Page 93 of Chasing Kaylee Kringle

“Jolene, if the rest of them show up here, you’re all in danger if I’m still in town,” Kaylee said.

“And if you run and they find you without any backup, what then? Won’t they hurt us anyway, just to figure out where you are?”

Kaylee didn’t answer, her stomach twisting with dread. Jolene was right. If she took off and hid somewhere and Ansel showed up with his crew, he would torture everyone in this town to get to her without a qualm.

She stared up at Rick, hopelessness heavy in her heart. “She’s right.”

“Of course I am, which is why we are going to have to hold a town meeting.”

“What is that going to do besides spread panic?” Rick asked.

“You misjudge the people in this town if you think we’d ever back down from a fight.”

Chapter Forty-Four

Rick

It took everything Rick had not to lose his cool on the drive home. Josie sat in the back seat, picking up on the tension while Kaylee sat shotgun, staring out the window.

The radio played quietly in the background, and Rick’s fingers unclenched and clenched around the wheel, his anxiety to get Kaylee home visible.

“The dance was nice until the abrupt departure,” Josie said.

““Sorry,” Kaylee said, softly. “I didn’t feel much like dancing anymore.”

“No, I get it, bad guy threatens your life, kinda takes the fun out of the reindeer shuffle.”

Rick understood they were trying to make light of a bad situation, but it didn’t change the fact that Kaylee had put herself in danger. While he’d given props to Jolene for doing the same thing, she wasn’t the woman that he cared about. Rick sent them back inside to enjoy the dance while he waited for the paramedics to arrive. They loaded Johnny up into the back of an ambulance, and the cops had taken Rick’s statement. Although people had peered outside, wondering what was going on, they mostly stayed out of the way when he went to get Kaylee to give her statement. Listening to her describe the events made his blood run cold. If Jolene hadn’t come out, she could’ve been spirited away, and he would’ve lost her for good. That alone made him ready and looking for a fight.

Rick parked in front of Kaylee’s house, and Josie and Kaylee didn’t even wait until he’d fully parked to jump out of the vehicle. Rick followed, coming around the front of the car, and put his hand on Kaylee’s lower back.

“Have a good night, Josie,” he called, pressing her forward. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

Josie’s eyes widened, and she looked at Kaylee for confirmation. He stared down at Kaylee until she nodded her head.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“All right, if you need me, I’m just a few steps away.”

“She’ll be fine,” Rick said.

He ushered Kaylee up the stairs to the front porch, urging her to open the door. As soon as the door closed behind them, Rick threw the lock and then spun around, taking her by the shoulders.

“Are you out of your fucking mind? You were just going to let him take you?”

Kaylee’s eyes widened. “He threatened Josie. I was trying to keep everyone safe. I figured that if I could get him away from everyone, then no one else would need to get hurt.”

“You could’ve gotten hurt, do you understand that?” His heart seized, realizing how close he’d come to losing her.

“Yes, I’m very clear that I could’ve gotten hurt, but I’m the one they want, so it’s better that they come for me than anyone else.”

“You see, that doesn’t work for me because I care about you,” he said, giving her a light shake. “You’re mine. I want to protect you, but I can’t do that if you go off half-cocked and put yourself in dangerous situations.”

“I don’t go off half-cocked,” she muttered.

“Really, because the night Elasia died, instead of calling the cops, you went and looked for her yourself.”

“Are you blaming me for what happened to Elasia?” Kaylee glared at him. “Because it was actually Wyatt who got her killed. Johnny told me they found out he was an FBI agent and had been stealing from them. They killed her because she was with him.”