The rain had stopped its deluge, but the dark night still held menace. A tow truck disappeared down the road with the SUV. Edie and I had crawled out the passenger side. Now she, Officer Hughes, and I stood on the side of the road like a face-off in the prison yard. Blood trickled down the left side of Edie’s forehead.

“Sis, I’m calling an ambulance.” Officer Hughes yanked his cell phone from his pant pocket.

“You do and I won’t let the paramedics touch me. I’ll handle this with a Band-Aid at home. You’re getting on my last nerve.”

He turned to me. His scrutiny made me crave a shower. “A shooter fired into the tire. Do you know anything about this, Ms. Pearce? My sister could’ve been seriously hurt or worse.”

Anger boiled from my toes to my mouth. “Nothing, Officer Hughes. Edie and I were talking, and I wasn’t aware of anyone else on the road.”

“Your kind has its ways. Looks to me like you crossed somebody, and they’re sending a deadly message.”

“Prove me wrong, Officer Hughes.”

“I’m sayin’ you’ve made enemies.”

“Randy, hush,” Edie said. “You’re jumping to conclusions. We’ve talked about this, and I’m giving Shelby an opportunity to put the past behind her. In fact, I think she should spend the night with me. It’s late and—”

“That’s kind of you but no thanks.” I waved away her offer. “I prefer the cabin. My concern is we don’t know why someone shot a bullet into your tire.”

“Probably just kids.”

He leaned into me, nose to nose. “I don’t want the likes of you influencing Edie. Neither do I want you around my friends or family. I want you out of our community.”

“Stop it.” Edie’s voice echoed around us. “Pushing your weight around makes you look like a bully on steroids. I want to get Shelby settled into the cabin and then home to my kids. Are you driving us, or do we walk?”

I didn’t need anyone to fight my battles, although she knew her brother better than I did. He wanted to protect her from trouble . . . namely me.

“Get in,” he said. “I’ll take you.”

“Not one more ugly word to Shelby. You hear me? I’ve had enough from the chairman of the unwelcome committee.”

Others must have voiced their opinions about helping me.

He scowled and strutted like a rooster to the cruiser. At the door, he whirled around and shook his finger at me. “When I get to the bottom of this, you’re heading right back to prison.”

Fear coiled around my heart for too many reasons to list. Should I go through with his earlier request to take the morning bus to another town? Two surprises had blindsided me—my dad claiming I’d threatened the family and someone firing a bullet into Edie’s tire.

I’d thought of little else but freedom for years. But was I ready to leap into the unknown?