Page 29 of Final Escape
She heard a faint click, then Trace’s recorded voice came on. She left a brief message. Switched the phone to vibrate. Then dropped it into the pocket of her ivory slacks, straightened her crimson summer top and dredged up a smile as she walked to the door.
With luck, Trace would text her back with the news she wanted to hear. And soon. But if not...
Her hand on the doorknob, she bowed her head for a moment in silent prayer. And then she opened the door for the waiting children and started her day.
* * *
SHE’D WORRIED AND FIDGETEDall day Monday, waiting for Trace to call. By the time her cell phone finally vibrated at six o’clock, in the middle of her Wilderness First Responder class, her nerves were jangled and the phone slipped out of her hand twice when she tried to pull it out of her pocket.
When she saw his fiancée’s number, not his, on the caller ID, her heart nearly stopped. “Is everything all right, Kris? Where is Trace—is he okay?” she whispered, turning away from the rest of the group, and heading for the privacy of the hallway.
“Never better,” he drawled.
“Trace.”Weak with relief, Carrie felt her heart drop. “I’ve been worried about you all day.”
“As well you should. We spent the whole day looking at tuxes and wedding flowers up in Billings. I think I’d rather be run over by a bull than ever do that again.”
“You didn’t get my message, I take it. Where’s your phone?”
“I left it on Kris’s kitchen counter, but we’re almost back there now. What’s up?”
She hesitated. She’d had no trouble all day. There’d been no sign of anyone stalking her when she left school at noon. Should she even say anything? Was her foolish imagination just playing tricks on her?
But her message was still on Trace’s phone, waiting to be heard, and there was no way to take it back.
“I...well, I had a couple of hang-up calls last night. I just get this uneasy feeling now and then that someone is watching me. And...well, I’ve had a prowler at night. Twice.”
He was silent for a moment. “You called the sheriff, right?”
“I did...but there hasn’t been much to go on. The caller uses one of those cheap, preloaded phones that you can buy at Walmart, so his calls are untraceable. I haven’t seen his face.”
“Billy couldn’t possibly know where you are, sis. Only Kris and I do, and we haven’t told a soul.”
“I know you wouldn’t.” She fiddled with the frayed hem of her jeans. “But you haven’t seen him around Battle Creek, have you? Or heard anything?”
“Kris looked up the Southwest rodeo standings last night. He’s listed as being out of the money at a couple of rodeos in New Mexico during May.”
“But nothing since then?”
“If he wasn’t even making gas and entry money, maybe he took a job on a ranch somewhere just to build up some cash. He’s done that before.”
“True.” But he definitely wouldn’t be happy about it. “So nothing on the lists since May?”
“Maybe she should check the surrounding states. He could’ve moved on.”
“I could do that myself, too. But thanks, Trace. It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Maybe you should just come back to the ranch,” he added quietly. “I hope you consider this your home, too.”
But it wasn’t the family ranch they’d grown up on. Trace had bought the Rocking R himself and had built it up to the success it was today, and soon it would be his new bride’s home, as well. A sister hanging around forever would be like an old spinster aunt at a party—just in the way.
Carrie fiddled with the delicate silver bracelet that he’d given her when she turned eighteen. “I have a full-time job here in the fall, and I’m contracted for summer session now. I can’t give that up. I’ve wanted this for too long.”
“But I still have that empty cabin for you, and you’d be safer here no matter what. Think about it.”
“I will. Thanks, Trace.”
She held the phone long after he disconnected the call. After class was over at nine, she’d go home and start some research on the internet. With luck, she’d find Billy listed among the rodeo money earners on some other rodeo circuit: happy, busy and far, far away. But that posed still another worry.
