Eva read through the comments, some of them threatening. This would be why her daddy wanted her home.
If her stalker wasn’t lying before about knowing that she was in Harvest Ranch, he definitely would’ve figured it out this time.
And running through her phone messages, she found one unknown number in particular that had written her about half a dozen texts:
“Harvest Ranch, huh?”
“That’s interesting. You’re not with any of your bodyguards in that video.”
“That’s not West you’re with, is it?”
“Is that his brother?”
“Uh oh. You seem pretty close to him. West is gonna be TICKED.”
“You like the pretty boys, huh? Let’s invite him to our little party.”
She gasped. What a creeper!
Cole glanced over at her. “What is it?”
“It’s that stalker—he wrote me again. Kylee livestreamed our chick race. Now he really knows I’m in Harvest Ranch.”
His jaw tightened. “Maybe we should get you home to Nashville.”
And leave Cole vulnerable? No way. Not after those threats. That was it! She was not running anymore. “Stop right here!” she cried. “Stop the pickup, Cole. I mean it. Please!”
It seemed like her pleas had moved him because Cole pulled over to the side of the road so fast that the brakes screeched. Directly in front of them were more cattle crossing signs. They were on the other side of the Burro Mine. The swamp covered in reeds in the distance gave it away.
Eva pushed out the door.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
Not answering, she clutched tightly to her phone and marched to the back of the pickup truck where she pushed down the tailgate and tugged out the shotgun that she knew Cole kept there. She wouldn’t be intimidated anymore, and she wouldn’t let this stranger hurt anyone she loved.
She gave Cole her phone. “Point the screen at me.”
“What?”
“Just do it.”
His forehead wrinkled, but the dear man did it. Wrapping her fingers over his, she found TalkieTalk and clicked on the record button. She smiled brightly at the screen. “I love target practice,” she said. “Go ahead, Cole, tell me what to aim at, I’ll hit it.”
“Uh…” He tilted his head at her, watching her like he was afraid she was having a nervous breakdown. After her pleading look, he finally gave in and pointed. “The cattle crossing sign. Why not? Nobody seems to respect them around here anyway.”
She slammed the shotgun against her shoulder and shot the sign into smithereens.
He let out a whoop. His brow was arched in confusion, but also he seemed impressed. She never would’ve seen that expression on West’s face. He never let go enough to show how he really felt.
“You’ve been hiding your talents, Eva.”
She had, hadn’t she? The grin Cole gave her was contagious, and she realized how much she’d been missing out on these past few months while she tried to bend and twist into the thing that she thought West wanted her to be.
Never again!
She felt so free.
Eva shrugged flirtatiously over at Cole. “I’m getting out a little aggression,” she said. Of course, that announcement was for the benefit of her stalker.