Page 28 of Single Mom for the Mountain Men (Mountain Men Why Choose #3)

I shiver a little as the cold wind bites at my ears.

I’m wearing a borrowed hat that Lena found in her closet, but it’s not quite big enough to fully cover my head.

Neither Aiden or I have coats due to the fire.

It’s risky to be out wandering through the snow without the right gear, but it’s not like we have much choice.

I check my watch and grimace. Tanner might have made it to the police station by now, but that means that we have probably another hour to wait before anyone can get back up here. If they even can , I remind myself, trudging along in front of Aiden and Lena.

If my memory is right, we should be close to the Jesperson property by now. I slow down as the sound of crackling, like from a fire, reaches my ears. I gesture for Aiden and Lena to slow down behind me as I creep closer to the ring of trees ahead of us.

I poke my head over a sprawling row of overgrown shrubs and spot the twinkling of a fire.

It looks like a few of the walls of the old house are still standing, with a chunk of roof overhanging them.

One side of the room is open to the elements, but it looks like someone has hung a tarp to block that side of the room from some of the weather.

I gesture for my brother and Lena to trudge quietly after me as I head to the left, trying to come around on the blind side of the structure, my ears straining for sounds.

“When is Mommy getting here?” I finally hear Sophie ask, and my heart feels like it freezes in my chest. Poor baby. She must be so scared.

“Soon, I’m sure, my love,” James says to the child, his tone filled with false steadiness. I know how much Sophie hates to be talked down to. She must be seething with frustration by now.

“I don’t think she’ll be happy with you about burning down the mountain men’s house,” Sophie prattles on, and I smile a little.

“Mountain men? Is that what you call them?”

I can practically see her little nod in reply. “Yes. Aiden, Brody, and Tanner are my friends, and Mommy’s too. They take care of us, and they give me candy when I’m a good girl.”

“Do you like them?” James asks, a dangerous note of malice in his tone.

Sophie carries on talking, oblivious to the threat lurking in her father’s question. “Oh, sure. They’re fun, you know? They have all kinds of things they know how to do, too. They could live up here forever, I bet, without any help at all.”

“Probably not now that they don’t have a house,” James says with a smirk in his tone, and I grit my teeth.

“That was really mean of you, Daddy,” Sophie says with a note of censure in her voice. “You should pay for a new house for them.”

James barks out a peal of laughter. “I won’t be doing that, baby.” I see a shadow block the light from the fire, and I draw all of us to a halt, trying to still my shivering as best as I can.

“I want Mommy,” Sophie says again. “I want to go home.”

“You aren’t going to go back home with Mommy,” James says to her, his tone impatient.

My heart twists in my chest when I hear Sophie start crying. I glance back at Lena, who meets my eyes. There are tears on her cheeks, and I reach back and press a hand to her shoulder comfortingly before I gesture for us to keep moving around the edge of the remnants of the house.

I hear them too late, cursing myself for being distracted by Sophie’s crying and Lena’s presence. I practically blunder right into the men that we left on the ground outside the burned remnants of our home.

“Oh, hello again,” one of the men says nastily before punching me in the face and grabbing Lena.

Lena shrieks out a surprised scream, clawing at her attacker to no avail.

Aiden tries to slip back into the shadows, but the other man rushes around me and grabs him, pressing a gun to his head when he continues to struggle.

“Stop fucking around,” the man hisses at us, “or I shoot him in the head. Lord knows I’d like to do it after the way you guys treated us.”

“Boss!” the first man shouts. “They came looking for us, just like you said they would! Your wife is here, too!”

There’s a delay before I hear James’ booted feet ringing out as he crosses the remnants of the cabin floor toward us.

“Lena, my love,” he says with both violence and charm. “I’m so glad that you chose to join Sophie and I. We need to talk about the future, and I need to get rid of these men who’re determined to get in the way of our happiness.”

“You leave them alone!” Lena shouts. “Run, Sophie! Run away!”

I start to creep away from the gaggle of James and his men, hoping that they won’t notice me. Maybe I can get to Sophie and help get her hidden away in the bushes somewhere.

“Not so fast,” the man who had been keeping an eye on me says, kicking me in the ribs. The air shoots out of my lungs in a rush, and I gasp for a moment, trying to catch my breath.

“Mommy?” Sophie’s voice is getting closer to us, not farther away. I cringe, wanting to tell her to run, wanting to force her to leave, anything to keep an innocent child from witnessing anything more traumatic than she’s already been through.

“Sophie, I said run!” Lena screeches, just before James cuffs her in the face. She tumbles to the ground with a cry. I start to lunge to my feet, wanting to protect her.

“Enough of all of this,” James snarls, reaching to the side and wrenching Sophie into view. The child cries out at the pain his grip is causing her. I hear her sniffling as she begins to cry again.

“Lena, these two assholes aren’t needed any more since I have what I want now. I’m going to have my men take care of them,” James tells her firmly as he bends down and yanks Lena to her feet.

“You’re too late!” she shouts at him, struggling in his grip. “Tanner went to get the police. They’ll be back here any minute.”

“You idiots,” James says dangerously, renewing his grip on Sophie’s arm and causing her to cry out in pain again.

“Stop hurting her!” I shout. Lurching to my feet, I shove the man in front of me so hard that he stumbles over a section of fallen fencing and crashes to the ground.

I pull out my pistol and train it on James’ head.

“Let Sophie go!” I say firmly, my focus narrowing to the horrible man holding the little girl hostage.

“Let my own daughter go?” James scoffs, pulling a struggling Sophie up into his arms. “Oh, I don’t think so. She’s going to stay with me from now on. I don’t think any of you lot are fit to watch over her.”

“You are not taking her from me!” Lena shouts before lunging forward and grabbing James’ hand. I watch, frozen in shock, as she sinks her teeth into his flesh, biting down until he screams in pain.