Free Savior in the Saddle by Delores Fossen Page A

driving, so the SUV quickly ate up the distance between them.
    “Hold on,” Brandon warned Willa.
    Just as the SUV smashed into their rear bumper.
    Brandon fought to keep the car on the road, and he didn’t let up on the accelerator. He continued to race toward the highway. If his calculations were correct, that was less than a mile away.
    The SUV rammed into them again, and the jolt sent them both snapping in their seats. He bit back some profanity and prayed all this jostling around wouldn’t hurt the baby or Willa. While he was praying, he added that he could get them safely out of there.
    There was another sharp curve, and then the road stretched out again in a straight line. The SUV’s driver took advantage of it and slammed into the back of their car again. Brandon kept a tight grip on the steering wheel, somehow managing to keep the car on the road.
    Finally, he spotted the highway, and Brandon took the turn on what had to be two wheels. He quickly righted the car and took off.
    Despite the late hour, it wasn’t long before he spotted another vehicle just ahead of them. Brandon raced toward it and hoped there would be others to deter the SUV driver from another attack.
    The SUV stayed close, and Brandon braced himself in case they were rammed again, but the guy stayed back.
    Brandon passed the other vehicle but then slowed, hoping to keep the car between them and the SUV.
    “Are we losing him?” Willa asked.
    “Not just yet.”
    There were several other vehicles just ahead on the highway, and Brandon got as close to them as possible. The seconds clicked off in his head, and he held his breath until he saw the cluster of lit buildings at an exit. He wouldn’t leave the highway just yet, but only a few miles ahead was the exit for the county sheriff’s office and the fire department. He would get off the highway there and, if necessary, he’d even pull into the sheriff’s parking lot.
    Willa sat up just a fraction and glanced in the side mirror. She stared back at the SUV that was now several cars behind them. “Shore came out into the open at the rental house so he could follow us,” she reminded him. “Neither the neighborhood street nor the traffic stopped him.”
    Yeah. Brandon was aware of that. And that was one of the reasons the knot in his gut had tightened to the point of being painful. If that was Shore in the SUV, then why had he backed off? Of course, the answer might be that it wasn’t Shore.
    That thought caused Brandon to take a deep breath.
    Willa shook her head. “I’m past being tired of this. All I want is for my baby to be safe.”
    Brandon wanted the same thing, but he was aware that the danger was far from being over.
    He put on his blinker when he reached the exit for the sheriff’s office, and when Willa saw where he was headed, she sat up even farther in her seat.
    “I thought you didn’t want to involve the cops,” she questioned.
    “I don’t. We can’t,” he corrected a moment later. He pulled into the well-lit parking lot and stopped in the spot that was closest to the front door.
    The SUV slowed to a crawl but didn’t turn into the lot. Brandon watched as it crept out of sight.
    The driver wouldn’t go far. No. He would wait for them to make a move. For now, the only move Brandon intended to do was stay put. He could go into the sheriff’s office, of course, as a final resort, but the sheriff would almost certainly contact the San Antonio Police.
    He kept watch to make sure the SUV didn’t circle back around, and he glanced at Willa to check that she was all right. She wasn’t. She was pale and trembling.
    Brandon put his arm around her and eased her closer. She welcomed the contact.
    He tried to figure out how to word what he had to tell her and decided there was no easy way to spell out their situation. Basically, they were in the worst kind of trouble, and Willa needed to know that.
    “Shore—or whoever just attacked us—had to have known how to find