Justice Burning (Hellfire #2) Read Online Free Page B

Justice Burning (Hellfire #2)
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I’m sure it’s worth something.”
    He pulled up in front of Rider’s garage and shifted into Park. “There is a pawn shop two blocks down. Joe might give you something for it.” Staring again at her in the rearview mirror, he added, “Are you sure you want to sell it? Is there no chance of reconciliation between you and your fiancé?”
    Her face went another shade paler. “No chance at all.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that.”
    “Could you take me to the pawn shop?” She leaned forward, placing her hand on the back of the seat. “If I could sell the ring, I might be able to pay for a new tire.”
    Already, this Good-Samaritan act was delaying him from getting off duty. But he couldn’t drop a barefoot bride on the street. He glanced over his shoulder. “Just so you know, I’m not a taxi service. But after the pawn shop, we’re going to the shoe shop with some of that money.”
    She smiled, for the first time since he’d spotted her on the highway. “Thank you. I’m sorry to be so much trouble.” The smile slipped away and her gaze darted out the window.
    At the pawn shop, Nash opened the back door for Phoebe. When he bent to lift her out, she placed a hand on his chest. A waft of honeysuckle filled his senses, scrambling his brain cells.
    “I can walk. Going barefoot won’t kill me,” she pointed out.
    A moment passed while heat radiated from her palm over his chest and throughout his body. Then he straightened, heat climbing up from the collar of his shirt. He held out a hand, instead. She placed hers in his and allowed him to pull her to her little bare feet with the pink toenail polish. When she stood beside him, the top of her head barely reached his shoulder.
    Phoebe bent to gather her train, looped it over her arm and marched into the pawn shop, the sound of the material swishing as she moved louder than any sound her bare feet might have made on the concrete sidewalk.
    Why he was thinking about the sound of her bare feet on concrete, Nash didn’t know. He dragged in a deep breath and followed her into the pawn shop.
    “Deputy Grayson, where’d you find this pretty little thing?” Big, bald curmudgeon Joe Baumgartner grinned across the counter at Phoebe, holding the ring in his chubby fingers.
    Nash couldn’t recall a time when Joe smiled, much less grinned. “On the highway. What can you do for her?”
    The Joe Nash knew wiped the smile from his face, pulled out a jeweler’s loupe and stared down at the ring. “I don’t know that I can do much. I’m no expert, but this ain’t no diamond. I think it’s a cubic zirconia. I’d have to send it to my cousin in Dallas to be sure.”
    Phoebe’s brows dipped. “Cubic zirconia? You’re kidding, right?” She focused those pretty green eyes on the old man, tears pooling to make them even greener. “Is it worth anything ?”
    Joe shrugged. “Might be worth twenty-five bucks for the gold.”
    Nash watched as Phoebe seemed to shrink into her dress, her eyes rounding like a puppy in the animal shelter.
    “Is that all?”
    The shop owner nodded.
    She fingered the locket at her throat. “What about this locket?”
    The pawn shop owner shook his head, reached beneath the cabinet, pulled out a tray full of antique lockets and laid it on the counter. “Can’t sell the ones I have.”
    Phoebe’s crushed look hit Nash in the gut. Damn. “Is that all you can do, Joe?”
    Joe tipped his head, staring at the ring in Phoebe’s hand. “Twenty-five is really more than I think I can sell it for.” He raised his hands, palms upward. “Take it, or leave it.”
    “I’ll take it,” Phoebe said, her voice barely above a whisper.
    The pawn shop owner counted out the bills and handed them to Phoebe. “Sorry I couldn’t give you more.”
    She handed him the ring. “You did the best you could. Thank you.” Phoebe turned away, her bare feet tripping over the train she’d let fall to the floor.
    Nash dove forward, caught her and lifted her in his
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