"What-"

"Shh!" He lightly squeezed her thigh, staring intently ahead at the house. Something was wrong; very wrong, he thought. The house was dark. Okay, so maybe Jas had actually done what he'd said and gotten Nellie out. He better had. And Zach was probably still at the airport with the cops, trying to apprehend the owner of the slick, evil voice on the telephone. But Cam knew how well prepared Zach always was. Because of that, Cam had expected to have house protection, as well.

"I don't think we're going in." He reached to put the truck in reverse.

"Cam, I-"

"Luckily for you, it'll have to wait." He switched his gaze back to the road, then the rearview mirror, and gripped the wheel tightly. "Oh, hell."

Haley's head whipped up and she looked at him. Her eyes widened. "He's here," she whispered. "Oh, God, he's here."

He felt her freeze up beside him. Slamming his truck into four-wheel drive, he gunned the accelerator and headed directly over the wild grass between the barns and the house.

Haley gaped at him, then twisted in her seat to look behind.

A set of headlights slowly followed them.

"Police?" she asked hopefully. After all, when it came right down to it, extradition was better than dead.

Cam shook his head, staring into the left-hand mirror, as dread welled up. "Not in a black BMW."

She gasped. "He saw you. Oh, no, he saw you! And now he knows I've told. He'll-"

A gunshot rang out into the still night and Haley slapped her hands over her mouth, stifling her scream, as Cam fought to keep control of the truck.

The next shot ricocheted off the side of the truck with a loud ping.

Cam hated guns with a vengeance, but wished with all his might he had one now. He veered around the toolshed, dust flying up in front of the headlights and forming a cloud around them. Haley screamed as a third shot hit the back of the truck.

"Get down!" he yelled, turning off the headlights, plunging them into pitch-darkness. Another shot echoed in the night. He swerved onto the narrow horse trail he'd taken Haley on the fateful day of the library incident.

"He's still following," she announced fearfully, craning her neck. "He can see us in his lights."

"Not for long." He hoped. "Stay down." She bumped her head on the ceiling when he hit a dip in the dirt path. "Dammit, down!" he shouted again as yet another shot rang out. When Haley just stared at him, her eyes glossy with shock, he swore and shoved her head down between her knees.

Again a shot splintered the night. It plowed through the window precisely where her head had been a second before, and Cam's heart nearly leaped from his chest. Glass shattered and rained over them as Haley slowly raised her head.

"You okay?" he demanded, scarcely breathing. Cold air whipped over them as she brushed glass off her. "Haley!" he shouted. "Answer me!"

She nodded, but he could hear her choppy, panicked breathing. He started to sweat as he stared at where the glass had broken over her. The next bullet whizzed harmlessly by.

"I can't believe it." She gripped the hand he held out. "He's armed and I'm with the only cowboy in the Wild West who doesn't carry a gun." She swore when she bumped her elbow on the door as he hit another dip in the trail. "Where are we going?"

Cam prayed he had this path memorized as he navigated in the dark. At least twenty-five yards behind them now, the headlights of the BMW bounced eerily as the car hit every rut. "As far away as we can get."

"Can you even see?" she called out over the roar of the engine as he gunned the truck forward.

He imagined she didn't really want an answer to that one since it was obvious-no one could see. Everything around them-the trees, the rocks, the mountain, everything-was a dark blur that whizzed by. He whipped his truck around a large bush and over a fallen tree stump. A minute later he risked a glance at Haley and saw how pale, how absolutely terror-filled she looked in the eerie glow of the BMW's headlights. The image of her in the clutches of the nameless evil behind them had Cam tensed and coiled for the fight of his life.

He forced himself to concentrate when he took the next turn too wide and nearly dumped them down a small ravine. By the time he'd shoved into reverse and gotten them straight, the BMW had closed some of the distance between them.

They came to the top of the first hill and Cam knew they couldn't go much farther in the truck. The tires slipped on the sharp, jagged rocks as the trail grew steeper and all the more difficult because he could hardly see a thing.

"There's no moon," Haley whispered as he slowed. "It seems so black, so… scary."

He wished to hell he had a third hand so he could wrap Haley close to him. He could hear the panic, feel the terror vibrating from her, and he'd never felt quite so helpless.

"He can't stay on this trail as long as we can," he assured her grimly as he steered sharply to the right to avoid a dark shape. It turned out to be a huge tree trunk that would have stopped them cold.

Another quick turn saved them from a nice gouging by a low, jutting branch. Now the BMW was nowhere to be seen. Cam knew that to the left rose a high, sheer rock face and to the right was a steep, unforgiving cliff that fell to the canyon floor below.

Horses would have no problem on this trail-in fact this was the exact trail he'd taken Haley on before-but his truck was a different story entirely. His tires protested against the rocks. His back right tire slipped off the edge on his next turn, and he knew it was time to call it quits. He went just a little farther, to where the terrain had evened somewhat and the rock to his left had leveled out to a small wooded area.

The headlights behind them had disappeared, but he knew their pursuer was still back there, waiting, biding his time. The cliffs Cam and his brothers had camped out in last summer weren't far now-just beyond the creek and through some dense brush and trees. He could get them there. They could hide in a cave where no one could find them until daybreak.

Stopping the truck abruptly, he yanked out his flashlight from the glove compartment. "Come on. Quick." He pulled Haley out the driver's side, and then because she looked so damn petrified, he gave her a quick, hard kiss and took her hand. "Hurry."

"Hurry?"

The pop of a gunshot above their heads had her complying as they ducked and sprinted into the woods.

Chapter 12

Running wasn't easy in the dark, but having been shot at was great motivation. Within a few seconds, the woods had completely swallowed up Haley and Cam, surrounding them in an eerie, echoing darkness.

Though he couldn't hear signs they'd been followed, Cam forced them to keep moving, knowing they shouldn't stop.

Deeper and deeper they went, up the mountain. "Hurry." Mercilessly, he tugged the panting Haley over rocks and branches, through trees, farther into the black woods. "Come on."

When she fell suddenly, she nearly tore his arm out of its socket. He dropped to his knees, groping for her. "Haley?" he whispered, frantic.

"I'm okay."

She didn't sound it, but he knew it was too soon to slow down. The sudden rustling of bushes from where they'd just come reinforced that feeling. "Can you walk?"

She surged to her knees, bumping her head on his chin so hard he saw stars. "Oh, Cam, I'm sorry!" She reached for him with chilled hands.

He took them in his, gritted his teeth against the pain in his chin and pulled her to her feet. "Farther."

She groaned but moved, and they continued on. The sounds of their ragged breathing seemed loud to Cam's ears, but he couldn't control it. He could hardly see in the moonless night but he could hear the running water of the creek. The tall trees blocked any light the stars would have afforded. Twice he stopped to listen, pulling Haley close while he concentrated. A haunting silence filled the air; the kind of unworldly quiet that precedes a storm-just what they didn't need.

But finally there was no sign that they were being followed. Still, they ran. Near the creek, they stopped for a third time. Haley bumped into him from behind, gasping for breath. Turning, he held her tightly, alarmed by how cold she was, how she shivered despite their exertion.

"I think we've lost him." She nodded and pulled closer, burrowing her face and icy nose into his neck.

And right there in the dark, in the most dangerous situation of his life, his heart swelled with such an overwhelming protectiveness, it took his breath away.

"He couldn't have followed us this far without a light, could he?" she asked.

"No." He hugged her close for a moment, then made them go a little farther to a small clearing that was lined with sharp, jutting rocks. "We can't go back," he said. "Not until the sun comes up. It isn't safe." He pointed to the rocky side of a ravine close to them. "See over there? Some of those rocks cover shallow caves. We'll rest there."

He helped Haley climb up the rocks-not an easy feat in the dark. Several times he caught her as she slipped, saving her from a nasty fall. Finally, at the top, they settled with their backs against the sheer granite, covered overhead by an outreach of stone. Darkness loomed around them, so complete that Cam couldn't ascertain exactly how big an area their small cave afforded them. But if they didn't light a fire and they kept their voices down, no one could see them, even if someone passed directly beneath them in the bush.

Pulling Haley into the crook of his arm, Cam stared at the opening of their cave, his heart still thundering from their escape. When he could breathe normally again, he gave Haley a slight squeeze. "You okay?"