Page 16 of Unexpected Danger (Mountain Justice #2)

The woman handed her the bag. “Here you go. Anything else?”

She shook her head. Should she call the local police? And say what? That she thought a friend was following her and had been since Rowland? That a man lied and said he was her boyfriend? That he was her friend, but was acting bizarrely?

No, it was best to get back on the road. Perhaps the clerk misunderstood. But even as Londyn attempted to convince herself of that, she knew that wasn’t the case. Had Jasmine told him Londyn was returning to Pronghorn Falls? She was the only one who knew. Not even Sonja knew.

Something wasn’t right. She spied a tall, chubby male worker wiping off the tables. Perhaps he would walk her to her SUV. “Sir?”

“Yes?” Irritation settled into a frown.

“There may be a problem in the parking lot. Could I ask you to accompany me to my vehicle?”

“What kind of problem?” He threw the rag on the table.

“A strange man has been following me.”

“Shouldn’t you call the police?”

Yes, she should. But again, what would she say as she hadn’t actually seen Dustin, and he’d never given her any reason to doubt he was anything but a concerned friend in the past. Why should it bother her that he was accompanying her to Pronghorn Falls?

Maybe he worried the stalker would discover her plans.

“I just need to get back on the road. Even if you just walk out there to take the trash out or something…” She didn’t have time to argue with the kid.

“Weird, but yeah, okay. Sure. I could use a vape break.”

Londyn stepped outside and abruptly stopped to once again peruse the parking lot. The boy ran into the back of her. “Whoa, lady.”

“Sorry,” she muttered.

Good. No sign of Dustin. “I’m right over there.” She pointed to her SUV, but the teen had stopped, his back against the brick building, and pulled out a vape pen.

“You go ahead. I’ll watch from here.”

But he clearly wasn’t watching as his focus was on preparing to vape. Londyn clicked the unlock button, looked both ways, and ran to her car just as the swirl of vanilla bean ice cream vape filled the air.

Once safe inside her vehicle, she set the food on the seat, locked the doors, inserted the key into the ignition, plugged in her phone so it would have a full charge, and exited the parking lot, her appetite forgotten.

If Dustin was following her, she hadn’t seen him in the past few minutes on the freeway. Nothing in her rearview mirror, no one that she could see waiting alongside the road, and no four-door, maroon-colored, diesel truck.

Still, her hands shook, and her stomach clenched.

If he did find her on the freeway, she’d have little place to go to escape him.

Every car that passed and every vehicle that merged from the on-ramps caught her eye.

A wide green rectangular sign loomed in the distance, indicating Pronghorn Falls was now seventy-four miles.

Not much farther now.

The smell of the hamburger and french fries reminded her she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. It likely wasn’t safe now to eat the contents of the bag, but Londyn doubted she’d be able to do so anyhow, not with the way her stomach was in constant upheaval.

The gray sky ahead forecasted a storm, normal for this time of year. Brodie’s dad was always fond of saying that it was the plentiful rain God sent that provided for lush green ranchland to feed the cattle.

She still wasn’t breathing easily when a sign indicating fifty more miles caught her attention.

Then twenty-seven more miles, and finally eight miles to Pronghorn Falls.

Rain had begun to fall, round pea-sized balls of hail intermixed with the rain.

She flipped on her windshield wipers full force and leaned forward in her heated seat to see better.

After taking Exit Thirty-Two, she took a turn onto Highway Three, a shortcut to the ranch. Regret competed with fear that she hadn’t kept in better touch with Aileen. But since they were close, Londyn hoped showing up on her doorstep in the early evening hours would be all right.

The rain and hail pelted her car, and a wind gust caused the cargo trailer to fishtail, and Londyn nearly lost control. She slowed her speed and checked her mirrors. A vehicle was a few car lengths behind her. Maybe they’d pass and she’d be able to follow their lights.

A collection of hail formed on the hood, and her breath fogged the windshield. She squinted. Thankfully, she knew the constant curves of the highway, or she’d never be able to ascertain where the shoulder started and the road ended.

Carefully reaching down without removing her eyes from the road, she pressed the defrost button, allowing a gush of air to emerge from the dash vents. A glance in the mirror again showed the vehicle behind her gaining.

Quickly.

Londyn gripped the steering wheel, the knuckles in her fingers aching due to the firm hold. Another gust jolted the SUV, and the wind whistled through the window. She had to be close to the turnoff. And why was the driver behind her going so fast—too fast for the conditions?

She couldn’t make out the type or the color, just that it was a pickup truck.

Despite the cold, sweat slicked her forehead. Lord, please get me there safely.

The vehicle was now just a few feet behind her, its bright and higher lights further indicative of a truck. “Pass me,” she said aloud.

But the truck remained on her tail.

Please, Lord, don’t let there be any deer on the road today.

But even as she said it, Londyn knew this was a common area for herds of both deer and antelope to congregate.

Didn’t help that ample vegetation provided ample food for them, especially in the spring when they traveled from the mountains to the valley below.

A nudge on the cargo trailer bumper thrust her forward, and her head hit the seat. She struggled to maintain control of the SUV. Was the driver texting or otherwise being inattentive? Or was it the wind? There was no way to know for sure with the poor visibility.

Another nudge. Was it intentional? Her speedometer showed forty mph, far from being considered too slow for the forty-five mph limit.

Thank goodness it hadn’t happened on the freeway with faster speeds.

When the truck began to pass her, she released the breath she’d been holding. “Good, get ahead of me.”

But the driver didn’t pull in front of her. He instead stayed beside her.

A car coming from the opposite direction flashed its lights, and the truck again pulled in behind her. It was then she noticed something disturbing.

It was Dustin.

Or maybe it just looked like Dustin’s truck. Dizziness clouded her mind. If it was him… Lord, please let it be anyone else. Just not him.

If it was him—why would he do this?

Surely not deliberate. Surely.

The truck pulled beside her again. The hail increased to the size of a quarter, the thump-thumping on the roof likely causing dents.

Londyn hazarded a glance out her side window. Raindrops and her rapid breathing obstructed her vision.

She cranked up the defroster and tore her eyes away from him and back to the road just as he sideswiped her SUV. The trailer swung to the side, causing her to nearly lose control.

He repeated the hit, and Londyn veered off onto the shoulder before reacting with an overcorrection that slammed her back into Dustin’s truck. She slowed the SUV, hoping he’d get far enough ahead of her.

But he decelerated as well. The front end of his truck swerved into her front fender so hard that it shook her car. She lost control and drove off the road and into the borrow pit.

Everything went black.