armadillos. Tried to pretend the heavy tread hadn’t sounded human.
“Quiet, Max,” she ordered, so desperate to think it was a harmless animal that she was half-annoyed the dog had scared her.
Unless it isn’t harmless. While Max went on barking, her stomach spasmed at the thought of what else could be out there.
Or perhaps who else.
Within an hour of her first arrival in Rimrock Countysomeone had nearly gotten her killed. She’d been furious, defiant—enough that she’d told Abe Hooks she was coming back to find her sister.
What if he had told whoever had put the snake in her car? Or what if he had been the one who’d done it in the first place? Could the guilty party have been watching for a sign of her return?
More agitated than ever, Max tried to scramble out the empty window. Dana sprang to her feet and grabbed his collar to keep him from getting hurt.
“No, boy. Please. Settle down.” Lingering near the opening, she scanned the salt flat…
…and spotted an unmistakably human silhouette standing perhaps twenty yards distant. The person held something long and slender, a shape that could have been a walking stick—except it glinted in the moonlight like the barrel of a gun.
With a strangled cry she dropped to the hard floor and fumbled in the darkness. She felt for her purse, which held her phone and SUV keys, her tickets out of hell.
Sunday, July 1, 12:04 A.M.
78 Degrees Fahrenheit
Though he’d gone to bed nearly an hour earlier, Jay’s brain was still running on nervous energy when his phone broke the silence. He caught it on the second ring.
“Eversole,” he said as he clicked on the bedside light.
“I’m coming over.”
The fear in Dana’s voice sent worry hurtling through him, had him reaching for a shirt. “What’s wrong?”
In the background he heard frantic barking.
“I have to get out of here. Come on, Max.” There was a double chirp, as if she’d deactivated her vehicle’s alarm. “Hurry.”
“What’s going on?” His pulse thundered in his ears. How could he have left her out there? “Is someone at the house?”
She didn’t answer right away, but he recognized the sounds of movement, of the SUV’s door closing. The dog fell quiet, so Jay could make out the jingling of keys and the chiming of the seat belt reminder.
“Dana, answer me right now.” He tasted bile as a new thought shook him. “Is someone with you?”
As he shoved his feet into his boots, he heard her engine starting.
“No, I’m all right,” she said. “He’s gone.”
“Who’s gone?” he asked, but she was talking over him.
“Max and I are heading your way. I, uh, I forgot to grab the directions you left me, but I think I remember. Follow this road to the left. Is that it?”
“Yeah, for six miles. Then you’ll catch the rural ranch road that Y’s off to the right and follow it for another ten-point-six miles. Now tell me, what’s this all about?”
“I saw somebody outside. Couldn’t see who it was, but I’m sure it was human.”
“Shit.” He should have brought her here with him, should have kept her safe. “How close?”
“I think he was right outside—I heard a footstep, but when Max barked he ran to the salt flat. He was armed, I’m pretty sure. Rifle, shotgun—one of those with a long barrel. It was hard to get a good look. Max was going crazy, and when I looked back, the guy was gone.”
Jay grabbed his keys. “I need you to check your rearview. Do you see anyone behind you?”
After a short pause she said, “I don’t see anything at all. But the moon’s behind a cloud now, and it’s dark as death.”
He knew the desert blackness shook those used to man-made lights. That terror was as instinctive as the fear of isolation. Could the combination have led her to imagineshe’d seen something she hadn’t? Could it have been the same animal that had stirred up Max?
He’d be damned if he took that chance, even though she’d made it more than clear that
“Quiet, Max,” she ordered, so desperate to think it was a harmless animal that she was half-annoyed the dog had scared her.
Unless it isn’t harmless. While Max went on barking, her stomach spasmed at the thought of what else could be out there.
Or perhaps who else.
Within an hour of her first arrival in Rimrock Countysomeone had nearly gotten her killed. She’d been furious, defiant—enough that she’d told Abe Hooks she was coming back to find her sister.
What if he had told whoever had put the snake in her car? Or what if he had been the one who’d done it in the first place? Could the guilty party have been watching for a sign of her return?
More agitated than ever, Max tried to scramble out the empty window. Dana sprang to her feet and grabbed his collar to keep him from getting hurt.
“No, boy. Please. Settle down.” Lingering near the opening, she scanned the salt flat…
…and spotted an unmistakably human silhouette standing perhaps twenty yards distant. The person held something long and slender, a shape that could have been a walking stick—except it glinted in the moonlight like the barrel of a gun.
With a strangled cry she dropped to the hard floor and fumbled in the darkness. She felt for her purse, which held her phone and SUV keys, her tickets out of hell.
Sunday, July 1, 12:04 A.M.
78 Degrees Fahrenheit
Though he’d gone to bed nearly an hour earlier, Jay’s brain was still running on nervous energy when his phone broke the silence. He caught it on the second ring.
“Eversole,” he said as he clicked on the bedside light.
“I’m coming over.”
The fear in Dana’s voice sent worry hurtling through him, had him reaching for a shirt. “What’s wrong?”
In the background he heard frantic barking.
“I have to get out of here. Come on, Max.” There was a double chirp, as if she’d deactivated her vehicle’s alarm. “Hurry.”
“What’s going on?” His pulse thundered in his ears. How could he have left her out there? “Is someone at the house?”
She didn’t answer right away, but he recognized the sounds of movement, of the SUV’s door closing. The dog fell quiet, so Jay could make out the jingling of keys and the chiming of the seat belt reminder.
“Dana, answer me right now.” He tasted bile as a new thought shook him. “Is someone with you?”
As he shoved his feet into his boots, he heard her engine starting.
“No, I’m all right,” she said. “He’s gone.”
“Who’s gone?” he asked, but she was talking over him.
“Max and I are heading your way. I, uh, I forgot to grab the directions you left me, but I think I remember. Follow this road to the left. Is that it?”
“Yeah, for six miles. Then you’ll catch the rural ranch road that Y’s off to the right and follow it for another ten-point-six miles. Now tell me, what’s this all about?”
“I saw somebody outside. Couldn’t see who it was, but I’m sure it was human.”
“Shit.” He should have brought her here with him, should have kept her safe. “How close?”
“I think he was right outside—I heard a footstep, but when Max barked he ran to the salt flat. He was armed, I’m pretty sure. Rifle, shotgun—one of those with a long barrel. It was hard to get a good look. Max was going crazy, and when I looked back, the guy was gone.”
Jay grabbed his keys. “I need you to check your rearview. Do you see anyone behind you?”
After a short pause she said, “I don’t see anything at all. But the moon’s behind a cloud now, and it’s dark as death.”
He knew the desert blackness shook those used to man-made lights. That terror was as instinctive as the fear of isolation. Could the combination have led her to imagineshe’d seen something she hadn’t? Could it have been the same animal that had stirred up Max?
He’d be damned if he took that chance, even though she’d made it more than clear that
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