Danger strikes her mountain refuge

And only he can save her

Trapped between a raging forest fire and an army of gunmen, Laura Donovan and her daughter must rely on her knowledge of the mountain to get to safety. But without park ranger Seth Callahan’s help, they might not make it. And though trust comes hard for Laura, she has no doubt the wounded warrior will sacrifice everything to keep them alive.

VICTORIA AUSTIN lives in the American Midwest with her husband, children and dogs. Her kids write notes in the furniture dust and the family watches television with the closed captioning on because the house is, um, loud. She likes chocolate, peace and quiet, chocolate and silence. She gets too much of one and too little of the other. This explains the tight pants and the many, many, many gray hairs.

Also By Victoria Austin

Rocky Mountain Showdown

Family of Convenience

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Rocky Mountain Showdown

Victoria Austin

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09492-4

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHOWDOWN

© 2019 Victoria Austin

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Version: 2020-03-02

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“Laura, I have two favors to ask of you.”

Seth went on, “I’m sorry, but I have to ask.”

“What?” Favors? What exactly could she do for him?

“If we run into the men, I’m going to fight them as best as I can. I need you to take Abby and run, okay? Through the river or wherever you think is the safest. But let me fight and distract them and buy you some time. Please?”

That was a favor for him? It seemed like a favor for her. But Laura knew why he was asking. The thought of leaving Seth to near certain death hit her harder than she would have ever imagined. He was a park ranger. A stranger.

And she did not want him to die.

“Okay. I’ll try, Seth.” She hoped that was good enough.

“The second favor is a bigger one. When you get out of this, I want you to get a message to my family. Will you please tell them that I’m sorry and that I love them?”

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for reading Seth and Laura’s story. This is my first book for Love Inspired Suspense. I’m a big fan of stories involving suspense, love and faith and am delighted to share this one with you.

Rocky Mountain Showdown is about trying to be safe in a dangerous world. It’s also about dealing with shame. My guiding Bible verse for this book was Isaiah 54:4. It talks about forgetting the shame of our youth. I love that thought—that today’s trials will become not just something of the past, but something in the past that we are able to forget.

This world is scary and hard and uncontrollable. Though I try not to, I mess up on a daily basis. I’m familiar with shame and regret and despair. But I’m also familiar with hope. With Jesus and His promise. It’s my sincere wish that you know Him, too.

I would love to hear from you. You can find my email address and social media links on my website at www.victoriawaustin.com.

Victoria Austin

Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

—Isaiah 54:4

To my family—

I have everything because I have you.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

ONE

The first thing Laura Donovan saw when she regained consciousness was the man leaning over her.

The first thing she felt was her fist connecting with his jaw.

“Hey!” the man exclaimed, stepping back quickly while holding his jaw. His hat fell to the floor.

Laura scrambled to her feet, trying to keep an eye on the man while desperately scanning the cabin for Abby. She didn’t see her daughter anywhere. “Where’s my daughter?” Laura was breathing hard like she had just run for miles, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. The muscles in her fingers tightened as she thought about fighting this man. She would do it if she had to. She would do anything to save her daughter.

The man’s eyes widened and his hand moved away from his face. Instead, he held both hands in front of him, palms out, as if trying to show Laura that he was harmless. He was looking at Laura like she was a crazy person. “Your daughter?”

The man was dressed like a park ranger, right down to the ridiculous hat. Maybe he was a park ranger, since Mahoney’s men had all been dressed in black from head to toe. Laura didn’t care. She did not have time for this game. She had no idea how long she’d been unconscious, and she had no idea where Mahoney and his men were.

“Abby! Abigail!” Laura tried to sound calm, but there was no keeping the emotion from her voice. “It’s okay, honey! Please come out. Please!” Laura ran into the cabin’s first bedroom, flung open the closet door and dropped to her belly to look under the bed. Nothing. She ran into the bathroom and frantically pulled open the cupboard doors looking for the three-year-old. Where was she?

Please let her be hiding. Please let her be in the cabin. Please, please, please. Abby had to be terrified. What if she had run outside? What if Mahoney took her? What if he didn’t, instead just killing the girl? Her baby.

No.

“It’s okay, Abby! Mommy promises. Please come out.” Laura ran to the closet in the second bedroom and threw the door open. She fell to her knees, crying in relief. Abby was there on the closet floor, arms locked around her knees pulling them tightly into her chest. She just looked at her mother, tears running down her cheeks.

“Abby. Oh, Abby. Come here, baby. It’s okay, just come here.” Laura pulled her sweet girl into her arms, then stood up while trying to press the child’s warmth as close to her body as possible. Laura turned and swallowed hard when she saw the park ranger standing in the doorway.

He still had his hands held out in front of him, still had a confused look on his face.

Laura froze, trying to decide what to do. She had Abigail. Her daughter was okay. She was okay.

“Mrs. Donovan?” The ranger’s voice was soft like he was trying to calm a wild animal.

Laura felt a whole lot like a wild animal right now.

“Get out of my way. Now.” She sounded deranged, and that was not far from the truth. Laura needed to get her daughter out of the cabin. Off the mountain. And that man was standing between them and the door. His weapon was still holstered, and Laura decided he probably was a park ranger. One who had picked today to come check out the recluse living on the mountain.

“I don’t know what I walked into, Mrs. Donovan. But I’m not the enemy here.”

Laura’s short laugh was bitter. Sure he wasn’t. Even before this terrible, terrible day, park rangers had never been her friend. Laura couldn’t tell if she was shaking or if the vibrations were from Abby, but either way they were less than stable. She needed to get it together.

Laura wished she could wipe her sweaty hands off on her jeans. Relax her shaky arms. Find some medicine for her pounding headache. But that would mean letting go of Abby and that wasn’t happening. She sucked in a breath, trying to make the flow slow and steady. And subtle. The bright lights that had been floating in her vision faded. The haze of static in her head cleared.

“How do you know my name?” She sounded like she was accusing him of something. Because she kind of was.

“I told you. I’m a park ranger assigned to this part of Colorado. I know most of the people who live bordering the public lands.”

“Great. You’re not the enemy. Congratulations. Get out of my way.” Laura tried to sound as authoritative as possible.

The ranger took a step back but Laura did not move forward. He didn’t look like any of Mahoney’s men, and that uniform looked authentic, but Laura wasn’t sure what was real anymore. Not after today. He was still too close for her comfort.

“Mrs. Donovan, I don’t know what is going on. But I can help you. My name is Seth.”

Laura snorted. “You think you can help, huh? Just wandered up here on the off chance I needed some help?”

His eyes were still wary and confused. “Yes. There’s a fire out there. I got caught up in it while doing patrol. The only way out was up the mountain toward your land. I passed your cabin on my way and stopped to warn you. That’s when I found you.”

Laura bit her lip for a second. Okay. That rang true. And, more important, his vehicle sounded like a way to get off the mountain. Mahoney had slashed her tires earlier. Right in front of her. Just to show her how completely trapped she really was. “All right. Let’s go.” She jerked her chin, indicating that he should walk in front of her and she would follow.

Seth looked unsure. “Yeah. We’ll go. But what did I walk in on? Why were you unconscious on the floor? Are you okay? I mean, what’s going on?”

Laura swallowed, increasing the pressure of her arms around Abby even though she had already been holding the girl tightly. “It doesn’t matter. We need to get out of here.”

Bringing his hand back to his face, he rubbed the place where she had hit him and looked at Abby. Then he nodded and turned to walk through the living room and out the cabin door.

Laura took a deep breath and kissed Abby on the top of her head. “Okay, honey. Okay. We’re going to go away from this now. It will be all right.” Abby just pushed farther into Laura’s front in response.

Seth had walked out. Laura needed to follow.

She exited the cabin’s front door and saw a park ranger’s truck parked in front. Seth really was a ranger. Once Laura was off this mountain, she would appreciate the irony of a ranger saving Malcolm Grant’s daughter.

Seth was standing by the passenger side of the truck, holding the door open and waiting for her. She was a couple yards away, walking quickly, when the gunshot came from her left. Out of the forest. Seth was to her before she realized he’d moved. He grabbed her and began to pull. Away from the gunshot. Before Laura fully comprehended what was going on, she and Seth were back inside the cabin, and he slammed the front door shut.

“I only heard the one shot, but that doesn’t mean there’s only one shooter.”

Seth didn’t sound nearly as shaky as Laura felt. He had walked over to one of the windows and was peeking through the curtains with a gun in his hand. She hadn’t seen him take it out. Belatedly, stupidly, Laura realized she was just standing there holding Abigail.

Reaching for an empty loop on his pants, Seth patted around his belt with a force that matched the intensity coming off him as he looked down. He let out a deep huff. Before Laura’s brain could catch up with her runaway nerves, he was focusing all that intensity on her. “My radio must have fallen off when I ran. Please tell me you have one. I radioed in about the fire before I got here, but I need to call in for help with a shooter.”

Laura was shaking her head before Seth even finished the question. “No. We don’t get cell service this far up the mountain, and we don’t have a radio.”

“What about for emergencies? If you or Abby needed help?”

Laura’s mouth tightened. “We rely on ourselves up here on the mountain. We don’t like outsiders.”

Laura watched his face, her stomach tightening. She knew the rumors surrounding her father. People said Malcolm Grant was the stereotypical ex-soldier turned recluse. Antisocial. Living off the grid and holding himself accountable to no law or authority. They were wrong, of course. But Laura had given up defending her father to people like park rangers long ago.

The man quickly moved back to the window, peering through the curtains. He spoke to her without looking her way, his voice curt but not entirely mean. “I think now is a good time for you to tell me what in the world is going on.” He was moving as he talked, pushing the couch in front of the door.

The ranger moved through the living room, pushing the table against the back door. The cabin was really only four rooms—the living area/kitchen, two bedrooms and the bathroom. Now that both outside doors were blocked, Seth was looking out the windows again.

Laura didn’t know where to start. Or what to say. “There is a man named Victor Mahoney. He is trying to kill me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Seth looked ready to argue with her when a second shot sounded. Laura heard it hit the outside of the cabin. She thought she could feel the walls shake from the impact, even though she knew that had to be her mind playing tricks on her.

Seth’s face turned grim. “We need to get out of here.”

How had all this happened? Laura didn’t know. But she was trapped in the cabin with a park ranger. And Mahoney was outside still trying to kill them.

So now she was relying on the park ranger for help. He’d saved them. Maybe. Park rangers were always the enemy. Twenty years of being her father’s daughter had taught her that. She’d watched park rangers harass, and even arrest on occasion, her father more times than she could remember. Her father refused to follow their rules. He wasn’t hurting anyone, but the rangers couldn’t let it go.

But, when faced with Victor Mahoney, this particular one was probably the lesser of two threats. Maybe.

Help us, Lord.

Laura had closed her eyes as she prayed. Habit. When she opened them, the ranger had this look on his face. An almost gentle expression, though the gentleness was offset by the tight lines around his mouth. As quickly as it had appeared though, it was gone. He went to check the other window again.

Laura’s head hurt. She missed her dad. He would know what to do. From the day he’d adopted her, he had known what to do. She looked at the cabin door and could hear her dad’s gravelly voice in her head. So rough and blunt, but never cutting. “Get it together, girl. Be still. Assess. Plan. Try.”

“Okay, Ranger, let’s make some plans.” When she spoke, the ranger turned from where he had been peering out the window.

“Seth.”

Laura was jolted from her imposed calm. Disjointed again. “Seth?”

His smile was slight and his voice did not betray the urgency of the situation. “I told you, my name is Seth. Seth Callahan. Maybe you can say it without the venom you use with the word ranger.”

The smile was absorbed by hard lines again as a third shot came in through the window, sending glass flying everywhere.

* * *

Yep, he had definitely walked into something. Something bad. His routine patrol had turned into an unexpected fire had turned into a detour onto Old Man Grant’s property. Seth had suspected that he might receive a hostile welcome when he walked up to the cabin door, but this was beyond hostile. This felt like a siege.

Once Seth ventured another look out the now-broken window, he could see at least two men out there. They were dressed in black, wearing dark sunglasses, and had earbuds. This wasn’t good. Seth didn’t need to rely on his military training to recognize an assault team when he saw one, though it certainly helped to solidify the feeling of dread in his stomach.

At least they hadn’t fired a second shot into the cabin. Yet, anyway.

The doors were blocked. For now. But a couple pieces of furniture were not going to keep those men out for long. They needed a plan. And some serious help. Please, God. Show me what to do. Give me the strength to do it. That prayer had almost become a daily plea when Seth had been in Afghanistan. And an hourly one when he was in the hospital and rehab center. And now it was back, seemingly his default mode when his life fell apart.

Seth took a deep breath, trying to be as calm as possible around Laura. Whatever this was, she was clearly hurt and upset. And, well, she should be, given their current predicament. He had left this morning for what was supposed to be a simple patrol, not a foray into an action movie. Seth had put combat behind him. Now, it seemed, it was back in his life.

Seth looked back out the window. The men were holding their position. For now. They were not firing their weapons. For now.

Laura was still clutching her daughter, who seemed to have snuggled up on Laura’s chest. Seth just stared. It was rude and this was definitely not the time, but he couldn’t help himself. The child looked...well, little. Seth tried to remember what his nieces had looked like before he left his hometown. The girl in Laura’s arms seemed about the same age Beth had been when he last saw her. That would make her around three years old. Beth wasn’t three anymore. And he had missed it.

Laura murmured something else to the girl, though Seth couldn’t make it out. The tone was comforting and reassuring. She looked at him, indicating the girl with her chin. “This is my daughter. Abigail. Abby.”

Seth moved from the window, trying not to be offended by the way Laura tightened her hold on Abby and shifted away from him as he approached. He walked past Laura and Abby to see what the situation was in the bedrooms. There was a window in each one, but no door. Looking out the bedroom window, he tried to make his voice low and calm. But he wanted to keep Laura informed.

Plus, he needed her. The public, including rangers, had not been welcome up here for decades. Old Man Grant excelled at keeping people off his land. Laura knew this mountain, and she knew what resources they had available inside the cabin. They were going to need her expertise to get out of this.

“I don’t see anyone else—just the two men out front. How many men did this Mahoney guy have with him?”

Laura’s dark eyes were serious and she kept one hand moving in a steady circle on Abby’s back. “Eight maybe? I was more focused on him and the gun he had pointed at Abby.”

“Why are they trying to kill you?” He looked at Abby, not wanting to frighten her. But he had to know, and the situation was beyond urgent. “Why did they leave you unconscious on the floor only to try to shoot you later?”

Laura’s voice was a sound of anguish. “I gave them what they wanted. I gave them the key. Then he said he wanted our deaths to look like an accident. He hit me. I don’t know how this happened.”

What key was she talking about? Every instinct Seth had was screaming at him to quit talking and start acting. But he’d seen more than one mission go sideways because of bad information. Getting the details correct was often the difference between life and death. “I need you to back up. Start at the beginning.”

“I found a safe-deposit key last week. This Mahoney came up the mountain today. With a lot of armed men. He said he wouldn’t hurt us if we gave him the key.”

“But he lied.”

Laura actually rolled her eyes at him. “Clearly.” Her voice was dry. Sarcastic.

“What’s in the safe-deposit box?”

“I don’t know,” she said.

“How do you not know?” This was not the time for Laura to keep details to herself.

“I didn’t even know the box existed. My husband, Josh, was killed eighteen months ago. I just boxed all his stuff up when we came back here. Last week was the first time I opened them. That’s when I found it.”

Seth had heard that Old Man Grant’s daughter had moved back home. She’d stayed even after Grant had died.

Seth quickly walked to the front windows and tried to look out without being seen. The two men were still there, not moving or talking. Assault teams were very good at waiting. He made his way to the windows in the back of the cabin. Nothing but typical Colorado mountain terrain. Two men out front in plain sight. Nothing visible anywhere else. Seth’s clenched stomach tightened even further. Those men had a plan and Seth knew he wasn’t going to like it.

“Laura, we still need a plan. If we can’t call for assistance, then we have to figure out some other way of getting it. Some other way to communicate that we are in trouble. We need help. Backup. More people with guns on our side.”

Laura held her daughter closer to her body and shrugged her shoulders in an almost desperate manner. “I don’t have any way to call for help. Believe me, if I did, I would have used it when the shooting started.”

Seth blew out an angry breath. He hated this feeling. This trapped and useless sinkhole that he somehow found himself back in. His voice was harsh, but getting shot by the two men out front would definitely be harsher. “Well, think. You said you gave them what they wanted? So they just left? Then why are they back?”

Seth sounded accusatory. Too bad. It needed to be asked and being nice was going to get them killed if they didn’t figure out how to get out of this situation.

Laura’s voice was almost stiff. “They knew I had the key to the safe-deposit box. They said if I gave it to them, they would leave. I did.” Her voice became even more brittle. “They lied. They said they had to kill us but it needed to look like an accident.”

The fire. It had to be the fire. Seth had been completely surprised at the fire when he came across it while out patrolling. He’d assumed it was started by careless campers. Now he knew.

Laura wasn’t done. “They said the smoke from the fire would kill me and Abby long before the actual flames. I panicked. They hit me, and the next thing I knew was you were there waking me up.”

Seth exhaled deeply. He had asked and now he knew. The men must have been watching from somewhere safe to make sure the fire actually consumed the cabin. The cabin with an unconscious woman and a three-year-old little girl inside.

Seth looked out the window again. The men were still waiting. The more the men outside stayed still, the more Seth felt like he needed to be doing something. Standing and waiting for someone else to act did not sit well with him. He wouldn’t—no he couldn’t—play the victim and wait to see what his fate would be.

He wondered if something had gone wrong with the fire. While it was certainly healthy when he’d come across it, it wasn’t moving terribly fast. It had run horizontally, blocking the road back down. And it would eventually reach the cabin and probably burn it down. But it wasn’t going to do so in the next few hours.

This Mahoney must have started the fire far away from the cabin so it wouldn’t look deliberate. But he’d miscalculated. And now it seemed that Mahoney would settle for Laura and Abby dying even if it didn’t look accidental.

Seth really wanted to know more about this Mahoney and how Laura found herself in this situation. But not now—right now, Seth wanted a satellite phone and an extraction team. He wasn’t going to get either. He needed to be smart and deliberate. And quick. He doubted the men would wait much longer.

Laura was just looking at him. Her hand was still making that steady circle on Abby’s back. Her other arm must be hurting from supporting all of Abby’s weight, but Laura wasn’t showing any signs of stopping. The little girl was resting her head on her mother’s shoulder, breathing into Laura’s neck. One tiny fist clutched a stuffed yellow duck. She looked warm and sleepy. Safe. Seth glanced at the back door. The clear path into the forest. They could make a run for it, but it wouldn’t work.

Laura spoke, her eyes also on the back door. “We won’t make it, will we?” It wasn’t really a question. Seth wanted to puff out his chest, flex his muscles and tell her that he would keep her and her daughter safe. That he could pick them both up and run them out that back door. Run them to safety. But Laura deserved honesty more than false assurances.

“No. If there are two men out front, then someone has to be watching the back. Even if they aren’t, the men out front would hear us. Chase us. And we—”

Laura finished for him. “Have Abby. We’re trapped.”

TWO

Trapped. They were trapped. Inside a cabin, surrounded by men with guns. Men who had been very clear about wanting to kill both Laura and sweet Abigail.

And Laura didn’t even know what this was all about. Why?

Laura hugged Abby more closely to her body, breathing in the smell of children’s shampoo, grilled cheese and that musky scent that came from playing in the forest. Abby’s body was warm and slightly damp from when Laura had piled blankets on top of her and put her down for her nap. The fever she’d been fighting all week was gone for now.

One little foot was bare. Laura found her other shoe and put it on, feeling better that Abby was fully dressed. She ran her hands over the small feet, then went back to rubbing a circle on Abby’s back, though that was more for her own benefit than the little girl’s. Abby was asleep, but the repetition and physical contact soothed Laura. Grounded her. Reminded her that she and Abby were here together. Abby was the only thing Laura needed in this world.

Laura wanted to go look out the window for herself, but she made her legs stay where they were. She wasn’t sure she would be able to peer through the curtains without being detected. And those men had already shown they were willing to shoot in.

She didn’t want to put Abby down, and she sure didn’t want to carry Abby closer to the window—to the men with guns. Laura wished again that her dad were still here. He would know what to do. How to make it right.

Laura smiled as she thought of what he’d say. His voice would be exasperated. Never out of patience with her, but his tone would have suggested that the answer was right there in front of her. Obvious and logical. “Use the tunnel, girl. It’s an escape tunnel. Escape in it.”

The tunnel. Laura sucked in a deep breath, her hand faltering in its circle pattern. How could she have forgotten? When she had first come to live with her dad, she’d been convinced he was some sort of alien. He lived on a mountain. A whole mountain to himself. He talked about not going into their world. And he had a tunnel. It made sense to a seven-year-old.

Laura had found it by accident about a month after coming to the mountain. She had refused to go hunting with Malcolm Grant, still stuck in the grief of losing her parents and the surreal timidity that came with finding herself living on a strange mountain with a new dad.

Mad at herself for crying, yet again, she had thrown her stuffed teddy bear as hard as she could. He’d landed in the closet. After a few minutes of telling herself she wasn’t a baby and didn’t need the silly bear, Laura had climbed off the bed and retrieved her only friend. And she had discovered the latch to the tunnel.

Laura smiled, remembering that moment so clearly. She had lifted the trapdoor, found a flashlight and jumped into the tunnel without thinking. Laura didn’t know enough to be afraid. All Laura knew was that aliens were real, and she was going to take that tunnel to a different planet. She’d talked out loud as she explored, encouraging the aliens to come out and play. They never did, of course.

Her dad had been livid when he found her several hours later. It was the closest he’d ever come to yelling at her. “It’s an escape tunnel, girl. Not a playground. It’s secret. And we both need to pray to God that we’ll never, ever need to use it.”

And they hadn’t. Until now.

Laura tried to take a deep breath, hoping it would calm her. Please, God, let this be the right decision. “I know how we can get out. There’s a tunnel.”

“A tunnel.” Seth sounded like he had just been told that there was a teleportation device hidden in the cabin. Laura couldn’t blame him.

“Yes, a tunnel. An escape tunnel. My dad made it, when he built the cabin. For situations like this.” Laura’s voice didn’t betray the absurdity of those words. Incredulity might be an expected response to a secret escape tunnel, but Laura was loyal to her dad. Even though he’d been dead for a few months now, she was never going to betray him by mocking him. Especially not in front of park rangers.

“Your dad often find himself being shot at by random people?”

Laura tried to hide her wince. She had spent most of her life hearing people criticize her dad, and she had learned to ignore them. Kind of.

“I’m sorry, Laura. I shouldn’t—”

“Stop.” Her voice was loud. Loud and tired and just a touch desperate.

Her little girl moved at the sound of Laura’s voice, lifting her head and opening her eyes. Laura straightened her back, holding Abby more firmly to her chest. She placed her hand on the back of the child’s head, pushed it back into the indent of her neck and breathed in deeply, her nose still in the child’s hair.

She didn’t have time for this, and she had more important things to do right now than defend her dad to this park ranger. Her eyes never broke contact with Seth. Her voice was softer. She didn’t feel like forgiving him or being kind to him. She just felt...weary. Laura suddenly felt very, very weary.

“Just stop. You said we have to get out of here quickly. I’m telling you there’s a way out. I’m going to take it. Are you coming with me?”

Before Seth could open his mouth to answer, Laura was moving again. She meant it about taking the tunnel out of here. Laura wasn’t crazy about going alone, but she would if he didn’t follow. She headed back to the small bedroom and opened the closet door. She got down on her knees, setting Abby on the floor.

“Here, honey, sit here for Mommy for just a second. Okay?” Laura took a moment to rub her hand over the sleepy girl’s cheek. She nodded and leaned against the wall. Satisfied, Laura turned once again to the open closet.

Laura somehow found a latch in the floor—the trapdoor into a tunnel. Standing, she then reached up to the top shelf of her closet and pulled out a couple flashlights. She handed one to Seth, who was standing close to her, just watching.

Then she opened the trapdoor and saw the ladder leading down into the dark. Cool air drifted up, along with the scent of damp earth. Laura didn’t remember the tunnel feeling like a grave when she’d been a child. It did now, though.

The goose bumps that broke out on Laura’s arm had nothing to do with the temperature.

* * *

Seth really did not want to climb down into that pit. That dark hole in the ground. But it was the only way out. And they needed it now.

“Here, let me go first,” he said to Laura, stepping around her so he could be the initial one to descend into the hopefully stable unknown. He stepped onto the ladder and climbed down. At least it felt secure, not shaking or creaking as he put his full weight on it. That was a good sign.

Once Seth reached the bottom, Laura handed Abby to him. Then she climbed down the ladder after him. Seth handed Abby back to Laura and climbed halfway up the ladder so he could close the closet door and then the trapdoor. He wished he had a way to cover up the entrance. Hopefully the assault team wouldn’t find the hidden passage right away. He and Laura needed all the time they could get.

“Here, let me help.” Seth was surprised to see that Laura had set Abby down. She climbed up the ladder with him and focused her light on where the door had closed. There was a latch. And a lock. Seth was suddenly grateful for paranoid men who built escape tunnels and thought to equip them with locks. They secured the door and climbed down.

Laura picked Abby back up and they turned to face the tunneled path in front of them. Their flashlights only illuminated the space about ten feet ahead. It was dark and cold. Damp. Seth couldn’t see the walls surrounding them, but he felt them. “Okay. Guess this is the only way to go now.”

They headed into the black. Laura scanned the interior of the tunnel with her flashlight as they walked. “I haven’t been in this thing for years. I played in it once or twice when I was a child, but Dad was always worried it wouldn’t remain a secret tunnel if I kept using it. He was pretty big on separating toys from survival tools.”

Seth really couldn’t think of anything to say in response to that. He supposed that if he had been a recluse with a secret escape tunnel, he probably wouldn’t have wanted a child playing in it, either. It made sense in a hermit sort of way.

“All right. This should take us out of here.” Laura sounded more hopeful than confident. She turned and looked at Seth, bringing her flashlight with her so that they could see one another. The expression on her face was a mixture of triumph and fear.

Seth knew the feeling. It was currently residing in his own chest. They had made it out of the cabin. The men with guns did not know where they were right now. But Seth also didn’t know where they would be in a few feet. “Where does the tunnel end? I mean, will we be far enough away?”

Laura shifted her hold on Abby. The little girl looked more alert. Her big dark eyes, so much like Laura’s, were watching him. Laura kissed Abby on the cheek and looked at him to answer his question.

“It’s really long. I don’t know exactly how long. I just remember it seemingly going on for forever when I was a child. It comes out farther up the mountain. Closer to the top. I’m pretty sure we’ll be safe. I mean, I hope we will be.”

Pressure expanded in Seth’s chest as he thought about the chance that she was wrong. That they would walk out of this tunnel into something worse than the men at the cabin. Or that they would end up trapped here by the fire. Seth took a deep breath, set his shoulders and started walking. There really wasn’t anything else to do, and they were wasting time.

The tunnel wasn’t wide enough for two adults to walk next to one another. Thankfully, though, it was tall enough that Seth could stand fully upright. It made him feel less like some kind of underground mole. Or troll. “I’ll go first and try to shine my light so you can use it, too. That way you can hold Abby with both arms. The ground looks clear at least.”

Laura was keeping up with Seth’s pace as he spoke. He hoped she understood that the tunnel was safe only for as long as it took those men outside the cabin to come inside and find it. Once that happened, it would become a prison. Or a tomb.

Laura shuddered, as though reading his thoughts, and looked at Abby. She was clearly terrified for her daughter, focused solely on keeping Abby safe. No, Seth vowed to himself, this tunnel would not become a tomb. Seth increased his speed, grateful that Laura followed fast enough that he was still right in front of her.

“That door was metal, and the lock seemed sturdy.” Seth knew he was trying to reassure himself just as much as he was Laura. He felt a bit like Pollyanna, trying to play the glad game. But his words were the truth and being optimistic always felt better than sitting in despair. “I’m not sure how prepared that team is, but I don’t think they will have an easy time breaking through.” He looked behind him and Laura jerked her head up and down once in a nod. “Your dad’s paranoia is turning out to be a good thing.”

Seth heard Laura’s steps falter, but when he looked back her legs had resumed their prior movements. He’d regretted his words the moment he said them, but he regretted them even more when he saw that look in her eyes. It wasn’t anger so much as sadness. Resignation. Seth didn’t like the way that look made him feel. He breathed out through his nose, wondering why he couldn’t have kept his judgment to himself. Criticizing her dad, a man she clearly loved, wasn’t going to do a thing to help their situation. Moreover, he was the reason they still had a fighting chance against that army surrounding the cabin. Lord, when will I ever learn?

“He wasn’t paranoid. Or crazy. Or a criminal.” There wasn’t any heat in her tone. Seth almost wished there had been. Surely hard anger would have been easier to digest than the resignation in her voice. Seth wasn’t making her mad. He was hurting her.

He sighed. The man had been her father, so of course she would defend him. He didn’t know what to say. He should apologize, but he still believed the words he was saying. He just wished they didn’t upset Laura.

“My dad never hurt a soul in his entire life. All he wanted was to live on the mountain by himself. To be left alone. He never did anything bad to anyone, but people couldn’t just let him be. They had to judge him. Question him. And make sure he knew that they considered him some kind of scary deviant.”

She wasn’t wrong. The stories of Old Man Grant were legendary in the park ranger office. They included tales of criminal behavior. But that behavior had been minor. Grant had not appreciated the restrictions governing use of public lands. Especially those pertaining to hunting or cutting down timber. He’d trapped animals and taken trees, but only what he needed to survive. At most, Grant was hostile. Rude. Protective of his land and more than a little frightening. Seth knew the conflict between Grant and the rangers in the office at the time had escalated to an unhealthy level on both sides.

A man who wanted to be alone. Much like Laura, it seemed. A man with a daughter. Also like Laura. “But he wasn’t alone, was he? He had you for company. And your mother?” Seth was clearly prying for information. He couldn’t help himself. He was speed walking through a tunnel, fleeing from an unknown threat, with a woman who had probably caused this mess to begin with. He was surprised by his curiosity, but it was a welcome distraction from what was behind them in the tunnel and what might be ahead.

Seth didn’t want to get away from Laura. He wanted to know who she was and why she was on this mountain. She was also known for being hostile to the outside world. Why was that?

Seth wanted to know...her. Period. Laura didn’t really fit with the vision of Old Man Grant’s daughter.

“I think we better stop talking and save our energy. We’re probably going to need it.” Laura’s voice sounded brittle. It seemed she was done talking.

Seth didn’t say anything, but he did turn his attention fully on the stretch of tunnel in front of them. It had not changed in width or height but he thought he could feel it curving. Taking them somewhere.

He was walking in the dark. Again.

Seth had thought his days of battle were behind him. He had worked hard to put them there. Leaving the war had cost him everyone he had ever loved. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. It was the way Seth refused to let his family help him after the war that had ruined everything.

Seth had so many regrets surrounding how he let war dominate his life. Now, it seemed, he had walked right back into it.

It was as awful as he remembered.

THREE

They walked and walked and walked. Hustling, Laura kept trying to listen over the sounds of their feet and breaths. She didn’t know what she was listening for, exactly.

She thought she heard footsteps. Or voices. Or both. Her voice came out as a harsh whisper. “Do you hear something?”

Seth immediately stopped. He held up his hand, and Laura wanted to say that she didn’t need him to tell her to be quiet. She didn’t, though. As much as she did not want to be with Seth right now, she didn’t want to be alone in the tunnel more. Well, not alone. Alone would be okay. It was meeting with a team of armed men dressed in black that she was looking to avoid.

Laura was glad she could hear Seth’s ragged breathing as well as her own. It was nice to not be the only one feeling the pressure of this situation. Seth’s whisper was soft, but not hesitant. “I don’t hear anyone. I think we’re still okay.”

Laura looked at him and nodded. She readjusted Abby in her arms and jerked her head forward. Taking the hint, Seth started to move again. He might not have heard anything, but Laura noticed that his pace was slightly faster than it had been before she had asked her question. She was okay with walking faster.

This tunnel was not nearly as exciting and fun as Laura remembered. Instead of an adventure, the journey felt like a horror movie. She looked at Abby, who was dealing with this as though she went on trips through dark tunnels with her mommy every day. Laura made sure her grip on her daughter was firm and increased her pace, silently urging Seth along.

She had been frozen in the cabin. Unable to fully comprehend the danger, she had felt almost like she was sleepwalking. Now, however, her body thawed. She no longer felt like a statue. But it wasn’t a relief. Instead of being frozen, her stomach was suddenly boiling with fear. Acid was bubbling, trying to burn its way up her throat. Her goose bumps were replaced with sweat. Her heart was beating again, but far too quickly. She tried to use Abby as an anchor, muffling a gasp into her sweet girl’s hair.

She was probably scaring her daughter. Laura tried to stop. She couldn’t.

When Seth suddenly turned and looked at her, Laura flinched. Her gasp must have given her away. He frowned and stopped midstride when she instinctively took the small step away from him. She didn’t want to be weak. But, if she was, she definitely didn’t want to be weak in front of him.

“Hey. Laura. It’s going to be okay.”

She looked at him like he had lost his mind, and he actually chuckled softly. “Okay, okay. It’s not good. But we’re not down yet, and I have faith.” He smiled at her, his face warm and almost comforting. Then he continued walking down the tunnel.

Faith. Laura had faith. But faith wasn’t always enough. Laura looked at her daughter and, as always, saw pieces of Josh. Abby’s eyes were all Laura but Abby’s dimples were all Josh. Tears welled up, and Laura closed her eyes as she kissed her daughter’s head. Josh was dead from a mugging. Sometimes the evil in the world won. Laura swallowed, trying to clear her throat of the panic and excess saliva her now-burning body was creating.

Abby must have picked up on her mom’s distress, because she reached those chubby hands up to frame Laura’s face. Then she placed a smacking kiss on her mom’s cheek, causing Laura to laugh out loud. Laura looked at Seth when she heard him chuckling, too. They shared a smile before Laura remembered that he wasn’t her friend. No. He was one of those people who delighted in their supposed superiority over others.

Seth certainly wasn’t the first person to say something disparaging about her dad. In fact, people had only bad things to say about the man who had shown her more love and acceptance in her life than she had ever found anywhere else. The man who had literally saved her life.

Josh had loved Laura. And Laura had loved him, and the family they created, in return. But the Laura who Josh met was relatively whole. She liked to think that it hadn’t been too hard for her husband to fall for her. The daughter that Laura had been... Well that person was someone who was scared and hurt and bratty most of the time. And her dad had loved her in spite of it and during all of it. He had brought her through it.

Laura usually recognized that trying to defend her dad was a wasted effort. People saw Malcolm Grant—saw how he lived—and made their judgments. They weren’t interested in the truth. They just wanted the most sensational story. They didn’t care about the man who had survived in this world the best he knew how.

Her dad might have chosen to live apart from everyone, but he had been the best man Laura had ever met. He had sacrificed his solitude to raise her because he knew that she did not have any other family. Just him, an uncle who wanted to be alone. And her Uncle Malcom had put aside his wants for her needs and had become her dad. He deserved better. Laura couldn’t keep quiet when people started telling the tale of Old Man Grant. If nothing else, the anger helped push away the loneliness. And Laura would much rather be angry than alone.

Her steps faltered and she squeezed Abby a bit too tight as she regained her footing. Seth turned to look.

“I’m fine. Keep going.” He pressed his lips together, then turned and started on again without saying a word. Apparently, he didn’t care for her demeanor just now. Too bad. Laura didn’t care what he thought. So there. She viciously shoved down the guilt. This man was not her friend. He could not be her friend.

Even if she really needed one.

Nope. She wasn’t going there. Not with this man. No matter how attractive he was. No matter how many times he was kind to her. She wasn’t going there. She’d tried the real world once, and it had shattered every bit of her life.

“Does it feel like the tunnel is going up to you?”

Laura was startled by Seth’s question. Embarrassed that she had been caught so deep in her thoughts, she suppressed a sharp retort. Snapping at him might feel good in the short term, but Laura would eventually regret it. Instead, she focused on the tunnel. On her feet and her senses, trying to discern whether they were moving deeper into the earth or coming up out of it.

“I...I think we are! Moving up, I mean.” It might be her mind playing tricks on her, but the floor of the tunnel seemed to be sloping upward. It was slight, but there.

Laura looked ahead and laughed. There really was a light at the end of the tunnel. Or at least a sliver of something that wasn’t dusty and dank.

They reached the door, and Seth pushed. The wood made some creaking noises, but nothing else happened. It did not open.

Laura set Abby down and focused her light on the latch, trying to give Seth enough illumination to hopefully figure out how to open it. Her headache had only worsened with all the emotional highs and lows of the last hour. It seemed as though her body was flooded with adrenaline or dread every ten minutes.

“It’s stuck, isn’t it?” Laura was trying to keep her tone even, aware of Abby’s little ears.

Seth didn’t turn to look at her, using both hands to fumble with the rusty latch. “It’ll be okay. If I can’t get the latch to work, then we’ll break it down.”

“Break it down?” Laura heard the doubt and hope in her own voice. Was everything in her life so contradictory?

Seth’s hands paused, and he turned and gave Laura an arrogant smile, knocking on the door in front of them. “Yeah. This is a wood door. An old, wood door. We can handle this.”

Laura wanted to believe him. She wanted to argue with him. Before she could do either, however, Seth spoke with smug satisfaction. “Got it.”

He pushed the door again, and this time it gave an inch. Then, nothing. Again. Laura made a sound of frustration. She was surprised when Seth turned and put his hand on one of her shoulders, squeezing it lightly. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. It looks like there’s a bunch of foliage growing on the outside of the door. Vines or something.”

Laura felt foolish. Of course. The tunnel door wasn’t exactly used every day. Nature had done what it always does. It had persevered, covering the ground and taking back what had originally belonged to it. She needed to get a grip. “Sorry. You’re right. I don’t know why I’m acting like this, but I’m done. No more hysterics.”

Seth laughed and squeezed her shoulder again before letting go. He was reaching into his pocket as he spoke. “You’re not being hysterical. I grew up with three sisters. Sisters who were all teenagers at one point. Believe me, I know hysterical.”

Laura knew her expression was rueful. He made it sound like teenage girls were torture. Which, they probably were to a brother.

“Besides, I’d say you have plenty of reason to be upset. I’m not exactly calm myself.”

Laura appreciated his efforts to make her feel better. She watched with growing excitement as he used the pocketknife to cut the plants that were visible through the one-inch space that the door had opened. Once done, Seth closed the pocketknife and put it back in his pocket. He looked at Laura and Abby, smiled and pushed the door open.

They climbed out of that tunnel and walked into paradise. The sky was blue and the birds were singing. Laura could smell pine. It was a beautiful day. The kind of day for skipping and playing and laughing.

The wind blew, and Laura felt the tears threaten again. Smoke. She smelled smoke. Or at least she smelled the suggestion of smoke. She’d forgotten about why Seth said he came up her mountain, onto her land. “There really is a forest fire, isn’t there?”

He was looking in the direction from which the wind had blown. Down the mountain. In between them and help. His voice was heavy with regret. “Yes, Laura. There really is a forest fire.”

* * *

Seth’s instincts were pushing against each other. The part of him concerned about a group of armed men coming out of the tunnel wanted to run down the mountain. Down meant people. Down meant safety. The part of him that did not want to get caught in a forest fire wanted to run up. Up meant no flames and no flashes of burning heat and no death by smoke inhalation. The one thing his warring intuition agreed on, however, was that they should not stand there and wait.

Seth heard Laura murmuring to Abby. He couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was maternal and loving. He turned and shut the tunnel door. From the outside, the exit looked like a root cellar. He searched for a lock on the outside of the door, but there wasn’t one. Old Man Grant’s paranoia had apparently not gone far enough to encompass their current situation.

That was a shame.

Seth scanned the area and found some large fallen branches. Dragging them over to the door, he began to place them on top of it. He had just positioned the last branch when a small rock was tossed on top of his pile. Surprised, he looked up and saw Abby grinning at him. One chubby fist was empty and one was still gripping a small stone.

“I help,” she said. She was beaming like she had welded the door shut.

Seth couldn’t stop his smile. “Good job. You’re a big help.” His smile dimmed when he saw Laura walking toward them, struggling to carry a large boulder. Seth hurried to take it out of her arms.

She released it to him without a fight. “I thought some of these boulders would go well with your pile. They’re certainly heavy enough.”

Seth moved to place the boulder on top of the branches. Once he was done, Abby tossed her second rock. “One, two, three.”

Seth laughed. “Yep. Three rocks. Let’s get a few more, okay?”

Abby gave him a serious face. Or at least he thought it was supposed to be a serious face. “Get more.” She started scanning the ground by her feet, exclaiming in delight when she found another pebble.

Seth went over to where Laura was, seeing several other large rocks. “Let’s stack on a few more of these and then get moving. The weight will slow them down, but they’ll get around it eventually.”

Laura nodded, carrying a rock over and placing it in the pile. “Headed where? I’m not crazy about the idea of walking into a forest fire.”

Her tone indicated that was an understatement.

“Me, neither. But we can’t stay here. Those men will eventually figure out we’re not inside the cabin. And since there are only so many places to search, they’ll find the tunnel. We need to get far away from here.” Seth looked into the forest as though that would provide some kind of answer.

Laura lifted her face and watched at him. Her expression wasn’t exactly warm, but she didn’t seem like she wanted to punch him again. That was probably a good sign.

Seth was comfortable in the woods. He was good at navigating them. Surviving in them. But this was Laura’s mountain. She had grown up here. She was the one with the expertise right now. “We need a plan,” he said. “Well, we need a safe place to go while we make a plan.”

“What about the fire?”

Seth considered what he had seen of the fire. The way the scent of smoke wafted on the air, just hinting at its existence. “I still think it’s moving slow. Hopefully, firefighters are putting it out right now. Maybe it will end up being a nonissue. Or a way for us to find some emergency personnel to help us.”

“It’ll be dark soon. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but night is coming.” Laura was sounding like the practical and self-sufficient daughter of a mountain man. Seth liked it.

“We really need to get away from here,” Seth said. “I don’t like the idea of waiting around to see what comes out of that tunnel. Any ideas?” Seth was willing to consider just about anything at this point.

Laura stared up the mountain. “Maybe.” A pause. “There’s a creek not too far from here. Well, it’s more like a river actually. If we walk on its banks, it should cover our tracks. Make us harder to find.”

Seth felt savage satisfaction in his grin. “Yes. I like that idea. Lead the way,” he said.

Laura picked Abby back up and started making her way through the forest.

“Do you want me to carry her? I don’t mind.” Seth asked the question to Laura’s moving back.

“No. I’ve got her.” Laura answered to the trees in front of her, not slowing or turning around. She was heading into a part of the forest that looked just like—well—every other part of the forest. Seth was suddenly very thankful. If he had to be trapped on a burning mountain with an assault team after him, at least it was with a woman who was raised in this wilderness.

Seth tried to think through their next steps, but he needed help. “Once we get there, we’ll have to decide whether to go up or down the creek.”

Laura turned around, surprise on her face. “What?”

“The creek. We’ll have to decide which way to walk.”

Laura continued through the trees. Her voice was contemplative when she spoke. “We can take the creek for a mile or so—long enough to lose any trackers. There’s a place upstream where we should be able to get out without leaving too much evidence.”

Seth nodded even though Laura couldn’t see it. “That sounds good. Then what?”

“I know of a shelter not too far off. It was a place my dad used when he was hunting and didn’t want to come all the way back to the cabin. It’s sparse, but it’s well hidden and has supplies.”

“I like the sound of hidden and supplies.” He hoped those supplies included weapons and ammunition. His service weapon was not going to provide a lot of protection against an armed team.

“I think I should head there with Abby.”

Seth jolted. “You? With Abby?”

Laura did not turn around and look at him. “Yeah.” She went on as though that was not a startling statement. “The creek is just over this rise.”

Seth heard the creek before he saw it. It was perfect. Active enough to cover their tracks but shallow enough on the edges to allow them to walk without getting soaked.

They started trekking upstream, making sure to stay where the water would cover their tracks. Abby was watching the water, pointing at something every once in a while.

Laura spoke quickly, blurting her words out in a torrent of emotion. “Look. These guys are after me.” She glanced at Abby, and the anguish on her face hurt Seth. “And Abby.”

Seth waited. He did not see how agreeing with her would help anything. Laura continued, still talking quickly, her voice thick with sentiment. “You should go. You can probably make it back to town safely, especially if you’re not with me. You don’t need to get caught up in this.”

Seth stopped walking. There was no way he could process what she had just said and keep moving at the same time. She thought he would leave her to save himself.

Filled with disgust at the very idea, Seth’s voice was now heavy with emotion. “I’m not leaving you alone. I don’t care what makes the most sense—I’m not leaving you two alone. We’re going to get out of this mess together.”

Laura looked at him. Oh, how he wished he could read that expression in her dark eyes. Did she believe him?

She opened her mouth, but Seth cut her off, angry that she thought he would be so cowardly as to save himself while letting a woman and child die. “No. I will march back to that tunnel and try to take care of that assault team by myself before I leave you two out here alone. We’re all going to the shelter. We’re all going to make a plan. We’re all going to make it out of this.”

She still looked like she wanted to argue. “Besides,” he said, “they were watching the cabin and saw both me and my truck. They know we were in there together, and I’m sure they think you told me everything. I’m as big a liability as you are at this point.”

Laura’s voice was soft, but not defeated or angry. For that, at least, Seth was thankful. “All right. The shelter is this way.”

They left the creek at the designated spot and headed up the mountain. Seth’s legs started to burn after just a few minutes. He looked at Laura in front of him, Abby’s arms wrapped around her neck.

Seth wanted to reach out and put his hand on Laura’s shoulder to stop her but was afraid of destroying the fragile trust they seemed to have built. Instead he quit walking and coughed. Laura paused and turned to look at him. She had a question in her eyes, and he struggled to find the right words. “This is pretty rough terrain.”

She waited, watching him. Probably wondering why he had stopped their progress to state the obvious. Seth felt himself becoming flustered, which made him want to snap. No. That approach wasn’t going to work. He decided to just say it and wait for the rejection. “I was wondering if you wanted me to carry Abby for a little bit. She has to be getting heavy.”

Laura looked at Abby, who seemed to be following the conversation with her sweet dark eyes. “She’s been sick all week. I thought her fever had broken but it felt like it was coming back when I was carrying her in the tunnel. Are you sure you want to risk it?”

Seth couldn’t stop the laugh. “I’m pretty sure, all things considered, getting the flu is the least of my worries right now.”

Laura looked up at the sloping forest in front of them. She kissed Abby on the check and held her out toward Seth. “Thank you. A break would be nice.”

Seth took the little girl, surprised at how light she felt. She was warm and wound her arms around his neck without hesitation. Laura began walking again, and Seth followed. The daylight was fading, and they needed to find a safe place to make it through the night. And they needed a plan for getting past both a forest fire and a group of armed men. Help us to make the right choice, Lord. I don’t want to let them down.

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