Page 18 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge (Rescue Ridge #5)

“W hat do we do now, Owen?” Evie asked. Either way, they were taking a risk.

Owen wiped the muddy water from his face and eyes.

“We’re closer to your place, so let’s head back.

Plus, you have a vehicle there in case we decide to get out again.

If we start back now, it shouldn’t take too long to get cell coverage,” Owen said, taking her hand in his.

His was big and rough. She liked the feel of it holding hers.

“We could possibly cut through the woods to shorten the—”

She shook her head before he could finish. “As far as we know, there’s still a hungry mountain lion out there, searching for a meal. Plus, we can call to have someone pick us up if we stick to the road.”

“The road, it is.” Owen conceded the points with a nod. “Let me see if I have dry clothes in the back and something to clean me off and dry this dirt.”

Evie forced her gaze away from his smokin’ hot bod, too aware of the dangers that could be lurking in the trees, ready and waiting to catch them unaware. She folded her arms across her chest to hug her elbows.

A few moments later, Owen emerged from the back of the Jeep looking reasonably clean and completely dry. He also looked gorgeous, having raked his fingers through thick hair, an attempt to tame the wild tufts.

“Do you usually keep a change of clothing, towels, and wipes in the back of your Jeep?”

He shook his head, and the boyish smile she’d fallen hard for returned. “I was heading to a fishing trip. Remember?”

“Right.” Her suspicion that he kept supplies on hand for unexpected overnights with supermodel-looking women had clearly been off base.

He motioned toward the road.

“So, is there no one special in your life?” she finally asked as they walked. Asking questions kept her mind from overworking, freaking out over every snapped twig. There’d been three so far.

“There was one,” he said. “But no one at the moment, and I’m not trying to change that anytime soon.”

“Is it because of Beaumont’s death and the shakeup at the ranch? You’ve had a lot added to your plate.”

“I moved back here recently,” he admitted. “But there hasn’t been anyone special in my life in a long time.”

Every few yards, she checked her cell for bars, gripping the device like it was their last hand grenade on a battlefield, while tamping down jealousy that didn’t belong between friends.

Could they be friends again?

“What about you?” he asked, turning the tables.

“I already said I’m not with anyone and don’t want to be.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Early on, putting myself through school while working to support myself left very little time for a relationship.” It was partly true. He didn’t need to know the other, bigger reason that involved him.

“And now?”

“I’ve been working on my career,” she said.

“Trying to become someone before I opened myself up to meet that special person.” Again, this was also partially true.

She couldn’t imagine anyone ever accepting her—the real, broken her—in the same way Owen had.

When he’d looked at her years ago, he’d seen her.

Owen had thought she was smart, unlike her family, and knew that she tried.

When she got a less-than-stellar grade on a test, he’d never once made her feel less-than.

In fact, he always said something like, “Tests are stupid. They only reveal what you can memorize. Look at Ella Kate Holder, for example. She’s as bright as a thumbtack, and yet she made an A on her history test.”

“Working so much that you haven’t dated in fourteen years?” he asked, his voice wry.

“I didn’t say that,” she corrected with a little more defensiveness than intended. “I said there hadn’t really been anyone special.” She left out the part where guys said she was impossible to get to know, which was ridiculous. She checked her phone, not ready to answer any more questions.

Twenty minutes into the walk back, she got a signal.

Holding her cell in the air with relief, she asked, “Who do you want to call?”

“Travis,” he said. “He’s most likely still in the area and will be able to pick us up the fastest.”

She’d noted that he hadn’t mentioned any of this to his family, other than to his brother-in-law. It was just like Owen to want to protect the people he loved.

“You make the call.” She handed over the phone.

He did. Their fingers grazed. The familiar hum of electricity moved through her and warmed her.

She wasn’t sure how she would get through any of this without Owen.

It was a strange thought because she’d spent the past fourteen years proving she didn’t need anyone.

That she could take care of herself. The word lonely came to mind when she thought about her life in Dallas.

Evie had to give it to her sister. There was no time for self-reflection or self-doubt when it came to bringing up little ones.

They took all the energy Evie could muster.

Getting through a day successfully (meaning no broken bones, no one went to bed sticky, and the little ones had a full tummy) took every ounce of brain power and strength.

Was Simone’s business venture an outlet for all the stress she’d been under?

Had she been dressing up to become someone else?

Had she been trying to escape her life? Prove to herself that she wasn’t Miss Perfect?

Simone had to have hated the double-edged sword label.

On the one hand, having a good reputation in a small town meant the difference between being ostracized and having resources available like babysitters.

Though Evie was seriously underestimating the town if there were more people like Ms. Bart in it. Had Saddle Junction progressed?

“He’ll be here in ten minutes,” Owen said.

“What do we do? Keep walking? Wait?”

Owen’s gaze skimmed the tree line on both sides of the road. “Let’s stay on the move.”

Would standing still make them sitting ducks?

“Travis is sending a tow for the Jeep.”

“I can’t believe you still own that thing.”

“Diablo?”

Owen’s smile broke some of the situation’s tension. At least help was on the way.

“You were obsessed with that name,” she teased. “I can’t remember when it started.”

“Middle school, I think.” He laughed. “The Tuzors had a black dog named Diablo, and Ricky used to walk around downtown with it. I remember folks used to cross the street to avoid the big, scary dog. Except that under the surface, Diablo was the sweetest animal.”

“Unless you messed with Ricky.” She felt the need to point out the fact.

“Made me love Diablo even more.” There was more than a hint of appreciation in his voice.

She could understand why Owen would value loyalty and why her leaving the way she had would have wounded his pride too much for him to try to find her.

The move had been a necessity for her own survival at the time.

She couldn’t help but draw comparisons to people and nature.

An animal hunted because it was hungry. It had a need to fill.

It wasn’t personal. She’d seen her decisions as a necessity and not personal, thinking they’d hurt her far more than Owen or Simone.

Evie was beginning to see how selfish her actions had been.

What if she’d told Owen that her heart ached at the thought she would have to sit back and watch him date other people?

Would knowing have eased some of his pain?

Would he have understood, at the very least, that she’d been acting on survival instinct?

And what about Simone?

What if Evie had come clean to her sister and said everything, literally everything in Saddle Junction, reminded her of a horrific childhood and losing the love of her life? Would Simone have understood? Made more trips to Dallas? Felt like she could confide her true business to her sister?

How different would her life have been if she’d had those conversations?

Regret was useless. It didn’t bring people back from the dead. It didn’t make losing the love of your life any easier. Normally, Evie didn’t waste her time with the emotion.

Now?

Her heart filled with it.

A vehicle on the road caused her blood pressure to spike. It was probably Travis, so her body’s reaction was over-the-top. Except, what if it wasn’t? What if the person driving was Size Eleven?

No. Owen had said something about the man riding a dirt bike.

Did that mean he was local? Or had he hauled one here? Would he be staying right under their noses? At a motel on the highway? In a forgotten shed on someone’s property?

Owen dropped her hand and backed them both up enough to disappear into the tree line. In a protective move, he positioned himself between her and the road.

The sheriff’s SUV was clearly marked. Owen saw it coming from a quarter of a mile away as it rounded the bend. He stepped out of the trees and waved his arms high in the air.

Travis pulled over to the side of the road and motioned for them to hurry inside.

They did.

“Tech got a couple of hits from the chat rooms,” Travis said as soon as the doors closed. “Jim-Bo worked his magic and got three hits. Two possible suspects are in neighboring towns, and one is a thirty-minute drive from here.”

“Is that where you were headed when I called?” Owen asked.

“Yes.”

“And are you still headed there?” Evie piped in from the backseat where she’d insisted on sitting.

Travis glanced in the rearview. “Figured I’d swing you two by the house first.”

Evie was already shaking her head before he finished his sentence. “We’re going with you.”

“This might be a dead end.”

“I don’t care,” she insisted. “We’re going.”

Travis seemed to know better than to argue. He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. Then he said, “Only if you promise to do everything I say for all of our safety’s sake.”

“I won’t put anyone in unnecessary danger.” Owen caught her gaze shifting to him through the rearview. “And we both know Owen will be careful.”

Travis didn’t turn his head. “I’m sorry to put you in this position, Owen.”

“You aren’t. Circumstances are. And I’d rather go through this with you than anyone else.”

“Have you been in touch with your sister?”

“Chloe? No. My family still believes I’m on a fishing trip, and I don’t want that to change.

” Owen didn’t need them panicking. Or, worse yet, helping.

He had no intention of putting his family in the line of fire again.

Speaking of safety. He turned toward Evie.

“What do you think about calling Ms. Bart to see if she’ll take the kids to her place for the rest of tonight? ”

“I don’t know,” Evie hedged. “Their lives have been turned upside down as it is. Wouldn’t it be better for them to sleep in their own beds?”

Owen didn’t believe so. “Not if we stir up the pot.”

“Owen is right,” Travis agreed. “They’ll be safer at Ms. Bart’s home.”

“If you’re sure…” Evie bit down on her bottom lip, a gesture she always made when she was contemplating an issue.

“I am,” Travis stated with the kind of certainty that should ease any doubt in Evie’s mind.

“Okay then.”

Evie made the call. Based on hearing one side of the conversation, Ms. Bart was one step ahead.

She’d already packed overnight bags for the kids and prepared them for a sleepover.

Evie frowned after ending the call. He understood why.

She wanted to give the kids stability. The farmhouse was the only place they’d ever known, and she didn’t want them taken away from the familiarity of their toys, their beds, and all the other comforts of being home.

Too bad that place hadn’t meant the same for her.

Owen understood all too well how the place you were brought up could be a personal prison.

It always came down to the people and not the building.

Anytime he’d been with Evie, whether at her house or his, he’d felt like he’d come home.

The out-of-the-blue realization struck like a physical blow.

“Deputy Carter is taking one of the addresses,” Travis said as Owen tuned back into the conversation going on inside the SUV. The sheriff glanced at Owen. “I’m having your Jeep towed back to the Ashworth home. Figured it was the best way to keep this situation quiet.”

It occurred to Owen that he was asking Travis to keep secrets from his wife.

“I’ll bring everyone up to speed as soon as it’s safe to.

I promise.” His family would roll up their sleeves to help.

They’d jump in front of a moving vehicle for any one of the siblings, except maybe Beau.

To be fair, they had very little history with their half-brother.

It wasn’t because they were bad people. Owen hadn’t been first to give Beau the benefit of the doubt even though growing up on the outskirts of the Sturgess family had taught him how isolating that could feel.

“Chloe knows there are aspects of my job that I’m not at liberty to discuss with her,” Travis said. “It’s part of the deal when you marry someone in law enforcement.”

The admission made Owen feel a little less like a jerk.

Plus, no one in the Sturgess family was being targeted this time.

Their names were completely out of the investigation.

Owen wanted to keep it that way. The family had been through enough already.

This case was about Simone, and now Evie had been dragged into it.

Speaking of whom, it dawned on him why Hiker might be showing up now.

“Simone stopped chatting online,” he said to Evie and Travis. “That’s the reason for the timing of this bastard showing up.”

“Which means he cares about her,” Travis said.

“Does that mean he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her?” Evie asked. Owen realized she was asking if Hiker/Stalker might not want to hurt her.

“We’ll know when we find him,” Travis said.

“If we can at least get a look inside where he lives, we’ll be able to tell more about his intentions.

” He tapped the steering wheel with his thumb three times.

“But Owen makes a good point about the unsub, the unknown subject, showing up now with the timing of Simone suddenly dropping out of their chats. He possibly feels abandoned by her and wants an explanation.”

Icy fingers gripped Owen’s spine. An ordinary person who was concerned about someone else might find a way to check on them.

This bastard was stalking Simone, like a predator stalks prey.

A conversation with someone in town would make him aware of a death, which would explain why she’d stopped responding to his messages, but he seemed more the type to hide in the shadows.

He might not want to risk anyone being able to identify him.

What did he intend to do when he got her alone?