“You think that’s a good idea?” River asked warily. “We don’t want to give them the wrong idea.”
“They’re just drinks,” Hannah replied, waving her hand. “It’s not like we’re accepting a marriage proposal.”
“Do you recognize those guys?” Bailey muttered as she stole another glance toward the men who had purchased the drinks.
Sarah shook her head slowly, looking over her shoulder at them again. They were still watching them as though waiting for a reaction.
“They must be from out of town,” Sarah added.
“And they’re just trying their luck with some women they thought might be single,” Hannah pointed out. “It’s not a big deal.”
“I don’t know,” River replied. “It feels…off.”
Sarah nodded. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but there was something nagging at the back of her mind, a warning that something was wrong. In this small town, everyone knew everyone, and it wasn’t exactly the kind of place that got a lot of tourists.
“It’s fine,” Hannah said, trying to assure them. “Come on, it’s busy here tonight, it’s not like they’re going to try anything.”
Sarah tried to shake off the doubt in her head. Hannah was likely right. They didn’t owe these guys anything for accepting the drinks, right? Maybe they were just trying to be friendly.
The guys kept an eye on them all night, while the women gossiped, laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. As the evening wore on, the crowd thinned out, and the women headed back to their car. Sarah noticed the men walking out the door right as they pulled away from the bar.
While driving out of town, Hannah and River chatted about chores that needed to be done the next day at the lodge—guests checking out and vendor calls that had to be made. Bailey chimed in occasionally as she checked her phone for any urgent messages from the police station that required her attention.
Sarah was a little more subdued on the drive, unable to stop thinking about the men who had bought them the drinks earlier. Maybe she was just on edge knowing everything that was going on in town at the moment, but she couldn’t help but wonder if there might have been something more to it.
They had been driving on the winding mountain road leading up to Warrior Peak for about fifteen minutes when a pair of headlights flashed in the rearview mirror. Bailey and Sarah were riding in the back and whipped their heads around whenthe light flooded the back window so they could see what was happening behind them.
“Damn it,” Bailey muttered. “There’s someone on the road behind us.”
River gripped the wheel a little tighter while she glanced in the rearview mirror. Sarah knew she was thinking about the women who had been taken from the side of the road. It was all Sarah could think about, too.
“You recognize the car?” Hannah asked.
“I can’t see anything but bright lights,” River replied.
Bailey’s lips tightened. “What if it’s the guys who ordered us drinks?”
“I did see them leave right after us,” Sarah volunteered.
All the women exchanged nervous looks. “Maybe we’re just being jumpy? You know, from the article and what the men told us at the lodge,” River offered.
“Probably. But we’re still about forty-five minutes away from the lodge, I’m calling Lawson,” Sarah replied, and she dug for her phone in her pocket. She had no idea who was behind them or what they wanted, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to sit around waiting to find out. Better to be safe than sorry. As she pulled out her phone, she realized her hand was shaking, and tried her best not to let the others see. She didn’t want them noticing how freaked out she was at the situation.
Not until she’d had a chance to speak to Lawson, anyway. He and the others had been in the office when the women had left to go to town. Surely, they’d be done with their meeting by now, right? A couple of the guys could drive down to meet them, and just like that, this whole mess would be over. They would laugh at how paranoid they had been and forget about it. Because there was no way the car behind them could have anything to do with the men Lawson and the others were after right now, they were just feeling out of sorts.
At least, that was what she told herself, as she listened to the phone ring and silently pleaded for Lawson to pick up.
Chapter Twelve
Lawson snatched up the phone as soon as he saw it was Sarah calling and lifted it to his ear.
“You okay?” he asked, concerned.
“Not really,” she blurted out.
His heart dropped as soon as he heard the tone of her voice. He knew she would never fool around about something like this. If she sounded that scared, it was because she had a real reason to be, and he hated the thought of her struggling like that.
“What’s going on?” he asked, wishing he had somewhere to pace. Right now, in the confines of this restroom, he was stuck in one spot.