Page 20 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge

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The intruder—stalker?—could be anywhere.Owen kept that in mind as he walked out the front door with the gun at the ready.He listened for any sounds of footsteps as he grabbed his rucksack and then returned to the house.His cell buzzed almost immediately.After checking the screen, he answered the call from Travis.

It took all of three minutes to bring his acting sheriff brother-in-law up to speed on the events.“I took a picture of the footprints.I’ll send them.”

He did.Phones could work miracles when they needed to.Most of the time, he considered his phone an inconvenience.

“I’ll let everyone in my office know what’s going on,” Travis said on a sharp sigh.A few tracks in the woods or near someone’s house wouldn’t have invoked high panic levels in the past.Everyone was on alert now.“We’ll be sure to keep watch and send deputies on foot in the area to assist wildlife personnel with the mountain lion as well as the human threat.”

Humans were responsible for more damage than any other living thing.From habitat destruction to resource consumption, humans destroyed more ecosystems than any other creature.It was a staggering thought.He’d witnessed the damage firsthand.It was a large reason why dangerous predator attacks were on the rise.They had nowhere to go, nowhere to hunt, and nowhere to thrive.

Animals adapted.Sometimes, that meant encroaching on human settlements.And, sometimes, that meant hunting humans.

But the mountain lion was only attempting to fill a biological need.A human stalker was far worse.

“I’ll need a list of anyone Evie might have had a disagreement with recently,” Travis continued.“And I’ll need to know where she works, along with the names of her co-workers, supervisors, et cetera.”

“Got it.”

Travis was the best.He would be thorough.Without a lucky break, investigations took time.Owen knew all too well, having been held captive for days before being discovered.

“I’ll let Evie know, and I’m sure she’ll be eager to get that information to you as soon as possible.”

Travis thanked Owen before he ended the call.

He plugged his cell back in, emptied the gun, and then set the weapon on the counter with the clip in a dish nearby.With small children in the house, he wouldn’t take a chance.Accidents killed too many folks when simple safety measures like this one saved lives.

“Hey.”Evie’s voice was soft as velvet, delicate almost.He’d missed that voice on the phone and in person.

Turning to look at her, his heart skipped a couple of beats.Her wet red hair fell just past her shoulders.Beads of water trickled down her neck.Emerald eyes took him in.He could stare into those eyes for longer than he cared to admit.

Owen cleared his throat to ease some of the sudden dryness.“I just got off the phone with Travis.”He read off the list of requests from the sheriff.

“Okay.”Her one-word response left him scratching his head.Evie responded with one word when she was nervous.Did he make her feel unsettled?

She walked over to a kitchen drawer and pulled out a pen and paper.

“I’ll grab a shower and be right back,” was all he could think to do or say.Besides, she needed time to make a couple of lists.He grabbed his bag and then headed toward the guest bath, stopping at the mouth of the hallway.“I thought Simone led an anti-gun movement back in high school.Or am I remembering that wrong?”

“Yes.”Evie took a seat at the kitchen table.The oversized rock-n-roll concert shirt and body-hugging leggings revealed just enough curves to stir more of that attraction in his chest—and an ache that caught him off guard.

Since she wasn’t in the mood to elaborate, he registered the surprise that someone could do an about-face.Then again, he probably shouldn’t read too much into it.Simone had married a serviceman who’d been deployed.He might have taught her how to use a gun in his absence, especially since she’d lived out here where the closest house was a ten-minute drive.That would be Ms.Bart’s place.

Owen shed his clothes and hopped into the shower.He had one of those what-if moments.What if the two of them had taken their relationship beyond friendship as he’d been tempted to do that night at the lake?What if she’d felt the same electrical current running between them?What if they could have made a real run at a future together?Would he still have gone through with the surgery to ensure he couldn’t have children?He’d never given a second thought to becoming a father until playing with Luca.Olivia still scared the hell out of him.Little girls weren’t his forte.A little voice in the back of his mind said it would be different if the girl were his.But Owen wasn’t buying it.

After a quick shower, he shook off the questions running around in his thoughts.What ifwas one of the most unproductive exercises.Owen didn’t believe in looking back, so why was he doing it?

Evie.

Ever since she’d turned her back on him, he’d wondered what he’d done wrong.Time had convinced him that he no longer cared.Seeing her again had dredged up the truth; he cared.He cared a whole helluva lot.

Probably too much for his own good.

With his protective instincts in high gear, he wouldn’t be able to turn his back on Evie.Not while she was in over her head with the kiddos, and certainly not while there was a stalker in the midst.

Throwing on sweatpants, he joined her in the other room.

“Hey,” she said again with a frog in her throat as she looked at him.Her jeweled gaze glittered in the low light and lingered on his bare chest.The ache expanded, burrowing deep in his soul if he had one.

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