Page 52 of Stalked at Rescue Ridge

A line creased her forehead, and her head was tilted to one side, listening. She could tell something big was brewing. She bent down closer to Rinty, and he nuzzled against her. Smart dog.

“Do you need to go outside, sweet boy?” she asked, her voice trembling ever so slightly.

Kade hated the fact that he was about to shatter her sense of security. He shook his head, and she cocked a brow at him. He moved his mouth away from the cell and said, “Not a good idea. I’ll take him in a second.”

“Oh.”

“Call me if you hear anything else,” Kade said into the phone.

“I’d like to send someone to keep watch over her. Where are you?” The best defense was a good offense. Travis had the right idea.

“You know I trust you, right? And we go way back…” Kade couldn’t risk anyone else knowing their location, not even a friend.

“Uh-huh. What are you candy-coating?” Travis asked.

“I don’t want you to take it the wrong way when I say that I’m not going to tell you where we are. You aren’t the problem. I just can’t risk anyone else in the department finding out. We have no idea if someone has been covering for the sheriff.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to have backup, Kade. I’d like to offer my assistance. Bree’s safety is important to everyone in the community and especially me.” If Travis’s feelings were hurt, he didn’t show it.

“I appreciate the offer. I’ll keep it in mind.” Kade felt no need to argue his point. He ended the call, closed the laptop, and turned to Bree. “We need to get out of town.”

“What just happened?”Bree suddenly wished she could’ve heard both sides of the conversation between Travis and Kade. Because how could she leave her baby in the hospital and disappear?

“It’s bad news. It’s the sheriff.” Kade was already up and urging Bree toward the bedroom. He grabbed his shotgun on the way.

“Sheriff Carr? He did this to me?” She glanced down at her ankle.

“In the hospital, he came inside the room. You were still under the influence of those drugs. I was holding your hand, and you tensed the second you heard his voice. I should’ve realized what was going on. I’m sorry I failed you. It won’t happen again.” There was so much anguish in his voice. Given his military background, he would take something like this personally.

“You saved me, Kade. If not for you, I wouldn’t be alive right now.” An icy shiver raced down her back at the thought.

“I let you down in so many ways—”

“Maybe we should let the past go. We can’t change it. Let’s focus on our next step. And then the next.” All she could think to do was pop up on her tiptoes and kiss him. He closed his eyes and held her tight. He kissed her back. Hard. Hungry. And it awakened a need from deep inside her they didn’t have time to address.

He pulled back first and linked their fingers as he led her the rest of the way to the bedroom. “It won’t take long to pack up. Grab a few of my sister’s clothes. You two are close to the same size. Grab anything you think you might need and be ready for anything from camping to a hotel.”

“Okay.” Bree filled a small suitcase and grabbed a few toiletries from the bathroom, stuffing everything she could fit inside it.

“We’ll let Rinty do his business on the way to the truck.”

Bree’s mind was still trying to wrap around the fact that a man sworn to uphold the law could do such a thing to her and, worse, to so many other women. Granted, he’d always seemed a little odd. He wasn’t married and lived in a house on his aunt’s estate. But that didn’t necessarily mean he was a twisted psychopath capable of such a demonic act. “What else did Travis say?”

“That Carr has the tattoo. In his job as sheriff, he could move around the state easily, making it easy to find and watch a target,” Kade said, “study a person’s habits.”

“How would he be able to go unaccounted for?” She put a hand on her heart, trying to force it to calm down by sheer force of will

“The murders match up to his vacation days.”

“The Reaper,” she said in almost a whisper. A sick feeling settled over her. The thought of how close she’d come to dying. The thought of the other women who weren’t so lucky. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Kade was by her side a second later. “Are you okay?”

“I will be.” She was also beginning to believe there could be a future with Kade.

“You’re sure everything’s good?” Kade mumbled something low and threatening about the sheriff.

“I am,” she said with more confidence than she felt.

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