Read Bounty (Walk the Right Road) for Free Online Page B

he was so arrogant he thought he could, as he dropped the bloodied towel and grabbed a clean one, pressing it over the still bleeding wound.
    “Diane, do you have a first aid kit?” He was serious, and the way he said it made it sound as if he had a simple cut to patch up.
    “Yeah, somewhere here.” She pressed her fingers to her forehead, trying to remember where it was. In the bathroom? No, she had moved it above the fridge. She opened the cupboard but couldn’t see it, so she jumped and spied it behind a vase she never used. Standing on her tiptoes, she reached for it, shoving the vase aside with her fingertips and just grasping the strap of the kit. Then Zac came up behind her and lifted it out.
    “Hey, I almost had it,” she said.
    “You weren’t even close. The longer I stand here waiting, the longer I’m bleeding all over your kitchen.” He opened the kit and rustled through Band-Aids, gauze pads, antiseptic wipes, and tape. He grabbed one of the wipes and ripped it open, cleaning around the wound still oozing blood.
    His face paled, and he grunted. Tough guy. Diane was feeling lightheaded just watching. The wound looked nasty, and she couldn’t quite understand how he could dab and poke at it, then press a square gauze bandage over it, without flinching and yelling. It had to hurt like hell. She was feeling lightheaded and needed to sit down, and she wasn’t even the injured one.
    He must have noticed. “Take a breath, get a glass of water.”
    Of course, he needed water. She hurried to the cupboard and took out a glass, filling it with water from the fridge dispenser. Her hand was still trembling as she handed it to him. “Here you go.”
    He gestured to the glass. “No, the water’s for you. Drink—it will help calm you down. I’ll clean up here.”
    She couldn’t believe what he had said, and she swallowed a mouthful of water, following his orders before her common sense kicked in. She set the glass on the counter. “No, you sit down. I should be doing this.”
    He gathered up all the wrappers. “Where’s your garbage?”
    “Under the sink.” She closed the lid of the first aid kit and went to gather up the bloodied towels.
    “No, I got that. You shouldn’t touch someone’s blood without being gloved up. You don’t know me or anything about me.”
    She knew that, of course. It was the first thing she had learned upon becoming a cop. She pulled her hand back. What was the matter with her? “I know. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I have gloves, too. I’m just…”
    “Let me guess, rattled? Thought you’d come home, blow off some steam by shooting up some things, firing at some targets, maybe picturing whoever put that fear in you today?”
    She felt the floor soften beneath her and the blood rush to her head, buzzing loudly in her ears.
    “So, which sect did you grow up in?” he asked.
    How the hell did he know? Was she that transparent? She pressed her hands to her heated cheeks. “A place called Bounty,” she replied.

Chapter 7
    Diane slid behind the wheel of her SUV, and Zac climbed in the passenger side. She still couldn’t believe she’d shot him. He seemed calm and so cool, as if he had nothing but a minor scratch. What the hell, did he have balls of steel? She was tough, and she prided herself on being rock solid, but she’d seen the guy cops blubbering like babies over any kind of gunshot wound.
    “Head out to the end of the road and turn right. I’m the house on the end.” Zac pointed.
    “There’s only one house down that way. Some guy ran out of money building it. I thought it was empty?”
    “I picked it up for a good price. I’ve been fixing it up. Gives me something to do at night.”
    He didn’t bother buckling his seatbelt, and Diane was surprised as she pulled in front of the two-story log home, which had piles of lumber out front. A rusty little bobcat and piles of dirt sat in the large yard, as well.
    “Here’s good,” he