Page 95 of Mountain Defender

My throat goes desert dry as soon as I see the gun.

The gun firmly clasped in Melissa’s hand.

The gun pointed at me.

In a blink, my mind fractures.

Half of me is still standing in our cabin at the Shallows, a rustic resort tucked away in the Adirondacks. I’m wearing Gage’s T-shirt and loose cotton shorts, the skin-baring clothes I only wear around him. And Gage is in the bathroom, not twenty feet away.

The other half is back in the woods. Pinned against the tree with Wade’s hand wrapped around my throat, the cool metal of his gun jabbing into my stomach. Fear coursing through me, my frozen lungs begging for air, praying that Gage would find me before it’s too late.

This can’t be happening.

My brain doesn’t want to accept it.

“What are you doing?” I croak out. “Why?—”

“Gage has to pay! He shouldn’t be here! Vince?—”

“Melissa.”

Gage’s voice is a whip cracking. He stands in the doorway to the bathroom, his features like stone, his body vibrating with barely contained rage. In a low, commanding tone, he adds, “Put the gun down.Now.”

“No!” Melissa’s head jerks towards him. “I won’t!”

The gun trembles in her hand.

Terror threatens to burst out of my body. She’s drunk, holding a gun, all it would take is one slip of the finger… Or she could spin around and shoot Gage instead. He has his gun here,but it’s not on him, of course. Why would he ever think to bring it into the bathroom?

How could we have ever thought this would happen?

Gage takes several slow steps towards us. His gaze flickers to mine.

As soon as our eyes meet, the terror subsides. I’m still scared, how could I not be, but with Gage here, I’m reassured. He’s always promised to keep me safe, and he’s never let me down.

“Melissa,” he repeats. “You need to put the gun down now.”

“No!” she shouts. “I won’t! Not until I make things right! Vince shouldn’t have died in that accident. It should have been you!”

Pain flashes in Gage’s eyes. My heart wrenches. I want to run to him, tell him it’s not true, assure him he’s supposed to be here. But I can’t. Not now.

“This isn’t what Vince would want.” Gage keeps coming towards us, his pace slow but steady. “You know that, Mel.”

“I don’t know that!” Tears well up in her eyes. “Because he’s not here! You are! Why didn’t you save him? You were his teammate! You let him die! How dare you come back here like everything’s fine? With your scarred girlfriend?—”

“MELISSA!”

I actually bleat in surprise at Gage’s angry roar.

Melissa jerks in shock.

Now less than ten feet away, Gage focuses his attention on her. “Fine,” he says in a calmer tone. “You want revenge? You want to punish me? Fine. Punishme. Not her.”

Melissa glances between Gage and me, indecision clear in her eyes. The gun drifts from my stomach, but only an inch or so, not nearly enough to make an escape.

“I couldn’t have saved him,” Gage continues. “I was knocked out as soon as the helo crashed. Dammit. I wish I could have.Every day I wake up wishing I could have saved everyone. But I couldn’t.”

“You could have.” It’s weak. Wobbly. Followed by a loud sniff. “You were his teammate. Vince said you always had each other’s six.”