Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) Read online

  DOUBLE THE TROUBLE

  by Becky McGraw

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DOUBLE THE TROUBLE, Copyright @ July 18, 2012 by Becky McGraw. All rights reserved under International and Pan American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the author.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Gabe Kelley didn't know how Elmer, his deputy, did this on a daily basis. He'd only been sitting by the Bowie city limits sign for two hours, and it was all he could do to keep his eyes open. Only two cars had passed by so far, one was blue-haired Mrs. Hopkins, doing her normal twenty in the forty-five mile an hour zone, and the other was a teenager, who was only doing thirty-five, but slammed on the brakes anyway when he saw the patrol car. The teen rubbernecked in the rearview to make sure Gabe wasn't going to chase him, and swerved nearly taking out the speed limit sign.

  Gabe had been tempted to pull him over for being stupid, if someone had been behind him, they'd have eaten his bumper. That urge though could probably be attributed to his foul mood. Elmer was gone to receive an award from his accidental heroism, when an arms dealer had been after his sister Sabrina, and her husband Cole, on their wedding day.

  Elmer had been sitting right here when Cole passed him in his 65' Mustang doing one twenty, trying to outrun the thug. All Elmer did was call backup, because he couldn't keep up with them...and now, he was getting an award from the feds. Gabe shook his head, tipped back the dumb cowboy hat he had to wear with his uniform, then picked up the styrofoam cup from the center console and took a sip.

  Even the humongous coffee he'd bought at the Blue Bird Cafe before he came here, couldn't keep him alert. He'd only drank about half of it, but you could stand up a spoon in the stuff Sabrina sold there, and it still wasn't working.

  Gabe was startled when the patrol car rocked violently, as an older black Lincoln doing at least a hundred as it zoomed past him. The hot coffee in the cup, sloshed all over the front of his front of his uniform, and scalded his chest. The car had been going so fast, he didn't even have a chance to clock it before it disappeared.

  With adrenaline pouring through him, he set the cup back in the holder, then fired up the car and switched on his lights, then slammed his foot on the gas. When he pulled out on the road, Gabe whistled when he saw how far ahead the car was already. That damned Lincoln was hauling ass, and he wasn't sure he was going to catch it in the old cruiser Cole had stuck him in. Thank goodness there weren't any other cars on the road, or there would be trouble, because the driver would never be able to stop that land yacht suddenly going that fast.

  A hay truck pulled out of a side road, and the car braked then slowed a smidge, before the driver swerved and switched lanes to avoid colliding with it. Gabe took the opportunity to push harder to catch up, then switched lanes too. The driver should be able to see his lights soon, and they better damned well stop, or he wasn't going to catch them otherwise.

  There must be a rocket under the damned hood of that Lincoln. Finally, the driver evidently saw him, because he saw the brake lights again right before the driver slowed the car and pulled off on the shoulder.

  Gabe had to really pump the brakes hard to get the cruiser slowed down enough to pull up behind the car. Most likely, he'd have to call Toby and have him do a brake job on the car after this, because he was sure he'd burned them up. After he slammed the car in park, Gabe grabbed his ticket book off the seat, then got out of the car and saw smoke coming from under the hood too. He groaned and cursed, because that meant he'd probably have to call a tow truck too.

  Walking up to the window, Gabe took a deep breath to calm himself down, before he leaned into the window and said, "I need your license and registration..." he put his hand on the butt of his weapon, when the woman reached down suddenly to jerk her purse off the floorboard. "Nice and easy, just get your wallet out...then step out of the car."

  Suddenly, an ugly ass bulldog leaned over her shoulder and stuck his head out the window then licked Gabe right across the mouth. Gabe spit and sputtered then wiped his arm across his mouth. "Restrain your dog, ma'am."

  Pushing the straw hat back on her head, she looked at him with the most beautiful bright blue eyes he'd ever seen, then smiled widely, before telling her mutt, "Down, Sarge...you wouldn't want to catch something."

  Smart ass woman, he thought. When she went back to digging in her purse, he said shortly, because he'd had enough of her rudeness, "Can you hurry it up, please?"

  Without looking up she asked him, "What're you late for your donut run?" then snorted, and not a cute little feminine snort either, it sounded like she had some nasal issues.

  Hardy, har, he hadn't heard that one before. Gabe smiled tightly, and because he couldn't help himself, he asked her, "You break your nose or something?"

  Her fingers flew up to her nose and she felt her way down the perfect slope then said, "No, why?"

  "You sounded like a pig in a trough just now, so I just thought maybe you had sinus issues."

  She cut those beautiful eyes at him, then yanked her wallet out of her purse, and grabbed the door handle. She almost took out his knee when she pushed open the door, and he jumped back. Gabe's breath caught in his throat as he watched one long, toned leg emerge from the Lincoln, then the other.

  When she stood up fully, and he saw what she had on, he swallowed hard to tamp down the lust that hit him in the chest like a forty-pound mallet. A thin, western type shirt was tied right beneath the most exceptional breasts he'd ever seen, and it was paired with a pair of very short, very narrow, blue jean shorts. Every curve of her outstanding body was on full display, and she didn't seem to care. Neither did he, he thought, as his eyes took in the scenery.

  She reached for the back door handle and pulled it, then the bulldog jumped down and looked up at her adoringly, "Sarge, needs to pee," she told Gabe then pointed the dog to a grassy patch on the other side of the car, and told him, "Go, potty, Sarge." The dog shook his head and slung slobber on Gabe's pant leg. Gabe thought the dog smiled slyly at him, before he walked over to the grass to do his business.

  The red-hot redhead handed him her license then leaned back against the car and crossed one of her long legs over the other, then crossed her arms under her breasts, which pushed them up to the V of her shirt. Gabe's eyes automatically went there and his mouth watered. He dragged his eyes away and looked at her license.

  "So, where are you headed in such a hurry, Ms. Upton?" he asked and forced his eyes to meet hers instead of where they wanted to go.

  She tilted her head then asked snidely, "This a social visit, Sheriff?"

  Gabe felt blood rush up his neck, along with the anger that surged through him. She was baiting him. Well, Ms. Uppity Upton wanted to be rude? She'd just bought herself a big ticket or two, instead of the warning he'd planned on giving her.

  "You were doing one hundred and five miles an hour when you passed me," he told her, guessing because he hadn't actually clocked her, then started writing on his ticket pad.
When he finished, he tore it off and handed it to her. "That's probably a two-hundred and fifty dollar ticket," he told her with a smug smile, then added, "And you were driving recklessly and endangering other motorists," before he looked back down at his pad to start writing again.

  "What motorists?" she snorted and he smiled, because the sound really was funny. "The hay truck? He pulled out in front of me..."

  "If you hadn't been driving so fast, you would have seen him and been able to stop," Gabe lectured her. He hated when he did that, but this smart-mouthed woman need it, and a lot more. Karlene Upton had no respect for authority. He imagined she'd been hell on wheels as a kid, and her parents had indulged her. He'd like to give her the spanking they evidently hadn't...she could use it.

  Gabe looked up when she took a step toward him, then leaned over a little pretending to look at the ticket he was writing, giving him a perfect view down her shirt. "Aw, c'mon, Sheriff...I'm sure there's something we can do to work this out, right? she asked lifting her bright blue eyes to him, "Can't you cut me a break?"

  He gave her a tight smile then said sarcastically, "You've been so nice to me since I pulled you over, I really would love to just give you a warning...but I can't. Have to meet my quota, you know."

  "I could be really nice to you, if you decided to give me that warning," she purred then licked her full lips, and looked at his car behind them.

  His eyes followed her tongue, then he looked back into her eyes, and asked, "How nice?" Gabe wasn't falling for this, but he wanted this hellion to sink her own ship.

  "As nice as you want me to be, sugar...I'm sure there's something I could do for you." she told him, then added, "I really can't afford those kind of tickets."

  "Well, you shouldn't have been driving like that," he told her and ran a finger along her jaw, "And you really shouldn't have just propositioned me for sex, because now you're under arrest."

  She jerked back from him and put her hands on her hips. "I didn't say one damned word about sex...but you sure have been staring pretty hard," she spat then ran her eyes over his body. "Looks like that's not the only thing hard, either."

  Gabe didn't look down at himself and give her the satisfaction, he stuffed his ticket book in his back pocket and told her forcefully, "You're going to jail, your car is being impounded, and your mutt is going to the pound."

  "The pound!" she wailed and tears filled her blue eyes. "You can't send Sarge to the pound, Jake will find him!" Karlie knew that the chip embedded in him had Jake's phone number and address on it, and that's who they'd call if she couldn't get him out.

  The too sexy Sheriff backed up a couple of steps and told her, "Come to the back of the car and put your hands on the trunk, so I can pat you down."

  "You just want to feel me up--I know your type. Ain't happening, bucko."

  She saw him grind his teeth and clench his fists then he spat, "I'm arresting you Ms. Upton, now get your ass over here."

  Karlie shook her head and her eye caught on the lariat she had in her back seat, then she looked back at him, then back at the lariat. "You're not touching me, call a female officer," she told him.

  "We don't have any female officers at the Bowie Sheriff's Department, ma'am."

  "Well, call someone, because you're not touching me, or I'm going to sue you." she spat.

  He huffed out a frustrated breath, pointed to her and said with narrowed eyes, "You stay right there," then turned his back to walk toward his car.

  Taking her to jail was one thing, Karlie thought, but she was not letting this man take Sarge to the pound, no way, no how. She reached through the back window and grabbed the rope from the back seat, pulled the loop open, took a couple of twirls then tossed it at him. Because she was an excellent roper, of course it landed it perfectly over his head, then she yanked it tight and jerked him off of his feet.

  He wound up on his ass, then he tried to sit up, cursing a blue streak. Karlie ran to him and looped him a couple more times, then rolled him and tied it to his feet, and then his hands. Out of habit, she threw up her own hands for a time then pushed up off of him to stand.

  "Lady, you just committed felony assault on a police officer...you'll go to prison now," he grated then said, "If you untie me, I'll forget this happened."

  Karlie gnawed her lip and fear coursed through her. He was right, and now that she'd tied him up, she thought better of it, but she couldn't let him send Sarge to the pound. She'd already stepped off into it anyway, and couldn't go back. Tears stung her eyes and she told him, "I really am sorry...but I can't let you send my dog to the pound. Who can I call to come get you after I'm gone?"

  "That's not going to help you," he grated and pinned her with his angry blue eyes, "You're still going to prison, Karlene. There's no cell phone reception out here, anyway."

  "Karlie," she corrected him.

  "What?" he asked struggling against the knots in the rope, his hands clenching and unclenching.

  "My name is Karlie..." she told him, then added, "I'll go call someone on the radio in your car, I can't just leave you out here." She might have tied him up, but she didn't want anything to happen to the good looking deputy. She couldn't live with that on her conscience, whether she was in prison or not.

  He snorted then told her, "I don't know why you'd care...murder would just add time onto your sentence, and you don't seem to care about breaking the law."

  "Oh, I care...but I care about my dog more," she told him then started walking toward his car. She saw the steam pouring out from under the hood and wondered if he'd blown a hose or something, or if maybe the radiator had a hole, she smelled brake dust too and looked down to see it coating the rims. If he'd been nicer, she might would have been nice and helped him fix it like she offered, but he'd been an ass and thought she'd meant she wanted to have sex with him. That thought caused a little thrill of excitement to skitter along her nerve endings, but it made her mad too.

  Karlie pulled the door handle and slid into the driver's seat, then looked around at all the older looking equipment, and shook her head. She'd seen the inside of enough police cars to know this wasn't state-of-the-art stuff. This really was a backwoods town, but the deputy sure wasn't, she thought.

  Although he had on a uniform and cowboy hat, it didn't look like he was comfortable in it, and he didn't have a Texas drawl. He must be an implant in Bowie, or something. She found the radio on the dash and picked it up then pressed the bar on the side and said, "Hello..." then let it go.

  A woman's voice came over the radio and said, "Who's this?"

  Karlie pressed the button again and told her, "I just wanted to let you know you need to send someone out to the main road near the city limit sign to pick up your deputy."

  "Gabe? What's wrong with him?" the woman asked with concern.

  "Just come get him..." Karlie told her, then tossed the microphone from her now shaking hand. She slid back out of the car and shut the door, then walked back over to the deputy who was struggling in earnest against his bonds now, because Sarge was standing by him licking him all over his face.

  "Sarge! Down!" she yelled running over there to grab him by the collar and drag him off of the deputy. "I'm sorry...he's a licker, and he seems to like you, go figure," she said then snorted.

  "If I could get my hands on my gun, I'd show you and your dog exactly how much I like both of you," he hissed then wiped his face on the grass he was half laying on. His other half was on the asphalt shoulder, so she was glad his face was on the grass.

  "I'm going now, but I called your dispatcher...someone should be out to help you, soon." she told him then hesitated and said, "I really am sorry...and I wasn't propositioning you for sex, although you're pretty cute, I was going to help you fix your car."

  Karlie turned toward her car and called Sarge to follow her, then opened the door and let him in the back. "Bye!" she yelled at the officer,
then got in the Lincoln, deciding she needed to get the hell out of here, before his help arrived.

  ***

  Gabe was amazed...totally fucking blown away that the woman had managed to catch him off guard and hog-tie him, before he even realized what was going on! She'd been like a freaking ninja with that rope, and had him trussed up in less than a minute! And she'd tied him damned good too, he thought, trying again to loosen the knots.

  His military stint, being a cop in Phoenix, and then a Private Investigator, none of it had prepared him for the feisty redhead with roping skills that should be in a rodeo. He was mad as hell, and embarrassed, but he wanted to laugh too.

  This was one that would go down in the annals of history at the Bowie Sheriff's department...the day the new Chief Deputy got hog-tied by a woman on the side of the road. Cole was going to give him absolute hell...might even fire him. Elmer had nothing on Gabe in this instance. He almost wished it was his deputy hog-tied here, because everyone expected Elmer to screw up, and laughed at it. Gabe didn't think Cole would think it was as funny with him being the victim.