Flint by Fran Lee

ride with a trucker back to Austin. She still had the $78.00 she'd started out with, since Flint had refused her money. She could buy a bus ticket to Fort Worth, and be on her way by nightfall tomorrow.
    Walking alone in the dark wasn't nearly as scary as never seeing Flint again...never feeling his hands or lips on her. She knew that she would never forget the man. A stranger she'd met less than a week ago had somehow stolen her heart and branded her soul. She would cling to that memory tight. She might be a thousand miles away, but Flint Calderon would remain close in her heart.
    There was enough of a moon to give adequate illumination to the road as she made her way down the ranch lane and when she finally reached the main road that led to Beesford in one direction, and the main highway in the other, she turned toward the highway, refusing to look back.

Chapter Seven
     
    Flint read the letter she'd left, and his insides felt like a ball of lead. "She can't get far if she's on foot." Dora's non-nonsense tone brought him back to the here-and-now, and he lifted his eyes to stare at her.
    "No, but she could have caught a ride with a trucker headed for Austin. And all I can do is hope she found someone who won't take advantage of a lone female walking at night."
    "Folks round these parts wouldn't try to hurt that child." Dora's frown gave him the strength to believe she was all right.
    "Let's hope you're right, Dora."
    Curley was just coming in for breakfast, and seeing the look on Flint's face, he grabbed the letter out of his hands and swore loudly. "Shit, man...what'd you do to scare her off?"
    "Shut the fuck up, Curley. Did you gas up the ranch truck yesterday?"
    "I always do. You need me to go with you so you don't screw up again?"
    "Go to hell." Flint grabbed the keys off the hook by the door and took off at a dead run.
    He would find her, if he had to follow the damn bus to Fort Worth. And when he caught up to her, he wouldn't be dumb enough to let her out of his sight again. As he slid into the high seat of the big truck, he swore foully. Damn female pride. He saw her letter in his mind's eye as he spun gravel under his tires and gunned it for the ranch lane.
    I want you to know how much your kindness means to me. I wish I could stay, but it just can't work. He'll never stop hunting until he finds me. And when he does, I don't want him to be able to hurt you or your people. He's dangerous, Flint, and he isn't above murdering people to get what he wants. I truly appreciate all you've done for me, but I can't let you put yourself on the line for my problems any more. These were the first few nights in a long time that I've been able to sleep without waking in a panic.
    I'll never forget you, Flint Calderon.
     
    And he'd be damned if he'd let her...
    * * * * *
    She stared at the walls of the small cell they had placed her in. Just her luck to be picked up by a Travis County Deputy Sheriff after climbing out of the kindly trucker's rig just outside Austin. The panic that had swamped her when he'd placed those cuffs around her wrists had died down to a sickening buzz of anxiety. The woman in the next cell smelled of hard liquor, and was sleeping it off on the bare little steel cot with its thin pad that passed for a mattress.
    She'd been booked like a criminal, fingerprinted, mug shot taken. And she'd been told she had one phone call. But she didn't have anyone to call except Flint. Even if she'd known his number, she didn't want him involved. He would be arrested for harboring a criminal. And as honest as he was, she was sure he would admit to doing that without blinking an eye.
    She had no idea what time it was. There were no windows, and no clocks visible on any of the walls she could see. It had been a few hours, she was certain, since she'd been arrested and booked. She could smell food from somewhere, but they hadn't offered her any breakfast. She knew very little about legal processes, but she'd watched TV enough to