Page 77 of Mountain Defender

“Gage.” He touches my shoulder. “You need to hear this first.”

I’m about to argue until I notice the look in his eyes. The anger. The worry. The regret. Reluctantly slowing to a jog, I ask tightly, “What is it?”

His gaze flickers to mine. “Knox found a fingerprint in the car. A bloody one. Big enough to eliminate it as Rory’s.”

Ice spears through my heart. “Blood?”

“Knox took a picture of it. Sent it to Alec. Remember that program Alec was working on? The fingerprint analysis one?”

“Yes.”

“He ran the image of the fingerprint through it. And it came up with a match.”

“Enzo. Tell me.”

Another glance at my phone shows Rory less than a hundred yards away. Close enough to see her if not for all the trees. I try to listen for some sort of sound, a voice crying for help, something, but all I can hear is my pulse rushing through my head.

“It’s Wade Denning.”

For a second, there’s no recognition.

Then it hits me. “You don’t mean?—”

“Rory’s sister’s husband.”

It’s like a sledgehammer crashing into my chest. “But we checked him out. Alec said he was clean.”

“I know.” It’s quick. Strained. “We missed something. I don’t know. But it’s him.”

“Fuck.”

Emily’s husband. How can it be? And why?

Does it matter?

“Here.” Enzo passes me a sheathed knife as we run. “As soon as we get in range, I’ll distract him. You go in and get Rory.”

My jaw sets. Determination floods through my body.

No mission has been more important than this.

I have to get to her in time.

I have to.

CHAPTER 15

RORY

“You’relike a damn fucking cat, Rory.”

Wade shoves me against the tree, and pain flares as my head smashes into the rough bark. Another wave of dizziness washes over me, along with a fresh burst of nausea. Bile rises in my throat. Terror wraps around my chest, suffocating my breath.

“Wade,” I wheeze. “Please. Don’t.”

His eyes narrow into slits, cold and menacing. “It’s too late for that,” he snaps. “Now that you know, there’s no going back. You have to die. That’s the only option.”

“Why?” My voice is wispy. Weak. Frightened. I don’t sound anything like the strong person I considered myself to be. “I don’t understand.”