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“Here’s where we parked the car, at the entrance to the national park. And I see the end of the nature trail, which means we should find another pathway that takes us up the mountain. We’re going to be just fine. You’ll see.”

As if to mock her, the Alaskan skies opened up, and rain soaked them. She shoved the map into her dry pocket, hoping it would stay protected.

After two and a half hours battling tree limbs, flooding, a deranged beaver, a snake, and an army of mosquitoes, they reached the end of the trail. The dirt path faded into overgrown shrubs and a wall of rocks.

Dani’s pulse hammered in her ears. She hadn’t come all this way to walk away with nothing. There had to be a second path to follow. So far, the map hadn’t gotten them lost. “Look, there’s a section of brush that’s worn down. I bet this is the way.”

Josh gaped at her. “Dani, I have a bad feeling about this.”

She put her hands on her hips, her multiple layers of sweaters under her windbreaker making her arms look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Okay, so maybe she’d overdressed a bit, as indicated by the sweat rolling down her back.

“Let’s check this path, and if we don’t find anything in a half hour, we’ll turn around. ”

He nodded, but his pale face and huffed breath indicated he wasn’t fully on board. At least he followed her through the narrow opening that led up. Just…up.

The rain intensified, and the trees provided minimal shelter from the deluge.

She was soaked four layers deep. Path wasn’t the correct term for their route.

This was the definition of off-grid. No markings or any kind of directional signs.

No signs of human life. Just some trampled earth that indicated hikers had at one point headed off the beaten path in this direction.

Were they going to find anything on this deserted mountainside?

And how long would it take to get back to civilization, anyway?

They trekked on without talking. Her labored breaths rattled around in her ears.

A buzzing sound stopped her dead in her tracks. At her abrupt stop, Josh bumped into her.

“What was that?” Dani whispered. But in the quiet of the mountainside, it sounded like she had a megaphone.

“Sounds man-made. Like electricity.”

Her heart beat double time. This was it.

The mystery compound.

They crept through the branches and bushes. Adrenaline fueled Dani’s feet, despite the ache in her calves from the mountain hike. She swept a tree limb out of her way and spotted a chain-link fence in the clearing below them, complete with razor-sharp barbed wire across the top.

“Whoa.” Josh took his camera out of the bag and began filming. “What is this place?”

They ducked down and watched the valley below. They were far enough away to not be spotted, but Dani didn’t trust that one crackle of a tree branch underfoot wouldn’t give away their hiding location.

At least they were higher than the camp and could see directly into it. Behind the fence were several buildings, camouflaged in brown and green colors. One of the huts was three times the size of the others, with what looked like steel doors and solid walls.

“Whatever this is, it can’t be good.” Josh stood beside her, surveying the scene below. His breath was heavy. From exertion or fear?

Dani couldn’t respond. All she could do was take it in.

She’d found her story.

Movement inside the compound caught her attention. Two men in army fatigues came into view with M4 assault rifles slung over their shoulders. They dragged a man through the courtyard and into the middle of the compound.

Even from a distance, Dani could see the gray-haired man stumble, his once-white shirt tattered and stained with…blood?

“Get a close-up of their faces.” A third man exited the building.

“Especially that guy.” Something about the man made Dani’s insides quake.

He walked with an air of authority and barked orders to the other two men, although she couldn’t hear what he was saying.

But the man was definitely familiar. She’d examine the footage later.

One of the men opened the door to the main hut and dragged the prisoner inside, but not before Dani got a good look inside. “Josh, did you see that stack of weapons? Did you get a picture of it?” A rack of rocket launchers and guns along one wall.

Josh nodded, his eyes wide. “Who are these men?”

A knot tightened in the pit of Dani’s stomach. “They may be part of a rebel group known as the Sons of Revolution. But that’s a lot of firepower hidden in the side of a mountain.”

She needed to get back to civilization in time to report her findings. With any luck, they could be on the air for the morning East Coast news.

Leaves crunched, and Dani turned to watch Josh back up ten steps, his eyes wide and his hands trembling around the camera. “I can’t…we shouldn’t be here. We’ve got enough footage. We need to leave.”

“Wait. We need to see what’s going on. Get more evidence. We need to stick together. Just thirty seconds more?—”

Josh set the camera on a rock. “You stay. I’m leaving. With or without you. I’m not risking my life for a story. No job is worth this. Admit it, we’re in over our heads.”

A chimney puffed out white smoke—more like an industrial smokestack than a cozy fireplace.

A chill raced through Dani, and it wasn’t because of the Alaska temperatures.

According to Skye, SOR had been testing a biological weapon designed to poison food and water supplies.

Fish and other animals in the area had died when exposed to the toxin.

Skye’s team had helped shut down SOR’s base camp, had even destroyed their warehouse along with most of the toxin, but the toxin had to have been made somewhere.

Was that what was going on behind those walls? And why hadn’t the FBI shut this group down?

She turned to tell Josh they needed to run in just a few seconds, but he was gone.

All she could hear was the pounding of her heart. There wasn’t a person in sight for miles that could help her now that Josh had fled. The discarded camera perched on a stone was the only reminder that he’d been there a few seconds ago.

She looked over the ridge. These men were dangerous, and she was alone. She checked her phone and wanted to toss it down the mountain. No bars. She shoved it into her coat pocket.

How had her laser-focused reporter instincts derailed her so badly? Both Josh and Grizz had tried to warn her, but she hadn’t listened.

She’d take Grizz’s ornery nature in a heartbeat over her odds with militant men and a secret compound. Her mind went numb, and her hands wouldn’t cooperate. Those men hadn’t seen her. At least she could still collect evidence for the authorities. And her story that would inevitably follow.

Dani turned on the camera, hit record, and scanned the compound to document everything.

How was she going to get out of the woods? At least she had the map. It was still light outside, and it would be until late, surely. But would she be stuck hiking down the mountain in the dark anyway?

Don’t panic. Do. not. panic.

A scream shredded the silence.

Dani froze with the camera rolling. She watched as the guards dragged another prisoner across the courtyard.

Not a prisoner.

The man had a windbreaker on, and Dani could see the yellow INN logo calling to her like a beacon.

International News Network. Her network.

Josh.

What were they going to do to him?

She had to rescue her cameraman. But how? She looked around for a rock to throw or something she could use as a weapon. Maybe she could set off a distraction and give Josh time to run.

But then what? She wouldn’t be able to fight these guys off when they inevitably came for her.

No weapons. No self-defense skills. No contact with the outside world.

Her legs gave out and she pitched forward, her knees hitting the dirt. Her breaths came short and fast, and she clutched her chest, willing her lungs to take in air.

The gunshot stopped her heart. Josh slumped to the dirt, and the men behind the fence turned to look at her.

Dani realized then that she’d screamed.

No no no. Adrenaline surged, and her brain shouted for her to run.

She sprinted through the woods, part of her trying to remain quiet while the other part shouted at her to pick up speed.

She tripped and dropped the camera.

No time to retrieve it. She righted herself and raced forward.

Behind her, a twig snapped. At this point, she prayed it was a bear.

Chancing a look over her shoulder, she saw a man through the tree branches. Make that two men. With big guns. She froze, but it didn’t matter. They’d spotted her.

She bolted, tree limbs whipping her in the face. The mud from the rain made the terrain slippery, and she prayed her feet wouldn’t fly out from under her. Down the mountain she went.

A bullet whizzed by her head. She clamped her mouth shut, but it didn’t stop the scream that reverberated across the mountainside.

She was going to die on this mountain. And no one was coming to her rescue.

* * *

Grizz glanced at his watch for the third time. This unnecessary delay was cutting into his time off. He was out of here, as soon as Skye finished yelling at the crew.

“I don’t care if Dani’s station was the one that had that unflattering report about the hotshots.

You should have helped her.” Skye’s voice bounced off the metal walls of the long rectangular building that doubled as their mess hall.

He needed to get to the vehicle bay where he’d stashed his ATV.

After working and living three months at base camp, Grizz couldn’t wait to get back to his cabin.

“I can’t believe you sent her away to climb Copper Mountain on her own.” Skye glared at Mack, Hammer, Saxon, and Grizz individually. “You know we’ve had some flash flooding and mudslides from the rain.”

This was not his first time being on the receiving end of a dressing down by someone who wasn’t his superior. But they’d had it coming.