Lawless by Cindy Stark

continued to chat, still unaware of
her presence.  She wished desperately she could sink into the river and go
unnoticed, but they were too close.
    "We should have driven here, Luke," the
goateed one said.  "I'm sure Milo's still in Las Vegas.  He'd never know
we were checking out his honey hole."
    "Yeah, I don't know.  Lily swore she saw his truck
pass through town a couple days ago."
    "Must have been someone else with a similar
vehicle.  Milo would have called—"
    The man with the goatee stopped mid-sentence when
he caught sight of her.  His brows shot upward.  "Good morning."
    His friend who had been studying the river as they
walked swiveled his gaze toward her, a similar expression on his face.
    "Morning," she replied, wondering if she
should pull out the gun or wait.
    The two men exchanged glances and then searched
the surrounding area.
    "Are you out here alone?" the one named
Luke asked.
    Wariness crept through her veins.  "Is there
a problem if I am?"
    "Well, no."
    "You're scaring her, Scott," Luke
replied.  "Sorry, miss.  We're not used to running into people we don't
know in this area.  It's kind of hard to get to without crossing private
property."
    Trespassing like they were, she wanted to remind
them.  "I have permission to be here."  Sort of.
    "You know Milo?"  Scott narrowed his eyes
as though if he looked hard enough, he might recognize her.
    She stood, brushing the dirt from her backside,
praying the gun didn't show through her shirt.  "I do.  Do you?"
    Luke laughed.  "Apparently not as well as we
thought."  He extended a hand.  "Luke Winchester.  This fool is Scott
Beckstead."
    Scott shook her hand as well, the friendliness in
both men's expressions putting her a little more at ease.  "We've known
Milo since we were kids."
    "I'm Anna."  Ariana smiled.  "Must
be nice growing up in a small town."
    "Can be," Luke answered.  "I can't
quite place your accent."
    She swallowed, not sure how to answer.  "Midwest." 
A vague reply was good.  "But I've moved around a bit, so there's some
intermingling going on."  This was bad.  Milo was going to kill her.
    Both men nodded.
    Scott glanced around again.  "So, Milo left
you all alone out here?  I can't quite picture him doing that."
    "He went into town for groceries and then to
stop and see his mother."
    Luke cocked his head.  "I guess I was
thinking you might have been on a date with him, and he went back to his house
for something.  But he's at his mother's?  Interesting."
    Good Lord, she was digging a deeper hole by the
second.  Perhaps the truth would set her free.  "We're actually living
together."  Or incarcerate her, if she could judge by the expressions on
the guys' faces.  "And I put in a load of laundry that's probably ready
for me.  It was very nice meeting you, Scott and Luke, but I should go." 
She snatched the holster from the ground without explanation and kept walking.
    She rolled her eyes in disgust at herself as she
turned and headed back toward Milo's house.  It took a tremendous amount of
willpower to keep her gait at an even pace instead of sprinting, although
running would not save her now.  She'd given the men a questionable story, told
them both where she was staying, and now Milo would hear about it for certain. 
She never should have ventured from the house.
    As soon as they were out of sight, she strapped on
the pistol and started running.  From what or to what, she didn't exactly know,
but suddenly, she wanted to be back inside, out of the glaring sunshine that
rained down on her like a spotlight, exposing her to the world.  She wished she'd
never backed Milo into a corner the previous night, and she was starting to
wish she'd never turned in her father to the police.  Her life had been a
series of nightmares ever since.

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
    Milo pulled into his drive feeling like a new man.  His
little talk with Quinn had straightened out his head, gotten him back on
track.  He wasn't sure why