This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any similarity to events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
First US edition October 2018
Copyright © 2018 by Cheryl Bradshaw
Cover Design Copyright 2018 © Indie Designz
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1726811415
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form, or by any means whatsoever (electronic, mechanical, etc.) without the prior written permission and consent of the author.
“I pass my life in preventing the storm from blowing down the tent, and I drive in the pegs as fast as they are pulled up.”
—Abraham Lincoln
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
About Cheryl Bradshaw
Books by Cheryl Bradshaw
CHAPTER 1
Juliette Granger glanced in the car’s rearview mirror one more time. It had become a knee-jerk reaction she couldn’t stop repeating, even though no matter how many times she looked, there was nothing to indicate she was being followed. She’d been driving the desert stretch between Las Vegas and St. George, Utah, for the last hour. Her fellow motorists were sparse at best. Even so, she was nauseated and unsettled—unable to shake the feeling he would catch up to her somehow once he realized she was gone.
For now, Juliette took comfort in her biggest ally—time. She’d slipped out of the house an hour and a half earlier when her husband Seth began snoring. Taking every precaution not to rouse him, she’d inched her hand beneath her side of the bed, retrieving a bag she’d hidden earlier in the day. Dangling the bag’s straps between a few of her fingers, she’d glanced over at him before standing, horrified when she noticed he had rolled over. One of his eyes had slid open. He appeared to be looking at her.
For a moment, she’d just stood there. Frozen. Not moving. Not breathing. Watching his chest rise and fall. She thought he’d seen her, but then something unexpected happened—he rolled back over, and the snoring resumed.
For the past two weeks, Juliette had planned her escape. New place. New people. Somewhere safe. Somewhere no one would think to look. And most of all, somewhere he wouldn’t find her.
Her cell phone buzzed from its place on the passenger seat. The sudden break in silence jolted Juliette back into the present moment, sending a shockwave through her system, like needles prickling her skin. She took one hand off the steering wheel and reached for the phone, but hesitated before flipping it over to see who was calling.
What if it’s him?
It couldn’t be, could it?
It’s much too soon.
She glanced at the name of the caller on the phone’s screen, exhaling a sigh of relief before bringing it to her ear. “Hey, sis.”
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Everything’s fine so far.”
“Did you make it out all right?”
“Yeah,” she said.
“Are you driving?”
“I am.”
“Good. Where are you now?”
Juliette glanced at a billboard advertising a prime-rib special at one of the casinos nearby. “I’m just getting into Mesquite.”
“Mmm ... kay. You shouldn’t be too much longer then. I’ll let you go so you can concentrate on driving.”
Juliette gripped the steering wheel so hard she imagined it breaking in half. “You still there?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m ... worried I’ve made the wrong decision. I’m scared.”
“I know you are. Did you have a chance to talk to Seth before you left?”
“I tried having a conversation with him at dinner, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have the guts to do it. I just can’t right now. My stomach is in knots. My throat’s dry. I can’t breathe. I’ve thought about stopping at a gas station for a few minutes. I need something fizzy—a soda or something to settle my stomach.”
“Why don’t you get off the freeway and get one then?”
She wanted to, but she couldn’t risk it. She had to keep going.
“I’m ... I’ll be fine. Once Seth wakes up, once he realizes I’m gone, he’ll come looking for me.”
“I hate to say this, but he deserves an explanation, Juliette. You can’t just leave him hanging.”
“I know. I left a note. It’s not how I intended for it to go, but it’s better than nothing, right? It’s better than no explanation at all.”
“What did the note say?”
“I kept it brief and to the point. I told him I was sorry I left. I said I couldn’t be married anymore, and I asked him not to come looking for me.” Juliette sighed. “Part of me feels like I shouldn’t have involved you in what’s happening with us. My marriage is my problem. Not yours.”
“It’s not your problem. It’s our problem. You’re my baby sister. I just wish you had told me you two were having problems sooner. I knew you were unhappy, but I didn’t know just how much.”
“I wanted to tell you. I thought about it whenever we talked on the phone lately, and I should have. I’m sorry.”
It was true. If she could, she’d start at the beginning, tell Raine everything, except she couldn’t confide in her about the way she’d lived her life lately. Raine would get involved, lecturing her about how she needed to ‘do the right thing.’ Even stopping to see her was a bad idea, but Juliette needed one last goodbye.
“Don’t be sorry,” Raine said. “I should be the one apologizing to you. I’ve been so caught up in my own life, I haven’t been there for you lately. You’re a lot stronger than you think. You’ll get through this.”
She wasn’t so sure.
“I feel like everything’s a haze. My life’s a mess. I’ve made so many mistakes. You have no—”
Idea.
She stopped herself before saying it, knowing it would lead to Raine asking questions she wouldn’t answer.
“It’s going to be all right,” Raine said. “Trust me. How’s Nora doing?”
Juliette glanced back at her two-year-old daughter bundled inside a blanket in her car seat. “She’s sleeping. She has her unicorn�
��the one you gave her.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I said we were going on a trip. She asked where, and I said it was a surprise. She hopped out of bed, grabbed her blanket and her unicorn, and ran to the front door.”
Raine laughed. “Good. I can’t wait to see you both.”
“Raine?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too. See you soon, okay?”
A knot, tight and round, throbbed inside Juliette’s throat. She choked out, “Yeah, see you soon,” and hung up.
CHAPTER 2
Cell phone still in hand, Juliette put her window down a quarter of the way. It was time to get rid of the phone for good, something she should have done before she left, but forgot in her haste to get out the door. She raised it to the window, hesitating a moment before pushing it out. It was the last remaining connection to everyone she was about to lose. Tossing it out was much harder than she thought it would be.
Just a few more minutes, and then I’ll do it.
She set the phone in the cup holder and headed into the opening of the Virgin River Gorge, a stretch of highway between Mesquite and St. George known for its steep switchbacks, enormous rocklike mountains, and narrow passageways. Over the years she’d driven through it hundreds of times, always leaning toward the window in the daytime to look for rafters floating in the river below.
A dull, whiny sound caused Juliette to look back. Nora stirred in her seat. “Mommy?”
Juliette turned. “Yeah, sweetie?”
“I don’t want to be in the car anymore. I want Ree-Ree.”
Ree-Ree was what Nora called Raine.
“If you go back to sleep, I bet when you wake up again, we’ll be at Auntie Raine’s house.”
“Can she make me strawberry pancakes—the ones with the chocolate sprinkles?”
“We’ll see. Okay?”
Nora clapped her hands together. “Yay! I love sprinkles.”
The truth was they wouldn’t be staying long, but Juliette decided it was best not to rattle Nora any more than necessary.
“Mommy?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you call Daddy? Can he come too?”
“Another time, sweetie. We’re too far away for Daddy to come with us now. Go back to sleep, and when you wake up, we’ll be there.”
“Oh ... kay.”
Nora yawned, curled her head against the side of her car seat, and closed her eyes. Juliette went back to appeasing her nervous tic. This time when she checked the rearview mirror, another car’s headlights beamed in the distance. The car was going fast. Too fast. The speed limit in the gorge was a modest fifty-five. The driver must have been doing seventy at least.
Breathe, Juliette.
Don’t freak out.
It’s probably some guy in a sports car, treating the highway like his own personal racetrack.
People often drove this way through the gorge. Stupid people, hoping they wouldn’t get caught. She’d been young and stupid once in college when she drove her father’s Nissan pickup through the same area going just over a hundred per hour with her roommate, Lenore, in the passenger seat, earning the truck the nickname “silver bullet.”
Glancing in the mirror again, she noticed the vehicle was gaining on her.
“Idiot,” she whispered. “Hurry up and pass me.”
The car approached then slowed down, switching from the left lane to the right before falling in line behind her. The driver went from a three-car following distance to a two and then a one. He seemed to be toying with her, pushing her to speed up, as if he were bored, looking to play a dangerous game.
Please.
Don’t be who I think you are.
Please. Please. Please.
It was a starless night. A canvas of black coated the landscape, making it impossible for Juliette to see the driver or the type of car behind her. The vehicle’s headlights were small and round, sending a blinding prism of light through her back window.
His brights were on, and a thick mass was developing in her throat, making it difficult to swallow. Regardless of whoever was behind her, she had no time for games. She needed to get away.
She needed to get away now.
She pressed down on the gas pedal, thrusting the car forward—sixty then seventy then eighty, way faster than she wanted to go. At eighty-three on the speedometer, she still couldn’t shake him. It was like his car was magnetic, attached to the back of hers. Speeding up hadn’t worked, so she tried something different. She slowed down, easing her foot off the gas, pleased when the other vehicle swerved back into the passing lane.
Finally. You’ve had your fun. Now get out of my way, dammit.
The car pressed forward. It looked like it would pass this time, until it didn’t. Instead, the driver aligned his car beside hers until both vehicles were parallel to one another. She glanced over and squinted. The headlights from the two cars allowed just enough of a glow for her to see inside his vehicle. The driver didn’t return her gaze and kept his eyes fixed on the road. She took a quick look ahead of her and then back to the driver, trying to see if she recognized him, but it was still too dark to tell. From what little she could observe, he wore a ball cap, sunglasses over his eyes despite the darkness, and a hoodie with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over the ball cap.
For a moment, she couldn’t breathe.
Another glance at the road and then back at the man.
Who are you?
Why are you toying with me?
She flashed back to the last three years of her life, to the choices she’d made, knowing every decision came with a consequence—and hers had been poor damn decisions. Today she feared she was reaping what she’d sewn.
CHAPTER 3
The tinted window on the back passenger seat of the other car came down as if in slow motion. A terror-stricken Juliette stifled a scream when she noticed the driver of the other car wasn’t alone. There was a second man with him, his hair and face camouflaged beneath a dark-gray beanie. Small, jagged slits had been cut out for his eyes, like he’d done it in a hurry, or perhaps wanted it to look like he had for effect. If so, it was working.
The masked man looked in her direction and motioned for her to put her window down.
No way.
No way I’m putting my window down.
She stepped on the gas, speeding up again.
The driver sped up too, and this time when he caught up to her, the masked man in the back seat reached his arm out the open window.
What in the hell are you doing?
She didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
In his gloved hand was a crowbar. He shook it in her direction, yelling something she couldn’t quite make out, but what he wanted was obvious: he wanted her to pull over.
She clutched the wheel with both hands and accelerated again, taking the car to speeds it had never been before. This time when the driver caught up to her, the man in the back seat hammered the crowbar into the window of her back seat, shattering the glass.
The commotion woke Nora, her shrieks echoing throughout the car. “Mommy! Mommy! I’m scared.”
CHAPTER 4
The masked man turned, yelling at the driver to get his car as close to Juliette’s as he could. The driver nodded, inching his vehicle so close to hers it was like the two had merged into one. In a panic, she canvassed the road, looking for a way out—any opportunity to get away. But there was no place else to go. A thick metal railing was the only divider between the highway and the steep drop inside the gorge. In the dark, she couldn’t gauge where they were. It was impossible to know the distance to the bottom. It was a one-hundred-foot drop, at least—possibly even more. It was dicey. Too dicey. She’d be dead. They’d both be dead.
“Stop the car!” the masked man yelled.
“No!” she screamed. “Leave me alone!”
He tossed the crowbar to the side and then pushed his body out of the op
en window, thrusting his head inside the back seat of her car. “I said to stop the fucking vehicle! Now!”
She swerved in a zigzag motion on the road, trying to shake him, which seemed to only fuel his anger. He grabbed the back of Juliette’s headrest, using it to catapult himself all the way inside. “If you don’t want any harm to come to your kid, do what I’m telling you.”
His angered words echoed inside her ear. She tried to determine whether he was familiar, or if what was happening was something else.
Tears streamed down Nora’s cheeks as she whimpered the word “Mommy” over and over again.
The man reached over, stroking Nora’s hair. “There, there, little one. It’s all right. Everything’s going to be okay. Don’t be afraid.”
Juliette reached back, trying to swat him off of her. “Get away from my baby! Don’t you touch her! Don’t you dare touch her!”
“Lady, I’m only going to say this one more time. Stop the car.”
His voice was gritty and rough ... and something else. Familiar. But Juliette couldn’t place for sure.
Attempting to reason with his rational side, if he had one, she said, “Are you crazy? I can’t just stop right here! Take a look! There’s nowhere for me to pull over.”
“Don’t act stupid. There’s a pullout just ahead. Take it.”
He was right. There was a small, narrow, dirt pullout around the next bend. But if she took it—if she did what he asked—what then? She ran a few options through her mind, hesitating when she felt something hard pressing against the back of her head.
“You know what that is, lady?”
In the rearview mirror she could see the side of the object in question. She had no choice. She had to do what he asked. “Please ... don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt my baby.”
“Unless you want me to blow your brains out in front of your little girl, do what I ask and stop the car. Do it now, or you and your daughter go over the side, and we both know it’s a long way to the bottom.”
“If we go down, you go down with us.”
He laughed, his voice placid, like the idea of dying didn’t concern him in the least. “You think so? Try me.”
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