Covert Conception

Rick hadn’t thought this day could get any worse.

But he’d obviously thought wrong.

He didn’t have a clue why that SUV was following them, but it was. He had no doubts about that. Coupled with the drugged sex/baby news, Rick was ready to concede that he was in the middle of one crazy dream.

Except this was too real to be a dream.

“Turn right,” Rick instructed Natalie.

She didn’t argue, but he could see the concern all over her face. She was chewing on her bottom lip, and she had a white knuckle death grip on the steering wheel. Still, she made that right turn and sped up. Once again, the SUV stayed right on their bumper.

Both Natalie and he cursed.

“What now?” Natalie asked.

It was too risky to have her stop so he could confront the other driver because Rick had no idea who or what they were dealing with—carjackers, someone with a case of road rage or idiots who’d taken a car out for a joyride. Natalie might be hurt in a confrontation, especially since she probably wouldn’t just stay put and let him handle it.

Still, he had to do something.

He pointed to an upcoming intersection. “Take that turn, and drive toward the police station on Arbor Street.”

Rick also considered calling the cops, to report what was going on, but he realized he might sound a little paranoid. And he likely was. Besides, if he made the call, there’d be a police report, and he might have to bring up the drugging and the pregnancy. He didn’t want to do that yet. Not until they’d spoken to Macy and gotten the information about the caterer.

Natalie took the next turn that would get them to the police station. “What’s going on?” she asked. There was more than a tad of desperation in her voice, and though he hadn’t thought it possible, she was gripping that steering wheel even harder than before.

Rick didn’t mention his theory about road rage or carjackers. Instead, he went with the most benign scenario. “It’s probably kids taking their parents’ car for a joyride.”

But he couldn’t discount that this was yet another incident of unnerving things that just didn’t make sense. First, someone had drugged them. From the looks of that video, it’d been a date-rape-type drug. Or maybe some weird, powerful aphrodisiac that’d induced memory loss.

And why?

So that Natalie and he would head to her bedroom and therefore place themselves in a compromising position?

Was that it?

Had this really been some sort of elaborate blackmail or revenge scheme? Had someone taken pictures of them having sex and was that person planning to use them in some sinister way?

He gave that some thought and decided that didn’t make sense, either.

Nothing about this made sense.

Neither Natalie nor he was married. Nor were either involved in a relationship. It was the same for their jobs. Their businesses wouldn’t be adversely affected if their customers learned they’d had sex.

So, what could possibly be the point?

Rick didn’t have an answer for that, either.

Frustrated and concerned, he checked the side mirror again and didn’t think it was his imagination that the SUV was even closer. He considered having Natalie slam on her brakes, which would almost certainly cause a rear-end collision. That would allow him to get a good look at whoever was following them, but it would also put Natalie at risk.

And perhaps the baby.

Not only did he have to consider Natalie’s safety, but they both had to consider the child.

“We should be at the police station in about five minutes,” Rick let Natalie know. He’d hoped that would relieve some of the tension in her body. It didn’t.

Instead, her eyes widened.

Rick’s attention went back to the mirror. The SUV had sped up again. And it was no longer behind them. It’d moved out into the lane to the left of them. It pulled up, driving until the two vehicles were side by side.

“Can you see who’s behind the wheel?” Natalie asked. She glanced over at the SUV just for a second.

Rick tried and failed to see who was inside. “The windows are too heavily tinted. Just keep driving and try to stay calm. Nothing’s going to happen. It’s still broad daylight, and there are three other cars nearby.”

However, high visibility apparently wasn’t enough to deter the SUV driver.

The vehicle swerved to the right, moving directly into their lane. Natalie veered to avoid it, but the SUV immediately repeated the maneuver. That wasn’t the action of a bad driver. Or a joyrider.

This person was trying to run them off the road.

Rick caught onto the steering wheel so he could help Natalie maintain control of her car. He kept watch on the front end of the SUV, and every time it made a move toward them, Rick and Natalie moved her car out of the way.

“We’re going into the emergency lane,” Rick explained just seconds before he steered the vehicle in that direction. “Hit the brakes now.”

She did, and instantly there was the sound of tires screeching on the hot asphalt. The SUV apparently hadn’t expected them to do that because it sped on ahead.

Rick saw the other vehicle’s brake lights, but it was too late to try to cut into the emergency lane and back up. There were cars coming directly behind them. The SUV had to speed up to keep from being hit.

Rick held his breath until the other vehicle was out of sight. “Are you okay?” he asked Natalie.

“No. I’m not.” She groaned, and Rick pried her hands off the steering wheel so that she wouldn’t have bruises. “What is going on?”

“I don’t know.”

She smacked her hand on the steering wheel. “Do you think this is all connected to the pregnancy?”

“No,” he answered.

And he hoped that was true.

But Rick had a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach that the driver of that SUV had wanted to harm them.

“I fired a mechanic about two weeks ago,” Rick said. He kept a close watch on the cars speeding past them. He wanted to make sure that SUV didn’t do a turnaround and come right back at them. “Maybe the guy was more riled than I thought he was.”

Natalie nodded and she seemed to calm a little. “I had to let someone go, too. A housekeeper. About a month ago. Because she was stealing things.” She paused. “That might explain who was in that SUV, but even a pair of disgruntled former employees probably wouldn’t have come up with a plan to punish us with drugs and a pregnancy. It’d be easier just to hurt us. Or kill us.”

Rick was on the same page with her. But that didn’t mean there weren’t answers out there.

“Macy,” he mumbled.