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He chuckled, scanned the rearview mirror for any sign of Evel returning.

Evel might have saved them now so he could plan his own ambush later.

No way he was an innocent in the whole thing.

“Until we know for sure what’s going on, we’re going to assume anyone in our proximity with a gun is a bad guy.

” He didn’t wait to analyze further but rumbled along the road until he found the point he was looking for.

The rock pillar marking the way had been leveled and partially buried.

All the better. It made the turnoff even more difficult to detect.

“Can’t risk any more driving to snag a signal. Gotta get some shelter pronto.”

“Still going to your cabin?”

“We can hunker there, try to call someone.” He didn’t add the second part.

From his place on the top of the knoll, he could make a better stand against the guys who’d tried to ram them, and possibly against the mysterious rider.

With his rifle and his knowledge of the terrain, the playing field was more even.

It would be a sweet plan, if they weren’t on a mountain getting ready to blast itself to smithereens.

God was in charge of that little detail.

Could you put a hold on the main event until we get out of this mess , God?

“Why is the guy in the SUV trying to drive us off the road?”

“They.”

She jerked a look at him. “What?”

“There are two in the vehicle at least.”

“The guys who shot up my rig?”

He thought of the handprint inside Kit’s cab. Might have been a minor cut. There hadn’t been too much blood. Was Kit’s mystery passenger connected to the men in the SUV?

The baby cried, muffled by Kit’s jacket.

She unzipped it enough that Tot popped her head out, flushed cheeks damp with tears, mouth wide to voice her outrage.

Crying was a good indicator that she was whole and healthy.

At least that part had gone okay. Cullen kept his mind on his driving, and the wails increased until his ears rang.

“Are we almost there?” Kit called above the wailing.

“Around that peak that looks like a thumb.” He wasn’t going to risk using his headlights, so he rolled slowly, the familiar curves and turns ghostly now under their ashen blanket.

Kit peered into the darkness. “Nothing but trees. You like your privacy.”

“Yeah. I like visitors too, but only the kind I invite. My bowling team, for instance. Or my brothers, but they get on my nerves pretty quick when they stay over because they make themselves way too comfortable and eat all my snacks. You?”

“Me?”

“You like visitors?”

She cocked her head as if she’d never thought of the question before. “Not really.”

“Why?” he said when Tot paused to refill her lungs.

“I ... I just don’t.” She rubbed a fist over her forehead.

He left off the conversation as the road steepened.

Exactly three and one eighth miles and he was pulling up at his neat two-story cabin, rolling the truck down into the below-level parking area, which was also where he stocked the firewood for the stove.

The siding was almost luminous in ash, the windows and roof filmed over with debris, but the structure was intact and defiant.

It’s like you , Cullen. A hot mess but still standing.

Beyond it the acres of pastureland were empty without his graceful, meandering horses.

He’d never noticed before how quiet his place was, minus his herd.

Quiet and lonely. His heart thudded painfully, but his animals were safe at least, housed on his parents’ farm in Shelton, near his middle brother’s Olympia home.

But he’d come back to the brewing cataclysm in spite of the family protest. Because he couldn’t bear the way his mother constantly tried to get him to talk about what happened?

Or some delusion that he could actually save his property from ultimate destruction? The excuse of helping his friends?

“Nice place,” she said, and he couldn’t restrain a flush of pride.

“Worked hard on it.” Sweat equity including sixteen stitches, and it would soon all be snuffed out by Mount Ember.

As long as they didn’t get erased with it, he told himself.

He unbuckled, hastened around to take the duffel and help extract Kit and Tot, but she’d already hopped out with the sniffling baby.

He led them inside through the basement door and locked it behind them, not a customary practice, but he was glad he’d installed a sturdy deadbolt anyway, considering.

He guided her up the short flight of stairs to the kitchen, where he pulled the blinds and turned on the under-cabinet lights, resisting the urge to fist pump.

“We still have power. I wasn’t sure.” Enough illumination, but not so much that his place would be a beacon in the darkness for those trying to find them.

Tot’s outrage had died down to exhausted hiccups as he put the duffel on a chair and helped Kit out of the raincoat. She immediately thrust the baby at him.

“Come here, Tot.” He kissed her fuzzy head, and she crammed three fingers in her mouth. “You worked yourself up a head of steam there, didn’t you?” He pointed Kit down the hallway. “Bathroom’s through there if you need it. Light switch on the left. No exterior window so it should be all right.”

Kit nodded and hurried off.

While she was gone, he strolled the baby in circles around the hardwood and worked through the myriad thoughts clamoring for his attention.

His phone still had no signal. He texted his brother again anyway.

Who else? Lon? His bowling friend holdout who’d refused to leave the area until he got all his sheep moved?

Cullen had spent two solid days making that happen until he stank of sheep and had burned through three tanks of gas hauling the trailer to a location safe from volcano.

Lon undoubtedly had left that very morning.

Another bowling buddy, the crusty Archie Esposito, might still be in the area, but he had no way to reach him, since the man refused to carry a cell phone.

The best bowler on the team, Archie took every opportunity to remind Cullen.

He better have gone or Cullen would have something to say about it.

Archie was a self-described stubborn old coot.

You’re the stubbornest , Cullen.

But if Cullen hadn’t delayed leaving, he never would have seen Kit’s rig careening off the road.

Prickles danced up his spine. Didn’t bear thinking about what might have happened to her and Tater Tot if they’d remained in the crushed rig.

He joggled over to the front windows that looked out upon the pasture and pulled the curtains closed.

After they fixed the tire, the two guys in the SUV would figure out where he’d turned off sooner or later, if they had any smarts between them.

He intended to be ready for the reckoning that was going to happen.

The tightening of the muscles in his stomach felt oddly pleasing, reminding him of who he used to be, the good part that did things for people and brought others to account. That part.

With Tot against his shoulder, he climbed the narrow staircase and stood in the darkened bedroom, using the night vision binoculars from his bedside table to scan out the window.

Nothing moving out there in the falling rain that he could detect.

He checked the camera he’d fixed on the gnarly pine by the stone marker.

By some miracle, it was still operating and his phone receiving the feed.

No one coming.

Yet.

He carried Tot back downstairs, calculating. He had the gun he kept in his truck and a rifle on the premises.

With his free hand he began pulling things out of the duffel bag and staging them on the kitchen table.

The empty bottle that needed washing, a clean diaper, and something that looked like pajamas with footie things built right in.

He was surprised when he found Kit’s teddy bear that she must have shoved in at some point.

His lips curved in a smile. All tough edges and angles, but Kit was attached to this raggedy toy.

Gently, he stowed it back in the duffel.

When Kit emerged from the bathroom, he got a good look at her.

Her clean face was heart-shaped with delicate features and graceful brows.

Her intelligent eyes roved the room, soaking in every last detail of his home.

He figured she didn’t miss much. The fringe of her bangs poked out from below her brown cap, which she must have tried to wipe off in the bathroom.

Slight build, strong for her size. Her jeans were ripped at the knee and filth coated her boots to her upper thighs.

The woman desperately needed a change of clothes.

“How are you feeling?”

She blinked. “Me?”

He arched a brow at that one. “You seem to be the only other person in the room besides me and Tot.”

“My head hurts. And I’m hungry and I don’t like being dirty.”

“That about sums it up for me too, minus the headache.” But his knee was hollering, and lots of other parts.

“Are they going to follow us here?”

“Eventually, but it’s all clear for now. I figure we have a couple hours before they fix the flat and locate the turn to my place. I’ll see them coming. I’ve got a camera.”

She nodded, and it seemed to cause her pain.

“Let me get a blanket to lay her down. I’ll wrangle us something to eat and find you some pain relief while you shower.”

She recoiled. “Shower? I don’t...”

“Rude to point out to a lady, but you’re a mess and so am I. Even if I’m wrong about the timing, I’ve got a sensor on the drive that will alert us if anyone drives up so we’ll have some notice.”

“What are we going to do if that happens?”

He felt the coiling again in his stomach. “You will protect Tot, and I will take care of the intruders.”

She pursed her lips. “That sounds ... intense.”

“Confronting killers usually is.” And the outcome was never guaranteed. He knew that all too well.