Page 48 of Cowboy Peril

Parker quieted, stunned, and stared at the back of Mark’s head for several seconds. “I’m very sorry about your mother, but stealing is wrong, no matter how you look at it. If you’d bothered to speak to my father—”

“You stupid, naïve, spoiled little rich girl! She’ll never get better. Your father didn’t care a bit about my mother.” Spittle from his lips hit the windshield.

“You don’t know that because you didn’t ask,” she said softly. Her parents would’ve helped. She knew that deep in her heart. “Now, because of your crimes of stealing and murder, your mother will die. I feel sorry for you.”

“Shut up! I don’t want you feeling anything for me but fear.” The van swerved. A passing vehicle honked.

Parker yanked harder on the handcuffs, curling her hand as small as she could make it, biting back a cry at the pain. She had to get out of the van. Parker started yelling and banging the walls. One of the boxes had scooted closer when the van swerved. She opened it to discover cleaning rags.

One by one she held them up. The wind from the open passenger window grabbed them and they flew out. She then tried to stretch to kick out the back light, but her legs weren’t long enough.

Mark cursed and swatted his arm behind him as he might at a disobedient child in the back seat. “When we stop, I’m going to make you regret this.”

“And I regret the day you were born.” She regretted the words the instant they left her mouth.

Mark reached for his gun and fired behind him.

The bullet flew past her head and punctured a hole in the back door.

Parker flinched at the sound of screeching tires. Hopefully, someone would call the police. “Don’t endanger anyone else.”

“Then, behave so I won’t have to.”

The back of the van grew sweltering. Parker’s mouth turned to cotton. Her head pounded. Her wrist burned. She gave the bar he’d hooked her to a couple of kicks before sitting back.

I can’t give up. There has to be a way to get free. All she needed to do was think on it a bit more. She chewed the fingernail on her left hand. The rags must have attracted some attention. The gunshot would’ve helped, too. Somebody would call for help. All she had to do was stay alive long enough. Mark had to stop for gas or to rest at some point. She’d make her move then.

The van swerved again. A cigarette lighter slid across the floor of the van. She snorted. Why couldn’t the tire iron slide her way? She flicked the lighter, smiling at the tiny flame, then slid it into her pocket before studying the van floor for any other loose items.

She eyed the tire iron again. If the van swerved hard enough… She stretched to kick the back of Mark’s seat again. The most she could do was irritate him. When he threatened to shoot again, she inched back. “Where is your mother now?”

“You already know that. I told you when I ran into you in Little Rock.”

“You do realize that you’ll be going to jail, right? Your mother will die alone, even if you do make it to Mexico. They won’t let you return to the states. You’ve accomplished nothing.”

“I’ll be a rich man.”

“Are you serious? I’m not going to be able to waltz into a bank and withdraw all my money. That’s not how banks work.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “That’s why you’re going with me until we can find a way to transfer the money to an offshore account.” Narrow eyes glared at her in the rearview mirror.

“You watch too much television.”

“Are you trying to make me kill you sooner?”

She shrugged and leaned her head back, closing her eyes.Come on, Colton, and bring the sheriff’s department with you.

Her eyes popped open when the van slowed, then stopped. She must have fallen asleep because the day had turned dusky. Her stomach growled as the smell of hotdogs drifted in the window.

Mark turned in his seat. “Make one little sound, and I’ll shoot the nearest person, then another and another until you figure it out. Understand? This is going to be a quick trip.”

“I’m thirty, I’m hungry, and I need to use the restroom.”

He cursed again. “I mean it, Parker. I’ll take you inside, but you’d better behave yourself.”

“Promise.” She flashed a smile and smoothed back her perspiration-soaked hair.

After unlocking the back door and the cuffs, he pulled her close. “We’re in love, got it? On our way to our honeymoon in Rocky Point, Mexico. Visiting some sights on the way. Don’t speak. Understood?”

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