Turn the Tide Read online

  Thank you for downloading this Sourcebooks eBook!

  You are just one click away from…

  • Being the first to hear about author happenings

  • VIP deals and steals

  • Exclusive giveaways

  • Free bonus content

  • Early access to interactive activities

  • Sneak peeks at our newest titles

  Happy reading!

  CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

  Books. Change. Lives.

  Cover and internal design © 2019 by Sourcebooks, Inc.

  Cover design by Dawn Adams/Sourcebooks, Inc.

  Cover images © Peepo/Getty Images, © Frank Simon/EyeEm

  The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:

  “Any Means Necessary” © 2019 by Katie Ruggle

  “Deep Blue” © 2019 by Adriana Anders

  “No Way Out” © 2019 by Juno Rushdan

  “Beyond Home” © 2019 by Connie Mann

  Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious and are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.

  P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60563–4410

  (630) 961-3900

  sourcebooks.com

  Contents

  Front Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Any Means Necessary

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  About the Author

  Deep Blue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  About the Author

  No Way Out

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  About the Author

  Beyond Home

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  About the Author

  Back Cover

  Any Means Necessary

  A Rocky Mountain Bounty Hunters Novella

  Katie Ruggle

  Chapter 1

  “I hate the mall,” Molly said.

  “I know.” Cara’s voice was endlessly patient, as if she hadn’t heard this same complaint a dozen times in the past twenty minutes.

  “What are all these people doing here?” Molly was honestly baffled as she looked around at the late-summer Saturday crowd. “Don’t they know about the internet?”

  When her sister didn’t respond, Molly glanced over to see Cara’s wistful gaze fixed on a bookstore’s back-to-school textbooks display.

  A nerve twitched under Molly’s eye. “Cara.”

  Cara’s head whipped around to face front, her expression filled with sheepish guilt. She had always been hopeless at poker. “What?”

  “You didn’t.”

  Shooting Molly a sideways glance, Cara held out for a full two-and-a-half seconds before her shoulders sagged. “I didn’t know what else to do. She needed money and would’ve hit you up next. You need everything you have for the business.”

  Molly clicked her molars shut before she could blurt out the first angry words that wanted to escape. Taking a few breaths, she tried to keep her voice calm—and was almost successful. “Jane is an adult. She needs to earn her own money, not scam her daughter into giving up her tuition.”

  Cara flushed, and Molly felt a pang of regret for shaming her sister. Molly had been just as guilty of giving in to their mother’s machinations in the past, but this was Cara, who’d dreamed for years of becoming a teacher. If Jane kept taking the money she needed for college, Cara would eventually end up a sixty-year-old who’d spent her life working as a bounty hunter instead of doing what she loved.

  “You know she would’ve just stolen it if I hadn’t given it to her.”

  A rush of anger made Molly’s cheeks burn. “That’s her decision. You’re not responsible for the bad things she does.”

  “It’s fine,” Cara said, setting her chin stubbornly. “I’ll just take next semester off. You need all the help you can find to get the business off the ground anyway.” She made a valiant attempt at a lighthearted smile. “I do your books, so don’t even try to tell me you’re not grabbing every job you can get. More available hands in the field will only help.”

  Pushing back her rage at their mom’s selfishness, Molly tried to think of a tactful way to tell her sister that, as much as she loved her, Cara’s talents were much better used behind a desk. As far as paperwork and record keeping went, Cara was ruthlessly competent and organized. In the field, however, she was inept to a terrifying degree.

  Before she could come up with a gentle way to turn down Cara’s offer of more hands-on help, a familiar figure caught Molly’s eye. “There’s Doreen.”

  Cara snapped to attention, her gaze following Molly’s to the woman making her way to the toy store. “You sure? She looks completely different from the person in the surveillance videos.”

  “I’m sure.” Doreen might be wearing thrift-store castoffs rather than her preferred couture suit and a brown wig over her blond hair, but the woman couldn’t hide the slightly stiff hitch in her right hip or her tendency to tip her head to the side when sizing up a mark. Pulling out her phone, Molly sent a group text. Spotted at toy store. Plan A is a go.

  Cara must have finally noticed the same tells, because her breath caught as she watched Doreen enter the store. “Whoa. That is her. Good eye, Molly.”

  As adrenaline fizzed through her, Molly gave her sister a fierce grin. She’d deal with their mess of a mother later. Right now, she had a skip to catch.

  “Yell if you need backup,” Cara said, heading toward the escalator. The view from the second-level railing would let her keep eyes on the toy store.

  With a wave to show she’d heard, Molly weaved between shoppers, trying to keep her expression more casual than predatory. It was difficult, though. They’d been chasing Doreen around Langston and Denver for weeks. Now that she was so close, Molly was determined to take the skip in. Doreen’s bail bond had been decent, which meant Molly could finally pay some bills with the bounty money…and start scraping together Cara’s replacement tuition.

  Shoving those thoughts aside, she concentrated on finding Doreen. The toy store aisles were packed close together, and brightly colored displa
ys blocked Molly’s view, forcing her to search down each aisle. The store was busy enough to make moving quickly impossible, so Molly wound around the kids and their parents, keeping her pace slow and pretending she was there to shop.

  Her impatience pricked at her, though, reminding her of all the times she’d thought she’d had Doreen cornered, only to have the other woman slip the leash and disappear. This skip was slippery, and Molly didn’t want her torturous trip to the mall to be for nothing. As she rounded the aisle endcap, barely looking at the huge toy-car racetrack proudly displayed there, she slammed to an abrupt halt.

  Doreen stood in front of the wall of LEGOs, her usually straight shoulders drooping and her chin dipped toward her chest. Every so often, Doreen would touch one of the castle sets before dropping her hand and heaving an audible, mournful sigh. An older woman, who was picking out a simple puzzle on the other side of the aisle, kept throwing curious glances in Doreen’s direction. Pretending to examine the toys at the far end of the aisle, Molly stayed alert, waiting for the right moment to grab Doreen. She didn’t want the white-haired grandma type to be injured if there was a scuffle—or a full-on wrestling match. Unfortunately, it appeared that the older woman was about to step into Doreen’s trap.

  Don’t fall for it, Granny, Molly warned silently, but the woman was obviously not a mind reader. Molly mentally rolled her eyes as Doreen, like the scam artist she was, blew out the deepest, most heartrending sigh yet before wiping away a tear.

  “Are you okay?” the white-haired woman asked, and it was Molly’s turn to sigh. Grandma had taken the bait.

  “Oh!” Pretending to jump with surprise, Doreen hastily wiped under her eyes. “Sorry. I’m fine. It’s just…” She brushed the LEGO kit with her fingertips again.

  “What is it?” Fully lured in, the older woman took the final step to stand next to Doreen.

  “My daughter, Bailey, is turning six tomorrow, and she desperately wants this.” Doreen nodded toward the LEGO castle as she gave a slightly choked laugh. “She’s been pleading for months.”

  The grandma smiled. “My eight-year-old granddaughter has that set, and she loves it.”

  Molly resisted the urge to shake her head. There was a reason Doreen was a scam artist; she was really good at it.

  “She’s been really into fairy tales, especially since her dad died—” Doreen’s voice broke, and the older woman sucked in a sympathetic breath before patting Doreen’s arm. Doreen blinked rapidly, and another tear tracked down her cheek. “He used to read her bedtime stories, so I think it’s her way of staying close to him, now that he’s…gone.”

  “She’ll love her birthday present, then,” the grandma assured Doreen, still patting her arm comfortingly.

  “It’s just that I can’t…” She broke off on a sob before visibly stiffening her shoulders. “I’m sorry. This isn’t your problem. I’m so sorry I bothered you.”

  Molly could tell that Grandma was fully caught in Doreen’s net of lies. “No, no, dear. You didn’t bother me. I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time with your husband’s death. When I lost my Frank, I wandered around in a daze for a year. It will get better, but being alone is hard, especially when you’re trying to raise a little one.”

  It was all Molly could do to hold back a scoff. The only thing Doreen was grieving was getting arrested for her last scam. She had never been married, and she didn’t have any kids.

  Molly shuffled a little closer to the two women.

  “Thank you.” Reaching out, Doreen clasped the other woman’s hand. “That means so much from another widow.” Offering a brave, trembling smile, Doreen started turning away.

  “Wait,” Grandma called after her. “You forgot your daughter’s present.” Pulling one of the kits off the shelf, she held it out to Doreen, who regarded it with heartbreaking sadness.

  “I can’t afford it.” Doreen pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes as she pulled in a short, shaky breath. “The factory laid me off last week, and we were already behind on bills, thanks to the…funeral costs. I can’t even afford to buy her a birthday cake.” Her shoulders drooping even more dramatically, she slowly started to turn away again.

  “Wait,” the grandma said before Doreen could get far. “Let me help.” She reached into her oversize handbag, and Molly knew she needed to take the scam artist down immediately. She hurried down the aisle as the older woman pulled out a handful of cash.

  Doreen caught sight of Molly, and her expression went from dawning hope to narrow-eyed comprehension in a fraction of a second. Molly sped up to a sprint, knowing the woman was going to run. Sure enough, Doreen spun and bolted.

  Grandma gave a surprised cry as Molly lunged toward Doreen, intending to catch her legs and bring her down. Something hard hit the back of Molly’s head, sending her sprawling. Shaking off the shock of the blow, she grabbed for Doreen. Her fingers brushed the back of one of the fleeing woman’s tennis shoes, but she couldn’t get a solid grip.

  As Molly launched to her feet, she saw the LEGO box swing toward her head again, this time hurtling toward her face. She barely managed to get her hands up in time.

  “Stop it, ma’am!” she ordered, ducking to avoid another swing as she marveled at how much a hit from the plastic box stung. “I’m a bounty hunter. Doreen Douglas—Ow! Stop!—Doreen skipped bail after—Ow!—being arrested for fraud and—Would you stop? Ouch!—fraud and theft. She’s a scam artist!”

  The older woman finally stopped swinging and stared at Molly. “Oh! She was lying about her daughter? What a terrible person. Why are you standing here, then? Go get her!”

  Holding back a frustrated sigh, Molly took off down the aisle after Doreen. She fought her way through the line in front of the register and rushed to the front of the store. By the time she made it out, Doreen had disappeared into the crowds. “Why don’t these things ever go smoothly?” Molly muttered, yanking her phone out of her pocket.

  Left, Cara had texted. Giving her sister a thank-you wave, Molly took off in that direction, scanning for Doreen as she threaded her way through the shoppers. The brown wig was nowhere to be seen, but Molly caught a flash of blond hair and made her way toward it. Sure enough, the blond speed-walking toward the exit had Doreen’s distinctive gait.

  Molly broke into a run, knowing she had to catch the woman before she made it through the doors and into the attached parking garage. The distance between them narrowed, and Molly was just starting to hope that maybe the day wouldn’t be a complete disaster when Doreen glanced over her shoulder.

  Her eyes went wide as she spotted Molly bearing down on her, and she turned sharply, cutting through a kids’ play area. With a huff of impatience, Molly skirted around the playground, knowing she couldn’t tackle Doreen surrounded by toddlers. Reaching the edge of the kids’ area, Doreen bolted, and Molly sprinted after her.

  The woman is fast, Molly thought with reluctant admiration, fighting to make it through the crowd without throwing too many elbows. They’re innocent bystanders, she reminded herself grimly, even if they did make her job a hundred times harder. It looked so easy in the movies, where everyone moved out of the way, but in real life, people tended to plant themselves and gawk, forcing her to skirt around them instead.

  When Molly saw where Doreen was headed, she groaned. Not the food court! Putting on another burst of speed, she made a valiant effort to catch up. The crowded, messy food court was the last place she wanted to be chasing a skip.

  The space between them narrowed, and Molly reached out, her fingertips just inches from the back of Doreen’s hoodie. Hope rose again, only to be extinguished when the woman pivoted suddenly, taking a sharp right and darting between the backs of two seated customers. One pushed his chair back and stood, blocking the path, and Molly was forced to quickly turn and round the table in the other direction.

  If she had any oxygen to spare, she would’ve been swear
ing under her breath as the space between her and her quarry lengthened. Setting her jaw stubbornly, she weaved between tables, digging in and speeding up, not allowing her tiring body to flag.

  “Hey!” a bass voice called, and her head whipped in that direction. A huge guy stood to the side, his air of authority making her immediately assume he was mall security. She’d expected the mall cops to intervene at some point, but that was another annoying obstacle she would have to deal with, and she kind of had her hands full at the moment.

  It took her a second to realize that her theory was off base. First, he wasn’t in uniform. Second, he was grinning a huge, dimpled smile. Third, and most importantly, he’d unhooked a rope that had been partitioning the food court, opening up a beautiful shortcut for her.

  Molly grinned back at him as she darted through, wishing she had enough breath to thank him, but he didn’t seem to mind.

  “Go get her,” he said in that rumbling voice, and her smile widened as she realized just how gorgeous this random Good Samaritan was. Then her brain kicked back into work mode, and the stranger was forgotten as she sprinted toward Doreen’s retreating figure, not wanting to waste the advantage she’d gained.

  Doreen took another sharp turn, but this time, Molly was ready for it and stuck right behind her. They were reaching the edge of the food court, and the south exit doors were twenty feet away. As Doreen ran around the last table, Molly charged after her, so close she could taste victory and that lovely bill-and-tuition-paying bounty money.

  Even as she bared her teeth in triumph, Molly saw Doreen grab a little boy’s arm, yanking him into the path behind her—and right in front of Molly. She saw his huge eyes widen as Molly scrambled to throw on the brakes, knowing the boy was too tall to hurdle and she was too close to stop completely before bashing into him.

  Desperately, she hurled herself to the side, the edge of the table knocking painfully against her hip before she skidded over the top and landed hard. She was on her feet immediately, ignoring new aches that were sure to develop into colorful bruises.

  “You okay?” she asked the kid as his mom snatched him against her. As soon as the boy nodded, she was running toward Doreen again, but she already knew those few seconds of delay had been too long. Sure enough, Doreen was almost to the doors. The mall was crowded, but the street outside was even busier, and Doreen was much too talented at disappearing—as Molly knew from painful experience.