Page 52 of Shadowing Her Stalker

Cara conceded the point. It seemed more and more of her communication with her partners ran through Zarah these days.

Wyatt nodded. “We’ll start with a brain dump of everything you can come up with concerning your partners.” He hung the towel back on the hook, then fixed her with a look. “I asked Emma to rebook your flight for morning. If anyone asks, you can say you couldn’t make the drive to Little Rock on time. Either way, it’ll buy us a little more time on the going-to-California story.”

“Good call.” She nodded, impressed.

“I’d have handled it myself, but I couldn’t be sure the connection would be there. I’ve crashed and burned more since we’ve been here than any time since I was in high school,” he said with a grimace.

Cara laughed. “I’m sorry. And I have to say, I doubt you crashed and burned much in high school or since.”

“Thanks, but either way, tomorrow we’re driving into town to get a 5G gateway. I can’t rough it with this faulty connection any longer.”

Cara hid her smile as she moved to pull a fresh mug from the cupboard. Apparently, even the most down-to-earth men needed their creature comforts. “Sounds good.” And it did. As good as it was to feel safe and secure on the ranch, she was starting to feel restless. It would be good to get out for a little while.

Chapter Thirteen

The following morning, the two of them drove north in search of a more reliable source of internet access. It was clear that if Wyatt was going to dig into the financials of three tech titans, he was going to need more speed than the spotty satellite could provide.

They rode in companionable silence, sipping coffee as they wound their way into Boone County. Wyatt glanced over at Cara as they approached the outskirts of Harrison, the next town of any size along the highway. “I should be able to get what I need at any cellular store, but if they don’t have one in stock, we may need to head up to Branson or Springfield.”

She shrugged. “Fine with me. My calendar is open all day.”

“We can pick up anything else you might need while we’re here,” he offered.

She plucked at the front of her hoodie. Leaning against the door, she turned toward him. “My mom used to take me into Harrison to do my school clothes shopping. I didn’t realize people bought clothes anywhere but JCPenney until I was about eleven and discovered the joys of a store called Goody’s. They had all the cool stuff.”

“My mom liked to drive up to North Little Rock so she could wander around the mall.”

“Lucky you, shopping in the big city.”

He rolled his eyes.

They crested one of the rolling hills and Cara’s phone sprang to life with a series of texts from Zarah coming through in rapid succession.

Zarah: I went to pick you up and you weren’t on the plane.

Zarah: Checked and saw you rebooked for AM. Hope all is okay.

Zarah: You’re not answering my messages. Hot cop got your phone?

Her cheeks flamed as she read the last one, knowing at some point Wyatt would see it and know there’d been speculation about him. She was trying to formulate a response when a new message appeared.

Zarah: I’m picking you up at the airport. Hope you made your flight. Text when you land.

“Oh, crud,” Cara muttered.

“What’s the matter?”

“Zarah’s waiting for my flight at LAX,” she reported. She typed a response, then quickly deleted it. “You said Emma could do something to make it look like I got on the flight, right?”

Wyatt frowned. “Yeah. Why?”

“Zarah never picks me up from the airport. She lives on the other end of the earth,” she mumbled, scowling at her phone.

“Hang tight.” Eyeing a gas station ahead on the highway, Wyatt signaled his intention to pull over. Once he’d pulled into a parking spot outside a bustling mini-mart, he turned to look at Cara. “Tell me all about Zarah.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “All about Zarah?” she repeated, punctuating the request with an incredulous scoff. “Where do I begin?”

“How did you meet her?” he prompted.

---