Identity Unknown (A Parker & Coe, Love and Bullets Thriller Book 1) Read Free Page B

getting shot at makes me nervous. So does being manhandled by a Neanderthal."
    "Manhandled?"
    "What else do you call it?"
    "Saving your life."
    Well, there was that , too. But I had a feeling his concern had more to do with protecting a paycheck then a fellow human being.
    "You're a bounty hunter," I said.
    He frowned. "I prefer the term fugitive recovery agent. I don't want anyone confusing me with that guy with a mullet on TV."
    That wasn't likely to happen. "At least he goes after the right people."
    Parker rolled his eyes again. "You don't give up, do you?"
    "Because I'm telling you the truth. My name is Kelsey Coe. I'm a student at HCU, and I'm temping part-time at the Law Offices of Mercer, Klein, Anderson and Bremen. I can even give you my boss's cell phone number. He'll vouch for me."
    "Well why didn't you tell me that in the first place? And here I've gone to all of this trouble for nothing."
    I looked at him. "You're a jerk, you know that?"
    "Better that than a stone cold killer."
    It took me a moment to get his meaning. "Is that what you think I am? You actually believe I killed someone? Me ?"
    "Make that a lot of someones."
    "So now I'm a serial killer?"
    "More like a hit man. Or woman, in this case. Murder for hire." He sighed. "But you know all this. Quit trying to play me for a fool."
      I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You are a fool. And you've got the wrong person."
    "Look," he said, "if you want me to call you Kelsey, then Kelsey it is. But that doesn't change the fact that you're wanted in three states and have a federal bounty on your head."
    "You are so gonna be sorry when this is over. I work for attorneys. That means lawsuit. And they're very good at what they do."
    "Trust me, you'll get more mileage from a defense attorney. And you'd better hire a good one."
    We were talking in circles.
    Have you ever gotten into a debate when you know the truth, that the facts are on your side, but you're dealing with someone who's either willfully ignorant or simply doesn't have the mental capacity to comprehend what you're saying? Or maybe they're so sure they're right that they simply can't hear you?
    That was how I felt at that very moment.
    So I had a choice. I could keep arguing with him, keep insisting that I was who I was (and still am, the last time I looked), or I could simply ride this thing out and wait until I had a chance to actually prove it. Sooner or later the police would find the contents of my bag scattered all over that bus and someone was bound to wonder what had happened to Kelsey Coe and start asking questions.
    In the meantime, I doubted a judge was about to shut me down the way Parker had. I might spend a night sitting in a jail cell—not something I was thrilled about—but in the end I'd be set free. And that was when I'd give my new boss a call and ask him to prep a lawsuit.
    I didn't care about money. I'd file it simply to make a point. One that Zachary Parker wasn't likely to get until that paycheck had been ripped from his manly man hands.
    "You're toast, you know. You'll be lucky if you can get a job hunting squirrels after this debacle."
    "I like squirrels," he said. "They don't chatter all the time."
    "You're insufferable."
    He gave me an imaginary tip of the hat and smiled. "I aim to please..."

EIGHT

    "Damn," Parker said. "These people are organized."
    We were slowing to a stop, and he was looking through the train car windows at the platform ahead. I followed his gaze and saw two shady-looking guys watching the train approach. It wasn't the same two who had followed us from the SUV—that would've been impossible—but they could easily have been kissing cousins.
    Parker got to his feet and gestured for me to stand up.
    Panic rose in my chest. "Where are we going?"
    "To the last car in the chain. The minute this train stops, one of them will board and start looking for us."
    "What the hell do they want?"
    "I already told you. You. In a box."
    "But why ?"
    "Maybe you