Lenora Worth - Lakeside Peril

“Okay.” Curious to see where he lived, Chloe followed him through the shadows to the parked cruiser out on the curb.

When they got close, Hunter did a knuckle knock on the driver’s-side window. “He has to be inside, since I didn’t see him walking the perimeters.”

He found the officer slumped over the steering wheel.

Hunter turned and shoved Chloe forward. “Run!” he shouted, pointing to the road toward the marina. “Run, Chloe, and don’t look back.”

FIVE

Chloe held tight to her shoulder bag and briefcase and took off running up the sideway toward the marina located on one of the curves of the lake. But where was Hunter?

She glanced back and saw Hunter close on her heels.

With two men chasing him.

He caught up with her and shoved her into some oleander bushes. “Go,” he said. “Shortcut across the park.”

He took her briefcase and they kept running until he pulled her up into a sandy driveway shadowed by tall palms on each side. “We’re at my place,” he said. “I dropped your overnight bag back at the inn. Used it to trip one of them up.”

“It’s okay. Nothing I can’t replace.” She was out of breath, but at least they seemed to be safe for now.

Hunter kept her in front of him and glanced back over his shoulder as he whisked her up the steps leading to a small covered deck. “This should buy us some time. They might have figured out I live here already so we need to hurry.”

“Another house on stilts,” she said, taking in the whitewashed shingles covering the side of the house.

“A necessity in hurricane country.”

He opened a side door and led her in. “Stay away from the windows.”

Chloe knew the drill. She scanned a galley kitchen and a big square room that contained a bed and living area with a bathroom off the back. Very sterile and stark. No room for anything lasting.

But she couldn’t analyze the house right now. “Will they ever stop?”

“No,” he said. “Give me your phone.”

She found her phone in her crossover bag. “The GPS? I didn’t check it earlier.”

“I’m thinking it’s more than a GPS.”

He kept looking out the window, her phone in his hand.

With the light from one muted lamp, he scrolled through her apps. “Just what I thought. Someone has put a spyware app on your phone.”

“What?” Chloe rushed over to stare at her phone. “How could that happen?”

“It’s not that hard,” he said. “If you left it on your desk or let someone use it for just a couple of minutes, they could easily set this up.”

“I left it on my desk at work,” she said, her mind overflowing with several scenarios. “Any number of people could have had access to it.”

He showed her a map he’d pulled up. “They’ve tracked your every move, beginning with your private flight and the rental car and look.” He pointed to a red dot on the map. “Here’s the Millbrook Inn.”

Chloe let out a gasp. “Then that means they’re on their way here now. They know where we are right now.”

“Yes.” He deleted the app and then he took her phone and dropped it on the floor. “You have several missed calls and messages from someone named Bridget. You’ll have to wait on getting back to her.”

“Okay,” Chloe said. She’d seen the messages, but she hadn’t had a chance to check in with her overly protective friend. Bridget worked for Conrad Oil, too, as Chloe’s assistant. Bridget knew almost as much about the company as Chloe did, since she shadowed Chloe and scheduled her days.

Which was probably the main reason Chloe was avoiding her. She didn’t want to get Bridget involved any more than she already was.

Hunter kicked the phone toward the sofa. “That should throw them off for a while. We have to go.”

He hurried her down to where a big black truck was parked behind the house. Before she could get in, he swung the door open and lifted her up onto the seat and then he ran around to the driver’s side and got in.

Chloe ignored the sensations that had shot through her when he’d placed her inside the truck. Strength mixed with steel. That was him. A man of steel. Superman? No, just a man who’d hardened himself against the world.

But his touch had been gentle.

Spinning tires and spewing dirt made the big vehicle sound as if it was growling, but Hunter got them out of the yard and through a back alley.

* * *

“So far, so good.”

They were headed along the Bay Road out from town when Hunter noticed a car tailing them too close. He glanced in the rearview mirror, but he didn’t say anything to Chloe.

When the car sped up and did a bold tap against the back bumper, he shifted into overdrive. “I’m taking you to the safest place I know,” he told Chloe. “Hold on.”

Chloe grabbed the door and glanced back. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, just a tailgater getting a little too close.”

“They’re after us again, aren’t they?”

“I think so.”

Hunter watched as the pickup backed off. But he knew what was coming next. The truck came at them again. When he heard the shot, he braced for the worst, his right hand automatically reaching for Chloe. “Get down.”

She screamed and leaned forward.

But the shooter wasn’t trying to hit either of them.

He’d gone for one of the tires.

And now Hunter’s truck was spinning out of control.

Hunter gritted his teeth and held on to the wheel, letting the truck do what it had to do before he could get it back into control. Once he’d righted it, he’d done a complete one-eighty turn and was now facing the truck idling a few yards away.

“Are you all right?” he asked Chloe. He pulled his gun out and readied it.

“Yes.” She sat up and glanced over at him. “Hunter?”

“Keep holding on,” he said. “Time to play chicken.”

“What are you doing?” Chloe held so tightly to the door handle she thought her knuckles would crack. “Hunter?”

“Just hang on,” he said, the grit in his words enough to warn her to stay quiet. “Get down in the seat.”

He let down his window and held the gun close to the opening while he revved the engine, making the big truck roar with power. Then he hit the gas pedal and headed straight for the truck that had tried to run them down, firing bullets all the way. “I’ll show these idiots how it’s supposed to be done.”

Chloe took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing her body to curl in a tight ball as she tried to stay out of the line of fire. They were going to crash into the idling vehicle. Even with one bad tire, the Chevy ate up the space between them and the people who’d chased them.

Return fire popped and sizzled all around the Chevy.

She opened her eyes for a fraction of a second and peeked over the dash, a scream wedged inside her throat. Bracing herself for the crash, she thought about Laura and wondered why in the world she thought she could trust this man. He was as full of rage as her late stepbrother.

And then at the last second, the other truck jerked to the left so hard and fast the driver couldn’t right it as he tried to swerve away. The vehicle hit the soft earthy drop-off leading down into the bay and went over, dirt spraying out behind it and the smell of burning rubber lifting up into the air.

Chloe held her breath, her eyes on Hunter. He slammed on the brakes and stopped the truck, his right hand still on the steering wheel. His gun still aimed out the door.

“I guess we won that round,” he said on a low growl. Then he turned to stare over at her. “How ya doing over there?”

Chloe wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry. “You scared me.”

“I had to stop them, one way or another.”