Texas Hold 'Em Read Free Page A

when he’d been arrested. Enrique was the perfect example of how far Rio County had fallen. A poor kid himself and smart enough to know better, he’d joined the cartel while he was still a teenager. He’d been in and out of trouble until he’d realized he was losing money with his foolishness. He’d disappeared at that point. Now his work was done by kids like the one in front of her.
    “John Ramos isn’t worth your life, and neither is helping Enrique,” she said softly. “Someone’s taking advantage of you. Things like this never work out the way you plan, and this won’t, either. If you don’t bring Ramos back, they’ll kill you. You’re better off going to jail. One way or the other, this is not going to end well for you. Give me that gun, and maybe we can work out a third option.”
    “I’m tellin’ you, this ain’t about Ram! Or nobody named Juan! Now can get out of the damned car, or I’m shootin’ you where you sit.” He grabbed her left arm, his eyes wild, his fingers biting into her flesh. “Your choice, puta .”
    Without any warning, she ripped her arm from his grip and grabbed for her purse, but her sleeve got caught on the gearshift. The momentary delay gave the boy enough time to seize a handful of her hair. Jerking her backward, she screamed and opened the car door, yanking her out of the SUV.
    She tumbled from the vehicle with his fingers still twisted in her hair. Young or not, the guy topped her by a good four inches, his arms bunched beneath his light jacket with sinewy muscles, his eyes glittering with a jacked-up determination. Even with all her experience, it wasn’t going to be easy to take him down, especially without any weapons.
    He threw her against the car door, jabbing her with the gun, this time hard enough to really hurt. She gasped as the pain registered, then shunted the response aside. “Turn around,” she said from behind gritted teeth. “And put your hands on the hood.”
    He laughed and threw her toward the fender. “How about you do that instead?”
    Her light summer dress swishing around her knees, Rose did as he ordered, her plan forming quickly.
    If she was fast enough, she could turn and catch him by surprise. Grabbing the pistol was going to be the complicated part, but she’d been in tighter situations and managed.
    She took a breath, relaxed her body, and made a quick promise to God to show up at church on Sunday. A second later, she shrieked and pivoted on one foot, flinging her elbow toward his nose. The solid connection rippled down her arm. Blood exploded from his nose, and his hand jerked up as he cursed. Taking advantage of his momentary confusion, she shot out her right leg to hook it behind his.
    He spun away, but, lunging for his forearm, Rose grabbed and hung on, her sweat-slicked grip locking on his wrist. Just as her fingers found the barrel of his gun, he flipped his hand and captured her fingers instead. The triumphant grin that crossed his face didn’t last long. Leveraging her weight, she threw her body against him and pushed. He’d expected her to pull away, and he fell with a grunt, pulling her with him.
    The wind caught her skirt as they hit the ground and rolled, the filmy material tangling around her legs and trapping her. The boy immediately twisted and gained the upper position. The gun hovered over her cheek just as she caught a flash of movement from the corner of her eye. Twisting her head to look, her attacker’s gaze followed hers.
    Someone was running toward them.
    Without a second’s thought, his stunned eyes widening, the boy jumped to his feet and fled, the gun clattering to the asphalt as his shadow vanished into the darkness.
    The pounding footsteps drew closer, and like a ghost taking form, her would-be rescuer appeared. He yelled without slowing down. “You okay?”
    With a single startled glance, she recognized the silhouette. Broad shoulders, slim hips, a reckless grace that was impossible to ignore… She’d