Chapter One

Missy 

Winnie pushed past me as soon as I unlocked the door to our apartment, nearly knocking me to the ground. She was still jabbering about the fun she’d had with her dad that weekend as she dumped her backpack onto the floor and collapsed dramatically onto the couch with a giant yawn.

 “No shoes on the furniture,” I reminded her for the millionth time as I dropped my keys into my purse and turned to hang it on the rack beside the door.

“Sorry, Mom,” she said in a singsong voice. She tugged off her muddy cowgirl boots and chucked them toward the door. The impact sent clumps of dried mud in all directions. She giggled. “Oops.” 

I closed my eyes and counted to ten, trying not to scold. It was like this every time the girls came back from a weekend with Travis. He didn’t care about things like muddy boots or dirty floors. He was a rancher—dirt was simply part of life. Winnie always seemed to forget her manners when she came back from a weekend at Falcon Ridge Ranch. 

That, or she deliberately pushed my buttons as punishment for the impending divorce. 

Adeline took her boots off and put them neatly beside the door. “Want me to sweep up this mess?”

“No, but thank you for offering.” I gave her a grateful smile as I slipped out of my coat and hung it on the rack beside my purse. “Do you have any homework?”

She shook her head. “I did it at Dad’s.” 

It was the answer I’d expected. Adeline was too responsible to delay her homework until Sunday night. She was far more mature than I’d been at thirteen.

“Maybe we can watch a movie tonight,” I offered, heading toward the kitchen to grab the broom. 

“Yay!” Winnie cheered. “Movie night! With popcorn?”

“Sure,” I called back, grateful to win some brownie points. It was silly, embarrassing even, but I always felt the need to be extra fun after the girls had been at the Hawkins’ ranch. Their weekends there were practically a vacation—horseback riding, bonfires, s’mores, and an entire family eager to dote on them. 

By comparison, life with me was a drag. 

I reached for the broom, freezing as my eyes landed on the half-empty bottle of Pinot Noir on my kitchen counter. The wine was on the very edge of the countertop, to the right of the bin where I tossed mail that needed to be sorted. 

I always—always—put wine on the left, directly underneath the cabinet that held the wine glasses. 

I stared at the bottle, blinking twice, as if closing my eyes and reopening them would make it reappear where it should be—the way I’d left it before driving to pick up the girls. But the bottle continued to mock me from a place where I would never have put it. 

Fear snaked down my spine.

Henry had broken into my apartment.

I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. 

He had been here.

It was unbelievable—crazy, even. My face burned red as it hit me how ridiculous it would sound to report this to the police. Hello, officer. My wine bottle is in the wrong place, so my stalker must have broken into my apartment and moved it. But I knew myself. I was a woman of routine who never stashed things in random places. I’d also only had a single glass last night, sipped slowly and stretched out over a long hour—just enough to take the edge off the fear that always came when I was alone in my apartment, without the warmth of the girls tucked beside me in the bed we’d shared most nights since I’d left Travis. Sleepovers, we called them. 

Never mind the fact that they had a beautiful room of their own, furnished with every horse decoration I could afford—a silent apology for taking them away from a world they loved so dearly. 

Adeline went along with it for my sake, but Winnie was always happy to crash in my room, despite the lack of decorations and the lack of comfort. After all, I had a secret weapon: a TV, which I put a movie on every night so that we could curl up in bed together, falling asleep to the images and sounds of a world made for children.

A world without the darkness that had wrecked me. 

But last night … last night they’d been at their dad’s, and I’d slept on the couch, tense and anxious despite the wine I’d allowed myself to try to ease the fear. 

One glass. Only one. 

Never enough to lose myself. Never enough to stop me from grabbing my keys and driving away. 

This was crazy. I forced myself to take a slow, deep breath. When we’d arrived home, the apartment had been locked properly. Henry hadn’t been waiting behind the door with a knife. Nothing else seemed out of place, and I had made my single pour a little larger than normal last night. I’d also had a lot on my mind.

Maybe … maybe I’d thoughtlessly moved the bottle and simply didn’t remember. 

Detective Stark was patient and kind, but I’d already called about things that turned out to be nothing, and this was, admittedly, a stretch. It was probably just increased anxiety.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Adeline moved into the kitchen, studying me with worried eyes. She was entirely too perceptive for her age.

I forced a breath, then gave her a shaky smile as I tucked her soft brown hair behind her ear. “Nothing. Everything’s fine.” 

And then I saw the curtains. 

The hideous, blue-and-gold tapestry curtains that hung over my patio doors were heavy monstrosities that blocked out the sunlight I loved so much. I hated them as much as I needed them. 

They always stayed closed, pulled together tightly, carefully, so that anyone lurking in the shadows would be unable to see even a glimpse inside. I’d even put Velcro on the walls, little patches to keep the wretched fabric in place. I couldn’t risk it. Couldn’t risk even an inch for Henry to … watch. 

But there, by the patio door entrance that was always locked and never, ever used, the curtains were pulled back from their Velcro and left open a solid three inches. 

He had really broken into my apartment.

A worse thought hit me. 

He might still be here.

My stomach wrenched, the room spun, and I gripped the dining room table to stop myself from falling. 

No. God, please, no. 

“Mommy!” Winnie’s voice, small and scared, pulled me from the terror. “What’s happening?” 

Both my daughters looked at me with fearful eyes. I had to be strong for them. Had to protect them from this, no matter what. 

I took a deep inhale, counting as I held the breath and released it, willing my body to calm down. With a practiced smile and the steadiest voice I could manage, I looked them both in the eye and told them a lie. 

“I made a silly mistake and left something important at the art gallery. I could get in big trouble for it. We need to leave now so I can get it.” 

Winnie’s bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “But I’m hungry. You said you were going to cook dinner as soon as we got home.” 

Clearly, she’d bought the lie. 

But Adeline hadn’t. She put an arm around Winnie’s shoulders and coaxed her. “We don’t want Mom to get in trouble at work. Let’s go now and get whatever she forgot.” 

“We’ll get takeout on the way, and eat it in the car,” I said, smiling brightly. Too brightly. 

Winnie’s eyes lit up. “In the car? You never let us eat in the car!” 

“We deserve a treat, right?” I smiled again, blinking back anxious tears. 

“Yay!” Winnie clapped her hands, dimples popping into her adorable, chubby cheeks. My adorable, stubborn, precious baby.

I’d never forgive myself if Henry hurt them. I wasn’t sure I’d forgive myself even if he didn’t—putting them on his radar was bad enough.

But I didn’t have time to drown in my guilt. 

“Grab your backpacks,” I said, already herding them to the door. I grabbed my coat and slung my purse over my shoulder, slipping my hand inside it. My fingers gripped the Taser I kept hidden. I felt for the safety and pushed it down. 

Just in case.

“Why do we need to take our backpacks to the office?” Winnie asked, frowning as she picked up the backpack she’d dropped at the door and put it over the shoulders of the puffy purple coat she’d never removed. She shoved her feet back into her muddy boots.

“Maybe we’re going on an adventure,” Adeline said, trying to be helpful. She retrieved her coat from where she’d hung it beside the door and slipped it back on, then grabbed her backpack.

“Exactly,” I said, forcing another fake smile. “An adventure.” 

Winnie eyed me. “Do we still get to eat in the car?”

“Yes, baby. You still get to eat in the car. Now hurry.” 

I pushed them out the door, turning the lock as I did. I didn’t bother with the deadbolt. I wasn’t sure I could manage it quickly with my left hand, and there was no way I was taking my right off the Taser inside my purse. We retraced the steps we’d taken only minutes before, stopping when my neighbor, George, came around the corner.

“Ah, hey, Missy,” he said, giving me a grin. He wiped the sweat from his face with a towel and swigged his bottle of water, apparently just returning from the gym. “How was the ranch?” he asked the girls. 

“Great!” Winnie said, her face lighting up. A born talker, she was always thrilled by an opportunity to regale a fresh listener with her adventures. 

I nudged her forward before she could launch into a story that would keep us stuck in the hallway for precious minutes. Winnie wasn’t the only one who liked to talk—George was always a bit hungry for attention, too. “Can’t chat right now,” I said, giving George an apologetic smile.

“Where’s the fire?” he joked. 

“Work emergency,” I explained, trying to shift past him.

“Ah.” He shook his head in reproach. “You work too hard. Listen, have you thought about—”

I cut him off before he could launch into whatever his latest proposition was. “I’m sorry,” I said, plastering a smile in place. “We really have to leave.” My anxiety was growing every second I stood in this hallway. 

He was clearly annoyed, but I didn’t give him time to respond before herding the girls toward the stairs. 

Winnie took them slowly, unlike everything else in her life. She held onto the stair rail, leading each descent with her left foot. Normally, I appreciated the fact that she was careful on these steps, especially when she typically barrelled her way through the world in a way that had given me a permanent case of mild anxiety. But tonight I had to bite my tongue to stop from urging her to walk faster. The stairwell made me feel like an animal caught in a trap. Each slow step brought fresh visions of him—and of the things he’d threatened to do to me.

When we finally reached the lobby, I hesitated at the door of the apartment building, scanning the parking lot for any signs of movement. 

Adeline put her hand on my arm, looking at me with questioning eyes. 

“Let’s see how quickly we can get to the car,” I suggested. “Winnie, want to time us?” 

“Sure,” she said, giggling. She loved using the stopwatch feature on the wristwatch her father had given her for her sixth birthday. “Ready, set, go!” 

Adeline grabbed Winnie’s hand and we sprinted toward the car. I unlocked it just before we got there and made sure Winnie was safely inside the backseat before jumping in the front with Adeline. I locked the doors, twisting around to scan the parking lot for any signs of him. 

He could sweep in at any moment. Could smash the window and grab me, could take me away from my girls. Or worse, he could take them too.

I didn’t breathe until we were out of the parking lot, flying down the highway. 

Once we got past the city limits, I pulled in at the nearest drive-through, ordering food for the girls and a coffee for me. I couldn’t eat, but I needed the caffeine to keep me awake. 

My thumbs tapped an anxious rhythm on the steering wheel while I waited for our order and tried to come up with a plan. We couldn’t go home, but I couldn’t go to the gallery, either, despite what I’d told the girls. Henry knew where I worked. If he was coming after me, he’d know to look there. 

I had a handful of local friends we could stay with, but he knew them too—he was friends with most of them. A monster hiding in plain sight. 

I had no family close by. My parents had left Wyoming years ago for the warm beaches in Alabama, and my brother had followed them. 

We could drive to the next town and grab a cheap hotel for the night, but the thought made me shudder. I didn’t want to be in a hotel, didn’t want to be somewhere that would remind me of what he’d done, didn’t want my girls to see me if I fell apart and had a panic attack because it brought the whole nightmare back. 

The truth sank in. I had only one choice, really. 

The thought filled me with dread. 

But I would do it for the girls. For their sakes, I’d take them to the one place on earth where I knew they’d be protected—to the man who despised me, but would take a bullet before he let anyone harm his daughters. 

I wasn’t welcome at Falcon Ridge Ranch. 

But Travis Hawkins was the only man I trusted to keep our daughters safe.