“But what if I’m not? What if I’m next? And then Annabelle won’t have a mother . . . or worse, what if they’re after her? I can’t lose her. Maybe this is all about me—take my mother, then my child.” Suddenly she couldn’t breathe.

Blaire put a hand up. “What-ifs are not your friend, remember?”

“I know, I know, but I can’t help it. Someone is out there. Just waiting. Someone who’s already killed my mother.”

Blaire gripped each of Kate’s forearms. “Look at me. Come on. Eyes.”

Kate forced herself to breathe in and out and locked her eyes on Blaire’s.

“What did we used to do?”

“One, two, three, four, I don’t have to think it anymore.”

“Five, six, seven, eight. Things get better when we wait,” Blaire finished.

Kate gave her a weak smile. “Thanks.” This was a method Blaire had come up with to help Kate when they were teens.

Blaire clasped Kate’s hands in hers. “We’re going to take care of this.”

Just then they heard a commotion in the hallway and the sound of raised voices.

They looked at each other, panic-stricken, and sprang up at the same time to run into the hallway, where they almost collided with Simon.

“They’ve apprehended someone on the property. Coming from the woods!”

“Did you call the police?” Kate asked, her heart racing.

Simon nodded. “The security team already did. They told me to make sure we all wait here.”

Maybe this was all going to be over now, Kate thought, feeling a surge of relief.

Blaire was looking at her with concern. “Kate, you’re white as a sheet. Come on, sit down.” She maneuvered her to a chair by the staircase.

Finally the front door opened and Brian, the lead security officer, was dragging someone in.

“You’re making a mistake,” the young man shouted, trying to pull away, but Brian had a hold on him and the guard behind him had a handgun trained at his back.

Kate and Simon walked a little closer. “That’s Mack! He’s one of our grooms,” Kate said, feeling deflated, as if all the breath had left her body.

“I’m sorry, Dr. English.” Mack’s eyes darted around. “I had no idea you had security. I came in through the woods, like I always do.” Mack had been working with the horses for over a year now. He was the son of friends of theirs whose house backed up to the same woods. He’d been away on vacation the past week.

“Let him go,” Simon commanded. Brian dropped his grip, and Mack stumbled into the house.

“Sorry about this, Mack,” Simon told him. “Come into my office, and I’ll fill you in on what’s going on.”

Blaire raised her eyebrows. “Well, that was quite a scare.”

Kate nodded. She should have known it was too good to be true.