Cowboy In The Crossfire(52)

Blake looked up at the ceiling, his fists white with tension. He took one shuddering breath, then another. She wouldn't have been surprised if he shoved his fist through the wall, but he just stood there, shaking, lines of pain etched in his face.

"I need to get out of here," he said, his voice soft. "You don't want to be around me right now."

"Don't push me away." Amanda struggled to stand, swaying slightly. She eased to him. He needed her. She didn't know what she could do, but she could be there for him.

"Amanda--" he warned.

She pressed against his body and wrapped her arms around him. "Let me be here for you."

"I shouldn't have left her." Blake's tortured expression broke her heart. "When you told me about Kathy and Joey, I should have gotten her out of town."

"You didn't know where this would lead. Neither of us did."

"From the day I turned eighteen, I promised my dad that if anything happened to him I'd always take care of her. And I left her. I knew they would do anything. I should've sent you both away. I should have protected you all. I let this happen."

Amanda lifted her face to his, her chin resting on his sweater. "I'm sorry."

He paused and stared down at her, his gaze clearing for a moment. "This isn't your fault."

The agony on his face broke her heart, but she could say nothing.

"I can't believe she's gone."

He buried his face in her hair, his body shuddering. He squeezed her and she hugged him, stroking his back, whispering to him, holding him tight.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, he raised his head, his eyes blazing. "I'll make them pay for this. Once we get Ethan back, they'll wish they'd never hurt you or my family."

*

THE DRAGONS ETCHED on the lieutenant's boots gave Johnson the creeps. They always had.

"You killed her?" the lieutenant said. "In another burning building?"

The cold look in their boss's eyes froze Johnson in place, a chill of foreboding settling over his heart.

"Blake needed to be taught a lesson." Farraday, his partner, crossed his arms in challenge and faced down the man who'd recruited them. He didn't seem fazed. Didn't seem to mind the lieutenant's anger at all.

Fool.

"You screwed up!" The lieutenant strode to Farraday and grabbed his collar, looked at him in disgust and shoved him away. "I had a plan. A sophisticated plan. We hunt down the murderer of one of our own--his sister--and the sheriff who helped her escape. An ex-Austin cop who we couldn't prove was corrupt, but now we have the evidence. They were killed in the crossfire, and we're devastated because her innocent five-year-old son was killed, too." The lieutenant smiled. "It was perfect. Until you had to go off on your own and try to get creative."

He paced back and forth. "Now it looks suspicious. The brass at Internal Affairs is curious. That bastard, Shaun O'Connor is getting close, and I can't block the investigation any longer without raising suspicion. Because you were too obvious, Farraday. A helicopter? Real subtle. You're leading them to us."

Farraday shrugged. "I'll figure a way out of it."

The lieutenant picked up the Colt .45 Farraday had stolen from the hotel room. He weighed the weapon in his hands.

Oh, man. Johnson wanted to run, but his feet couldn't move. He'd seen that expression before. Once before. When he'd found out Vince was working with O'Connor.

The lieutenant spun the gun's barrel. "Johnson here said you hurt the Hawthorne woman."

"She deserved it." Farraday shrugged.

The lieutenant cocked a brow.

Farraday shrugged. "Okay, I knocked her around a little. Made my mark. I should have done more. I would have if Johnson hadn't been so squeamish."

"At least Johnson is smart enough to be scared right now. I need Blake and Amanda to bring me that evidence. You just pissed off Blake Redmond. You're a liability, Farraday."

The lieutenant pulled back the hammer on the Colt. He lifted Blake's weapon and before the cop could speak, took the head shot.

The explosion sent brains spewing across the room.

"I don't like stupid people," the lieutenant said. "Leave the mess. We'll pin it on Blake."

A whimper sounded from the corner. "And shut him up. I have a call to make." He slammed out of the room.

Johnson looked at his partner's body. Leave it? Did the lieutenant really think he could pin everything on Blake? Johnson grabbed a soda and a candy bar and strode over to the boy, offering it to the scared kid. Ethan shook his head, buried his face in his arms and rocked back and forth. "Go to Blake. Go to Blake," he whispered.

Johnson didn't like killing old women and kids. Getting a few bad guys put away on less-than-kosher evidence and a few extra bucks for his kids' college funds wasn't worth this.

His boss poked his head back into the room. "Johnson."

He slowly turned and raised his gaze to deadly, cold eyes.

"If you screw up again, I won't be so lenient."

*

THE HOTEL ROOM HAD closed in on Blake. He wanted to tear West Texas apart and find these guys. He wanted to see his mother's house for himself. He wanted to get Amanda out of this hotel room and far away from here.