Page 7 of Captive at Rescue Ridge

“I remember,” Travis said, interrupting Archer’s thoughts. “Folks couldn’t stop talking about the city folk who’d moved to town. If memory serves, the folks of Saddle Junction weren’t exactly kind to the family.”

“That’s correct.” Once Archer and Annalee had started dating, the others had backed off. Until then, the teasing and backbiting had been relentless. Teenagers could be assholes. Archer would rather face a charging bull than be locked up for a week with a group of popular teens. At least the bull made sense.

Annalee hadn’t given anyone the satisfaction of knowing they’d hurt her feelings. The walls she’d erected had been near-impossible to penetrate—except for the couple of times she’d opened up to him. She’d looked at him like Chloe looked at Travis, as though he was the only person on this earth.

She’d been his first everything. First love. First kiss. First…

Then, one day, out of nowhere, she’d told him the only reason she’d dated him was to get everyone off her back. The chill in her voice would freeze the month of July even now. The next day, the contents of the trailer she’d lived in with her mom had been packed up, and the two of them were gone. He’d tried to call only to learn her phone had been shut off. It had been one of those burner phones you bought at a gas station, so he should have realized something was up. At seventeen, though, he hadn’t questioned why she would have a line that was so easy to trash.

Chloe snapped her fingers in front of his nose. “Hello? Are you listening?”

He blinked. “I’m right here, aren’t I?”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Chloe was just as much of a firecracker today as she’d always been. At least she didn’t have to work at the bar anymore. She’d taken her place alongside Kade at the family horse ranch they’d inherited. They were transitioning part of the operation to rescues, which was the only reason any of them had decided to stay on. Well, everyone except Beau. He wanted to keep their father’s vision for the business, and that was yet another reason Archer was never sure if he wanted to shake the man’s hand or throw a punch. Since he’d stopped getting into fights at the same time he’d grown chest hair.

His sister’s intentions were golden. She was upset because she loved him and wanted to talk sense into him. He couldn’t fault her for caring.

“Well, what did you say?” he asked, bringing his attention back to the conversation.

Chloe clucked her tongue as the others continued quiet conversations, the tension was palpable. “I asked if you’d consider staying in the main house tonight. Ghost or not, it isn’t safe for you to stay here alone. This place is on the edge of the property, too near the road.”

“I’m good here,” he said, confident Annalee wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. She had no reason to come back to town that he could think of. But he couldn’t guess what might run through that beautiful, sharp mind of hers. If it was her, she probably thought he’d recognized her and then panicked. Along those lines of thinking, she might very well have taken his keys so he couldn’t follow her. It made sense when he thought about it in those terms. The others might not agree, but he knew Annalee better than they did. She would do it to save face. In fact, his keys could have been tossed somewhere in the parking lot. There’d be no need to keep them.

Years had passed since the last time they had talked, but he would give his left arm to have one more conversation.

Closure would have been nice. The way she’d gone had left him scratching his head as to the real reason, and she occupied his thoughts while he was working horse ranches more than he cared to admit. He’d seen panic in her blue eyes and should have set aside his injured pride and asked her to tell him what was going on that day.

Did he have a chance for closure now, or was she long gone?

And what, if anything, did the timing of her showing up have to do with his brothers’ disappearances?

Annalee woke with a start.It took a minute to get her bearings in the pitch black. She rubbed her eyes. The inside of her lids felt like sandpaper, gritty and harsh.

A noise outside the car caught her attention, sending her pulse racing. Was someone orsomethingout there? Wild boars were known killers in this area of Texas. At least she was in the safety of her automobile. Unless the sound came from a human—in which case, she was a sitting duck.

Panic squeezed the air from her lungs. Breathing hurt. She’d been on the run four straight days now, but it felt like she’d been running for most of her life on some level. And, boy, was she exhausted from it.

The next noise had her reaching for the start engine button.

Could she stretch her arm enough for her finger to reach? Move without drawing attention in case someone was out there watching? Waiting? Could she get away before they came close enough to get off a clean shot? A bullet would stop her from turning in the evidence against whoever her mother had gotten involved with.

With her head against the headrest, slinked down in the seat, she couldn’t extend her fingers far enough to hit the button. Dammit. She listened for any sounds that indicated someone was closing in on the vehicle. An image of camouflage-wearing dudes with AR-15s and night vision goggles inching toward her stamped her thoughts. But was it real?

Given her mother’s dating record, any scenario was likely. But one person with a baseball bat or handgun could do a helluva lot of damage, too.

Releasing a slow breath, she needed to make a decision. Sit up and go for it and risk giving herself away if she hadn’t been seen yet. Or, keep slowly sliding down the seat until she could reach the button. Lying low seemed like the way to go. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to get off a shot if her head stayed out of view.

Once the car was on, she could put the gearshift into drive and hit the gas. The vehicle might beep at her incessantly because she didn’t have on a seatbelt, but that could be handled once she was certain she was safe.

Her cell lit up a moment before she slinked low enough to reach the magic button. An unknown caller? Was it him? The gun owner? Was he close and trying to pinpoint her exact location here in the woods in order to retrieve the evidence?

Sticking around to find out could prove deadly. She had to act now.

Biting back a curse, she tapped the button, put the gearshift in drive, and stomped the pedal. Headlights automatically came on, which helped her see but also gave her away. At least she had a metal barrier between her and whoever might be out there stalking her.

Popping up to see if the coast was clear, she realized a half second too late that the sedan’s front end was about to meet a four-foot-thick tree trunk.

Annalee jolted forward, her body slamming into the horn a second or two after the loud crunch sounded. A burst of adrenaline kicked in, causing her hands to shake as she reached for the handle and then opened the door.

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