talked me into one last job. You.”

  “Lucky me.” She flinched at his glare. “Maybe you just aren’t as retired as you thought. Maybe deep down, you know you can still work for the public good. Not in my case, of course.”

  “The only reason I did it was because my cut of the bond amount would see me through another year. Even so, there were two conditions. One, I wanted a quiet capture. No team of macho mean stirring up a shit storm. Two, minimal force. No guns. Since you were a first-time offender wanted for a white-collar deal, it seemed more likely I’d get my wish.”

  “But Asa obviously didn’t trust that I’d be taken that easily, so he sent backup and guns that you didn’t want.”

  He shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’s it.”

  “What, then?”

  The glow of red brakes lit up the dark road ahead, and he slowed down. He’d forgotten what a bitch Southern California traffic could be. “He didn’t send them as backup. He told me they weren’t supposed to be there.” When they’d stopped in the row of cars, he looked over at her. “They were supposed to jump us quietly after we got back over the state line.”

  Her eyes widened. “Why?”

  “He won’t tell me. Says we have to meet face-to-face first.” His eyes narrowed. “Except I highly doubt it’s so he can explain. He’s after something, and I think it’s sitting right next to me.” He gave her a pointed look.

  “Well, obviously he’s after me. That’s his business, right? Tracking down fools like me who try to run away from lying, unscrupulous bosses.”

  “Then he could have just let me do my job. You’d have been in his hands tomorrow.” He felt a jab of unexpected irritation at the thought of her in another man’s hands—in any capacity.