Lost and Found by Dallas Schulze Read Free Book Online Page A

say in reply so Babs settled back on the not-too-comfortable seat and tried not to think about how close she'd come to dying.

Chapter 3

    " L ook, if you think I'm going to share a room with you, you're crazy." Babs set her chin stubbornly and stared out the windshield. Sam threw her a look that should have turned her to a cinder.
    "Look, there's nothing I'd like better than to stick you in a room by yourself and let the kidnappers take their chances if they find you. They'd have my sympathy. Unfortunately, if the poor devils did succeed in kidnapping you again, there goes my fifty thousand bucks."
    Babs glared at him. "All you care about it your damned money.''
    "That's right."
    It was impossible to argue with his flat agreement. Impossible to admit, even to herself, that it hurt.
    "I thought you said they'd just cut their losses and leave."
    "I also said that they wouldn't try to kill you but those were real bullets." He jerked his thumb toward the neat round hole in the back window. "I just want to be sure you're safe for tonight. Tomorrow, I'll deliver you safely back to the bosom of your family."
    "Guarding your investment?"
    He ignored her sneering tone. "That's right. Your family owes me fifty thousand dollars and I may charge extra for the rope I had to leave behind. Not to mention combat pay."
    "You can hardly charge extra for that. You weren't hurt in the fight. Fifty thousand should cover that much at least."
    "I wasn't talking about that little tussle. I was talking about dealing with you."
    Babs opened her mouth, ready to cut him to ribbons with words, but he'd already opened his door and slid out of the truck. She glared after him. Combat pay. She wasn't that hard to deal with. Of course, she hadn't been in the most gracious of moods. But then, kidnapping and attempted murder had a way of making her a trifle testy.
    Sam opened the office door of the little building and disappeared inside. He was going to rent one room for the night and Babs admitted to herself that she wasn't quite as reluctant as she wanted to be. She didn't like Sam Delanian. He was too pushy, too macho, tuo sure of himself. But she had to admit—reluctantly—that she felt safer with him around. He'd proven himself capable of taking care of her. Not that she needed anyone to take care of her but it wouldn't hurt to have him on her side just in case.
    When Sam came back with their room key, Babs didn't offer any more arguments. He didn't know why and he told himself he didn't care. All in all, it had been one hell of a day. He wanted something to eat, a hot shower and a soft bed, in that order. He wanted Ms. Babs Malone with him so that he could keep an eye on her and, if she didn't like it, well, it was just too bad.
    "Why don't you go take a shower and I'll order us a pizza?"
    Babs eyed the room's one bed. It was a very large bed but there was still only one. Sam followed her gaze. For a moment they both stared at the cheap candlewick bedspread.
    "Look, don't say anything." Sam's voice held all the weariness he felt. "Just go take a shower. I've got a spare shirt you can borrow if you want to put on something clean. We'll eat and then you can throw a fit if you want."
    "I don't throw fits."
    "Good. That will save us both a lot of trouble. What do you like on your pizza?"
    She dragged her eyes from the bed and looked at him a minute, her gaze speculative. Sam braced himself, waiting for the arguments. She'd never believe him if he told her he'd tried to get them a room with two beds.
    "Anything but green peppers. They make me break out in hives. Where's this shirt you said you had?"
    Sam didn't know and he didn't care why she'd decided to postpone the argument he was sure was coming. Maybe she was as tired as he was. Maybe she was just trying to keep him off balance. For the moment he wasn't going to look for an explanation. With the bathroom door shut behind her and the shower running, he had some calls to make.
    The first and most