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That was where Annie was hanging out her shingle.
Some little Podunk town on the back ass of nowhere. Trying to hide from him, no doubt. She’d soon see how futile that was.
Riggs stopped at a convenience store to fill up his gas tank. He had no credit cards and was running low on cash, so he decided a little hold up was in order. He was alone on the Kansas prairie, and he needed to conserve his resources. This gas was going to be on the store. His revolver, obtained illegally before he left New Jersey, sat idly on the passenger seat next to him. When the gas nozzle clicked, he replaced it on the pump, leaned in over the driver’s seat, and picked up his gun.
Behind the counter stood a teenage boy. Kansas farm boy to a tee. Tall, lanky, freckle-faced, and nervous. Riggs walked around the back of the store, casing it. Farm boy seemed to be alone. This was going to be the easiest heist he had ever pulled.
“That’ll be thirty-five even, sir, on pump two,” the boy said, his gaze not quite meeting Riggs’s eyes.
Riggs threw a bag of sunflower seeds on the counter. “How much with these?”
The boy rang up the seeds. “Thirty-seven fifty altogether.”
Riggs pulled his revolver from under his shirt. “That’ll be on you, freak, and I’ll take the rest of the cash you’ve got.”
The boy froze, a slight tremble of his lips the only movement on his glacier like face.
“Did you not hear me, idiot? I said give me your cash.”
“I-It’s not here. It’s in a s-safe. I… I don’t have access.”
Bullshit. Riggs knew a liar when he saw one. The kid had balls though. He’d give him that. “Get the cash, you clown, or I’ll take it out of your hide.”
The boy’s whole body quivered when Riggs touched the tip of the gun to his forehead. Was he pissing himself?
“P-Please. I don’t have access. You’ve got to believe me.”
“Well, I don’t. You have thirty seconds to produce the cash, or you can say goodbye to your farm. One, two, three—”
Riggs stared intently as the boy fumbled underneath the counter. Damn! A silent alarm, no doubt. He hadn’t considered a tiny farm town store would have such a luxury. Riggs panicked. His blood chilled several degrees in his veins and his pulse raced. Shit, he was going to be sick. What now?
He closed his eyes and fired his revolver, the recoil vibrating up his arm to his shoulder.
He opened one eye and then the other and walked slowly behind the counter. The boy lay still on the floor, one eye shot out. Crimson streams of blood meandered down his cheeks. But that wasn’t the worst. The display of snuff and cigarettes behind the counter was spattered with blood and brains. Riggs heaved and his stomach emptied on the dead boy’s chest.
Shit. He hadn’t wanted to kill the guy. Now what?
Frantic, he looked around for a video camera. He didn’t see one, thank God.
He ran out to his car and gunned the engine, determined to put as many miles between him and Tiny Creek, Kansas as he could.
Chapter Thirteen
Coffee with Doug Cartwright was easy. Annie sat across from the attractive red-haired sheriff. His brown eyes had a natural twinkle, and he had an adorable dimple on his left cheek when he smiled. The sun’s rays coming through Rena’s front window cast highlights of gold and copper in the auburn mane that fell to his shoulders. And he was funny.
He made her laugh.
She thought again how easy he was to be with. A lot like Joe Bradley. Handsome as they both were, though, Annie felt no spark. Damn Dallas McCray anyway. She hadn’t felt that kind of spark with any man before him. Certainly not with Riggs, though he had swept her off her feet at one time.
Nope. Not with any man except Dallas. He had ruined her for any other. She just wasn’t interested.
“So are you hungry?” Doug’s voice jolted her back to reality. “Dana over at the Blue Bird makes a great green chile. We could catch a bite, and maybe a movie.”
Annie smiled, though her heart wasn’t in it. “Sure. Sounds great.”
“Awesome, let’s go.”
Dana’s green chile, while excellent, was spicier than Annie expected. Her skin heated as she grabbed for her glass of water.
