Chapter 23
Wes felt Rowan grab his arm as the headlights cut through the trees below them. “Is that Micah?”
“I don’t know yet.” He kept his voice low and steady. “We need to wait.”
The vehicle slowed near the end of the fire road and stopped.
A door opened. “Wes?”
Relief flooded him. It was Sheriff Sutherland!
Wes took her hand, and they hurried down the slope toward the truck.
The sheriff was already standing outside his truck with one hand near his weapon. He scanned the woods above them before glancing back at them. “Either of you injured?”
“No.” Wes opened the rear door. “Shots were fired from the ridge. Shooter took out the back windows and one of the tires on my truck back near the overlook spur.”
Sheriff Sutherland’s expression hardened. “Anybody still up there?”
“I never saw them.” Wes helped Rowan into the back seat. “But this person knew exactly where we were.”
He pulled out his phone. “I have two deputies headed that way. I’ll have them lock the area down and start clearing the ridge.”
“I’m going to need help getting my truck out,” Wes added as he loaded Remington into the back beside Rowan.
“I’ll get a tow headed that way too.”
Sheriff Sutherland climbed behind the wheel and turned the truck around.
The vehicle jolted hard over the rough fire road.
As they rode, Wes stared out into the dark woods sliding past outside the window.
Someone had known he and Rowan were at that overlook.
They hadn’t announced where they were going. They’d simply left Refuge Cove together.
Which most likely meant someone had followed them from the property.
He didn’t like the thought of that.
Beside him, Remington leaned against Rowan. She rested a hand on the dog’s back, and Wes noticed some of the tension ease from her shoulders. Remington was good for that.
Sheriff Sutherland glanced at him in the mirror. “You want me to take you both back to Refuge Cove?”
“Yes. Take us back.” The sooner Rowan was somewhere safe, the better he would feel. Things could have turned out so much differently tonight.
Sheriff Sutherland nodded and pressed harder on the accelerator.
Wes looked behind them again.
No one was following.
At least no one he could see.
But it wasn’t what was in plain sight that worried him.
It was the danger lurking in the shadows that scared him the most.
Rowan’s heart was still pounding as Micah pulled into Refuge Cove and killed the engine.
The house glowed against the dark mountainside, warm light spilling from the kitchen windows onto the porch. Caleb’s truck still sat in the drive.
Everything looked normal.
But Rowan barely recognized the feeling anymore.
Micah climbed out first, speaking quietly into his phone as he headed toward the side entrance. That left her and Wes alone for a moment.
Rowan glanced down at herself.
Her shirt was torn near the shoulder. Dirt streaked her jeans. Her hair had come loose somewhere on the mountain and hung across her face in tangled strands.
Now that they’d stopped moving, her adrenaline faded, and a tremor worked through her hands.
Naomi would take one look at her and immediately know something was wrong.
Before she lost her nerve, Rowan turned toward Wes. “Can I ask you something?”
“You can tell me anything, Ro.” He looked at her, waiting for her to continue.
Even now, after the gunshots and the chase through the woods, he appeared steady and controlled.
A moment of envy shot through her. She knew her emotions were what made her a good actress. But sometimes, she’d love nothing more than to be level-headed and nonemotional. Wes’s steadiness had always drawn her to him.
“Don’t tell my family all these details.” She swallowed. “They already have enough burdens to carry.”
Wes’s gaze shifted toward the house before returning to her. “They need to know, Rowan.”
“I know. But I’m not ready. Not yet. My family is juggling so much. I don’t want to add to it.”
“But—”
“Please don’t make me add to it.” Her voice came out just above a whisper.
He heard the emotion there. The struggle. The desire to protect the people she loved.
He could admire that.
He paused another moment before nodding. “Okay. For now. But I don’t know how long I can keep it quiet. I won’t lie to them.”
Rowan held his gaze before nodding. “I understand. I don’t expect you to.”
Wes reached for the handle. “Ready?”
No, not even close.
But Rowan opened the door anyway.