Page 28 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge

Losing Owen a second time would shatter her tightly gripped control.

Her emotions already ran high due to the loss of Simone.Old feelings for Owen were inevitable because they’d never been resolved.The intensity of how she felt reflected those two facts, nothing more.

She’d gotten over Owen a long time ago.

Right?

11

Owen had no intention of being caught off guard twice, despite the flood of anger trying to distract him.He scanned the surroundings as he paced out back.Controlling his temper hadn’t been an issue since he was young and riddled with hormones.Ever since his skin had cleared of acne, he’d prided himself on maintaining a steady state.

The turmoil from recent events, along with Evie’s return, left him scratching his head, wondering where the old Owen had gone.The new one’s emotions brimmed at the surface, ready and willing to launch an attack on his peaceful state after exchanging nothing more than a few words.

Damn.

Get it under control, dude.

Out of the corner of his eye, a flurry of movement deep in the woods caught his attention.Owen’s instincts had him wanting to give chase.Better judgment told him to alert Evie and tell her to lock the back door.He fired off a quick text.It took all of five seconds to let her know.He bolted into the woods the second he heard the snick of the lock, confirming the house was safe.

Running alone might be a risk, but by all accounts, Size Eleven worked on his own.One set of tracks meant someone was likely fixated on Evie.Perhaps someone who’d followed her from Dallas, or—a thought popped—someone who was a little too happy about her return to town.

Someone following and watching didn’t necessarily mean trouble.Except he’d learned a long time ago that Peeping Toms graduated to either burglary or rape.The latter was unthinkable.

Branches slapped his face and torso as he bolted toward the distant sound of twigs snapping.Fear produced adrenaline.Adrenaline gave the kind of boost that made athletes out of normal people for short bursts.

Could Owen catch the bastard once the boost wore off?Because he wasn’t making progress based on the sounds ahead.

He couldn’t get a good look at who, or what, was running.It could be an animal.Perhaps a deer.There were plenty of those in these parts.

No.This was human.A deer would be long gone by now.Owen was fast, but he couldn’t outrun the animal, and he was not losing ground to the runner.

In this direction, the runner would intersect with the farm road leading toward his family’s ranch.

A dirt bike engine stalled Owen out.Based on the sound, there was no way he was going to catch up.Hating the thought of leaving Evie alone to fend for herself, he circled back.He checked his phone for service; found no bars.Dammit.He couldn’t call Travis until he ran back.The dirt bike driver would be long gone by then.

Shit.Shit.Shit.

Getting this close and coming back with nothing ate away at his insides.It might be time to go over the list of everyone Evie knew on a personal level, going all the way back to high school.The Hiker might be someone they’d gone to school with or had worked in town while she’d lived here.Her return had sparked someone’s interest.

At the back door, he gave the secret knock and waited.

Evie opened the door.Eyes wide, she said, “Thank heaven you’re all right.”She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.

“I’m good,” he managed to say.It occurred to him that she must have been worried sick the second he told her to lock the door and then took off.“I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”He brought her into an embrace.“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”The two words she said were the exact opposite of the truth.

She pulled back, sniffed, and wiped her eyes before grabbing his hand.“I already called the sheriff.You need to see something.”

He let go of her hand long enough to lock the door behind him.Losing the connection, even for a few seconds, tightened the stress knot in his chest.

“What did you find?”he asked as she walked him over to the kitchen table where the laptop was open.

“You mentioned playing videos on the TV for the kids to feel like their parents are still here in some small way, so I searched to find a few that I could maybe loop together.”She sat down and pulled a chair next to her.

He took it and studied the screen.“What the…?”

“Exactly,” she said, tapping her palm on the table as she sat back and let him watch the video playing out.“I always wondered how my sister was making ends meet.She gets some money from the military, but it isn’t much.And, of course, there are other survivor benefits that she gets to claim, but I couldn’t figure out how she bought a brand-new sport utility vehicle a couple of months ago.Now, I know.”

---