Page 34 of Big Daddy Mountain Man

She stopped reaching for the lamp and decided she could just sleep with a little bit of light. Pinching her eyes closed tightly, she said a silent prayer and then tried to sleep.

That feeling of being watched persisted.

It was quite perceptive on her part, too.

As it turned out, two eyes were indeed on Amber, waiting to see what she would do next.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

It was a scratching noise that pulled Amber from her light slumber.

She sat up with a start and automatically brought her hands up in case she needed to shield her face from incoming blows.

Thankfully, they never came.

But she heard that sound again. Her eyes shifted to the clock atop the nightstand near the lamp. It was shortly after ten, meaning she’d only been asleep for about fifteen minutes. Just in that short amount of time she’d had a disturbing dream about being chased through the forest by some unseen malevolent force.

Had it been an omen of some sort?

She shuddered and rubbed her arms.

“Honey? Jazzie? Should I call him?”

She sighed and sat up slowly. Her gaze swept methodically across the room, looking for a sign that someone might be lurking in there. There wasn’t really any places for someone to hide.

Unless…

There was a small sliver of space between the sliding closet door and the doorpost. Was someone in there watching her?

She leapt from the bed and ran past the closet, out of the room, and to the kitchen where the phone was mounted on the wall. Guilt surged through her as she realized she’d left Honey and Jazzie alone in the room, but she’d just have to go back for them in a minute.

Right now, she needed to call Sawyer.

He answered on the second ring. “What’s wrong?”

He’d barely finished the short question before she was blurting out, “Daddy, I need you!”

She winced. “Sorry. Uh, I know you’re not my Daddy. I just?—”

“We can talk about that later. What’s wrong?”

“I think someone’s in the cabin!”

“I’m on my way. I want you to stay on the phone with me and?—”

Amber didn’t hear what Sawyer said after that because two eyes lit up in the hallway, causing her to scream in terror.

Time had run out.

Sawyer’s Bronco tore through the night, bounding over the hills and crunching rocks into the hard-packed earth.

He’d been on the road for a minute, but he knew a shortcut that would get him to the Collier cabin quicker—it just required a bit of off-roading. His vehicle was equipped for it, and even if he was too hard on it, oh well. He’d worry about all that later.

Right now, all that mattered was reaching Little Amber quickly.

“Dammit! I shouldn’t have left her alone!” he growled.

His knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel in utter rage. He reminded himself to keep a cool head. This was far from his first dangerous situation. He was experienced enough to know that you had to keep your wits about you, no matter what was going on.

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