The Bodyguard's Assignment. Amanda Stevens

wrist as she gave him a wounded look. “I’m not a criminal, you know. You don’t have to treat me as if I’m one of your prisoners.”

      “Then don’t give me cause to.”

      He watched her enter the well-lighted convenience store as he fitted the nozzle into the gas tank. They’d been on the road for nearly three hours, not making very good time. The road conditions were slowing them down. Although he’d seen no indication that they were being followed, he knew Kane and he knew Rialto. Neither man would go down without a fight, and that little shoot-out back in Dallas was just the beginning. They wouldn’t let Grace slip away so easily, and Brady wouldn’t be at all surprised if Kane’s men, maybe even Kane himself, were somewhere on the road behind them.

      But there were a lot of ways to leave Dallas, and Kane couldn’t have had all the roads watched. It could be that their luck would hold, Brady thought, as he studied the street. It could be that he and Grace would make it to the cabin in the Davis Mountains without further incident.

      But he wasn’t about to count on it.

      THE CONVENIENCE STORE had a sign in the window which proclaimed proudly: Abilene—Where The West Begins. Somehow the slogan deepened Grace’s urgency. They were getting farther and farther from Dallas, from her mother, and from the tape that could save her mother’s life.

      Shoving open the door, Grace walked inside. The store was warm and inviting, with well-stocked shelves of canned food and staples at exorbitant prices. At the end of the counter, a large, plastic cow commemorated the cattle drives that once ended in Abilene.

      As Grace made her way to the rest-room area, she resisted the urge to glance over her shoulder to see if Brady was watching her. She knew he was. Watching her like a hawk because he didn’t trust her. She could hardly blame him, but to handcuff her like a common criminal. To take her out of Dallas against her will.

      Grace realized her anger had more to do with fear for her mother’s safety than for what Brady had done. He was trying to save her life, and considering how she’d betrayed him in the past, his actions might even be considered noble. Right now, though, all Grace could think about was getting away from him. Abilene was a fairly large town. There’d be a bus station here, an airport. She could be back in Dallas in a matter of hours.

      Inside the bathroom, she took her cell phone from her jacket pocket and checked the battery. She still had a full charge, but it wouldn’t last long. She checked her voice mail. Burt had been trying to reach her, but that was it. No number or message from Kane.

      What if he wouldn’t leave a message? With the phone turned off, Grace would have no way to know he’d called, but what else could she do? Even if she kept the phone turned on, Brady would never allow her to answer it. Better to conserve the battery because her phone might later be her only hope of escape.