Bad things happened in the dark.

At least that’s what Callie Ainsworth had learned. She’d always hated the dark and that childish fear had followed her into adulthood.

Which was why she’d planned to be home in Tanner Hollow, North Carolina, before the sun fell. Unfortunately, the flat tire had delayed her and now she was on a back mountain road that led to a place where she was unsure of her welcome. Since she’d been gone for six years, she couldn’t hush the uncertainty that shimmered just beneath the surface.

Christmas music flowed from her radio and the words reminded her why she was making the trip back to the place from which she’d run. The place she’d vowed never to return to until it was safe.

And now it was.

A lifetime ago her stepfather’s abusive actions had sent her running, but now he was dead and had no more ability to instill fear in her.

Anticipation hovered.

She’d dreamed of this moment. Not necessarily Rick’s death, but of coming home and being reunited with her family. It had been bad enough that Rick had moved in on her mother and she’d married him, but he’d also insinuated himself into her father’s law firm. She still wasn’t sure how that had happened. It didn’t matter now. He was gone. Forever.

Mature pines to her left led to her family’s back yard, and a sheer drop-off to her right made her nervous in spite of the guardrail. She pressed the gas a little harder, focusing on the road in front of her and not the darkness surrounding her.

A sudden impact from behind threw her forward. Callie screamed as the car swerved and she jerked the wheel to keep the tires on the road. Heart pounding, she managed to right the vehicle only to feel the second slam, this time to her left rear.

Again her car headed for the edge of the road. Callie didn’t have to see the drop-off to her right to know that if she went over, she was dead. Fighting the force of the hit, she pulled on the wheel and nearly stood on the brake. Tires squealed and tried to grip the asphalt. The vehicle shuddered to a stop and shut off.

Her attacker shot past her and Callie saw the brake lights come on. He was coming back?

Tremors shook her. She twisted the key and the engine ground, but didn’t catch. She tried again. And again. The car in front of her had turned around and was heading back toward her.

“No,” she whispered. She grabbed her purse and scrambled out of the passenger door. The cold hit Callie hard, stopping her for split second. Her heavy winter coat rested on the backseat. She looked back at the car that had hit her, now idling in the middle of the road. The driver’s door opened, but the interior light didn’t come on.

The attacker planned to continue the chase.

Callie ran to the back of her car and crouched behind it. Darkness covered her, and she hoped he couldn’t see her. At the trunk, she paused, her pulse thundering in her ears. Think, think.

Footsteps.

He was coming for her.

Terror spiking, she looked at the drop-off. It wasn’t as sheer here as it was in some areas, but one misstep could send her to the bottom. There were some trees not too far down. Could she find a hiding place behind one of them?

Her mistake was clear. She should have rounded the back of the car and beelined across the street for the wooded area that led to her backyard.

Only now she was a sitting duck.

Footsteps crunched closer.

“I know you’re there,” a voice whispered.

Callie’s breath caught in her throat. She whispered a prayer for protection. The figure moved along the edge of the street. Callie could see him looking over the edge. If he looked to his right, he would see her.

Could she move without attracting his attention?

A shudder ripped through her and she clutched her purse to her chest as she tried to think.

She couldn’t stay here. She had to try.

Keeping her eyes on the figure at the front of the car, she took a step back, then another. His focus stayed on the drop-off.

Once on the other side of the vehicle, she paused and looked at the open space between her and the cover of the trees. It was only about ten yards, but it might as well have been ten miles. With one more glance over her shoulder to confirm he wasn’t looking her way, she darted for the trees.

“Hey!”

His shout spurred her on, his running footsteps sending another splash of terror shooting through her. Callie’s only goal was to escape him and make it to the back door of her childhood home.

She knew this area. She’d played in these woods since the day her mother had finally decided she could explore on her own as long as she stayed within shouting distance.

Now all she had to do was find the path before he found her.

Detective Nolan Tanner stood in the living area of the Goodlette home and scanned the solemn faces before him. Callie Ainsworth’s family.

Sharon Goodlette, Callie’s mother, was still beautiful in her early fifties. If he remembered correctly, her youngest daughter, Megan, was twenty-three and the exact opposite of Callie in physical appearance. While Callie had straight blond hair and blue eyes, Megan had dark curls that reached to her mid back. Her eyes shone like black onyx and her full lips showed a permanent pout.

And then there were the stepchildren. Rick’s two grown sons and one daughter. James, Richard, and Shelley.

Right now they all stared at him like he’d grown an extra head.

Rick Goodlette, Callie’s stepfather, had been dead for three days, and his funeral was the day after tomorrow. The reading of the will would take place immediately afterward, and the family had swooped in like the vultures he’d heard them to be.

“I hate to deliver this news at this point, but it might mean you have to delay the funeral.”

“What?”

“No!”

“Are you crazy?”

The chorus of objections met his announcement as he’d predicted. He sighed. “Look, I’m sorry, but the evidence says that Rick’s death was not an accident.”

“But it was a car wreck.” Sharon stood and paced to the mantel. She turned. “A car wreck. On a curving mountain road.”

“And the brake line was cut.”

Her jaw dropped and several gasps echoed around the room. “What?”

Sharon Goodlette was either an Academy Award-winning actress or she truly had no idea her husband’s death could have been anything but an accident. She stumbled back to her seat and slumped into the wingback chair. “But . . .no. I thought it was just that they hadn’t taken care of the car like they should have. It was a company car, you know? I mean, Rick drove it all the time, but he had someone else in charge of the maintenance.”

“Who?”

“His secretary, I believe. She was supposed to keep up with all the details on that.”

“I’ll ask her about that.” And he would, but since the brake line had been cut maintenance on the vehicle wasn’t an issue.

“I know this is hard,” he said, “and I promise to do my best to wrap this up quickly.”

“I can’t believe this.” She raked a hand through her hair. “Callie will be here soon.”

Nolan’s heart thudded. “Callie?”

“Yes, why?” Megan asked. She sidled up next to him. A hint of spicy perfume reached him, and he thought it was the same scent she'd worn in high school. He hadn't been fond of it then and found his opinion hadn't changed.

He stepped back. “Ah, I just suppose that surprises me. I didn’t think they were that close.”

“They weren’t.”

But she was still coming home for her stepfather’s funeral? Probably to be support for her mother. Rumors of Rick and Callie’s arguments rolled around in his head. And the fact that she’d just up and left one morning with no word to anyone, not even him.

He’d missed Callie. They’d been friends since high school. Friends, then more. But she’d left and taken his heart with her. He gave his head a slight shake. He couldn’t think about that right now. “Do you know when she’ll be here?”

Sharon looked at the clock on the mantel. “She should have been here about an hour ago but texted and said she would be delayed because of a flat tire.”

Nolan frowned. “Is she all right?”

“Yes. At least she didn’t say she wasn’t.” She pulled her phone from the front pocket of her black slacks. “I’ll try calling her again.” She dialed the number and listened. Then shook her head and hung up. “Nothing.”

Megan walked over to stand in front of him. She looked up at him with big dark eyes. “You don’t think anything happened to her, do you?”

“No, of course not.”

She turned to her mother. “Maybe we should go look for her.”

Her mother sighed. “Let’s give her a few more minutes. Maybe she just doesn’t want to answer the phone while she’s driving.”

Megan frowned and nodded. “All right, but if she’s not here soon, I’m going looking.”

Nolan thought of the girl he’d once loved and said a quick prayer for her safety. But a small part of him couldn’t help wondering if Callie had thought of him while she’d been gone. He gave a mental sigh. It didn’t matter if she had or if she hadn’t. She’d left him after he’d asked her to marry him.

She was only nineteen-years-old. Too young to know what she wanted. But she sure knew what she hadn’t wanted.

Him.

And that still hurt.