Read Outlaw Lawman for Free Online

noise, Caitlyn didn’t actually hear Harlan’s words, but she saw them form on his mouth. The relief was instant, but it was quickly replaced by another feeling. Major concern. If the shooter managed to escape, they might never know who he was or why he’d launched this attack.
    Harlan made a quick peek over the hood of the car, and he cursed. She soon figured out why. The truck zipped past them, flying across the parking lot.
    That got Harlan and her to their feet, and she prayed the cops were there, in place and ready to stop this guy.
    But they weren’t.
    The truck bolted out of the parking lot and onto the street that fronted the motel.
    Still cursing, Harlan got them moving again toward the motel office. “Keep your hands up so everyone can see them,” he warned her.
    Mercy. Caitlyn hadn’t considered that someone might think they’d fired those shots, but in the chaos of a situation, anything could happen. They lifted their hands just as two police cruisers braked to a stop. Not in the parking lot but on the very street where the gunman had just escaped.
    With their guns drawn, the cops barreled out and used their cruisers for cover. They aimed their weapons at Harlan and her.
    “I’m Marshal Harlan McKinney,” he shouted over the alarm. “You need to go after the driver of a blue truck.” And he rattled off the license plate.
    The cops didn’t move, and she couldn’t blame them. Harlan and she were handcuffed together, disheveled and probably didn’t look like victims of a kidnapping, even if that was exactly what they were.
    Now Caitlyn cursed. It would take precious minutes, maybe longer, for the cops to sort all of this out, and the shooter could be long gone by then.
    The door to the motel office opened just a fraction, and a lanky man poked his head out a few inches. “The guy that drove out of here fired shots at them,” he confirmed.
    But that still didn’t get the cops moving. The four officers said something to each other. Something she couldn’t catch because of the alarms, but Harlan started lowering himself to his knees. Caitlyn did the same, and soon she found herself facedown on the concrete.
    Finally the cops came out from cover and made their way toward them. Also, the alarm stopped so she could actually hear what they were saying.
    “Marshal McKinney?” one of the uniforms called out.
    “Yeah,” Harlan verified. “There’s probably a missing persons report on me.”
    “There is,” the cop verified. He looked at his phone and then at Harlan, probably comparing a photo to his face.
    She hadn’t even considered that Harlan’s brothers would be looking for him and would have alerted the authorities, but Caitlyn was thankful they had.
    “No missing report on you,” the cop said to her. “But you look familiar. Are you that reporter?”
    She settled for mumbling a yes, since she and the cops were rarely in the same corner. This was one exception, though. She was thankful beyond words to have been rescued.
    The cop reached down and helped them back to their feet, but Harlan didn’t stay put. He immediately started toward the cruisers.
    “We need to go in pursuit now,” Harlan insisted, and it sounded like an order. “And get us out of these damn cuffs.”
    The cop didn’t argue, and as they approached the other officers, she heard one of them phoning in the shooter’s license plate. Maybe they’d get lucky and catch him, but Caitlyn’s heart dropped when she saw they were on an access road. The ramp to the interstate was literally just yards away.
    One look at Harlan, and she saw the frustration and anger in his eyes, too.
    “What happened to you two?” the lanky officer asked them. His name tag identified him as Sergeant Eric Tinsley.
    Harlan threw open the side door of the cruiser and jumped in, pulling her practically into his lap, since there wasn’t much room in the passenger seat.
    “I can’t let you do this,” Tinsley said.
    Harlan met the cop’s gaze.