Chapter 20
Dustin didn’t like how long Silver was taking. But the image of her wearing nothing but her bikini and sliding down one of her shoulder straps was burned into his mind.
Maybe she was going slow to push his buttons, which she clearly liked to do from time to time.
He glanced at his watch. Eight minutes. He cocked his head toward the door and spoke to Isaac, who was leaning back against the changing room. “Knock and tell her it’s time to go.”
Isaac smirked. “Why don’t you, dude?”
“Just do it.”
“You’re afraid.”
“No, I’m not.”
Isaac swiped at the screen on his tablet, moving from the Double H cameras back to the Healing Springs cameras. His smirk fell away, and he straightened. “We have someone in the area. For real this time.”
He tapped on one of the cameras and brought up the feed. Dustin crossed to him and glanced down to find an SUV creeping along one of the country roads that bordered the ranch. It had its lights off.
Dustin’s pulse sped. “Yep. That’s our guy.” No doubt about it. There was no other reason to ride around in the dark without headlights.
“Get as many details as you can on the vehicle.”
“Already am.” Isaac was expertly zooming in the camera.
Dustin strode to the changing room door and knocked on it. “Time to go.”
Silver didn’t respond. Was she purposefully ignoring him?
She’d never been the petty type of woman who played games or pouted.
But ever since he’d told her he couldn’t have a relationship with her after their passionate kissing earlier, she’d been colder to him than she ever had before.
She hadn’t wanted to be around him at all.
Over the few hours that had passed, he’d had time to calm down, and a part of him could admit he may have overreacted just a little.
He’d been scared by the intensity of just how much he’d felt for her in that moment, and he’d been frustrated with himself for losing himself and going crazy over her.
As confused and frustrated as he’d been, he hadn’t needed to cut her out of his life so swiftly. Maybe he should have taken more time to think about their relationship, talk to her, and analyze everything.
“Silver.” He knocked again, this time louder. “We really need to go.”
She was silent once again.
His gut told him something wasn’t right, and he turned the door handle without another moment of hesitation. Whether she liked it or not, he was going in.
He flung open the door to find complete darkness. He and Isaac hadn’t noticed the lights going out, because the front of the changing room had no windows—for obvious reasons.
“Silver?” he called while he banged his hand against the wall switch, turning the overhead light on immediately.
She wasn’t anywhere in sight.
With his heart now hammering in his chest, he stormed inside and began throwing open every stall. As he came to the last one, the clamor inside him came to an abrupt halt at the sight of her swimsuit and towel in a heap on the floor, her bag open haphazardly, and her sandals kicked to one side.
He grabbed her bag and dumped it. Only a few makeup items and a brush fell out. Her shorts and shirt were gone. She wouldn’t have gone anywhere without finishing getting ready and then packing her bag. Unless she went out into the gift shop or snack bar to get something to eat or drink.
Without wasting another second, he sprinted toward the opposite door of the changing room.
As he charged into the hallway, he had his phone flashlight on and shone it around the dark area.
He already knew she wasn’t there. Because if she were still anywhere in the building, she would have turned on the lights out of her fear of darkness.
That meant only one thing. Her stalker had known they were at the hot springs and had been waiting for her in the changing room.
Dustin wanted to curse and rail and even yell. But he paused at the changing-room door and called out to Isaac. “She’s not here. They got her.”
“This SUV has to be them.”
“Get a definitive on their location.”
“I can try.”
“Just do it.” Dustin was too keyed up to care if he sounded irritated or bossy.
He glanced at the rear exit of the bathhouse.
He knew from his childhood days that the back of the building opened up near a wooded stretch of land that led to a deserted and drier part of the ranch.
Isaac had set up a camera on the property line there because it bordered an old country road.
But obviously the camera couldn’t span the entire length of the land, so it was possible someone had managed to cut through the barbed wire and sneak onto the property without notice.
Whoever it was had likely taken Silver that way and then waited for the SUV to come along and pick them up. It was even possible the SUV hadn’t yet reached Silver and the stalker.
Dustin’s muscles tightened. Could he sprint out through the woods and catch them before the SUV got to them?
It would be risky. They had at least an eight—if not ten—minute head start.
He gave a curt shake of his head, frustration rushing through him and almost making him livid with himself. What had he been thinking to allow her to be in the changing room unattended? He should have insisted they return to the cabin the way he’d planned.
As angry as he was, he couldn’t waste any more time investigating the bathhouse. No, he and Isaac needed to commandeer a vehicle and chase after the SUV before it got too far away and they lost track of it.
“C’mon,” Dustin called. “We’re going after her.”
Without waiting for Isaac, Dustin took off at a sprint toward the lodge, where his brother Ty often parked his Jeep since the garage up at the house didn’t have enough room for all the vehicles he owned.
Dustin didn’t have the keys to the Jeep, but usually Ty kept them under the floor mat.
If the Jeep wasn’t there, he’d take any vehicle.
But at least with the Jeep, he could off-road a little easier and hopefully make up for lost time.
By the time he reached the parking lot at the lodge, panic was settling into his gut—a panic he hadn’t experienced in a long time, maybe ever.
Usually, even in the most stressful of situations, he was cool, calm, and collected.
But at the thought of what Silver might be experiencing, nausea churned in his gut.
He had to get to her. Now. The need pummeled him with increasing pain and pressure.
Ty’s Jeep was where Dustin had predicted it would be, its top off and keys in the usual spot.
He was already pulling out of the parking spot when Isaac arrived and hopped into the passenger seat, his eyes glued to his tablet and the SUV, which was still creeping along the country road, although growing more faint in the camera’s view.
“You called the police?” Dustin asked.
“Of course.”
They never relied on the police to hunt down stalkers or other criminals. But they tried to involve the local law enforcement in the incidents anyway to provide backup or help when possible.
Dustin gunned the Jeep and screeched around a corner, not caring who he woke or startled. He didn’t even care if the guests found out about the stalker. Nothing and no one else mattered except for getting to Silver.
He wanted Isaac to rewind the footage on the country road camera and look for any video that might show Silver and if she was okay. But Isaac was focused on using his intricate map and navigation system to try to track the SUV.
Besides, Dustin couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by the tablet and what was going on there. Instead, he had to be as alert as possible during the off-roading and push the vehicle hard and fast while at the same time avoiding anything that could slow them down.
He circled the lodge and the barn, then directed the Jeep toward the open pasture where the horses and cattle often grazed. If he cut straight across it, he would intersect the country road. He only hoped he wasn’t too late.