Laura filled the water bowl for Hope and placed it on the floor next to the cat’s bed. She held her hand still for a minute below Hope’s chin, and waited to see if Hope might let her get in a little scratch. The cat lowered her nose and sniffed for a second and Laura used the edge of her hand to rub at the side of Hope’s face. The cat held still for the petting but appeared torn about the interaction.

Laura remembered Cade telling her he always backed off if he wasn’t sure an animal wanted to engage with him. She dropped her hand and whispered goodbye, then stood and slipped from the room.

Red stood outside the tack room door and whimpered.

“All right, just for a bit,” Laura said and opened the door to let Red into the room with the kittens. Red had started checking on the kittens several times a day, despite Hope’s yowling objections. It was pretty adorable how the fearful dog seemed to have taken on the job of protecting the kittens as though she somehow thought they were hers. Laura watched over the half door as Red lay quietly near the litter. She couldn’t help but wonder how Red would be with her baby when it arrived. She had a feeling she would be gentle and protective, and as dedicated to a human baby as she appeared to be to the kittens.

As Laura watched, Red suddenly rose to her feet, tension radiating through every muscle of her tough little body. She spun toward Laura, hair prickled along her spine, a low growl coming from deep within her throat.

“Red?” Laura asked, unsure why the dog had turned on her that way. Had she done something to frighten her? And, then she felt it. She wasn’t alone in the barn. Laura didn’t know if it was a slight noise she’d heard or just a thickening of the air around her somehow, but she knew clear as day someone was with her. Red hadn’t turned on Laura. She’d turned on whoever had intruded into the sanctuary of the stables.

“Hello, Laura.”

She spun when she heard the voice behind her, then panicked as she realized Alec Hall stood in the center aisle of the barn. How on earth had he found her? Why was he here? Was he coming after the baby or was he here because of whatever mess Patrick had gotten himself into before he died? It suddenly dawned on Laura, maybe it had been Alec who had put that look of fear on Patrick’s face. Maybe whatever was on the USB drive hidden in her kitchen had something to do with her husband’s former business partner.

“I’m not going back,” she said, her back pressed against the door to the tack room.

Alec gave a wry smile. “I have no intention of letting you go back. In fact, I plan to make sure you don’t ever go back. But first, I need to know what Patrick gave you before he died. Where are you hiding the evidence, Laura?”

That answered that question. Laura tried to think but she was frozen. She had to figure out a way to convince Alec she didn’t know what he meant. She needed to delay so she could get to safety. Laura silently cursed herself for not telling Cade about the USB drive. She should have told him. Together, they could have figured out how to handle it. Maybe they could have gone to Sheriff Davies and had him contact the local police to get the drive from her house in Connecticut. But should haves and could haves weren’t going to help her now.

“What evidence, Alec? What do you want from me?” Laura looked around her as she spoke and tried to figure out if there was anything she could use as a weapon. Anything she could hit him with or throw at him. She had no delusions that she could really hurt him. He was much stronger and larger than she was. But she might be able to throw him off balance long enough to run. If she could get up the stairs to Cade’s apartment over the stables, she could lock the door and call for help.

The Jeep. Get to the Jeep, Laura. She could almost hear Cade’s voice in her ear as she remembered the running plan he and Shane had set up for her. She had begun to think she would never have to use it, and she certainly never thought she would have to run because Alec Hall came looking for something he thought she had.

“Don’t even think about running, Laura,” Alec said, pulling a gun from behind his back. “I’ve got people waiting outside if you try to run. Now, let’s talk about that evidence.”

Laura knew if she told him the truth—that Patrick would never have confided in her—she would be useless to Alec alive. She needed to find a way to string him along until help arrived or she figured out a way to escape.

“Let me tell you how this is going to go. You’re going to give me what I want, every damn piece of evidence that idiot husband of yours ever collected. Do that, and I let you go. If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone I walked in here to try to talk you into seeing Justin to talk about the baby. You pulled a gun on me, we struggled, and the gun went off.” He shook his head. “I tried to save you. Did my best, with the baby and all, you know. But, I couldn’t save you.”

Before Laura could answer, she heard footsteps approaching. She didn’t process right away that it was Justin Kensington.

“What the hell are you doing, Alec? What is this?” Justin asked from behind Alec, his voice filled with accusation, making it clear he’d heard what Alec said to Laura.

The next few seconds moved in slow motion. As Laura watched in horror, Alec spun and shot Justin. She didn’t stop to think, didn’t worry about the fact that this was one of the people she’d been running from. Her only instinct was to see if she could help him. She ran to Justin where he fell and tried to stop the bleeding.

She thought she might be screaming, but she wasn’t even sure.

“Get up. Laura. I don’t have time to screw around now,” Alec said. “That shot’s going to bring people running.”

The horses were out in their pastures, but Laura could hear Red barking and growling from inside the tack room. She tried to remember if May and Josh were home to call for help. Surely they would have heard the gunshot….

But no, they had gone out earlier this morning. They wouldn’t be home for a few hours. Cade was out on the ranch, possibly miles away. He’d left on Cayenne and hadn’t said when he’d be back. Laura was alone.

She crouched next to Justin and felt for a pulse. It wasn’t strong, but it was still there. Justin was still alive. Laura thought quickly and turned to stand, putting her body between his prone form and Alec. If she could let him think Justin was dead, maybe he wouldn’t shoot him again and Justin would have a shot at surviving this.

“You killed him.”

“No, I didn’t, Laura. You did. You pulled a gun and shot him when he tried to talk you into coming home.”

Laura felt sick to her stomach. Her mind whirred as she tried to come up with a way out of this, to get help for Justin before he bled out— and help for herself. Before she could think of what to say, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.

The blurred form was so fast, Laura didn’t know what it was at first. But then it hit her. Red. Red had jumped the tack room door and was on top of Alec, teeth clamped on his arm as the man screamed in pain. The gun fell from his hand and skidded to a stop at Laura’s feet.

She froze for a split second, watching the way Red pinned Alec. But then she heard Cade’s instructions in her head. Get to the Jeep and run. She picked up the gun and headed for the Jeep, running flat out for safety.

“Red, come! Red!” she called out as she ran. Laura made it to the Jeep, grabbed the keys from under the seat and gunned the engine as Red jumped into the passenger seat. Dust rose behind them, and she started for the dirt road leading away from her ranch, away from the first place she’d ever wanted to call home.

* * *

Cade had Cayenne running flat out when he heard the shot, but somehow the horse dug deeper and gave him more. It didn’t hurt to have a racehorse under you when you needed one, and apparently, the hock had healed well enough for Cayenne to race when Cade needed him to. As the barn came into view, he could see the Jeep tearing down the dirt driveway, kicking up a cloud of dust. Another car was headed up the drive, trying to block her way.

Cade cursed and was tempted to close his eyes as Laura veered off into one of the white rail fences that lined the drive. She must have kept her foot on the floor though, because she blew right through the fence and crossed the field, then came out onto the road on the other side, blowing through the fence there too.

Laura turned the Jeep right, away from town and out toward the highway. As Cade watched, the car that had tried to intercept Laura turned and tried to head across the field after her. Cade turned Cayenne and reached behind him for the rifle he always kept strapped to his saddle when he was out on the ranch. It wasn’t unheard of to run into a wild animal and Cade never rode without his rifle.

He hadn’t worked with Cayenne on loud noises at all, and had no idea how the horse would react to Cade firing a gun from his back. Racehorses heard a lot of loud noises, so it was possible Cayenne would be all right with this. Then again, he might not. Cade sank into his seat as Cayenne charged after the two cars. The horse drew parallel to the cars along the road, the vehicle following Laura gaining on her with every passing yard. Cade said a quick prayer, raised the gun, and fired.

Cayenne held steady on the first shot, but it went wide. The second found its mark, taking out the back wheel of the car, and it careened to a stop.

Laura kept driving, just as Cade knew she had to. She needed to get to safety. He wanted to pull her back, though. Back where he could protect her from whatever was happening. But, he couldn’t. Laura was gone.