Out searching. Drink. Stay hydrated. Food’s in the fridge. Help yourself. Cabin’s locked. Stay inside. You’ll be safe.

Addis blinked. So, last night had been real; she hadn’t just dreamed it up. Uncapping the water bottle, she forced herself to take small sips, replaying yesterday’s events in her mind.

Call it self-preservation, call it instinct, call it whatever, but Addis wasn’t letting her guard down, no matter what this guy claimed.

‘So, you’re really not going to hurt me?’ As much as she tried to put bravado behind her tone, her words still came out as a timid squeak.

The man’s grip on her arm tightened. ‘No.’

‘Then what’s your name?’

‘Tony.’

‘And you’re a cop?’ The black wallet he’d been waving in front of her made sense now. If he was telling the truth, which the jury was still out on.

‘Yes.’

‘Do you know my Aunt Grace? She’s the district—’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you know where we were? Is that why you’re here?’

‘No.’

His flat, one-word responses did nothing to ease her anxiety or boost her trust. ‘Where are we? Do you know where Emerson is?’

‘The Pecos.’ His voice lowered to a gruff whisper. ‘And no.’

Crushing grief sawed away at her pretense of bravery, but she forced her next question through quivering lips. ‘Have the police arrested the people who killed my dad and mom?’

Tony jerked to a stop. ‘People?’

Her tears didn’t fall, but they did cloud her vision as she recalled her kidnapper and his unexpected visitor calmly and coldly discussing her parents’ murders as if the act had held no more significance than cleaning a fish. Addis nodded yes, and then told Tony about their escape and hiding beneath the cabin when they’d seen the cars’ headlights and adding that both she and Emerson had recognized the guy who’d kidnapped them, but neither could remember where they’d seen him before.

When she finished, she repeated her question, ‘If you didn’t know two people were involved, then they’re still out there somewhere, right?’

Tony hesitated before offering a soft, ‘Yes.’ Almost as an afterthought, he added, ‘I’m sorry. And it might not help much right now, but I know the detective working on it, and trust me, if there’s a more kickass, determined gal out there, I’ve yet to meet her.’

A cold breeze blew across Addis’s face, and she shivered, grateful for the camouflage jacket he’d tossed at her earlier with the brusque, barked command, ‘Put it on.’ When she’d made no move to obey, he’d shrugged. ‘Or freeze to death. Your call.’ Now, she caressed the pocketknife she’d transferred to one of the pockets, taking comfort in its nearness.