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T he minute Jess had crested the hill, she realized her mistake. Teddy had stopped for a reason. They were atop a bluff. Her foot slipped, and she went down hard on her butt. She grabbed Teddy at the last minute, hauling him onto her lap as she slid down the embankment. Sliding was better than falling, the way her youngest sister, Kendra, had nearly six months ago. Kendra had broken several bones as a result.

Hitting the bottom, she’d quickly released Teddy to scramble to her feet. She tested her arms and legs, realizing with relief that God had been watching over. She wasn’t hurt.

Teddy began to growl just as a masked man stepped out from behind a tree. He was several yards away, but there was no mistaking the gun he held in his hand.

“Get up.” His voice was low and harsh. “Now. Or I’ll shoot you and the dog where you’re standing.”

She didn’t doubt this man had lethal intent. She couldn’t see his facial features beyond the black face mask he wore, but she figured he must be Craig Benton. She gave Teddy the hand signal to heel, fearing if the dog alerted, the masked man might shoot.

Keeping Teddy close was somewhat selfish on her part. Yet she didn’t see much of an alternative.

At least, not yet.

She obeyed his command, closing the distance between them while debating her options. If she tried to make a run for it, he was close enough to shoot without missing. And she couldn’t easily protect Teddy while running. Their vests offered some reinforcement, but she’d heard from Maya that being struck by a bullet at close range while wearing a vest hurt like crazy.

And the impact could cause internal bleeding. Especially for a dog.

“Hurry,” the masked man said curtly. Using the tip of his gun, he gestured to a crevasse in the side of the mountain.

A chill snaked down her spine. If she wasn’t staring at the opening mostly hidden behind the trees, she’d never have noticed it. Was that where Benton had been hiding all this time? With a sense of dread—she didn’t love tight spaces—Jess moved through the opening. There was just enough room for Teddy to squeeze in beside her.

“Keep that dog quiet, and if he makes the slightest move toward me, I’ll kill him.” The masked man’s hard, flat tone convinced her he wasn’t joking.

“He’s not a trained attack dog,” she lied. Teddy would absolutely attack if she gave the command, but she didn’t want to risk this guy hurting her K9. “He’s trained to track scents, that’s all.”

“I know. I’ve watched you.” When she slowed and turned to stare at him, he lifted the gun. “Keep moving.”

Swallowing hard, she did. The interior of the cave was large enough that they could walk upright, but it was also narrow. So much so that it felt as if the walls were closing in on her. Not good. She couldn’t afford to suffer a bad case of claustrophobia. Determined to stay in control, she did her best to take slow, deep breaths to calm her racing heart.

Yet the deeper they went into the cave, the more she worried that Logan and Doug wouldn’t be able to find her. Would they notice that crevasse in the wall behind the trees and guess that’s where she and Teddy had gone?

Would they realize she’d been taken against her will?

She reached a part of the tunnel that was so narrow she had to let Teddy go through first. Her K9 must have sensed her fear because he stayed close while remaining quiet.

Ironic that their early morning search had in fact led them to their quarry. But not in the way she’d hoped.

They’d depended too much on Teddy’s tracking ability, which had been hindered in part due to the gunman standing down in the ravine. She had no doubt Teddy would have found the cave.

Too bad the masked gunman had found them first. Maybe he’d even come out of the cave in time to hear her sliding on her fanny down the side of the ravine.

She mentally kicked herself for not paying closer attention to the reason Teddy had stopped like that, but there was no time for regrets. Her new goal was to stay alive long enough for Logan and Doug to find her.

While doing her best to avoid getting shot.

They seemed to walk through the cave forever, until finally the corridor widened into a room. There were boxes stacked along the wall, and from the way Teddy sniffed the base of them, then sat to look at her without barking, made her realize they held drugs. Or more likely, the components used to make synthetic drugs.

Again, she gave Teddy the hand signal to heel. The dog quickly returned to her side. She eyed the masked man warily. “I assume you’re Craig Benton?”

“I knew that pilot had come back to find me for a reason.” Disgust laced his tone. “He should have just minded his own business.”

“Logan didn’t come back to this area because of you.” Jess frowned, hoping to buy time by keeping him talking. “He saw a piece of a tail fin that may have been from my parents’ plane wreck from a crash that happened five years ago. We returned to find it, to take it back with us, not to search for you.” She gestured to the cave and the subsequent boxes stacked along the far side. “If you’d have just left us alone, we wouldn’t be standing here right now. None of this would have happened.”

He said nothing for a moment, then shrugged. “Maybe not. But now that you’re here, I have little choice but to remove you as a threat.” He lowered the barrel of his gun toward Teddy. “And him too.”

“Listen, I don’t care about your drug business.” Another lie, but she didn’t think God would mind. “There’s no reason to kill us.”

“It’s too late; you shouldn’t have come back here.” His tone hardened. “And how did you know what was in those boxes?”

She inwardly winced at her second mistake in a matter of minutes. She really needed to stay focused! Striving for a casual tone, she shrugged. “I don’t know what’s in them, but it must be something illegal, or you wouldn’t be standing there holding a gun on me.”

“It’s that dog of yours, isn’t it?” He glared at Teddy.

“No, Teddy didn’t alert on anything. He would have barked if he’d caught the scent of drugs.” Another lie, and there were so many now that she was losing count. She tried to think of a way to defuse the situation but was coming up empty.

How long would it take for Logan and Doug to find her?

Too long, based on the way the masked man was glaring at her.

When he lifted his wrist to look at his watch, she realized why they were standing there. He was waiting for someone.

She cast a quick glance around the cave, desperate for a way out. If others were on the way, she couldn’t wait for Logan or Doug.

There was a shadow behind the stack of boxes that could be another tunnel. Would it lead deeper into the mountainside?

Should she make a run for it?

Without giving herself time to think it through, she gave Teddy the hand signal for go as she darted toward the shadow. Her movement must have caught her captor off guard because the guy didn’t shoot at them as she and Teddy disappeared down the tunnel.

It was dark, so she had to keep one hand on the wall as she ran.

Within seconds, she was proven wrong. A crack of gunfire echoed from behind her. She’d expected it, so she did her best to ignore the sound while continuing to move farther into the cavern. The darkness would hide Teddy more than her, and that was okay.

When her head smacked into something hard, she realized the tunnel was narrowing. Not good. What if she ended up in some dead-end tunnel with nowhere to hide?

Forcing herself to go slower, she felt along the way for an offshoot of what seemed to be the main tunnel. This had to be an old gold or silver mine of some sort. Something they should have considered when they hadn’t seen any above ground structures.

For all they knew, they had a full drug operation going on down here.

“You can’t escape,” the gunman called. His low, raspy voice bounced off the walls in an eerie echo.

She bit back the urge to respond. Maybe all she was doing was buying more time, but it was better than nothing.

Then she suddenly realized she could see the tunnel up ahead. The darkness wasn’t as complete as it had been, which meant the masked man behind her had a flashlight.

Jess pressed forward, hugging the wall, feeling the reassuring presence of Teddy beside her while praying he was wrong. That they would be able to find a way to escape. That this wasn’t a dead end.

That she and Teddy wouldn’t die down there.

She and her siblings believed in God and everlasting life with Jesus, so she wasn’t necessarily afraid to die. But she had regrets. So many regrets.

Primarily not telling Logan how much she cared about him. That she never really blamed him for Ella’s overdose. That she was as much at fault as anyone.

Because she’d been jealous of Ella and Logan’s relationship.

Yet this wasn’t the time to think about that now. She had to keep moving! The tunnel turned to the right, so she slipped around the corner and quickened her pace. After another few feet, the tunnel turned again to the left. She continued following it, praying this would lead to the outside at some point.

Instead, she noticed the faint glow of light emanating from up ahead.

Her heart lodged in her throat. Someone was likely in the next tunnel. Maybe more than one person.

She glanced back over her shoulder. The bouncing light from the flashlight was slowly and surely closing the gap. She reached down, her fingers tangling in Teddy’s fur.

They were trapped!

“I don’t understand where she and Teddy could have gone.” The impending sense of doom that had dogged Logan’s steps on their way up the mountain had returned in full force as the minutes ticked by without any sign of Jess or Teddy. It was as if they’d disappeared into some sort of time warp.

Something was wrong.

“It could be that Teddy is hot on the scent,” Doug said. “Although I can’t figure out which direction they went.”

“Let’s split up and look for her footprints along with Teddy’s.” The melting snow made tracking difficult. At the bottom of the ravine, they’d found the two sets of footprints, left by Jessica and some unknown person. But since then, they’d found nothing to help them identify where they’d gone.

Logan knew the footprints could have been left the previous day, but he didn’t think so. Yet if Jess had crossed paths with the gunman or some other stranger, wouldn’t Teddy have let them know?

Not if Jessica had told him to stay quiet. Teddy was well trained and obeyed every one of Jess’s commands.

He and Doug split up, moving forward in a V pattern from the bottom of the ravine. He walked slowly, scanning the ground.

But found nothing.

It didn’t make any sense. After several long minutes of searching, he turned to retrace his steps back to the bottom of the ravine. This was the last known place where he knew Jess and Teddy had been. Their tracks were obvious.

Then they disappeared as if the pair had been picked up by a helicopter and taken away.

Doug joined him a minute later, his expression equally grim. Then he put his hand up to his radio to put the rest of the team on notice. “Jess and Teddy have vanished, possibly being detained by our gunman. Please stay alert.”

“Where are you?” Shane’s voice was terse. “I’ll bring Bryce your way.”

Doug hesitated, then gave the coordinates. “That’s fine if you head over. We’ll keep looking and let you know if we find anything. But please be careful, Shane. We don’t know how many gunmen are out there.”

Hearing Doug’s dire statement via his earpiece made Logan feel sick. He’d never felt so helpless in his entire life. Not even after learning of Ella’s overdose.

He should have followed Jess more closely. Stayed right on her heels rather than giving her and Teddy room to work.

Even better, he should have insisted on taking the lead rather than leaving it to her and Teddy...

“Don’t,” Doug said quietly. “I know you’re wrestling with regrets, but that’s no help. Rehashing what you could have done differently is useless. Right now, we need to focus our efforts on finding her.”

He was right. Regrets wouldn’t change the past. He’d learned that the hard way after Ella’s overdose the night after their breakup. Pushing the past aside, Logan took a deep breath and scanned their surroundings for what seemed like the millionth time. Where could she and Teddy have gone? A woman and a dog didn’t just disappear into thin air. “I wish Teddy would make some noise so we’d know where to look.”

Doug nodded and turned to look at the woods ahead of them. “I know what you mean. Some of the Sullivan K9s are surprisingly nonvocal. Teddy is one of them. The opposite of Chase’s Rocky.”

Logan tried to remain calm. Shane and Bryce would be there soon, and he was hopeful that Shane’s German shepherd would be able to track Jessica’s and Teddy’s scent. Without finding additional footprints, he was at a loss as to where to look next.

The sound of a gunshot had him reaching for his gun. Doug did, too, and they instinctively turned so that their backs were together, facing any potential oncoming threat.

“Where did it come from?” Logan asked after a long second.

“I’m not sure.” Like him, Doug was sweeping his gaze over the area. “It sounded muffled, like from a silencer.”

“Maybe up on the other side of the ridge?” Even as he offered the suggestion, Logan realized that was impossible. They’d have noticed Jess and Teddy scrambling up the side of the mountain.

He stared at the mountainside, noticing for the first time what seemed to be a crack in the rock that was mostly hidden behind the trees. He quickly moved forward, holding his weapon, ready to examine the area.

Up close, he was shocked to realize the crack was much wider at the base of the mountain. It was more than a crack.

It was a cave!

“Doug!” He used his arm to push the tree branches out of his way to get closer. He swept his gaze over the ground. The opening was too close for snow to have gathered there, exposing potential footprints. Yet, there was no doubt in his mind that Jess and Teddy could have easily gone inside.

Not voluntarily, considering the gunfire. No, he was convinced the gunman must have hidden them away at gunpoint.

“Is that a cave?” Doug sounded surprised as he crossed over to join him.

Logan nodded, putting a finger to his lips. If the bad guys were using it as a hideout, he didn’t want to alert them of their presence. “What do you think?” he whispered.

Doug leaned in, listening intently. Logan did the same. He couldn’t hear voices, but this had to be where the sound of the gunshot had originated. The walls of the cave, the mountain, and the trees surrounding the opening would have muffled the sound.

“We need to go inside,” Logan whispered.

Doug’s brow furrowed as he considered the possibilities. He kept his voice low too. “Okay, but someone needs to wait here for Shane and Bryce.”

“You should stay and wait for the others.” Logan was the least qualified person to go inside, but he refused to stay back. The woman he loved was inside with her K9.

He had to go in.

Logan hovered inside the cave opening, keeping his head down while straining to listen. How far back did this cave go anyway? He felt certain it must have been an abandoned gold or silver mine.

Yet how the gunman and his cohorts had found it was a mystery.

Although it did explain why he hadn’t seen a hunting cabin in the vicinity of the area where he’d landed the plane to let Craig Benton out. A big red flag that he would make sure he never ignored again.

Now he realized it had been a makeshift airstrip that had likely been used by several other small charter plane companies. The thought made him wince. How many pilots had been duped by Benton?

And how many were willing participants, satisfied to take the cash while turning a blind eye to the cargo they were carrying?

Once they made it out of this alive, he’d make sure Doug and the others investigated them all. Every single one.

Logan stepped into the cave. Doug snagged his arm. “Wait. You’re not a cop,” Doug whispered.

Logan shot him a narrow glance and shook free. “Doesn’t matter. You provide backup as soon as the others get here. Maybe have them spread out to search for another way inside. This can’t be the only opening.” He held Doug’s gaze for a long moment. “Trust me, we’ll be counting on you to bring the cavalry as soon as possible.”

Doug clearly wasn’t happy but must have understood there was no changing Logan’s mind because he sighed and reluctantly nodded. “Okay, fine. But be careful. We’ll be right behind you.”

“Thanks.” He stepped farther into the cave, keeping his hand on the wall for guidance. It was dark, which made him wonder how the gunman was navigating through the cavern. Did he have a flashlight? Or had he simply memorized the layout of the tunnels?

Logan walked as silently and quickly as possible, holding the gun in his right hand down at his side. He tried not to imagine the worst-case scenario. That he wouldn’t stumble over Jessica’s dead body after the next turn.

He didn’t want to believe she was dead.

They were wearing vests, so maybe she’d just been injured. Or had somehow avoided being hit at all.

Teddy? He winced, not even wanting to consider the possibility the gunman had shot the dog. Jess would be inconsolable if that happened.

And she would have taken the bullet herself rather than risk Teddy.

Enough. He pushed the negativity away and focused on the positive. Jess was smart and so was her dog. They’d find a way to survive until help could arrive.

Up ahead, he caught a flash of light that gave him pause. The gunman and Jess? If so, why couldn’t he hear anything?

Logan quickened his pace, ducking when he hit a low section of the tunnel. Within a few feet, he was able to stand upright again. The light brightened as he drew closer.

Then he stepped into what looked to be a storage room. He frowned, taking note of the stacked boxes along the far wall. Edging closer, he wasn’t surprised to realize they weren’t marked in any way with labels.

But the size and shape were very similar to the box Craig Benton had stored behind his seat on the plane. Had the rest of the alleged camping gear contained the same items? Eyeing them now, he realized they must have been stored in the camping equipment because it was clear these boxes hadn’t been processed through the post office or any other official transportation service.

He’d done this. Granted, without his knowledge, but still. He felt like an idiot for not realizing his plane was being used to transport drugs. If that was what was contained in the box. Which the more he thought about Teddy’s alert in his plane, the more he leaned toward believing that’s exactly what was going on here.

But uncovering the exact items stored inside the boxes was a problem for later. Right now, he would continue to follow the light.

Accepting the very real possibility that doing so would take him straight toward the gunman.

He hadn’t attended church since he was a child, and he’d known even then that his mother had taken them primarily to get a free meal. He hadn’t minded. The pastor’s message had gone over his head, but he vaguely remembered a few lines from the Lord’s Prayer. Not the whole thing, but the beginning.

He silently recited the words now. Our Father, whom art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

That was all he knew, but repeating the opening of the prayer over and over in the back of his mind helped calm his ragged nerves. He wasn’t entirely sure what the prayer meant, but he knew that with God’s strength he’d get through this.

And so would Jess.

After going another fifty feet, he caught sight of a shadow.

Not a shadow. Teddy! The dog’s eyes gleamed in the darkness as the dog bounded toward him. The animal’s paws were surprisingly quiet against the tunnel floor.

Dropping to one knee, Logan wrapped his arm around the dog’s torso. “Good boy,” he whispered near the K9’s ear. He didn’t dare speak any louder. “Good boy,” he repeated, imagining the dog’s fur carried the scent of Jess’s shampoo.

He took a minute to pocket his weapon. Then he spent another few minutes to double-check that the animal wasn’t injured. Beneath his fingers, Teddy’s vest felt intact, and he didn’t find anything alarming as he ran his fingers up and down the dog’s limbs.

Relieved, he hugged the dog again. Then he stood and pulled his gun from his pocket.

There was no sign of Jess, which was concerning. It wasn’t normal for Teddy and Jess to be separated. He stared down the tunnel, his mind wrestling with possibilities.

Had the dog sneaked past the gunman?

Or had the guy simply let Teddy go because he’d already silenced Jessica? It made sense to a point. The dog wasn’t a threat. It wasn’t as if Teddy could tell the police or other law enforcement officials what had transpired.

Logan stayed where he was, debating his next move. There was still nothing but silence from up ahead. And nothing to indicate Doug or Shane or anyone else had come into the cave to back them up.

Glancing down at Teddy, he realized the dog had turned so that his nose was facing the faint light at the end of the tunnel. Teddy moved forward, then turned to look back at Logan as if to ask Aren’t you coming?

The dog’s pleading gaze was enough to cement his decision. Logan stepped forward too. He would follow Teddy back to where Jess was being held.

He wasn’t leaving this cave without her.