Evie bit into the cold milk chocolate and released a contented sigh. After Deke had dumped her at the Med Mobile, she’d waited for him to leave before heading toward the only thing that could soothe her feelings at a time like this.

Vanilla ice cream cone dipped in chocolate.

The good Lord couldn’t have made a more perfect treat. She jumped back as ice cream dribbled down the side of her cone, narrowly missing her leg. Her tongue lapped up the rogue ice cream, and she decided it was time to make short work of the remaining chocolate.

Quite a few other people’d had the same idea. It’d taken her nearly thirty minutes to get through the line, only to learn they were out of toffee pieces. She hoped Lisa liked the Chunky Monkey milkshake instead. If not, she could switch with Rachel’s cup of cookie dough ice cream.

The moon cast a soft, silvery glow over the lot, lighting her way. Deke had better not find out about her little side trip. Like her overprotective brothers, he’d lecture her until his lips turned bloody for walking alone at night by herself.

The lot wasn’t a big one, yet it wasn’t small either. It took her a couple minutes to traverse the distance. About halfway across, the hair on the back of her neck prickled to life. She glanced around, checking the area for the source of her unease.

Nothing looked out of place, except one of the lot lamppost’s had burned out. Unable to shake her unease, she quickened her pace.

Her senses sharpened with each step. Something was watching her. Maybe a feral cat or coyote that had wandered into town. She made another visual sweep, and her attention caught on the lamppost again.

The lower part, near the base, appeared misshapen. Her focus narrowed. Was that a bush? No. An animal? N-nno. A person? She squinted harder, and the shadow shifted. Rose. Moved toward her.

Her breath refused to exhale. Her feet stayed cemented to the ground. Not until cold ice cream dripped on her knuckles did everything start working. She didn’t exactly run, but imagined her feet looked like one of those colorful pinwheels spinning in the wind.

Light radiated from both RVs. She made a quick decision and bolted toward the staff RV. Hooking the carry carton over her thumb, she pulled the latch. Locked.

Glancing behind her, she spotted the human shadow advancing her way. Faster. She tried the handle again. Door didn’t budge.

She pounded the door. “Lisa, it’s me, Evie. Open up.”

Footsteps pounded within the RV. She peered over her shoulder. With a ball cap covering his hair and pulled low over his forehead, she couldn’t make out the person’s face. A strange familiarity crept along the edge of her memory.

The door opened, and she scrambled inside.

“What on earth is going on?” Lisa asked.

She pushed the carry carton into Lisa’s hands and then flipped the lock. Pressing her ear against the door, she waited. Hearing anything over the pounding of her heart was impossible so she gave up and looked out the window.

The guy stood facing the RV, about thirty away, his body stone cold still.

She backed away, and the flimsy curtain swished into place.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lisa asked.

She pointed her cone at the window. “Someone’s following me.”

“What?” Lisa marched over and glared outside. “Where is he? I don’t see anyone.”

Rushing to Lisa’s side, she scanned the parking lot. Empty.

Had she imagined the spooky man? No way. He’d been real.

Maybe he’d needed medical attention. If so, why hadn’t he called out to her?

No, something had been off with him. Familiar. She couldn’t pinpoint what, but it was right there on the tip of her tongue, doing the macarena.

“He’s gone.” Straightening, she paced away. Her mind ran through dozens of images, contacts she’d made, searching for a name, a face, a place. Place. Place.

The landing. At Deke’s apartment.

Creepy Guy equaled Spooky Guy. Oh, Lord.

“Let me have this.” Lisa peeled the soggy cone from her hand and tossed it into the garbage. She ushered her over to the small utility sink and turned on the water. “Rinse.”

She obeyed the command, her mind cataloging her next moves. Creepy Guy’s appearance couldn’t be a coincidence. What did he want with her? With Deke?

“I need to make a phone call.”

“You’re starting to scare me.”

The tremble in Lisa’s voice acted as a balm to her simmering fear. Nurse Evelyn Steele kicked into gear.

“I’m sorry, Lisa. It’s probably nothing.”

“A man following you isn’t nothing.”

“He might have just been cutting through the parking lot.” An image of Creepy Guy standing outside the RV, watching them, sent her pulse racing again.

“Don’t blow smoke up my scrubs. You know the difference between someone taking a shortcut and someone acting like a weirdo.”

“Where’s Rachel?”

“In the Med Mobile. She wanted to do a bit more prep. We’re headed out early tomorrow.”

“Headaches still under control?”

Lisa dug into her pant pocket and drew out a small, oval white pill. “As long as I take this little beauty at the onset of a migraine, I can function like a normal human being. It’s been life-changing. I don’t have to live in constant fear of debilitating pain, anymore.”

“Can you tell the difference between the start of a regular headache and a migraine?”

“Oh, yeah. I can’t describe it, but I definitely know one from the other.”

“Glad to hear it.” Evie adjusted the shoulder strap crossing her body in order to grab her phone. “I don’t ever want you to go through something like that again.”

“You and me both—”

A window shattered toward the front of the RV.

She hurried forward. Flames licked over the driver’s seat. “Fire! Do we have an extinguisher?”

“In the back. I’ll get it.”

Whipping around, Evie searched for something to smother the flames. Desperate, she grabbed a sofa cushion and smacked it against the flames.

A blast of hot, ember-ridden air shot toward her, forcing her away.

More glass shattered in the back. “Lisa, are you okay?”

“Someone threw a fire bomb into the window.”

“Can you get to the extinguisher?”

“Not anymore. Flames are inside.”

“I’m calling 911.” Evie put the phone to her ear and gave the emergency operator their location and told her about the fire bombs.

“Get to a safe location,” the operator said. “Emergency personnel are on their way.”

Evie coughed. A thick black-gray cloud billowed into the living area. “Come on, Lisa. The smoke’s getting worse.”

When Lisa didn’t answer or appear, Evie barreled toward the back. She found Lisa holding a cloth over her lower face while frantically trying to save folders of paperwork, a large angry flame only a few feet away.

“What are you doing? We need to get out of here.”

“Just…need…another minute.” Lisa ducked her head to protect her face from the heat.

She grasped her friend’s arm. “We don’t have another minute. Come on!” Using all of her strength, she dragged Lisa from the burning RV and stumbled to a safe distance away.

Still holding the folders, Lisa dropped to her knees, overcome by a rib-cracking cough.

Sirens blared in the distance.

Every breath seared her lungs as she watched smoke and fire consume their beloved mobile home.

Rachel. “I need to check on Rachel.” She lifted her gaze to the Med Mobile parked behind the staff RV. “Gotta back up the Med Mobile or it’ll burn, too.”

When Lisa didn’t try to do it herself, she knew her friend was in bad shape. She hated leaving her, but she needed to get to Rachel.

Retrieving her phone, she scrolled through her Favorites and tapped Deke’s name. She didn’t even hear the phone ring before Deke’s clipped voice cut through the receiver.

“Conrad.”

“Hey, Deke. It’s Evie.”

“Everything okay?”

Where to start? She balked at telling him about her ice cream trip. But she couldn’t think of a pliable way to start without confessing.

“Is that an emergency siren?”

“Um, yeah. They’re responding to a fire.” She stepped onto the first stair leading into the Med Mobile.

Silence.

“Spill it, Evie.”

She grabbed the latch. “Someone set one of our RVs on fire.”

“Are you okay?”

“We’re fine.” She sucked in a bracing breath. “I think it was Creepy Guy.”

“The one you shoved out the window?”

“Yep. I didn’t get a good look at him, but he gave me the same heebie-jeebies as the guy on your landing.” She opened the door.

“Where are you now?”

“I’m checking on Rachel in the other RV.” She stepped inside. “And I need to move the Med Mobile back before the fire jumps.”

“Have you called the police?”

“Hang up the phone, Evie Steele.”

Her head jerked around to find Creepy Guy sitting on an exam table, holding a gun to Rachel’s temple.

Words coagulated in her throat like blood clotting an open wound, only this was no cool action her body had devised to save her life. In fact, her paralyzing fear might have just killed her—and Rachel.

“Evie, have you called the police?”

Creepy Guy cocked the hammer on his pistol.

Swallowing back her fear, she whispered into the phone, “I love you.” And disconnected.