Hidden Prey (Lawmen) Read Free

needed, then put the plate number into the database. What came back was that the car was registered to a Juanita Salcido at an address further up Tombstone Canyon. He saved the information. Maybe he didn’t need to, but the whole experience had been odd enough that it was worth holding on to.
    Again, thoughts of the old woman reminded him of his own grandmother, who was in her nineties, and lived in Bisbee on School Hill. He hadn’t seen her for a while, and he knew she wouldn’t be long for this world. He’d stop by and see her while he was in town.
    He set down the tablet as he thought about Miguel. Maybe it was nothing, and he’d been held up.
    A gut-deep sensation twisted Landon’s insides and he gritted his teeth. Like a blow to the solar plexus, a bad feeling struck him hard.
    A real bad feeling.

CHAPTER 2

    Finally, they were just outside of Bisbee. Tori tucked strands of chin-length dark hair behind her ear as she leaned back in the shuttle van’s seat. She looked ahead at the Mule Pass Tunnel that was the gateway from the west side of town.
    Memories slid back to her of holding her breath from one end of the tunnel to the other. It was something just about everyone who lived in Bisbee had done when they were young.
    Like other town residents, Tori had often referred to it as “The Time Tunnel.” It was like traveling through time, leaving the world of today and traveling into an earlier century. The van entered the dimness of the tunnel and she resisted holding her breath. The concrete walls were stained from seeping water, and she knew it was a never-ending project to maintain the integrity of the tunnel’s walls.
    When the van reached the other end of the tunnel, she blinked away the bright sunlight and let out her breath. She almost laughed. Without realizing it, she’d been holding her breath after all.
    It really was like traveling to another time, another world. As the shuttle continued on, she leaned forward in her seat, her cell phone in her pocket digging into her hip. Her gaze drifted to take in homes perched on the hillsides and the aging narrow road the shuttle traveled.
    Waves of memories rolled over her of her years growing up in Bisbee. She couldn’t wait to leave when she had graduated from Bisbee High School. She’d wanted to escape the small town and find out what waited out in the great big world. Now, here she was, running back to it.
    Her smile faded. She’d never thought one man could make her whole world crash down around her, chasing her away from her dreams and everything she’d worked so hard for. One man.
    She ground her teeth. This was only temporary. She would go back to her life, only it would be without Gregory.
    Just the thought of him and what he’d done to her before she’d left him made her feel dirty, and her skin crawled.
    And now she was running home to Mama.
    The backs of her eyes stung. Josie Nuñez Cox had been Tori’s safe place, her refuge, and even at thirty-three, she needed her mother more than ever.
    Tori put her fingers to her temples. She couldn’t believe she’d left not only her laptop, but her six thousand dollar clarinet. She’d left them by the front door of the townhouse that she owned, and prayed Gregory wouldn’t destroy either in a fit of anger at her leaving. More than likely he wouldn’t because he wasn’t prone to physical violence. No, he preferred to sling harmful words when he was angry, beating her down verbally and emotionally.
    He’d also expect her to come back for the clarinet, especially. It was one of five that she owned, although none of the others had been as expensive as the Buffet Crampon professional. He’d be right that she would be back, but not yet. Although, she didn’t know how she could go many days without music. At least her mother still had the old Baldwin upright piano that Tori had learned to play on from the age of four, and one of Tori’s old clarinets might still be around.
    If her car hadn’t been