Lakeside Peril

His look of surprise was replaced with one of admiration. “It’s okay. I was messing with you. That flat tire is evidence. We can’t touch it.”

“What about them?” she asked, looking back toward the road behind them.

“Not my problem.”

“Aren’t you going to report them?”

“Eventually.”

He got out and came around to her side of the truck and opened the door, his dark gaze scanning her until he seemed satisfied that she wasn’t hurt. Then he handed her the gun. “Stay here while I make sure we’re safe. Shoot anything that moves.”

Chloe did as he said. He turned and stalked over to the bay side of the curving road and stared down into what looked like a thicket of scrub brush and palmetto palms. Then he pulled out his phone. She heard him giving details, so he must have called someone official.

He came back to stand by her and he took back his gun. “The truck’s halfway submerged in the shallows, but I can’t tell if they’re still in it or not. They probably got out and ran up toward the beach area. I reported the accident, so I’ll have to stay here and give a statement to the police.”

“I have to get out of here,” Chloe said. “But do I go back to Oklahoma and start all over?”

“It’s not safe there, but we’ll come up with a plan.”

“We need to keep moving.”

“I know,” he said. “And this could take a while, but if I’m going to be your official bodyguard, you need to wait here with me for now, understand?”

She didn’t like having to wait, but she did like the part where he’d accepted being her bodyguard. “I’ll wait.”

“I’ll try to hurry things along,” he said.

She stared out into the distance where the crescent moon hung over the bay like a bright lantern. “Should I call my dad and play coy?”

“No. They might have a tracking device or a tracer on his phone, too.”

“They know where I am already, Hunter.”

“But they don’t know if we have any new information or not. You can’t talk to him right now. Or anyone else, either. I’m sorry.”

Chloe didn’t protest. When they heard sirens echoing from the east, she gave Hunter one last glance. “I hope those men run into some sharks out there.”

He nodded and took off to meet the ambulance and the cruiser.

Chloe thought she probably should have told him that Bridget knew why she was here and that she would have a hissy fit once she found out what had been going on. How could she tell her nervous Nellie friend that she’d been shot at and chased since she arrived in Florida early this morning? Even though she’d helped Chloe track down Hunter, Bridget had warned her against this trip. But Hunter had been her last hope.

Now she’d put him in danger, too. When would this ever end?

The only glimmer of hope came from Hunter actually witnessing this attack. He believed her when no one else would.

Thank You, Lord.

Right now Hunter had his hands full. She’d tell him later about everyone who knew she was here and about what she’d found in Laura’s notes. Once they were away from this swamp-infested curve in the road, she’d be able to think about who might want her dead.

Because she’d never believe her father was behind this.

* * *

Hunter’s work sometimes involved talking to the locals and filing reports, but tonight he didn’t have the stomach for the mundane part of being a private investigator.

He needed to get Chloe somewhere safe. This road was too isolated and too exposed for her to be sitting here in the dark.

So he hurried things up with the two patrolmen and then called Blain to give him an update and waited to see what the first responders had found in the dense foliage along the hillside down to the bay.

“The vehicle is empty,” he heard one of the EMTs telling the responding officer. “We checked all around. One door is open, so if anyone was inside, they either managed to get out or they drowned.”

Hunter had heard enough. He’d done all he could here and he didn’t need to be in on any further searches. His truck had been moved off the road. The tow truck could have it for now to take in as evidence.

He made a call to Alec and then opened the passenger-side door and looked into Chloe’s wide eyes. “C’mon. I’ve got a friend coming to give us a ride to a safe place.”

She took the hand he offered and hopped down. “You seem to have a lot of friends.”

“Just three that I can count on.”

She didn’t ask any more questions. They stood by the truck, the damp cold night air surrounding them while the water lapped at the shore down below.

“Those men got away, didn’t they?” she asked, a shiver tapping down her spine. “There had to be at least two, right? One driver and one gunman.”

He leaned down and swiped at his bangs. “You must watch a lot of crime shows.”

“I’m just being logical.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. These kinds of underlings always travel in pairs.”

“And the ones who first showed up at the bar would have taken me or shot me right there if you hadn’t been there with me,” she said. “But you stopped them.”

“You should have stayed in Oklahoma and let the locals figure this out.”

“The locals don’t care.”

He gave her a hard stare, but his whisper was raw and low. “And you think I do?”

His question hadn’t fooled her. She stared up at him with wide-open eyes. “I know you do. You’ve proven that over and over today.”

She had him there, but Hunter wasn’t ready to concede. “I didn’t have much of a choice. I couldn’t let you get hurt or worse. I won’t have that on my conscience.”

“You’re right,” she said, a cold disappointment cresting in her expression. “You were just doing your job.”

Thankfully, Alec pulled up in a sleek SUV and saved Hunter from having to analyze things too deeply. Best to just go with it and not think about how this woman was cramping his style and messing with his head.

“Ride’s here,” he said, taking her by the arm to put her in the backseat.

Chloe gave him a questioning look as she got in the vehicle but she didn’t say anything.