Sleight Of Hand by Kate Kelly

something to show for all that
work."
    "And, he's hoping you'll lead him to the
other thieves."
    "I would if I were him. Damn, those are cop
cars up ahead. Think it's a road block?"
    Sarah strained forward in her seat. Two white
police cars were parked haphazardly by the side of the road, their
blue and red lights flashing overhead, while a third police car sat
halfway across the road. No one stood ready to stop approaching
traffic.
    "It looks like an accident, but I don't see
anyone except the police. Do you?"
    "No." He slowed the car and pulled up on the
shoulder behind the police cars. "I'll see if there's anything I
can do to help. Wait here, okay?"
    She watched as he climbed out of the Blazer
and walked over to the police cars. Of course he'd want to help.
Even with the threat of arrest, it wouldn't occur to him not to
offer assistance.
    When he disappeared down into the deep ditch,
she opened her door and got out. A gust of winter wind rattled the
dried golden leaves that clung stubbornly to a tree beside her. She
shivered and drew her heavy jacket closed at the front.
    About to climb back into the car, her eye
caught the dull shine of silver a few feet in front of her. A
bicycle wheel lay halfway out of the ditch.
    "No." The approaching ambulance siren drowned
out her whimper.
    Chance climbed up to the road and walked
toward her, his grim face telling her what she already knew.
Bosman. His body, probably broken and bloody, lay at the bottom of
that ditch.
    She ran to the only thing that looked safe in
an already frightening world. When Chance's arms closed around her,
she buried her face in the front of his jacket and inhaled deeply.
He smelled so familiar, so secure.
    "It's Bosman." He tangled a hand in her hair
and cradled her head.
    "I saw the bike wheel. Is he--"
    "Dead? Yeah."
    She sniffed and rubbed her face against his
jacket. This was as upsetting for Chance as it was for her; he
didn't need her falling apart on him now. Reluctantly, she pulled
back from his comforting warmth.
    "How could this happen?"
    "A car hit him."
    "But it's broad daylight, and he had that
bright red jacket on."
    Chance looked over his shoulder to where the
ambulance had arrived. "Let's get out of here. There's nothing we
can do."
    She averted her eyes as they drove past the
accident scene. As the charcoal gray clouds sank closer to the
earth, the thick silence inside the car pressed down on her. She
hunched her shoulders, her brain sluggishly plowing through an
insulated layer of shock.
    "We should go to the diner. Cindy should hear
this from us," she suggested in a voice that sounded too hollow to
be hers.
    Chance pounded the steering wheel with his
hand. "Goddammit. He was just a kid."
    "Chance, you don't think that...."
    His stormy blue eyes softened as soon as he
focused his gaze on her. "Go ahead and say it, Sarah. Believe me,
it's better to get it all out."
    "What if he...what if he found my father
again? Maybe he told them we were looking for them."
    "They already know we're looking for your
father. They tried to run us down."
    "We should have reported that accident to the
police."
    "No police. Not yet. I'm not sure what Gage's
game is, and I'm damn well not leaving you alone with a group of
desperate killers on the loose."
    "Maybe this time, with Bosman, it was just an
accident."
    He reached over and covered her hand with
his. "I hope so."

    Of all the damn stupid ideas. Chance
switched on the windshield wipers and engaged the four wheel drive
as snow howled furiously around them. He should have stayed in
Florida and continued on his own personal path to destruction
instead of chasing O'Sullivan up to this frozen northland.
    If he had, Sarah would be safe in New York
right now, and Bosman wouldn't be lying in that ditch like
roadkill.
    The bastards. He tapped the brake, but pulled
his foot back when all four wheels gripped the slick pavement. Half
an hour ago, the pavement had been dry, and you'd have to be blind
to miss Bosman's