Mitchell followed right behind the girls, not allowing even a car’s length between them. It was bad enough that he was nervous as hell, but just wondering what Evan would do if something happened made it worse. They had been on the long stretch of road out to the ranch for about two miles when his phone rang. He took a deep breath before he picked it up on the Bluetooth.

“Hey bro. Heard you’ve had a busy morning,” Mitchell said.

“Hey. Why doesn’t Ginger have her phone?”

“Yeah, we’ll explain that when you get home.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s good.”

“Where are y’all?” Evan asked.

“Road trip.”

“What the fuck, Mitchell?”

Mitchell laughed. “On the way home, man. Calm down.”

“Can I speak to her?”

“Um, that’s not possible right now.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Well, because she’s with Mak in her car and I’m following them.”

“You’re what?”

“Jimmy called and said Mak’s SUV was ready, so I thought it would be good to get the girls out. I’m right behind them.”

“You better not let a car between y’all. I swear to God, Mitchell—”

“Evan, we’re doing a whopping thirty-five miles an hour. Twenty miles under the speed limit. Someone on horseback could pass us.”

Evan chuckled. “At that rate, I’m liable to catch you before y’all make it to the ranch. I just dropped Ben off at his car, and I’m on my way home.” Evan paused a moment before he said, “Fuck! Someone has been blowing up my phone for the last couple of hours. I figured the newspaper has already gotten wind of what went down today. I’m trying to ignore them, but damn.”

Mitchell looked in his side mirror and saw a motorcycle coming up fast. “Um, Evan, I need to go, but don’t look at your texts, okay?”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“We may have company, so it’d be nice if you’d hurry the hell up. I’ll talk to you later.” Mitchell disconnected the call before Evan had time to say anything else.

* * *

Kayla looked in her side mirror and saw the motorcycle coming fast. Oh, God, not again. She gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles were white. “Ginger, can you see a motorcycle?”

Ginger turned to look out the back window. “No, I just see Mitchell.”

Shit, shit, shit. The exhaust sounded closer. Did she go faster or slower? As they topped the hill, she couldn’t see him anymore. He had to be on Mitchell’s tail, so she relaxed. Surely, he’d stay there on the hill. She checked her mirror again and saw him swerve into the other lane and back. “What the hell is he doing?”

“Who?” Ginger asked.

“The guy on the motorcycle.” Just as the words left her mouth, he pulled out and rode right beside them. Kayla kept her eyes on the road. “What’s he doing? There’s a truck coming!”

Ginger leaned forward enough to see the guy’s head turned toward Kayla’s window. “Oh shit! That’s the guy, Kayla! The guy I saw at the drugstore in North Carolina! Go faster, go faster!” Ginger was swatting her hands at Kayla and bouncing in her seat. “Blue lights are coming. Please be Evan,” she whispered.

“Dammit, Ginger! I can’t do this again!” Kayla slowed just as the truck in the oncoming lane laid on the horn.

The guy on the motorcycle got into the gas and went around them, just missing the truck. “Oh God, Ginger. Did you see that?”

“Yes! I think I might have peed. Oh, Kayla, please hurry.”

By the time they pulled into the driveway of Riverton Ranch, Kayla was shaking from head to toe. Her legs couldn’t hold her weight, so getting out of the vehicle wasn’t happening. Mitchell opened her door before she tried to move.

“Mitch,” Kayla cried, “why do people do that when I’m driving?”

Mitchell helped her out of the car to carry her inside. “I don’t know, baby, but you did great. At least he didn’t try to play chicken. You’re safe.”

Kayla wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder, calming from his touch. His touch had always calmed her, but this time she couldn’t help but wonder if any of them were truly safe until Ginger’s stalker was caught.