Covert Conception. Delores Fossen
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He also knew she was looking for an out, a way to stop her mother’s relentless matchmaking. That’s why Natalie had agreed to be his fiancée. But not his wife. She’d told him upfront that there would be no marriage.
David obviously had thought he could change her mind.
Natalie had thought an engagement ring would stop her from wanting Rick. It hadn’t. One night, Rick and she had run into each other at a party. They’d talked. Had too much to drink. Had gotten way too close. One thing led to another, and they kissed.
Just as David walked in on them.
Obviously feeling betrayed by his two best friends, David had swallowed what turned out to be a lethal dose of sleeping pills. He’d died in the ER only a few hours later.
David’s death would always be with Rick and her. It would always connect them.
And it would always keep them apart.
At least Natalie had been sure of that until now. Until this pregnancy.
She was carrying Rick’s baby. That was the one element that neither of them could dismiss. And it was the element that had brought them together.
“Take the next turn to get to Commerce Street,” Rick instructed. “And don’t put on your blinker.”
“Why?” she immediately asked, forcing herself out of her troubling thoughts.
“Just do it.”
And for some reason unknown to her, she obeyed him. Maybe it was because she had no fight or argument left in her, but it also had something to do with that suddenly intense expression on Rick’s face.
“Do you recognize that SUV behind us?” Rick asked.
Natalie’s attention flew to the rearview mirror. There was indeed a black SUV following closely behind them. “No. Why?”
“Because it’s been behind us since we left the shop.”
“It’s probably a coincidence.” This particular street wasn’t the busiest in the city, but it did lead to several main intersections.
“Maybe.” But he didn’t sound as if he believed that.
Natalie, on the other hand, decided to hope for the best. She’d already had enough thrown at her for one day without borrowing more trouble.
“Take the next left,” Rick told her.
Without turning on her signal, she waited until the last possible second to make the turn. She was going a little too fast, and the tires squealed in protest.
She checked the mirror again.
The SUV made the same slightly out-of-control turn.
Her heart went into overdrive. That turn didn’t seem to be a coincidence. It seemed deliberate. But why would someone be following them?
“Speed up,” Rick insisted.
Natalie did, and the SUV followed suit. In fact, it continued to mimic her actions when Natalie slowed down and switched lanes.
What the devil was going on?
With that scary question pounding in her head, Natalie slammed her foot on the accelerator and pushed her car well over the speed limit.
The driver of the SUV followed them.
Chapter Four
Rick hadn’t thought this day could get any worse.
But he’d obviously thought wrong.
He didn’t have a clue why that SUV was following them, but it was. He had no doubts about that. Coupled with the drugged sex/baby news, Rick was ready to concede that he was in the middle of one crazy dream.
Except this was too real to be a dream.
“Turn right,” Rick instructed Natalie.
She didn’t argue, but he could see the concern all over her face. She was chewing on her bottom lip, and she had a white knuckle death grip on the steering wheel. Still, she made that right turn and sped up. Once again, the SUV stayed right on their bumper.
Both Natalie and he cursed.
“What now?” Natalie asked.
It was too risky to have her stop so he could confront the other driver because Rick had no idea who or what they were dealing with—carjackers, someone with a case of road rage or idiots who’d taken a car out for a joyride. Natalie might be hurt in a confrontation, especially since she probably wouldn’t just stay put and let him handle it.
Still, he had to do something.
He pointed to an upcoming intersection. “Take that turn, and drive toward the police station on Arbor Street.”
Rick also considered calling the cops, to report what was going on, but he realized he might sound a little paranoid. And he likely was. Besides, if he made the call, there’d be a police report, and he might have to bring up the drugging and the pregnancy. He didn’t want to do that yet. Not until they’d spoken to Macy and gotten the information about the caterer.
Natalie took the next turn that would get them to the police station. “What’s going on?” she asked. There was more than a tad of desperation in her voice, and though he hadn’t thought it possible, she was gripping that steering wheel even harder than before.
Rick didn’t mention his theory about road rage or carjackers. Instead, he went with the most benign scenario. “It’s probably kids taking their parents’ car for a joyride.”
But he couldn’t discount that this was yet another incident of unnerving things that just didn’t make sense. First, someone had drugged them. From the looks of that video, it’d been a date-rape-type drug. Or maybe some weird, powerful aphrodisiac that’d induced memory loss.
And why?
So that Natalie and he would head to her bedroom and therefore place themselves in a compromising position?
Was that it?
Had this really been some sort of elaborate blackmail or revenge scheme? Had someone taken pictures of them having sex and was that person planning to use them in some sinister way?
He gave that some thought and decided that didn’t make sense, either.
Nothing about this made sense.
Neither Natalie nor he was married. Nor were either involved in a relationship. It was the same for their jobs. Their businesses wouldn’t be adversely affected if their customers learned they’d had sex.
So, what could possibly be the point?
Rick didn’t have an answer for that, either.
Frustrated and concerned, he checked the side mirror again and didn’t think it was his imagination that the SUV was even closer. He considered having Natalie slam on her brakes, which would almost certainly cause a rear-end collision. That would allow him to get a good look at whoever was following them, but it would also put Natalie at risk.
And perhaps the baby.
Not only did he have to consider Natalie’s safety, but they both had to consider the child.
“We should be at the police station in about five minutes,” Rick let Natalie know. He’d hoped that would relieve some of the tension in her body. It didn’t.
Instead, her eyes widened.
Rick’s attention went back to the mirror. The SUV had sped up again. And it was no longer behind them. It’d moved out into the lane to the left of them. It pulled up, driving until the two vehicles were side by side.
“Can you see who’s behind the wheel?” Natalie asked. She glanced over at the SUV just for a second.
Rick tried and failed to see who was inside. “The windows are too