Hiding Out At The Circle C Read online

  She tried to take it all in—that he knew, that he'd rescued her, that the others were safe. "What?"

  "I need you to trust me." His eyes met hers briefly over their joined hands. "Tell me you do, and mean it."

  "How are you going to stop him—"

  His eyes were glued to the road, his teeth locked together. "Tell me, Haley."

  She thought of how this was supposed to be, how she'd left him safely asleep, thinking she'd never see him again. She had everything to lose, and most of it was looking right at her. His eyes searched hers as he slowed for traffic.

  "I do," she whispered. "I trust you," she said softly, meaning it with all her heart.

  Instantly, the tension left him. "We have a lot to discuss, you and I."

  She looked away from him, out the window.

  "There're going to be questions, Haley. Plenty of them, and not from me. I wish I could take you far away from all this, but I can't. Not yet."

  "What do you mean?"

  "The authorities—"

  "You're … going to turn me in?" she asked in disbelief. This was how he was going to repay her trust?

  "It's the only way. You're innocent. We'll prove it."

  He believed in her. No one else would, she knew. "We're going back to the ranch?"

  "Yes. We'll meet everyone there."

  Everyone. The police. Extradition. Possible execution. Her stomach sank.

  "Haley?" He touched her hair, her face. "Are you ready for this?"

  "Yes." She had no choice.

  * * *

  A short time later, he pulled the truck into the driveway and she opened her mouth to cry, No! Wait! First let me have just a minute to think!

  But Cam wasn't looking at her—only at his house, and he was frowning. He'd stopped the truck at the bottom of the drive instead of pulling all the way up, as usual.

  "What—"

  "Shh!" He lightly squeezed her thigh, staring intently ahead at the house. Something was wrong; very wrong, he thought. The house was dark. Okay, so maybe Jas had actually done what he'd said and gotten Nellie out. He better had. And Zach was probably still at the airport with the cops, trying to apprehend the owner of the slick, evil voice on the telephone. But Cam knew how well prepared Zach always was. Because of that, Cam had expected to have house protection, as well.

  "I don't think we're going in." He reached to put the truck in reverse.

  "Cam, I—"

  "Luckily for you, it'll have to wait." He switched his gaze back to the road, then the rearview mirror, and gripped the wheel tightly. "Oh, hell."

  Haley's head whipped up and she looked at him. Her eyes widened. "He's here," she whispered. "Oh, God, he's here."

  He felt her freeze up beside him. Slamming his truck into four-wheel drive, he gunned the accelerator and headed directly over the wild grass between the barns and the house.

  Haley gaped at him, then twisted in her seat to look behind.

  A set of headlights slowly followed them.

  "Police?" she asked hopefully. After all, when it came right down to it, extradition was better than dead.

  Cam shook his head, staring into the left-hand mirror, as dread welled up. "Not in a black BMW."

  She gasped. "He saw you. Oh, no, he saw you! And now he knows I've told. He'll—"

  A gunshot rang out into the still night and Haley slapped her hands over her mouth, stifling her scream, as Cam fought to keep control of the truck.

  The next shot ricocheted off the side of the truck with a loud ping.

  Cam hated guns with a vengeance, but wished with all his might he had one now. He veered around the toolshed, dust flying up in front of the headlights and forming a cloud around them. Haley screamed as a third shot hit the back of the truck.

  "Get down!" he yelled, turning off the headlights, plunging them into pitch-darkness. Another shot echoed in the night. He swerved onto the narrow horse trail he'd taken Haley on the fateful day of the library incident.

  "He's still following," she announced fearfully, craning her neck. "He can see us in his lights."

  "Not for long." He hoped. "Stay down." She bumped her head on the ceiling when he hit a dip in the dirt path. "Dammit, down!" he shouted again as yet another shot rang out. When Haley just stared at him, her eyes glossy with shock, he swore and shoved her head down between her knees.

  Again a shot splintered the night. It plowed through the window precisely where her head had been a second before, and Cam's heart nearly leaped from his chest. Glass shattered and rained over them as Haley slowly raised her head.

  "You okay?" he demanded, scarcely breathing. Cold air whipped over them as she brushed glass off her. "Haley!" he shouted. "Answer me!"

  She nodded, but he could hear her choppy, panicked breathing. He started to sweat as he stared at where the glass had broken over her. The next bullet whizzed harmlessly by.

  "I can't believe it." She gripped the hand he held out. "He's armed and I'm with the only cowboy in the Wild West who doesn't carry a gun." She swore when she bumped her elbow on the door as he hit another dip in the trail. "Where are we going?"

  Cam prayed he had this path memorized as he navigated in the dark. At least twenty-five yards behind them now, the headlights of the BMW bounced eerily as the car hit every rut. "As far away as we can get."

  "Can you even see?" she called out over the roar of the engine as he gunned the truck forward.

  He imagined she didn't really want an answer to that one since it was obvious—no one could see. Everything around them—the trees, the rocks, the mountain, everything—was a dark blur that whizzed by. He whipped his truck around a large bush and over a fallen tree stump. A minute later he risked a glance at Haley and saw how pale, how absolutely terror-filled she looked in the eerie glow of the BMW's headlights. The image of her in the clutches of the nameless evil behind them had Cam tensed and coiled for the fight of his life.

  He forced himself to concentrate when he took the next turn too wide and nearly dumped them down a small ravine. By the time he'd shoved into reverse and gotten them straight, the BMW had closed some of the distance between them.

  They came to the top of the first hill and Cam knew they couldn't go much farther in the truck. The tires slipped on the sharp, jagged rocks as the trail grew steeper and all the more difficult because he could hardly see a thing.

  "There's no moon," Haley whispered as he slowed. "It seems so black, so … scary."

  He wished to hell he had a third hand so he could wrap Haley close to him. He could hear the panic, feel the terror vibrating from her, and he'd never felt quite so helpless.

  "He can't stay on this trail as long as we can," he assured her grimly as he steered sharply to the right to avoid a dark shape. It turned out to be a huge tree trunk that would have stopped them cold.

  Another quick turn saved them from a nice gouging by a low, jutting branch. Now the BMW was nowhere to be seen. Cam knew that to the left rose a high, sheer rock face and to the right was a steep, unforgiving cliff that fell to the canyon floor below.

  Horses would have no problem on this trail—in fact this was the exact trail he'd taken Haley on before—but his truck was a different story entirely. His tires protested against the rocks. His back right tire slipped off the edge on his next turn, and he knew it was time to call it quits. He went just a little farther, to where the terrain had evened somewhat and the rock to his left had leveled out to a small wooded area.

  The headlights behind them had disappeared, but he knew their pursuer was still back there, waiting, biding his time. The cliffs Cam and his brothers had camped out in last summer weren't far now—just beyond the creek and through some dense brush and trees. He could get them there. They could hide in a cave where no one could find them until daybreak.

  Stopping the truck abruptly, he yanked out his flashlight from the glove compartment. "Come on. Quick." He pulled Haley out the driver's side, and then because she looked so damn petrified, he gave her a quic