Murphy's Law (The Bounty Hunter Series - Book 1)

by Laurie LeClair

  There was a noise. “Damn it,” Murphy bit out. “We’ve got company. To the right. Coming fast!”

  Instincts made her push down with all her weight. They bounced around in the cab as they nicked something in their way.

  The truck lifted off the ground. They were struck. Metal crushed. They were hit hard. The vehicle lurched. Murphy twirled the wheel around.

  The truck bumped from one side to the other.

  “Brace yourself!”

  They were hit again. This time the force tipped them over. The truck flipped.

  Echo’s head smacked the cab wall. Pain shot through her already sore brain. Murphy’s full weight crushed her. “Can’t breathe,” she whispered.

  He fell away as the truck was on its roof. It kept rolling. She lost count of how many flips. Her head jerked around, knocking into his. They both swore.

  When they finally landed on the driver’s side, she lay like a rag doll. Murphy shifted off her. “Echo? You all right? Honey?”

  “Run, Murph. Get out before they get here.”

  “The hell I will.”

  Footsteps pounded on the dirt outside. There were at least two of them. They jarred the truck. “Got ’em!” a male voice shouted.

  “Yee hah!” another male hollered. “That was better than a coaster ride!”

  “We’re fucked,” Murphy said under his breath.

  “You know them?”

  “Too well.”

  Her belly sank. What else could go wrong tonight?

  ***

  The gun. Where was the gun? Murphy longed to shoot the fuckers as they dumped Echo and him in a dark, damp, broken-down building. His back hit the floor hard. Pain shot through his thigh. The scent of shit filled the air. The barn.

  Echo gagged. Before he could reach out to her, she was on her knees, puking on the big lug who’d manhandled her. The boss. Murphy knew from past experience.

  “God damn it,” he yelled, jerking back. “Not my boots, for Christ’s sake!” He moved swiftly. Even in the semi-darkness, Murphy could tell he was shaking it off his jeans.

  The younger, fresh-faced twenty-something kid started laughing. “Ha, ha, she got you—” He stopped short when she retched again and sprayed him. “Aw, fuck! What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Motion sickness,” Murphy said with delight. How many times had he witnessed it?

  “Water,” she choked out.

  “Go get her some,” the boss ordered. His tall, commanding air swept through the dank building. The kid scampered out.

  Murphy went to Echo, touching her back to comfort her. She sat back on her haunches, wiping her mouth with the rope tied around her wrists.

  “Got a knife? Cut her loose, or I don’t give you squat.”

  “Murphy, you were always ballsy, weren’t you?” But he did reach to the knife holster on his belt and whipped out the weapon.

  “Easy,” Murphy said as he saw the shaft of sunlight through the hole in the roof bounce off the blade.

  The man’s old tanned leathery face scrunched up as he sawed through the heavy rope and finally Echo was free. She rubbed her wrists.

  “What do you want, asshole?” Murphy asked.

  “The gold you stole from me.”

  “It wasn’t yours to begin with.”

  “I hired you to do a job.”

  Murphy shrugged. “So, I only did half.”

  The boss went to grab for Echo, but she saw it coming and shifted away. She leaned against Murphy’s arm.

  The kid rushed back in with a couple of bottles of water. He tossed one to Echo. She caught it deftly. The other one he heaved to Murphy.

  “Mighty nice of you, Slim,” Murphy said. He made sure Echo got some water before he opened his. She sipped, swished, and then spit a few times. Finally, she gulped down some. He took a swig of his, and then another, welcoming the cool, wet liquid.

  “Surprised at you, Murphy, you letting her tie you down. Back in the day, you wouldn’t let anyone or anything put the brakes on you,” the boss said.

  “What’s this got to do with anything?” Murphy grew alarmed. Where was he going with this?

  “I’m keeping her, that’s what.” The man he’d come to hate kicked Murphy’s foot with his soiled boot. “Git. You go get the gold with the kid here while I wait it out with her.”

  “The hell you will,” he said silkily.

  “What makes you think I’m not in on it, too?” Echo asked. “He doesn’t know it all. I got half and so does he.”

  Murphy’s heart stilled. What does she remember?

  “You’re bluffing,” the fresh-faced kid said. He was probably all of twenty-three now. “If you did, you’d have been long gone by.” He laughed. “I can’t believe you’ve been holed up in a little shit town these last coupla years. Either one of you. Took awhile, but we tracked you down.”

  “What do you know?” Murphy tensed. How much did they know?

  “Couldn’t tell them two apart at first.” He nodded to Echo. “Identical twins? You doing them both, Murph?” He grabbed his crotch. “How about you giving me one? Sexy as hell.”

  Murphy growled. “Back off!”

  “Greedy bastard,” he muttered. “Is that what you got going on? Twins and a kid, Murph?”

  He felt Echo stiffen beside him.

  “Shout up about the fucking twin and kid, fuckface!” The boss started laughing. “Murphy, sweet motherfucker, you got a kid!”

  She jerked around to look at him. Her blue eyes pierced him like a dagger. Murphy’s insides twisted.

  Chapter 12

  Echo, huddled against the broken wooden wall to the horse stall, sucked in sharp, painful breaths. The outline of the sheriff’s gun she’d scrambled to find in the wake of the truck tossing and tucked into her boot bit into her calf now.

  She wanted to use it. But on who first? Murphy topped the list right about now.

  Silently, she cursed Storm. At least her own sister, her twin, could have told her the truth.

  They waited. The young kid had upended a bucket and sat on it, twirling his gun. The big older guy leaned against a post with his arms crossed over his chest. Murphy stared him down.

  Within an hour, the sheriff and the buffoon finally showed up, having been picked up by another cowboy.

  Now, the five of them were out there, beyond the barn door hanging off its hinges. Their muted voices clashed and rose.

  “You son-of-a-bitch,” she muttered to Murphy. She could barely see him in the dusky building and her vision kept coming and going.

  “I’ve been called a lot worse.”

  “When were you going to tell me? We’re married?”

  He sighed heavily. “How did you guess?”

  “The sheriff mentioned it right after they captured me.”

  The sliding noise that came next clued her into him coming closer. In a horse stall, behind broken boards, yet they were in another cage. “And you still tried to rescue me?” Wonder throbbed in his voice.

  “I wish I hadn’t now.”

  Settling beside her, his arm brushed hers. Heat and fire traveled up her arm. She bit back on a wave of want.

  “You were so fragile. Still are, in a lot of ways. I didn’t want to upset you after the accident,” he said softly. “You didn’t, and still don’t, remember.”

  “You and Storm? Is that why my brain is letting me forget?” Was it protecting her from the truth?

  “Whoa now. Nothing’s going on with Storm and me. I told you that back at the bar.”

  “Ever?” Her voice was filled with sarcasm.

  “Never.”

  “Bullshit!” she bit out between gritted teeth.

  The voices outside climbed higher, dragging her senses away from him. Murphy’s touch on her chin had her jerking away. He held tight. “Look at me, Echo.” When she did, she met his hot, steady gaze. “Yeah, that’s it. I’m lusting for you even now. Sick, huh? Believe me, I only have this with you. She may be your twin, but she does no
thing for me.”

  Confusion reigned. A curl of desire tightened at the sweep of heat rolling off him and onto her. She didn’t doubt their attraction. In the past, she shied away from it. But there was one thing he couldn’t lie about. “Timmy.” The stab of hurt pierced her. Betrayal.

  He sucked in a sharp breath.

  “He’s yours.” She jerked her chin out of his grasp. Nodding her head toward the bickering men outside, she said, “He figured it out.” Silently, she said she should have, too.

  “Echo—”

  “Don’t you dare lie to me,” she warned.

  “He’s ours.”

  Shock slammed into her gut. “No,” she whispered, shaking her head. But tears stung the backs of her eyes. “I would have known.” Her heart spasmed in her chest. Somehow his words felt right, though.

  “He barely made it after your accident. Preemie.”

  “I was carrying him?” Her breath caught in the back of her throat.

  “You were small and you covered up as best you could. You were trying to protect him. No one knew except you, me, and Storm. I was trying to get you to a safe life, away from all the criminals I caught, away from the threats to me and by default to you. I didn’t do what I needed to do.” Regret throbbed between them.

  She placed a hand on her abdomen. There were changes to her, scars on her body even, but, she’d always thought the accident and subsequent three-month long coma and even longer rehabilitation stay had been the reason.

  “What the fuck is going on in there?” the sheriff bellowed, kicking away the last of the broken stall door. He aimed a gun at her. “You, little lady, have some payback coming.”

  ***

  Echo gulped hard. She jerked her thoughts back to the here and now. With as little movement as possible, and disguised by the clump of hay she was sitting in the middle of, she went for the gun hidden in her boot. To distract him, she said, “Sheriff, I’m surprised you can still walk. I swear I heard your nuts crack.”

  “Bitch!”

  “Echo,” Murphy cautioned her. “Easy.”

  The other men’s soft chuckles clued her into two things: First, their position. Second, they didn’t like the sheriff, either.

  She stood slowly, leveling the gun on the sheriff. His own gun she’d stolen from him. “I thought you didn’t hit women?”

  “Don’t. I never said I wouldn’t shoot them, though. You can be the first.”

  “You man enough to kill me? ’Cause that’s the only why you’re going to win this fight.”

  Murphy sucked in a breath, rising up to his feet to stand beside her. She felt the tension pulse in the air all around her. They waited.

  “Game’s on, Sheriff.”

  “I’ll fire. If it ain’t you. It’ll be him.”

  “You hurt either one of us and you’re a dead man.” She nodded slightly to his cohorts. “They’ll back me up, won’t you fellas? Would you rather have Murphy and me alive and us take you to the gold or side with this half-ass bully? All he’s going to do is sell you guys down the river once the gold’s in his hands. He’ll never share an ounce with you.”

  Off to her right, she heard the distinct sound of a gun hammer being cocked back. Somehow she knew it was trained on her.

  The sheriff laughed. “You think you’re so smart. See? They’re siding with me.”

  The guy holding the gun shifted; she heard the slight scrape of his boot. “She’s right, Sheriff, we need her more than we need you. Put the gun down.” It was the older, tall thick guy.

  “Very funny, jackoff. Quit being an ass and take her gun from her.”

  “Can’t.”

  “For Christ’s sakes,” he swore. “Dumbass, go get the gun from her.”

  “Me? Why me? She already got me in the shoulder.” Fear etched his voice.

  The blackness crowded in, like tunnel vision. She couldn’t see the buffoon. But she knew he didn’t have the guts for this. Her decision warred in her. She could take him out. Make him pay for what he’d done to her and her family already. Or, she could...

  “You,” she called out.

  “You talking to me?” he asked.

  “Yeah, you. You got a kid on the way, right? You got a woman who’s sticking by your sorry ass, right?”

  “You heard right.”

  “I’m giving you an out. Take it or leave it. Walk away now.”

  The sheriff snickered. “Fat chance. I own him.”

  “You hear him? He’s laughing at you,” Echo said. “You think when all this is said and done the sheriff’s going to keep you around? He doesn’t like witnesses. He doesn’t like sharing.”

  “But-but we made a deal,” the buffoon countered.

  “Has he ever kept his end of the bargain with anyone else?” she baited, praying her hunches were right.

  “Fuck,” he swore. “You were going to stab me in the back, weren’t you?”

  “Shut up,” the sheriff barked. Echo wasn’t sure if he directed it to her or to the buffoon.

  “Deal is,” Echo nearly choked on what she was about to offer him, “you walk away right now.” She cut him off before he could say anything. “High tail it out of here, pack up your shit, and get your lady and unborn kid outta the States. She wants to go to Mexico. Cross the border in El Paso. They’ll be people there. Tell them Echo sent you. They’ll get you into Mexico and help you disappear.” She sucked in a breath. Shock shot through her. Where had that knowledge come from?

  Murphy’s sharp intake of air told her he was just as surprised she’d remembered that much.

  “How can I be sure you’re not lying to me?” the buffoon asked.

  “You can’t. But I’m your best thing going right at the moment.”

  “Don’t listen to the bitch,” the sheriff said.

  Boots shuffled along the barn floor. “I’m outta here,” the buffoon said. His footsteps picked up pace as he rushed to the door. A few seconds later, the sound of a truck door slamming and then the roar of the engine filled the tense air.

  Echo said, “One down, Sheriff. I got all day to talk these guys into defecting.”

  “No need, honey,” the tall, older guy said. “Sheriff Hornsby, your time is up.”

  “What the fuck you talking about? I’m the brains of this operation. Why, you ain’t going to get far without me. Fact is, you make a move without me and your ass will be in jail, locked up.”

  “Not gonna happen,” the big guy promised.

  She heard the click of the trigger a second before the shot blasted through the air.

  Chapter 13

  Murphy watched the flash of gunfire. The sheriff didn’t even get a word out before his dead body hit the ground with a heavy thud.

  The shot still pulsed in his ears. He figured shock kept them all rooted to the spot. He became aware of Echo trembling beside him. Slowly, he eased behind her, taking the gun from her shaky hands. Carefully, he tucked it in the back of his jeans. “Good job,” he said under his breath.

  To his surprise, she didn’t fight him for control of the weapon. She didn’t put up any resistance at all. “Hitting hard. Vision coming and going,” she whispered so only he could hear.

  Now he knew why she gave it up. Someone had to have their wits about them.

  “Fuck,” the boss swore. “Didn’t want to do that now. We coulda used him for a while longer. Boys, get him outta here. Dig a grave and dump him in it. Make sure no one’s around.”

  Murphy guessed they were too stunned to say anything, or too scared to refuse. They jumped to follow commands, getting a tarp and rolling the sheriff’s body onto it.

  “You two,” the boss said. “Come with me.”

  With his hand on her elbow, Murphy guided Echo out of the cramped, broken-down stall and out of the equally ancient barn. Nearby in a corral, a horse whinnied and reared up. “That’s our boy,” he said to Echo as they both turned to see the horse they’d rode earlier.

  “He’s okay,” Echo said on a sigh of relief.
>
  “Don’t take all day,” the boss said. He jerked his head toward the house more than forty feet away. “In there.”

  Murphy walked slowly, matching his steps to Echo’s. She nearly sagged beside him. But she kept putting one foot in front of the other. He assumed she was on autopilot and fighting the pain again.

  She fought like hell for both of them, even after she discovered the truth about them, about the son they shared.

  He loved this woman. He wanted a long life with her and their child.

  But he was up against some heavy duty, bad-ass guys.

  When everything was said and done, would they let Echo and him live?

  ***

  The house surprised Murphy. Pictures hung on the walls. Knickknacks were scattered here and there, he noted as they made their way through the first floor of the two-story farmhouse. Flowers in a vase stood in the center of the big, scarred kitchen table. A woman’s touch. That had him reevaluating the situation.

  The boss had a soft spot. Finally.

  Maybe Murphy could save Echo at least.

  “Sit.” He shoved Murphy toward a chair at the table. Murphy stumbled, but kept upright, favoring his aching leg. He wanted to punch the guy, but stopped himself. “You, honey, you stay with me.”

  “The hell she will,” Murphy bit out, nudging Echo in front of him to a seat. She dropped down into it. Her body slumped. He settled into a chair beside her, propping her up. “She needs water and food to begin with.”

  “Hand over the gun.” He leaned against a counter.

  “You think?” Murphy scoffed at that.

  He nodded to Echo. “She don’t get anything then.”

  Murphy dug in his front pocket and pulled out some of the broken pieces of jerky he’d stashed there. He gave them to Echo. She muttered her thanks and began chewing on them.

  The boss grunted. “We’re at a stalemate here.”

  Murphy bargained. AYou—just you—get us out of here and you get the gold all to yourself.

  He laughed. “You think I’d live long enough to spend it? There’s a lot more guys in higher places to answer to.