“Sheriff’s gonna send a deputy out to your place shortly. Just sit tight. And maybe stay inside.”
“Yeah, no shit.”
“Be careful, Gibs,” he said. “I’m serious, man, I don’t feel good about this.”
“We will.”
“I’ll call you if I hear anything.”
I hung up and tossed my phone on the bed. “Fuck.”
“What’s wrong?” Callie asked.
Cash woke up from his nap at the end of the bed, his ears twitching.
“The judge was taken in by the FBI, but his wife wasn’t there. No one knows where she is.”
Callie’s face went white and she swallowed hard. “What do we do?”
I paused for a second, thinking it through. We could wait here. It was possible Mrs. Kendall had gone somewhere else. Skipped town to avoid the authorities. But if she was coming after Callie…
“Did your parents keep a gun in the house?”
“Yes. They did. Said it was for home defense. The summer I was fifteen, Imogen took it out and left it sitting on the dining table for two days to scare me.”
That did it. We were getting out of here. “Bowie said to stay here and wait it out. Sheriff’s sending someone. But I don’t want to sit around while an insane woman who wants you dead is on the loose. Let’s toss some stuff in the truck and get out of town. We’ll call my family when we’re safe and let them know we’ll be back when that psycho is behind bars.”
“Okay,” she said with a definitive nod.
We got up and started packing. Threw some things in a couple of bags, for us and for Cash. My mind was busy concocting a plan. Where we’d go. How we’d get out of town without being seen. I wished I had my Charger back from the shop. It guzzled gas like a beast, but it was fucking fast and cornered better than my truck.
Callie’s rental car was an option. Although we’d long since returned her motel key from the little place she’d rented in Hayridge, she’d wanted to keep the car for a while so she had transportation, and she’d insisted the expense wasn’t a problem. But I knew my truck like the back of my hand. And I could take it off-road if it came to that.
I dropped the bags by the front door. Callie was in the kitchen stuffing a paper grocery bag with dog food and treats. I went to the front window and pushed the curtain over a few inches to peek outside.
It was dark. Quiet. My truck was parked out front, Callie’s rental car next to it. I did a double-take. There was another truck out there, parked in front of my workshop. Lights were off, and in the darkness, I couldn’t see if anyone was inside. From here it looked like Rocky Tobias’s big pickup.
“Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Callie asked. “Do you see something?”
“Either Rocky Tobias decided to pay us a very unexpected visit, or…”
“Or she’s here,” Callie finished for me.
“Could have stolen his truck.” I let the curtain drop. My eyes went to the scar on Callie’s face. At the evidence of the depth of Imogen Kendall’s crazy.
I’d never seen true evil before today. But when I’d looked at that woman in the street, it had been like staring into the eyes of the devil himself.
Damn it all to hell, I’d been sleeping. A truck had pulled up and I hadn’t heard it. I had no idea how long she’d been here.
“Call the sheriff,” she said. “Didn’t Bowie say a deputy is coming? We’ll wait inside and they’ll find—”
A crash of breaking glass filled the air and the front curtains billowed backward. Cash barked and I jumped in front of Callie. Grabbing her, I turned my back on the window, shielding her with my body.
Glass tinkled as shards broke free and fell. I glanced over my shoulder, still keeping Callie tucked safely beneath me. The curtains shifted, the breeze coming in through the broken window. I had to act, and I had to act fast.
“When I say go, we run for the truck. Don’t stop. Don’t look back. Get in and get down on the floor.”
She nodded against me. Her body was tense, but she wasn’t shivering with fear. I could feel her strength. Her resolve. Her survivor’s spirit shining through.
“Call for Cash to come,” she said.
“I will. Ready?” I loosened my hold on her. “Go.”
I sprang into motion and shouted for Cash to come. Callie was already on her feet. I spun