Meredith stared at the screen in horror.Her sister had called out Tripp on social media.Then she’d disclosed her exact location.If Tripp got wind of this, he would send someone to her sister’s college to silence her.Tripp had carefully cultivated an image of a man who’d been wronged by women, not the other way around.He wouldn’t allow her sister or anyone else to damage his professional reputation.
Meredith needed to warn Amanda about the danger.She didn’t know her sister’s phone number, so she spent the next several minutes trying to send a private message on the social media site, but the option was blocked.She jumped to her feet in frustration.Then she remembered the landline for the farm, which she’d memorized.Racing into the kitchen, she dialed it with a shaky hand.
“This number is disconnected or no longer in service.”
Meredith hung up the receiver.Her dad must have finally bought a cell phone and canceled his landline.Modern technology strikes again.She couldn’t communicate with anyone in her family.Her only other close relative, her grandmother, was dead.She considered posting a comment on the social media page, but it was public and might be traceable.Instead, she attempted to call the college directly.Although she tried several different offices, including campus security, it was Sunday.Only answering machines picked up.
Her chest tightened with anxiety.She paced up and down the hallway.She didn’t know what to do next.
“I have to go there,” she said out loud.“I have to go to Oklahoma.”
Maybe she was overreacting, anticipating danger around every corner.Tripp probably didn’t know about the post yet.He was a busy man.He was performing at a concert on the East Coast, and his main residence was near Memphis.If he sent someone to OSU to intimidate her sister, that person wouldn’t arrive immediately.
On the other hand, Tripp was powerful, vindictive, and resourceful.He would have alerts set up to notify him the instant her name was mentioned online, and a team of thugs ready to be deployed at the drop of a hat.
Damn it.
She calculated the distance to Oklahoma State University.It was about ten hours away.If she drove all night, she could arrive before the event started.But she had to leave now—without saying goodbye.
Wade would never forgive her.
She didn’t regret a single moment she’d spent with him.She hoped they’d get another chance to be together, but she wouldn’t count on it.She might not make it back to Lost Lake.Visiting her sister’s college was a risk.Tripp’s thugs could already be there, waiting for her, ready to follow her to a more secluded location.She would have to exercise extreme caution with every move she made.
She entered her room with a heavy heart.She’d already packed an overnight bag with clothes and essentials.In the kitchen, she selected snack items, dog food, and water.Then she retreated to the office, where she found pen and paper.She wrote a note to Wade in painstaking script and placed it on her pillow.Footsteps creaked in the hallway, and the faint aroma of pot smoke drifted through the air.
Wynona.
When Meredith turned around, the other woman was standing in the doorway.She had a roach clip on a jeweled chain, and Chico tucked under one arm.Instead of tragic and tortured, she looked ethereal and wise.
“I’m leaving,” Meredith said.
Wynona blinked in confusion.“Did you get in a fight with Wade?”
“No,” Meredith said.“It’s a family emergency.I have to go.”
“Where’s your family?”
“Kansas, mostly.I’ll only be gone a few days.”
Wynona narrowed her eyes at the vague answer.Meredith wondered if Chico was getting a contact high from the close proximity to her joint.She gestured for the Chihuahua, and Wynona handed him over.
“Are you taking the dogs?”Wynona asked.
Meredith had been wrestling with this decision.She’d bought a truck with the best intentions, but it wasn’t sensible to bring all three dogs.Daisy didn’t travel well.King needed space to roam.They would both be happier, and safer, here at the ranch.“I’ll take Chico.”
Wynona shrugged and inhaled another drag.
“Can you tell Wade goodbye for me?”Meredith asked.
She sputtered smoke.“Why don’t you tell him?”
“He’s asleep.”
“You couldn’t say anything while he was awake?You had to screw him senseless and sneak away?”
Meredith flushed at the criticism.“He was upset.You accused him of murder.”
Wynona took another drag, not denying it.
