Read Online To Catch a Thief by Christina Skye - Free Book Online

twelve-hour day, and there was no telling how many more of the creeps were waiting in nearby cars.
    Nell scanned the shadows and then grabbed two heavy lids from a row of garbage cans. She threw the lids at her pursuers, then ducked behind a VW bus with four flat tires. Bullets drilled the garbage can lids and cracked the windows of the VW. Falling glass rained down around her.
    Nell’s heart pounded as she peered through the broken windows, looking for fresh cover.
    A low voice called out of the darkness. “Stay where you are, Nell. We don’t want to hurt you.”
    They knew her name ?
    Fighting panic, she threw a third garbage can lid behind her, then crawled along the foot of the wall, staying low until she reached a smaller street behind a dilapidated warehouse.
    A bright beam of halogen lights cut through the darkness, blinding her.
    â€œAll we want to do is talk, Nell. Your father will explain everything to you.”
    Her father? Surely he didn’t know these people.
    Fighting a sense of horror, Nell crawled on in the darkness. Could her father be involved with men like these? He’d sworn that he was done with stealing and she’d believed him.
    A bullet whined over her head, hitting a big white Dumpster at the far end of the alley. Nell tried to remember how far it was from the Dumpster to the nearest cross street.
    Ten feet and she’d be eating lead.
    â€œLast warning, Nell.”
    She kept inching backward. Her foot struck an empty can, the sound echoing down the narrow alley.
    A bullet hit the wall near her shoulder. Cement fragments tore at her cheek and she tasted blood on her lip.
    They were cutting her off.
    She saw a sudden movement at the end of the alley, beyond the Dumpster. She froze, boxed in completely now. There were too many of them.
    â€œNell, over here.” The voice from the darkness seemed familiar. “Turn around.”
    She blinked, trying to place the voice. A client? No, not that. Scotland.
    Dakota?
    â€œKeep moving six more feet. I’ve got your back covered.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    N ELL BACKED UP slowly, straining to breathe, straining to make sense of why this man had suddenly reappeared in her life. “How did you find—”
    â€œNo time for that. Just keep moving.” He sounded very calm, not remotely surprised to see men with guns following Nell and circling warily.
    In one smooth movement, he pulled her toward him and then shot out the halogen light. Behind them, bullets cracked on cement, the noise deafening in the confined alley. Rough fingers gripped Nell’s arm and then she was yanked back behind the protective metal walls of the Dumpster, out of range of the gunfire.
    Where were the police when you needed them? Hadn’t anyone reported the disturbance?
    â€œThree feet behind you, Nell. Focus. Reach up and you’ll feel the top of a metal fire escape ladder. Pull yourself up and move. Don’t look back and don’t stop, no matter what happens down here.”
    Nell didn’t even consider arguing. She was already grabbing for the ladder. “What about you?” she said breathlessly.
    â€œI’ve got unfinished business here.” His voice was cold. “Move.”
    Nell didn’t hesitate. With one jump, her hand closed around the middle rung of the fire escape and she swung her legs up.
    But when she reached the third rung, a retaining brace pulled free, dumping her and twelve feet of rusted metal right back in the middle of the alley.
    â€œGo out the alley behind me,” Dakota snapped. “My car is the black Explorer at the crosswalk. Here’s the key.”
    He shoved something into her hand. “Drive home, lock your door and stay there.”
    Footsteps hammered toward the far end of the alley, cutting off that route of escape.
    â€œForget it.” He sounded irritated. “Stay right behind me, but keep clear of my right hand.”
    His shooting hand.
    But Nell