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Her body jerked forward then fell back. She’d seen the SUV cut Cole off and she’d floored it, fearing the worst, but she hadn’t acted fast enough. Heart pounding, she glanced in the rearview mirror. The muddy black SUV accelerated, catching up with her. Again.

A thought suddenly hit her. An epiphany, really.

The reason her father jacked up her truck with big tires and a powerful motor could have been for this very kind of harassment.

She floored it, driving too fast for comfort along the slick road that hugged the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

One wrong move and she could end up in the strait.

Pop had known all along, or at the very least suspected, she might face this kind of threat one day.

Because of him? Or because of what happened to Mom?

Where are you , Cole?

Wasn’t he supposed to be protecting her? Her safety fell on both their shoulders. The Sequoia caught up and rammed her from behind again.

“Come on!” she growled through gritted teeth.

The vehicle then swerved into the eastbound lane heading west, then edged forward until it was right next to her, keeping pace. Was someone going to shoot her now?

Should I duck? But then she wouldn’t be able to see the road. She accelerated, but the aggressive vehicle kept pace, even as she approached a curve in the road. Jo had no stunt-driving experience.

Her chest grew tight.

Her breaths shallow.

Her knuckles white as she gripped the steering wheel.

They weren’t going to shoot. Given the ridge to her right, pushing her off the road made more sense. Terror streaked through her. Terror and determination.

“Oh no you don’t.” She floored the accelerator.

Racing along this slick highway had to be a bad idea. But the Sequoia increased speed too, keeping up. Almost.

Jo didn’t like taking the switchbacks at a high rate of speed, and she slowed just a little so she wouldn’t lose control and slide right off the road. That could very well be what they wanted—for Jo’s inadequate response to get her killed.

She was on the ride of her life.

Her cell went crazy. It had to be Cole. Like she could answer at this moment, when she was in the battle of the big SUVs. She had to focus completely on the road and react to whatever else the Sequoia might do.

She wasn’t going to play into their hands and lose control of the vehicle, or her thoughts.

Jo breathed in and out slowly, hoping that would reduce the shaking in her hands, feed her brain oxygen so she could think.

She had no plans to outpace the Sequoia now, even though they were still in position to force her off the road in the event that she didn’t lose control and go on her own.

Oncoming traffic forced the other vehicle to slow down and move into the westbound lane behind her again. Though she was still in imminent danger, that took a little pressure off so she could think.

“Hey, Siri. Call 911!” She couldn’t just assume that Cole had made the call. Help couldn’t arrive fast enough, so for now she was on her own unless Cole figured out a way to stop this. He’d said he would handle any threats, but she would work this as if she were on her own.

Siri made the call. Jo focused on the road while she waited for someone to answer, then her call dropped. Of course! She should have answered Cole’s call via Siri, but she had been focused one hundred percent on not going off the cliff and into the water.

“You have a text message from Cole Mercer. Do you want to hear it?” Siri asked.

“Yes!” Jo hadn’t meant to shout at the digital assistant.

Siri read the message. “Slow down. Don’t do anything out of the ordinary. I’ve got this.”

Whatever you say .

Jo instructed Siri to call 911 again. Dispatch answered immediately, and Jo explained the situation and her location.

“Someone has already called in this incident, and units are on the way,” the man said.

“What should I do? Keep driving? They’re going to force me off the road and off the ridge.”

“Remain calm. If you’re able to get somewhere safe, do that. Keep your doors locked.”

Best advice she’d ever heard, but not anything useful. “Somewhere safe? Are you serious?”

“Ma’am, please remain calm.”

“I’m going to end the call now so I can focus on staying safe.”

She cut the dispatcher off to tell Siri to end the call.

Jo pulled in a few breaths. Up ahead was a severe drop into the strait.

She had no intention of landing in the water again after her experience earlier in the day.

Against her better judgment, but trusting Cole to take it from here, she turned off onto the pullout right before the most dangerous section of the road, fully expecting the harassing vehicle to follow her.

But she would let Cole take care of them.

The SUV sped past her on the road, surprising her. Relief blew through her as she watched the vehicle heading west.

Cole’s vehicle slid across the gravel, coming to a stop, and he jumped out and ran to her. Lights flashing and sirens screaming, a county sheriff’s vehicle sped past them, giving chase to the Sequoia. Another county vehicle pulled in behind Cole’s Yukon.

His expression taut, Cole yanked the door open to reach for her and Jo slid right into his arms. He squeezed her tight until she thought she would suffocate. Shaking, she clung to him too. She might never let him go.

That was close , much too close. Just like earlier today. Just like back in Michigan. God , what is going on?

And now, clinging to him, she realized that she was much too close in another way. Cole...

I missed you.

Jo had to pull herself together. She tried to step away, but she was trapped by the Land Rover at her back.

Cole wouldn’t let go, but he held her at arm’s length, his intense gaze searching, taking her in. “Are you all right?”

No! I’m not all right. But yes, she was alive.

She wasn’t injured. Still, the words wouldn’t come, so all she could do was nod.

Gravel crunched, and she peered around Cole at the approaching deputy.

Cole’s lips pursed into a serious line, and his eyes turned dark with anger—at whatever this was.

She got that. Fury surged through her as well, now that she could shake off the pure terror.

Stepping back, he addressed the deputy and introduced them both, then explained what happened. Jo confirmed his story. The deputy asked for their identification and registration, the usual. Jo grabbed hers from her wallet while Cole grabbed his.

The deputy studied her ID, then looked between her and Cole. If he recognized them as being part of the incident involving a murder earlier today on the ferry, he said nothing.

“Please wait here.” He moved to his vehicle.

“Is he running our license plates and registration? We’re not the bad guys here. What’s going on?”

Cole shrugged. “He’s doing his job.”

She didn’t like standing out in the cold as the wind rushed off the strait, but thankfully the rain had shifted to mist and wasn’t soaking them at the moment.

She pulled her jacket tighter, wishing she could just wait in her vehicle.

Wishing that Cole would say something about what just happened.

She assumed that he didn’t have answers about any of it, including the ferry today.

But he was here with her. That was something for which she should be grateful.

Thank you , God.

She thought back to that moment when Cole had yanked the door open and might have pulled her out, except she’d moved instantly into his arms. Or maybe he had pulled her out. She wasn’t exactly sure, but now that she thought about it, she’d never seen Cole that shaken.

The deputy returned. “You’re free to go. Be aware, our office might contact you if we have more questions.”

“I’ll walk you to your car,” Cole said to the deputy but nodded to Jo, gesturing she could get back in her vehicle.

And she did just that but positioned her rearview mirror so she could watch them.

She imagined that Cole was talking to the deputy about keeping Jo safe and letting him know he wanted an update on anything they learned.

They stood out in the weather, talking far longer than she would have thought necessary.

But Cole—he had a way about him. He was good at this job.

He was great at every job. But maybe he wasn’t so good with relationships.

Jo had once had a job she’d been good at, until her life had been threatened.

She’d left everything behind, and for what?

Someone had found her anyway. This was all on her—she’d been the one to go to the city to look for her father.

Still, this venture out of Hidden Bay brought clarity and made her realize that she had been living in a dream world, where the outside world didn’t matter, and pretending that evil wouldn’t eventually come for her.

Leaving Hidden Bay, even for one day, had put her back in danger.

She didn’t regret that decision. It was time to end this—one way or another.

Cole finished the conversation with the deputy, who then got in his vehicle. Had the other deputy who’d given chase caught up to her pursuer? The parked county vehicle suddenly raced away, sirens flashing. Cole approached her vehicle and knocked on the window.

She lowered it. “Yes?”

“I don’t like this, Jo. If the deputies don’t catch whoever pulled this stunt today, that means the guy is still out there and could come back. There’s only one road you can travel.”

He hadn’t meant those words to be philosophical, but part of her would mull that over later.

“What can we do about it?” she asked.

“Let me drive you home,” he said. “I can arrange for someone to get your vehicle and bring it.”

“You can ride with me if you want. My vehicle is big and has a lot of power under the hood. You can send someone for yours.”

His pursed lips and narrowed gaze told her he didn’t like her idea. “We’ll take your vehicle, then, but I’m driving.”

“What? You don’t trust me?”

“I trust you, but do you trust you? If they come after you again, do you want to be at the wheel?”

“You might be a former Green Beret, but do you have some kind of special training in road-rage warfare?” Maybe she should have laid off grilling him because now she was only making him mad.

He crossed his arms and angled his head to stare at her. Then the rain started. “It’s getting late. Are you really going to grill me about my experience now?”

Mom had always said she had to pick her battles—a metaphor for only fighting when the cost was worth it. This wasn’t a battle worth fighting. Her hands were still shaking after trying to stay on the road. Admitting she’d rather not be behind the wheel didn’t make her weak, it made her reasonable.

“Let’s head to the nearest town. You can leave yours in a grocer parking lot,” she said. “Safer that way. Let’s get out of here.”

She’d had two too many threats to her life today. She might not survive another one.