Fugitive at Large. Sandra Robbins

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СКАЧАТЬ the customer said, “I’m glad you were here today. You saved our lives.” He stuck out his hand. “My name’s Jamie.”

      She grasped his hand and shook it. “And I’m Jessica.”

      The clerk gave a shaky laugh. “And I’m Richard.”

      He started to say something else, but before he could, sirens wailed outside and tires squealed as a car came to a stop. “Sounds like the police have arrived. That was fast,” she said.

      She stepped toward the entrance to meet the first responders and had almost reached it when the front door burst open. A man bolted inside, then skidded to an abrupt stop, the surprise on his face reflecting her own. Neither one of them spoke for a moment, and then he drew in a rough breath.

      “Jessica?”

      Her eyes wide, she took a step back and shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. Ryan Spencer. Why hadn’t she expected him to come? After all, the store was in the precinct where he worked. Where she’d worked when they’d been partners four years ago. Her fingers curled into her palms, and she swallowed.

      She hadn’t spoken to him in four years and hadn’t seen him in nearly a year. The last time she’d laid eyes on him had been when a man broke into her apartment determined to kill her best friend, Claire Walker, who happened to be staying with her at the time. Ryan had answered the call. They hadn’t talked that night. And now here he was again. Not changed a bit, and still as handsome as ever.

      His dark hair fell across his forehead just as she remembered. And as she knew he would, he reached up and raked it back as he did every time he was nervous. His gaze drifted over her again. He started to speak, but she beat him to it.

      She cleared her throat, lifted her chin and stepped forward. “Hello, Ryan. Since when does a detective arrive at a crime scene first?”

      He glanced at the young man next to the checkout counter. “I was only a block away.”

      “So you thought you’d beat everybody else to the scene.” Her lips curled into a sneer. “Why does that not surprise me?” She glanced over her shoulder at the clerk and customer who still stood at the checkout counter, then returned her gaze to the detective. “Then don’t let me detain you. I’ll go see about that soft drink I was about to purchase when all the excitement started.”

      She turned to leave, but he reached out and touched her arm. “Wait, Jessica. I wanted to thank you.”

      She turned around and frowned down at his hand on her arm. “Thank me? For what?”

      He released his hold on her. “The dispatcher said a woman in the store prevented the robber from shooting a customer. I wanted to meet that woman and thank her.”

      Something in the way he said the words made her uneasy, and she narrowed her eyes. “It was nothing, really. I’m glad I was here to prevent it from happening.”

      He shook his head. “You’re wrong. It wasn’t nothing. Not to me anyway.”

      “I don’t understand,” she said.

      He pointed toward the young customer. “That college kid you just kept from being murdered is Jamie Spencer. He’s my brother.”

      * * *

      Ryan felt a quick stab of disappointment. Jessica’s startled look told him she’d had no idea Jamie was his brother.

      Her eyebrows arched, and she glanced toward his brother, who had a big smile on his face. “Th-that’s your Jamie?”

      He nodded. “Yeah. I guess you never got to meet him when we were working together.”

      The surprise he’d seen on her face moments ago vanished at his reference to their former relationship. “Working together?” she muttered. “I guess you could call it that.”

      He started to say something else, but Jamie called out to him. “Ryan, how did you know about this?”

      Ryan glanced past her and smiled at his brother. “Sally Douglas took the 911 call, and she notified me. I was only a block away.”

      He glanced back at Jessica, and a slight smile pulled at her lips. “Sally’s still taking care of everybody, huh?” she asked.

      He nodded. “Yes, and she likes Jamie. I guess I’d forgotten that you never did meet my brother. He was fifteen when he came to live with me.”

      She darted a glance at Jamie and then back to him. “Of course I knew about him, but I never saw him. At the time, you said he was going through a rebellious phase, and you thought I might want to wait to meet him. And then we...” She hesitated. “We...”

      “We ended our partnership,” he finished for her.

      Her eyes clouded, and she pursed her lips in a look of distaste. “Not we. You.” The words hit him like barbs. “You were the one who ended it.”

      She still couldn’t see the truth. Or maybe she’d never wanted to see the truth. At any rate, what difference did it make now? He took a deep breath.

      “I guess we still have differing opinions on that,” he said. “But that happened four years ago. We’ve both come out of that bad time no worse for wear. At least you look like you have.” He glanced over her, then back at Jamie. “At any rate, I still want to thank you for saving my brother’s life. I’m sure he’s very appreciative, too.”

      She waved her hand in dismissal. “I’m just glad he wasn’t hurt. Now, why don’t you go tell him how glad you are he’s okay. I’ll wait for the officers to arrive and give them my statement. I’m sure they’ll let me know if I’m needed later on.”

      She whirled around and strode to the back of the store. The potato chips that covered the floor crunched under her feet as she disappeared down one of the aisles. He stared after her for a moment, and then he sighed and turned toward his brother.

      Jamie straightened from leaning against the cash register as he approached, and Ryan enveloped him in a big bear hug. “Are you okay?”

      Jessica reappeared, a soft drink in her hand, and walked past them toward the front door. She didn’t glance at them as she passed, but Ryan couldn’t tear his eyes off her.

      Jamie drew his attention when he spoke. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks to Jessica. I saw you talking to her. Did you thank her for helping me today?”

      “I did. You’re lucky to be alive. These convenience-store robberies don’t always end this well.”

      Jamie grinned and glanced in the direction Jessica had gone. “It might go better if there were more customers like her in the stores. Did you know she’s a bounty hunter?”

      Ryan nodded. “Yeah. She was a police officer before that.”

      “I know. She told us. Did you know her then, Ryan?”

      He hesitated before he answered. He’d thought he’d known her then. But could anyone say with certainty they knew another person? He thought she would understand why he did what he did, but he’d been wrong.

      Ryan СКАЧАТЬ