Tag, You're It! by Penny McCall Read Free Book Online Page B

lost track of the number of times he fell after that. It felt like an eternity, but it was probably about an hour. He was soaked from head to toe, but he wasn't cold anymore. He was warm—steaming, as a matter of fact.
    Alex was leading Jackass about fifty yards ahead of Tag. Her feet were sinking in to midcalf but she didn't seem to be laboring at all. That didn't improve his temper any. He chugged along in her wake, eyes glued to her back, resenting the hell out of her and her horse.
    Bad enough being in the middle of nowhere, unarmed, and out of contact with people he trusted, he had to get dropped on a stubborn, irritating hellion of a woman who had no real appreciation for the predicament they were in. True, she'd saved his life, and sure, she had no idea she was in a predicament. But a helicopter had just lit up her cabin and sent two guys on snowmobiles after them, and did she get hysterical, or panicky, or whiny? No. Not that he wanted panic and whining, and hysteria never did anyone any good. But sarcasm and snottiness? Who in their right mind reacted that way in a dangerous situation? It just wasn't normal. And it definitely wasn't helpful. Hell, it was downright counterproductive. On top of which she seemed to take pride in beas antagonistic as possible.
    Not that he blamed her, considering his grand entrance, and the subsequent violence. Then there was the fact that he was the proud owner of Y chromosomes, which in her book was probably the biggest infraction. No wonder she wanted to see the last of him.
    Problem was, he had to convince her to stick around. For some reason she was a critical part of this fiasco. He didn't know why, but at least he understood what was at stake. Alex had no clue. The firebombing had proved that. If she'd been a willing participant, it wouldn't have been necessary to burn her out of her house to push her into helping him.
    Which meant she was a pawn, and the guys in the plane weren't the only ones using her. Tag was, too. He even felt bad about it. Sort of.
    She flashed the light in his direction, giving him a long, appraising look over her shoulder. "You're getting the hang of it," she said, and Tag realized that once he stopped over-thinking every footfall, walking on snowshoes wasn't such a big deal.
    "Yeah, seems to be getting easier," he said, feeling daring enough to trot a bit so he could catch up and walk next to her.
    Jackass reached around behind her and nipped at Tag again. Alex found that vastly amusing.
    Tag didn't. "Stupid horse," he said.
    "I think the feeling is mutual."
    Since Tag knew where that kind of comment would lead, he decided it was time to change the subject. "Why aren't you grilling me about the Lost Spaniard?"
    "Because it's a pipe dream."
    "You don't believe it exists?"
    "I didn't say that. All those old cowboy stories are based in fact."
    "But you don't think we can find it."
    "No," she said, flat absolute, no room for argument.
    "Just no? That's all?"
    "You want reasons? I'll give you reasons. It's been a hundred and fifty years since Juan Amparo supposedly hid a cache of gold. Do you have any idea how much the toof this area has changed in that amount of time? Mudslides, rockfalls, erosion, and that's not including the man-made changes. And even if you managed to find it when everybody and their brother and their brother's maiden aunt has failed, it won't be the huge treasure you think it is. What people considered a fortune a century and a half ago isn't the same thing today."
    "You're just a ray of sunshine."
    "I'm sorry, did you want me to sugarcoat it?"
    "I could do without the attitude in the future," he said.
    "We don't have a future."
    Famous last words, Tag thought. "Suppose I had new information?"
    "I went through your pockets when I took your clothes off. There wasn't even a wallet."
    "The guys on the plane took it."
    "Well if it was in there—"
    "It wasn't." Tag tapped his head. "It's in here."
    "Great," Alex said, "I'm convinced