Page 9

Eight

HER LIMBS BURNING with the waning adrenaline, Kelly looked back again, searching the road for the black SUV they’d lost. It wasn’t the man who’d been tailing her. He’d been tailing Jared, and despite his valiant attempts to lose him before the meetup, he’d found them.

Jared looked over his shoulder and sighed out a big exhale. “I lost him again.” His taut shoulders relaxed.

Despite his belief they were safe, that was the last thing she felt. Rather, on the brink of careening off a circus wire a hundred feet in the air hit closer to the emotions roiling through her. She flicked her fingers in and out of making a fist. “He’s never going to stop sending someone after us. He’ll make certain of that. We lose the tail, and he’ll come back.” She hated to acknowledge the truth, but she knew it. He’d unrelentingly hunt them down.

“I know.” Jared gripped the wheel, snow slashing at their windshield, driving right at them in white streaks. “Hopefully, this”—he pointed at the thick white flakes—“will help us lose our tracker.”

Speaking of trackers ... Kelly sighed. Riley was a talented tracker too. If Roni got her on their trail out of concern, she wouldn’t stop. But they needed to do this alone. Needed to execute their well-laid-out plan a year in the making. She just prayed they lived long enough to see it out.

****

Riley headed up the mountain pass leading from Santa Fe to Jeopardy Falls. The road was steep and full of switchbacks. Normally, that wasn’t a problem, but with the drenching snow, visibility was fewer than five feet ahead in the beam of her headlights. Having made the final decision to attend the retreat in the morning, she and Grey planned to question Tate and anyone else who seemed pertinent to chat with. Playing a couple with Grey still had her nerves tingling in the best possible way.

His woodsy scent lingered on her coat from hugging him goodnight. It was a rare hug, but he’d leaned in. Surely it was a move to hug her, but as soon as she was in his arms, he’d stiffened. Stiffened. Was it so uncomfortable to hold her?

She bit her bottom lip, struggling to settle the feelings racing through her. The thought of working in the field with him elated her. She couldn’t wait to see him in action. Deck swore he was a level above. But despite seeing him daily, there was still so much she didn’t know. He kept a guard in place, and she couldn’t figure out why—at least not yet.

Focus on the road and not him . She exhaled. Like that was possible.

Halfway up the mountain pass, her headlights swept over a car on the side of the road, its hood jacked up, a man leaning over, working on something inside.

Tension racked through her. Never stop—both her brothers had drilled that into her. It was good advice, but this poor guy was stranded in the middle of a massive snowstorm. She couldn’t in good conscience pass on by. She pulled to a stop behind him on the right-hand shoulder and rolled down her window a couple of inches, being cognizant enough to grab her tire thumper in her left hand, holding it just below the window. “Can I call Triple A or a tow truck for you?” she yelled, fearing the wind whisking through the canyon would drown out her words.

He straightened and cupped his hand by his ear.

She tried yelling louder, but it was no good.

He walked closer.

Alertness seized her, her body steeling. In her headlight beams, all she could make out was a hooded figure. He broke into a run. Before she could close the window, he raised a gun through the opening. On reflex, she batted it away with the tire thumper.

He cussed and raced to retrieve it. She floored it, her tires sliding on the thick snow.

Please go. Please . Please. Please.

The tires finally gained traction, and she looked back to see the man race for his truck, drop the propped-up hood, and climb inside.

She took stock of where she was. Only a quarter of a mile to the side roads that wound back to Jeopardy Falls. She took a deep inhale and streamed it out as his headlights bounced across her rearview mirror in the distance—faint in the heavy snow.

“Okay,” she whispered. She could do this. Please , Father , keep me safe .

With a deep breath, she switched off her headlights and floored it for the secluded side road.

Banking right at the evergreen-shadowed entrance, she tore down the back road, bumping over high slopes and gaining air before dropping to the leveled part of the road below. She flicked her gaze to the rearview mirror. No sign of him. Either he’d turned off his headlights, too, or she’d managed to lose him. Not willing to risk assuming the latter, she plowed ahead.

“Call Deck,” she said to Siri.

The phone rang.

Come on. Pick up.

****

“How was the game?” Greyson asked when Deck called to catch him up on the conversation with Joel.

“We won,” Deck said.

“Great—”

“Hang on, Ri’s calling. I’ll call you back.”

“Sounds good.” Grey disconnected the call.

“Hey, Ri,” Deck answered. “What’s up?”

“I was nearly attacked, and I think the man is still following me.”

Panic seared adrenaline through his limbs. “What?”

“He’s out there somewhere. It’s too dark, and the snow too thick to see how far back.”

“Where are you?” He jumped to his feet and grabbed his keys.

“On the back roads running alongside the Keller property.”

“How far in?”

“I’d guess I’m near the wildflower patch.”

“I’m on the way.” He raced out to his car and turned the ignition. Snow crunched beneath his tires as he backed up. “Christian is on his way home from Andi’s. He might intercept you first depending on how close he is. We’ll be there.” He pushed the accelerator flush with the floorboard. “Stay safe.”

Please , Lord , keep her safe. Don’t let anything happen to Cool Whip.

“My headlights are off,” she said, clearly trying to temper the concern in her voice, but a hint of it laced her words.

“Smart.”

“Call when you’re close, and I’ll turn them on so you can see me.”

“Roger that.” He tore down the road. “Hold tight.”

“I see headlights.” This time she didn’t try to mask the panic in her voice. “He found me.”

Deckard slammed the wheel. “I’m five minutes out. Hang on, kid.”

He hung up and called Christian, apprising him of the situation, his heart in his throat. Barreling down the winding, snow-covered road, he raced toward his sister, his entire body rigid.

His tires slid out. He course corrected and continued on—a battle raging between him and the blizzard.

Wind whipped blankets of snow across his windshield, the gusts rattling his SUV.

He feared for Riley on these back roads, though when 4-wheel ing, she was the most daring of them all. Always taking the biggest risks. But that was Ri, and she knew these roads. He prayed that got her through.

His heart pounding, he flew over a high slope and dropped to the dip below, his car bouncing.

“Call Riley,” he said to Siri.

The call went straight to voice mail.

“No!” He slammed the dash with his fist. He tried again. Voice mail.

Please let her be all right.

“Call Christian.”

“Calling Christian,” Siri replied.

It took a moment, but the phone rang. Thank you , Lord .

“Yeah?” Christian asked in a flurry.

“Have you found her?”

“Not yet, but I’m closing in. I see a truck ahead.”

“It’s gotta be the car after her.”

“I’ll handle it,” Christian said. “You find Ri.”

“Her phone is going straight to voice mail. I can’t get through to tell her to turn her headlights on and I can’t risk running right into her.”

“She’ll see your lights coming.”

“I hope so.” The snow was so thick it was like being in an ice cave surrounded by unending white.

He shifted off-road, racing through the snow-blanketed, hilly pastures running parallel to the road.

After another mile, fear for his sister sent a shiver racing up his spine. Where was she?