“Did you see what happened?” she asked several people on the street.
“That older couple T-boned that pickup with the woman inside,” a man told her. “I swear that elderly driver sped up just before they collided.”
“What happened to the woman in the pickup?” Mo asked. From where she stood, she could see that the driver’s side of the pickup was caved in—and the passenger door was hanging open.
“She got out of the passenger side and limped off before the cops arrived,” a woman said. “She was hurt, bleeding, but she took off down that way. The police are looking for her. Maybe she thought the accident was her fault and she wanted to get away. Or she was so shaken up that she didn’t even know what she was doing.”
“How badly hurt was she?” Mo asked.
“She was limping,” one of the bystanders told her. “And bleeding.”
“I bet she doesn’t get far,” someone said.
Mo wouldn’t have taken that bet.
She continued down the street until she spotted Brick. He’d pulled over into the first parking space he’d found and now stood next to his truck, waiting. That he knew she’d find him made her realize how much their relationship had changed. Only this morning he’d thought she had taken off. She didn’t know what had changed or when—just that it had. Smiling to herself, she realized she was actually glad to see him and had to swallow the lump in her throat as she joined him and told him what she’d learned.
AS BRICK CLIMBED behind the wheel, he pulled out his phone. “There’s something I want to check.” He called his father’s cell. The marshal answered on the first ring. “Brick—”
“Before you start in, didn’t you tell me that the woman at the convenience store said the man in the motor home was elderly?” He knew he’d hit on something when all he heard for a moment was silence.
“We found the motor home,” his father said. “A forensic team found evidence that it was the one where Natalie Berkshire was held captive.”
“And the elderly driver?”
“Herbert Lee Reiner and his wife, Doris Sue, out of Sun Daisy, Arizona. They’re grandparents of a woman whose baby died. Natalie was the nanny. I have a BOLO out on them.”
Brick felt his stomach drop as his father described the two. “They just tried to kill Natalie in Ennis. She’s on the run again, although injured after her vehicle was rammed by their car. I just thought you’d want to know.” He disconnected before his father could lecture him and turned to Mo to tell her what he’d learned.
“So we head up Highway 287 north?” he asked as he started the pickup and glanced in his rearview mirror. He’d seen a dark SUV earlier. But now he saw nothing suspicious.
“Change of plans,” Mo said. “What would you do if you’d just lost everything again and were now injured?”
“Go to the hospital?”
“Not just any hospital. You’d go to where your ex-husband the doctor worked. He’s a surgeon at the hospital in the state capital—and not that far from here.”
Chapter Ten
On the drive to Helena, Mo seemed to relax. He respected how she seemed to bounce back from disappointment quickly.
“Tell me about Brick Savage,” she said out of the blue.
He glanced over at her for a moment before turning back to his driving. “Not much to tell,” he said, wondering if she was just bored or if she were really interested.
“I doubt that’s true since your reputation with women precedes you. Apparently you like to lasso them, but you always set them free.”
“I wouldn’t believe everything you hear.” He cleared his throat. “You want to hear my life story or just the raunchy parts?”
She laughed. “I want to hear it all,” she said, settling into her seat for the drive.
“Okay. I was born and raised in the Gallatin Canyon, grew up on a ranch with a mother who ran day-to-day operations and a father who was the local marshal. My whole family lives in that canyon. Ranching and wrangling is all I’ve ever known.”
“And yet you’re a deputy marshal,” she said. “Or will be if I don’t get you fired before you even start.”
He ignored that. “I guess in the back of my mind I always thought I would follow in my father’s footsteps.”
“Will working with me ruin that for you?” she asked, sounding actually concerned.
“Don’t worry about me.” Brick had to admit, he’d always been impulsive, going with what felt right at the moment. He’d never felt rooted to the ranch the way his siblings had. He’d always been a free spirit.
Then again, he’d always had his twin brother, Angus, the solid, steady one, to help steer him out of trouble—until recently. Not to mention, he’d also had his very wise cousin Ella. But now he was on his own since both of them had moved on with their lives.
And now here he was. On his own. Two rogue lawmen. He couldn’t depend on Mo to steer him into anything but trouble.
“So you said you were shot. An angry husband?”
“I’ve made a habit of steering clear of married women. My brother and I and my cousin Ella were helping a rancher in Wyoming on a cattle drive. Her husband, who she was divorcing, was giving her a hard time. I just got in the way of a bullet.”
“That explains a lot. It was all about rescuing a woman in distress. You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
He shook his head and sighed as they reached the Helena hospital where they would find Natalie’s ex. “You just like giving me a hard time, don’t you?”
Mo grinned. “Now that you mention it...”
THE TALL, DARK-HAIRED doctor came into the room on a gust of air-conditioned breeze. He closed the door and went straight to his desk, sitting down behind it before he considered the two of
