JOSEY FOUGHT to still the frantic pounding of her heart. She didnt want this man to see how desperate she was. She was still shaking inside as she turned up the collar on her jean jacket and lay back against the seat.
She needed time to think. It still wasnt clear to her what had happened back there on the river.
Liar. She closed her eyes, trying to block it all out. But the memory was too fresh. Just like the pain. She could still see the car breaking the dark green surface and sinking, hear the gurgling sound as water rushed in, see the huge bubbles that boiled to the surface.
Shed stumbled and fallen as she scaled the rocky bluff over the river, then worked her way through the pines, not daring to look back. Shed only just broken out of the trees and
onto the highway when shed heard the growl of an engine and spotted the Cadillac coming up the hill. It was the first vehicle shed seen or heard in hours.
Holding her breath and reining in her urge to run, shed stuck out her thumband prayed. Her only hope was to get as far away as she could. Shed been scared the driver of the Cadillac wouldnt stop for her. She could just imagine the way she looked.
But he had stopped, she thought. That alone made her wary. She tried to concentrate on the warm spring breeze on her face, telling herself she was alive. It seemed a miracle. Shed gotten away. She was still shaking, though, still terrified after the horror of the past two days.
She opened her eyes, fighting the urge to look back down the highway again, and glanced over at the man whod picked her up. Under normal circumstances she would have thought twice about getting into a car with a complete stranger, especially out here where there were no houses, no people, nothing but miles and miles of nothing.
Jack Winchester looked like a rancher in his jeans, boots, and fancy Western shirt. His dark blond hair curled at his nape under the black Stetson. She glanced down at her own clothing and cringed. She looked as if shed been wallowing in the dirt. She had.
Furtively, she brushed at her jeans and, unable to refrain any longer, turned to look back down the highway.
Empty.
She felt tears sting her eyes. He wasnt coming after her. He couldnt ever hurt her again. She shuddered at the thought.
Not that it was over. By now California criminal investigators would have put out an all-points bulletin on her. Before long shed be wanted in all fifty states for murderand they didnt know the half of it.
AHEAD, THE LITTLE ROCKIES were etched purple against the clear blue sky of the spring day. As the land changed from the deep ravines and rocky ridges of the Missouri Breaks to the rolling prairie, Jack watched his passenger out of the corner of his eye. She chewed at her lower lip, stealing glances in the side mirror at the highway behind them. She had him looking back, as well.
Fortunately, the two-lane was empty.
As he neared the turnoff to the ranch, Jack realized he couldnt just put her out beside the road. He couldnt imagine how she came to be hitchhiking, but his every instinct told him she was in danger.
He could only assume it was from some man shed hooked up with and later regretted. Whoever was after her, Jack didnt want him or her to catch up with his passenger.
He knew it was crazy. The last thing he needed was to get involved in this womans problems. But he also didnt want her blood on his hands.
A thought crossed his mind. He prided himself at thinking on his feet. Also at using situations to his advantage.
And it appeared fate had literally dropped this woman into his lap. Or at least dropped her into his Caddie. Josey couldnt have been more perfect if hed ordered her from a catalog. The more he thought about it, the more he liked his idea, and he wondered why he hadnt thought of it before hed agreed to this visit to the family ranch.
He glanced over at her. She had her eyes closed again, her head back, her hair blowing behind her in a tangled wave of sun-kissed copper. She was stunning, but beyond that his instincts told him that this woman wasnt the type who normally found herself in this kind of position beside a road, and possibly running for her life.
Jack reminded himself that his instincts had also warned him not to pick her up back there.
He smiled to himself. Taking chances was nothing new to him, nor was charming his way to what he wanted. Hed been told that he could talk a rattlesnake out of its venom without even a bite. He knew he could talk this woman into what he had in mind or his name wasnt Jack Winchester.
But he didnt figure it would take much charming. He had a feeling shed go for his proposal because she needed this more than he did.
So, Josey, how do you feel about marriage? he asked as they cruised down the vacant two-lane headed toward Whitehorse, Montana.
Marriage? she asked, opening one eye.
Jack grinned. I have a proposition for you.
Chapter Two
She has more money than she knows what to do with and lives on a huge ranch to the east of here, Jack said. Youd be doing me a huge favor, and Id make it worth your while. The ranch is sixty miles from the nearest town and a good ten from the nearest neighbor.