You Betrayed Me (The Cahills #3) - Lisa Jackson Page 0,176

the hell was she going?

As Rebecca followed Sophia’s little hatchback through town, she tried to lie back with her rental car, which was difficult as there was still traffic, though very light, not many vehicles providing a buffer, the falling snow providing a thin veil. And it got worse. As Sophia left Riggs Crossing behind, Rebecca lagged even farther back, just barely keeping the taillights of the hatchback in sight.

Few cars were driving in the opposite direction, those that did passing quickly in the snow. Fortunately, a truck pulled out from a farmhouse lane and right in front of Rebecca’s rental car, offering cover. Though she worried she would lose Sophia, the truck drove fast and hard, so Rebecca could lag back a bit and hope the swirling flakes and the pickup’s headlights would be blinding, not allowing Sophia to know that she was being followed.

As she squinted into the night, Rebecca’s heart was thudding, anxiety twisting her insides. What was she getting herself into? She nearly called James, then thought better of it. After all, they were heading toward his property, and it occurred to Rebecca that Sophia might be meeting James at his house.

“Great.”

If Sophia turned into the lane leading to James’s place, so be it.

Rebecca would let it go.

This wasn’t about James.

It wasn’t about her.

It was about Megan.

Her gloved hands tightened over the wheel, and she felt sweat forming on her palms. For a split second, she considered phoning the cops, but what would she say? That she’d been staking out Sophia Russo’s apartment and now she was driving out of town?

She’d look like a nutjob.

Nope.

Better to just keep driving.

Rebecca followed the truck over the bridge, and to her despair, she watched as the driver pulled into the oncoming lane, then roared past Sophia’s little hatchback.

“Son of a—”

The pickup slid a little, and Rebecca held her breath and tapped her brakes. The driver was a maniac. Sophia’s taillights flashed for a second, and Rebecca lagged back farther as the truck sped forward and careened in Sophia’s path.

Now there was nothing between the cars, nothing but the falling snow to prevent Sophia from seeing her. She lagged back even more and was certain that Sophia was heading to James’s home, when suddenly, at a crossroads, she slowed and turned, heading east toward the mountains.

“What the devil?” Rebecca shot past the turn rather than make it so obvious to Sophia that she was being tailed. Instead, she drove south for a quarter mile, until she saw a driveway, nosed in, reversed, and headed back, taking the turn she’d ignored two minutes earlier. She only hoped she hadn’t lost Sophia, but saw no taillights, nothing but the ever-falling snow.

Crap!

She hit the accelerator. Speeding up, she crested a small rise in the road.

Nothing!

Just the wintry night and the whine of her rental car’s engine.

Her throat tightened.

“Come on, come on,” she said aloud, but wondered if she were on a wild goose chase. Sophia might not be doing anything nefarious, and here Rebecca was, trailing after her for what reason? A hunch? Because she’d stolen James from Megan? Well, if so, there was nothing to worry about; she was safe in her car, and if she lost Sophia, so what? The woman had a right to a private life.

Right?

Squinting into the distance, she saw no hint of the car.

So this whole damned heart-stopping, anxiety-riddled midnight ride was for nothing. She started to slow and look for a spot where she could turn around just as she spied a flicker of a red light ahead.

The road had dipped, but now Sophia’s car was on the other side of the depression, steadily climbing, and Rebecca could see it again.

She took it as a sign and gave the car more gas.

Once again, she thought she should call someone, let them know what she was doing, but who? She’d already dismissed the police and James, which left no one.

Taking up her phone, she dialed 9-1-1, teeing up the emergency number. Now all she would have to do was hit one button and she’d be connected to the police.

And how long will it take for them to get up here? You’re miles from civilization.

Tough. She’d come this far. She wasn’t backing down.

* * *

Someone was on the road behind her!

Driving to the tiny house with a load of supplies, Julia saw the headlights in her rearview mirror as she passed through the thickets of evergreen trees, boughs heavy with their snowy mantles, the narrow road winding ever