Pulling the Trigger
Elle James
www.millsandboon.co.uk
MILLS & BOON
Before you start reading, why not sign up?
Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!
SIGN ME UP!
Or simply visit
signup.millsandboon.co.uk
Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
About the Author
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Copyright
JULIE MILLER attributes her passion for writing romance to all those fairy tales she read growing up, and to shyness. Encouragement from her family to write down all those feelings she couldnt express became a love for the written word. She gets continued support from her fellow members of the Prairieland Romance Writers, where she serves as the resident grammar goddess. This award-winning author and teacher has published several paranormal romances. Inspired by the likes of Agatha Christie and Encyclopedia Brown, Ms. Miller believes the only thing better than a good mystery is a good romance.
Born and raised in Missouri, she now lives in Nebraska with her husband, son and smiling guard dog, Maxie. Write to Julie at P.O. Box 5162, Grand Island, NE 68802-5162.
For my dad. Ace navigator extraordinaire.
The most knowledgeable man I know when it comes to learning about a place and finding my way.
Yep, theres double entendre there.
While Sleeping Ute Mountain and the Four Corners area of southwestern Colorado are real, full of stark beauty and dramatic landscapes, Ive taken the liberty of creating some fictional places to serve the needs of the story. So if you do visit the areaand if youre a fan of history or geography I strongly encourage you to do soyou might not find all of the locations Ethan and Joanna visit on the map. But you will find friendly people and a beautiful part of the country.
Prologue
I need you to disappear.
Sherman Watts drained the amber fire of whiskey from his shot glass and licked the dribble from his lips before putting the phone back to his ear and responding to his anonymous contacts hushed command. What about my money?
Youve gone through last months payment already?
It wasnt this losers business how he spent his money or how fast he spent it. Hed earned a lot more than this secure cell phone hed been given so their calls about confidential business couldnt be traced. I was promised fifty thousand. Your people are ten grand short.
I can deposit the installment into your account on Mondayunder the guise of another government settlement payment. You know I cant authorize the payment any earlier than that. If I pay out the money too fast, itll throw up a red flag, and someone might start nosing around in our business.
Someone else, you mean. Since the Kenner County Crime Unit and a cadre of FBI agents had come to Kenner City, Colorado, and the nearby Ute reservation where Sherman lived, investigating the murder of a lady agent whod been messing with some people she ought not to have been messing with, there had been plenty of people nosing around. Funny how the man on the phone wasnt afraid of the hit man Sherman had been hiding on the rez and doing some odd jobs for. Funnier still how the man trying to give him orders could deal with two feuding Las Vegas crime families and keep a cool head, but he had a burr up his butt over the possibility of some accountant questioning why Sherman Watts finally had the money to buy a good bottle of whiskey instead of drinking the rotgut that had curdled his conscience years ago.
Sherman poured himself a second glass to wash down the bologna sandwich hed eaten for lunch. Im perfectly comfortable here in Mesa Ridge. He took a sip and savored the smooth burn down his throat. Besides, I thought it was my job to be the front man. Nobody knows the rez like I do. I can wander around any corner of it, talk to any man about anything and nobody blinks twice. I run Boyd Perkinss errands and get the information he needs so he can continue his search for that fifty million dollars from the Del Gardo family and take care of whatever private business he needs to. Hell, Im doing such a good job that I hear the cops think Perkins is down in Mexico. Sherman plunked the glass down on the table in his trailer and sat up straight. Had something happened? This idiot might not be afraid of Boyd Perkins, but he was smart enough to know that crossing the ice-cold killer was a damn fool thing to do. Hed seen what Perkins was capable of when hed disposed of that womans body for him. Screwing up and getting on the killers bad side was not an option. They think Perkins has left the country, right?
They have no clue hes still around.