Page 100 of Betrayal of a Billionaire

“Julia’s an experienced climber. She’s also very smart.” Luke shifted his eyes toward Grant as they continued through the woods. “You’ve been married to her for over a year and never realized she was smart? Is she really that much of a prop?”

“No, I just…I had no idea she was…Yes, I know she’s smart. If she wasn’t, I’d probably have been convicted of murder a year ago.”

Luke furrowed his brow as he shot Grant a confused glance.

“Don’t ask. But if it hadn’t been for Julia, I’d be cooling my heels in a jail cell.”

“She is an amazing woman,” Luke said, focusing on the path ahead of them. “You’re lucky she married you.”

“I know,” Grant murmured as they veered into territory he didn’t remember. “Are we going…somewhere else?”

“Back to my car. We need to let everyone know that the search has changed.”

Grant continued along the trail, following the man who’d until now been his enemy for Julia’s hand. He wondered which of them would win as a Land Rover came into sight, parked onthe edge of a one-lane road. Did they all have such utilitarian vehicles?

Luke reached it and tugged open the door, reaching inside for a CB radio. “Ally? You read me?”

A static-filled response came back. “Luke? Yeah, what’s up?”

“We found the girl. But we’ve got a new situation. We need to regroup at the station.”

“How bad?”

“Better than it could have been,” he said before he tossed the radio back onto his dash. He twisted to face Grant when his eyes went wide. “Get under the truck.”

“What?” Grant asked.

Luke grabbed him and tugged him down. “Under the truck.”

“Are you serious?” Grant tried to figure out if this was some kind of joke they played on outsiders.

“Yes,” Luke said as he shimmied under the Land Rover. “Now get under here before Julia blames me for your death.”

“Death?” Grant said as he pressed against the wet ground and slid underneath the car. Grime covered the cheek he pressed into the gravel.

The storm intensified around them, the wind howling like a wild beast as rain fell in relentless sheets. Flashes of lightning illuminated the landscape around them as thunder boomed.

For a second, the precipitation seemed to let up, and the wind quieted. Why had Luke insisted they crawl under here when the storm was letting up?

The elements answered his question a second later. Rain fell again, hitting the pavement so hard that it splashed into the air. The wind ramped up, sounding like a freight train barreling past them. He resisted the urge to clamp his hands over his ears as the noise screamed past them.

It died after a few moments, only a distant rumbling of thunder echoing after it.

Luke grabbed the edge of the vehicle and slid out from under it. “Okay, I think we’re clear.”

Grant shimmied out from under the car and climbed to his feet, brushing dirt and gravel from his face and clothes. “What was that?”

“Sounded like a microburst.”

“A what?” Grant asked as Luke climbed into the car.

He followed, pulling on his seat belt as his eyes fell onto a picture of Luke and Julia pinned to the visor. The sight of his wife made his heart ache again.

“Microburst. Like a tornado, only no funnel cloud.” Luke fired the engine and sent the car careening down the road.

His stomach turned over as he thought of Sierra and Julia, lying hurt after the fall, and surviving that.

Within a few minutes, the town surrounded them. Luke slid into a space at the police station, and they left the car behind, hurrying through the slowing rain into the station.