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NINE

Dani watched Grizz morph into an action hero right before her very eyes.

He grabbed the radio from the kitchen counter.

“Stay here, Dani. I’m going to go look for Kane.” He raced out the back door with Sanchez.

The safe feeling of being in Grizz’s arms eroded. If something had happened to Kane, it meant their hideout was compromised.

She sank into the plush sofa cushions and let out a long sigh.

Her mind replayed every second of that kiss—a moment she’d remember for the rest of her life. The man might look like a brute, but his kiss had been gentle, not demanding.

But he was right. What business did they have forming a relationship when they came from two totally different worlds?

Dani wasn’t one for sitting idle in the midst of action. She walked to the sliding glass door that led to the wooden deck and peered out. The sunlight broke through the clouds and glinted off the water. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the view.

What would it look like if she had that kind of peace from the song Grizz had mentioned? If only she wasn’t driven to always chase the next big thing.

Wait. Something moved in the woods to the right of the lake. It looked like a person. With a gray hotshot T-shirt.

Kane! He staggered closer to the tree line. Why had he been that far back in the woods? He stumbled and crashed to the ground. Didn’t get up.

Dani raced to the kitchen. She needed the radio to let Grizz know she’d spotted Kane in the woods. The man was injured. But Sanchez and Grizz had headed out to the other side of the property to search. They’d taken the radio. And where was Saxon?

She needed to get help. Grizz’s phone still showed no bars. And without the radio, it would be impossible to get a message to him.

Dani’s heart pounded. She needed to help Kane.

She slid the door open to the patio, took two steps outside, and a voice from behind her shot ice through her veins.

“Looks like we finally get to meet, INN reporter Dani Barlowe.” A muscular arm snaked across her throat and pulled her into the shadows of the deck, against the wall of the house.

“Who are you?” Her voice rasped as the man flexed his forearm against her neck.

“I’m only going to ask one time. Where is the camera? We know you were there recording that night. Our security cameras caught you and that other snoop filming our hideout. If you give me the evidence, I won’t hurt any of your new friends here. We’ll leave.”

Dani kicked and tried to scream, but he clamped a hand over her mouth. She gagged and choked.

She willed herself to stay calm, but the bitter taste of dirt from the man’s hands made bile rise in her throat.

The man pulled out a gun and pushed the muzzle to her temple. “I see the hotshot I knocked out came to. I guess I should have just finished him off when I had the chance. But you’re the prize. I’ve got no beef with the others. Just you and that big guy.”

Had Grizz become collateral damage for helping her? The man tightened his grip around her neck.

“Where is the camera?”

“I—I don’t have it. I gave it to someone else for safekeeping.”

No sense in denying they had the evidence. But Grizz had the SIM card. It wasn’t a lie. She didn’t have the prize he sought.

Her vision blurred and she clawed at the arm pressed against her throat. She kicked and scratched, but lack of oxygen began to slow her reflexes.

The glass door to the deck slid open, and from the shadows, Dani watched Grizz walk out and inspect the area, his gun drawn.

She managed a squeak before the man slapped his hand over her mouth. Grizz’s head spun in her direction.

“Hold it right there.” The man dragged her across the deck. Her feet barely touched the ground with his beefy arm still wrapped around her neck. “Toss your weapon over to me.”

“Jeremiah Redding. We meet at last.” Grizz glared at the man. He leveled his gun at Jeremiah’s head, but her captor shoved his weapon harder into her temple.

“Your girlfriend here says she doesn’t have the camera. We know the reporters filmed us. Give me the evidence, and I’ll let you walk away. Or I kill her in front of you. Your choice.”

Dani struggled against him but couldn’t catch her breath. Spots danced in front of her eyes. She couldn’t hold out much longer.

“Looks like you have something I want, and I have something you want.”

Grizz stood like a granite boulder, unmoving and unflinching. The anger sparking from his eyes could start a forest fire.

Where were Saxon and Sanchez? How could she end this standoff?

Grizz broke the tension. “I know where the camera is. But you’re going to let her go.”

“Nope. My orders are to keep her alive for some reason. It seems that someone has an obsession with the pretty reporter. But I don’t care if she dies.” He twisted the gun, and Dani couldn’t stifle a whimper.

Think, Dani. Think!

God, I could use a rescue right about now.

The clouds parted in the sky, and her mind cleared. She knew exactly how they were going to get out of this mess.

She nodded her head as best as she could to get Grizz’s attention. He shifted his eyes without moving his head.

Get ready, Grizz.

She felt around her jeans pocket for the knife Grizz had given her. She’d kept it on her, but she hadn’t known what she’d do with it. Until now.

Minimizing her movements, she pulled the knife out and flicked it open. With what miniscule strength she had left after being deprived of oxygen, she drove the knife into Jeremiah’s leg.

He howled and loosened his grip. Dani flung herself to the ground, wheezing and sucking in gulps of air.

The shot echoed cross the postcard-perfect Alaskan backdrop.

Jeremiah clutched his chest and stumbled backward, hitting the top step that led to the yard. He tumbled down the stairs, his eyes staring up at the sky, not blinking.

Grizz lifted her from the deck. “Don’t look. You don’t need to see another dead body.”

But it was too late. She’d already seen the man’s lifeless stare and the blood seeping from his chest.

* * *

The second the bullet had left his gun, Grizz had known Jeremiah wasn’t going to make it.

He carried Dani into the house. Her bravery in the face of that horrible man warmed his heart. She was a fighter—his fighter—and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure she got off this mountain.

He put her on the couch and rearranged the pillows around her. Purple bruises were beginning to surface around her neck, but she seemed to be more stunned than injured.

The side doorbell chimed. Sanchez and Saxon were propping up Kane on either side. They set him down next to Dani on the couch.

Kane groaned. “I was ambushed. He conked me on the head and dragged me out into the woods. I tried to make my way to the house to warn you. Don’t know where my radio went. Must have dropped it.”

Sanchez returned from the kitchen with a bag of ice for Kane’s head.

Dani touched her tender throat. “He—Jeremiah—told me his beef was with me and Grizz. That’s why he didn’t take you out, Kane. He came for the camera. They know we have the evidence to shut down their whole operation.”

Grizz grimaced. Taking a life always took an emotional toll, even in self-defense. “Jeremiah won’t be a threat any longer. I took him out on the deck.”

Saxon looked at Grizz. “What do we do? This place is compromised. If you killed one of their men, they’ll come for you even harder.”

Grizz shook his head. “What is taking Rio so long to get here?”

“We’ve got to get that evidence to him.” Sanchez paced, probably worried about Kane’s injury, although she’d never admit it.

As if the moment had been scripted, the intercom chimed. Grizz raced to the wall panel that showed the activity at the main gate.

Rio’s face filled the screen, and Grizz wanted to kiss the monitor. He hit the button to open the gate.

“Perfect timing. Rio is here. Now we can get this evidence into the right hands.”

He had to get Dani out of this house and off the mountain before these lunatics realized Jeremiah had failed. This wasn’t over, and these men would return—with reinforcements.

Sanchez opened the door, and Skye Parker pushed her way through and had Dani pulled into a hug in a matter of seconds.

“Dani, you had me worried. And when Rio filled me in on what you discovered about the compound in the woods…I’m just glad Grizz found you.”

Rio walked in behind Skye. “I brought reinforcements.” Two other agents with FBI logos on their jackets followed Rio in.

“What happened here?” Skye said, looking from Kane to Dani.

“We had a run-in with Jeremiah Redding.” Grizz took the camera’s SIM card out of his pocket. “Here’s the evidence from Dani and Josh’s camera.”

Rio crossed his arms and frowned. “Redding was here? And did that?” He pointed to Kane, who had a bag of ice covering his temple.

Grizz nodded. “Jeremiah jumped Kane, then snatched Dani. He held her at gunpoint, demanding the evidence. They apparently caught Dani on camera filming their compound. But Dani managed to stab him in the leg, and I shot him. He didn’t survive.”

Rio rubbed the stubble on his chin. The man looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

Rio nodded to the two agents, who headed out back.

“I brought my laptop. I’m going to take a look at this SIM card.

Dani, I’m so glad you’re safe after your ordeal, but I’ll have to take your statement once we get to base camp.

Sorry to make you relive it, but your testimony is going to put these men away. ”

Dani moved into the kitchen, where Rio set up his laptop on the counter. “The camera captured a few faces,” she explained. “It proves that Senator Geoff Deville was at the compound.”

“Now that’s interesting. With tangible proof of the senator’s involvement, I can push the FBI to reopen the investigation. We’ll get this guy.”

Grizz stood behind Dani, his protective presence hard to miss. Even Rio shot him a side-eye of interest.

Rio turned to his screen and played the video. Dani turned into Grizz so she didn’t have to watch, and he wrapped his arms around her. Rio muted his laptop so she didn’t have to hear the fatal gunshot that had ended Josh’s life.

“Dani, I’m so sorry you had to go through all of this.

” Rio closed his laptop and placed the device and SIM card in a briefcase that locked.

“But we’re going to take this group down, thanks to your bravery in getting this evidence.

And if the senator is involved, we have the proof to lock him away.

We’ll run facial recognition to confirm that it was him, but to me, this evidence is airtight. ”

This might finally be over. Dani could return home and pick up the pieces of her life, with this ordeal becoming a distant memory. Except it also meant putting Grizz in her rearview mirror.

She shifted out of Grizz’s embrace and turned to Rio.

“I need to contact my boss. He’ll need to be filled in on what happened.

And he’ll want me to report on this.” She hesitated, her gaze bouncing between Grizz and Rio.

“You can trust me not to impede the investigation. If I need to stay quiet about certain details, I will. I just want justice for Josh. But the station will want its story.”

The reporter in Dani never quit trying to race to the top. Of course her station would want her to report the story—she was an eyewitness and an active participant in the events that had transpired on Copper Mountain.

Rio nodded. “I’ll take care of notifying INN and your supervisor. But we’ve got to keep this under wraps. If the senator knows he’s been compromised, he’s going to pull out all the stops to keep you from talking.”

“One interesting thing Jeremiah said was that someone wanted me alive,” Dani said. “Could that be Deville?”

Rio grabbed his briefcase and walked toward the living room, where Skye and Sanchez were fawning over Kane.

“That’s a distinct possibility. But it could also be someone else we don’t know about yet.

For now, I think we need to get out of here.

I don’t trust that these men won’t regroup and send reinforcements now that they know we’re here.

It’s only a matter of time before they realize we killed one of their own. ”

Skye stood. “We have three cars. We’ll leave one here for the agents and take the other two down the mountain.

The roads are still pretty washed out, but we made it up here.

We should be safe making our way to base camp.

I’ve already radioed for a medic to meet us there.

We’ve got to get Dani and Kane checked out. ”

Grizz helped Dani to the back of one of the SUVs and climbed in next to her. Rio jumped in the driver’s seat and Skye in the passenger seat. The rest of the team rode in the second vehicle.

“At least now we’re on paved roads,” Grizz said, grabbing Dani’s hand and giving it a squeeze. He didn’t miss the look Rio shot him in the rearview mirror.

“Thanks. I’m just glad to have the evidence in safe hands.” Dani turned her head to watch out the window.

Grizz watched the trees whip by as they descended Copper Mountain. Once Dani gave her testimony and the danger subsided, she’d head to DC. And he’d be here, setting up his cabin for winter.

Missing her.

His mind lingered on their kiss. It shouldn’t have happened. He’d crossed lines, that solid double line, knowing the danger. It just made the inevitable that much harder.

He couldn’t keep her, and he didn’t belong in her world. Better to sever their emotional connection now rather than have some messy breakup down the road.

But for now, he’d relish the nearness.

Rio slammed on the brakes, and the car skidded to a stop on the isolated road. Dani and Grizz lurched forward, but the seatbelts kept them locked in place.

“What happened, Rio?” Grizz scanned the area, looking for whatever had spooked Rio.

“I saw something on top of that boulder.” Rio pointed out the window to the granite wall hedging them in. “It looked like a glint of metal. We know these guys have a crazy amount of firepower. I—I just have a bad feeling we’re being targeted.”

Grizz opened his door. “I trust your gut. I think we need to run for it.” Grizz radioed the other car, and Saxon pulled in behind them and stopped.

A hiss sounded—an all too familiar sound. Grizz grabbed Dani’s hand and pulled her into the trees beside the road. Rio, Skye, and the others from the second car all dashed into the woods.

Rio’s car exploded in a fireball, just like the helicopter.

Another RPG.