The brake lights of the car that had passed me glowed about fifty feet ahead, pausing for a moment, but then the car sped off.

The numb sense of shock started to wear off and my heart leaped into my throat as I looked around the car for Muffy. I found her huddled and shaking on the floorboards on the passenger side. “Muffy!”

She jumped up on the seat and launched herself into my arms.

“Are you okay?” I asked, looking her over as I felt her legs and body. Satisfied she wasn’t hurt when she didn’t whimper, I checked out the state of Mason’s car. I hadn’t hit anything, only skidded off the road. But when I tried to drive, the tires spun uselessly in the mud.

Great.

Calling Mason was out. He’d drop everything to come help me, but I knew he was busy and I’d already bothered him. I was about to call Bruce Wayne when I noticed a sheriff’s car pulling up on the shoulder behind me. I wasn’t sure whether or not to hope it was Joe.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to decide because it was Deputy Miller, who’d helped me out of more than one jam. I opened the door, stepped out of the car, and promptly sank into the mud.

“Rose,” he said, moving toward me and reaching out his hand. “I thought I recognized Mr. Deveraux’s car. Is he with you?”

“No. We traded cars.”

Muffy saw the deputy and broke out into excited barking. I turned back and scooped her up in my arms, grabbed my purse, then schlepped toward Deputy Miller.

“What happened?” he asked as he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the mud.

“Some car was passing me when it swerved toward me and ran me off the road.”

He looked back at my skid marks, both on the pavement and off. “You’re lucky you missed the trees,” he said with a furrowed brow. “You and Muffy could have been seriously hurt. Can you give me a description of the car?”

I took a deep breath, and was surprised to realize I was shaking. “It was a black car—new and shiny. It had dark windows, so I didn’t see who was inside. And I didn’t catch the license plate either.”

“I’m gonna call it in and have the deputies keep an eye out for it.”

A new thought hit me. “I don’t think this was an accident.”

His eyes widened. “You think they purposely tried to run you off the road?”

I shook my head. “No. I think they tried to run Mason off the road. I’m driving his car and I just found this note on his windshield when I was parked in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot.” I reached into my purse and pulled out the paper.

He quickly glanced it over and became more alert, glancing around as though looking for lurking danger. “I need to call this in.”

He walked back to his car, but I stayed close to Mason’s car. I was never going to drive it out of this quagmire. It would have to be towed, and I didn’t have the money to pay for that nonsense. But Bruce Wayne had bought a front-end loader and a couple of other pieces of large equipment for our landscaping jobs. I would have bet ten cents to the dollar he could pull me out.

I pulled out my cell phone and called him, then breathed a sigh of relief when he promised to get the equipment at my farm and return to pull me out.

Deputy Miller got out of his car and walked back toward me. “I called it in, but I’ll have to file a report and take your statement.” He paused. “I called Chief Deputy Simmons to let him know.”

I groaned. Joe was going to read me the riot act and this wasn’t even my fault. “Is he on his way?”

“No, he wanted to come, but he’s tied up with something else right now.”

Relief washed over me. After the day I’d had, I wasn’t up to dealing with Joe.

He glanced over at the car. “Do you want me call a tow truck or take you and Muffy home? We can fill out the report there.”

“Nah. Bruce Wayne is gonna come get me in our tractor.”

“Then why don’t we go sit in my car and I’ll start filling out the paperwork.”

“But my feet are all muddy,” I said, gesturing to my legs. It looked like I’d gone swimming in a swamp. He waved me off and insisted I get in the car anyway. I sat in the passenger seat and set Muffy on my lap. “So what have you been up to, Deputy Miller?”

“Oh, keepin’ busy.” He pulled out a clipboard with papers and began to write. “Chief Deputy Simmons has been givin’ me more responsibility.”

“Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?” I chuckled. “You know, it’s funny, I could have sworn I saw you out at the farm last week.”

His hand tightened around his pen. “What makes you say that?”

“I couldn’t sleep one night, so I went to the kitchen to make some hot tea and I thought I saw you out by the barn.”

“Are you accusing me of trespassin’?” he asked, sounding offended.

“No. Of course not. I know you weren’t really there. I must have been half asleep.”

The scratch of his pen was the only sound for about thirty seconds. Then he looked up at me, worry in his eyes. “Have you seen any other people lurking around on the farm?”

“Other people?”

He swallowed. “You know what I meant.” He turned to me. “Have you seen anyone lurking around?”

The way he posed the question scared me. “No.”

“If you do, will you tell me?”

“Do you think someone’s lurkin’ around on my farm?”