A Touch of Camelot Read Online Free PDF Page B

along."
    "You aren't going with me?"
    "Hell no!" Realizing that he'd barked, Hollis ripped his attention from the mirror. "Uh, I mean, I can trust ya, right? You ain't goin' nowhere without yer sister ... right?"
    The kid cocked his head and grinned. "That is right. Good thinking, Deputy. I'll be right back."
    Hollis shooed the kid away and spat his whole wad of chew at the spittoon. He missed his target. "Thatta boy, ya take yer good old time now, ya hear?"
    The kid slammed the door on his way out.
    Hollis didn't notice. The girl was loosening the ribbon ties on her doohickey! Whoa doggies! And to think that Constable Mears would actually pay him when this was all over. Hollis could hardly believe his luck.
    "Deputy McGee?"
    The deputy didn't have time to think about the fact that he had not heard the door open again before the kid called his name. He only had time to think, Back already? That kid must go faster than a jackrabbit , because it was just then that his own personal show curtain fell with a crash. And everything went dark.
    *
     
     
    Cole emerged from the alley between a bank and a dry goods store. The constable's office was located just across the main street thoroughfare, a modest wooden structure sandwiched like a second thought between two red brick buildings.
    He was crossing the dusty street when he saw the door open and two figures step out into the sun-drenched afternoon. A woman and a boy. They both wore hats that shaded their faces; hers a frowsy sunbonnet, his a navy blue engineer's cap.
    Cole stepped up onto the boardwalk and paused to observe the pair. "Nah, it couldn't be …"
    He watched as they set out at a brisk pace in his direction. To Cole, they now took on the impression of two scurrying mice, two scurrying, escaping, guilty mice. The woman's head was down and so was the boy's. Neither looked up in time to keep from barreling into Cole, who didn't move from where he stood in the middle of the boardwalk.
    "Oooh!" The woman stumbled backward, tripping over her skirt hem and landing with an indelicate thump onto her behind.
    Cole bent to give her a hand up and found himself staring into two of the palest blue eyes he had ever seen. Her cheekbones were high and tinged with color, her mouth perfectly shaped, her lips a dusky rose. The wisps of hair that peeked out from that ridiculous sunbonnet were the color of ginger spice.
    It was Gwendolyn Pierce, all right. She fit her file description perfectly except for one thing. It hadn't mentioned how incredibly pretty she was. It hit Cole like a slap in the face.
    "Are you all right, ma'am?" he asked.
    She didn't take his hand. She just stared up at him, her mouth hanging open like a barn door.
    Cole looked deep into those long-lashed, pale blue eyes and felt for one dazzling, disorienting moment that he knew her. Then the feeling passed. "Uh, I said, are you all right? Can I help you up?"
    "Yes, I'm all right."
    Her brother danced from one foot to the other. "She's all right! Come on! Get up, Gwinnie!"
    Gwendolyn Pierce continued to stare at Cole as if she were seeing the ghost of a dead lover, and he wondered guiltily if she'd knocked a rafter or two loose in their not-so-accidental collision. She finally took his hand. It felt unexpectedly small and delicate, not at all like the hand of a criminal. Then she was on her feet, brushing off her skirt with quick, nervous strokes. "I'm sorry, we were in a hurry to ... to get home."
    "I bet you were."
    The kid grabbed his sister by the arm and tugged. "Come on, Gwinnie! We gotta get home. We gotta get home right now."
    They started to move away.
    Cole debated how much of a head start he should give them. They'd clearly put a lot of effort into this little escape of theirs. "Are you sure you're all right?" he called after them.
    The girl threw a last, rattled glance over her shoulder. "Fine and dandy!"
    Then the mice were scurrying once more, this time across the busy street. Cole winced as they just missed