Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 29800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Ice floods my veins instantly.
No.
No no no.
I thrash hard, driving my elbow backward, but he catches my wrists easily and pins them above my head.
He’s bigger than me.
Stronger.
And terrifyingly calm.
“You’ve been difficult from the start,” he says quietly.
My breathing turns ragged beneath his hand.
The flashlight rolls across the floor again.
And I finally see his face.
My stomach drops.
Not a stranger.
Not completely.
The deputy sheriff–I’ve seen him around town in his uniform.
Oh my God. A law enforcement coverup.
Recognition flashes across his face when he sees I know him now.
“There she is,” he says softly. “I was wondering when you’d figure it out. Someone’s been missing you in Seattle. Got word to keep an eye out for you before you even set foot in Devil’s Peak.”
My pulse hammers so hard it hurts.
He slowly lowers his hand from my mouth.
I suck in air immediately. “You’re insane.”
His smile widens slightly.
“See?” he murmurs. “That’s what I like about you. Most women panic first.”
“I’m definitely panicking.”
“You’re angry.”
“That too.”
He laughs quietly like we’re having a normal conversation instead of him kidnapping me in the middle of a storm.
The sound crawls down my spine.
“You wrote that exposé on the Harbor Financial case six months ago,” he says conversationally. “Three executives arrested. One killed himself before trial. Remember? You made national news. You also made some enemies.”
My stomach twists violently.
“You ruined people,” he continues. “Careers. Families. Lives.”
“They were laundering money.”
“They were protecting investments.”
“By stealing from people.”
His eyes sharpen instantly. “That’s the problem with women like you. You always think you’re saving someone.”
I jerk hard against his grip. “Get your hands off me.”
Instead, he steps closer.
“You fascinated me immediately,” he says quietly. “The interviews. The way you looked into cameras like you weren’t afraid of anybody.” His mouth curves slightly. “But you are afraid. You just hide it better than most.”
My heart pounds harder with every word.
“You’ve been following me this entire time?”
“You’ve been on my radar since Seattle. Imagine my luck when I got a call from a private security company about your plans to travel to Devil’s Peak to investigate some missing hikers.”
Jesus Christ.
“Felt like I won the jackpot. And you signed your death warrant.”
The room tilts slightly.
“You’re sick.”
“No,” he says calmly. “Just protecting the people.”
The honesty of it terrifies me more than if he’d lied.
“From the truth. You’re protecting them from the truth.”
“Most people can’t handle the truth.”
Snow slams against the windows harder outside while he finally releases one wrist just long enough to pull zip ties from his pocket.
My stomach drops instantly. “Don’t.”
“You should stop fighting me, Nora.”
“I’d rather die.”
His expression shifts slightly at that.
Not angry.
Excited.
That realization turns my blood cold.
“You know what your problem is?” he asks while forcing my wrists together. “You mistake attention for danger.” He tightens the restraint hard enough to sting. “But attention means devotion.”
I glare at him. “You need psychiatric help.”
He smiles again.
“You sound just like Rhett.”
The breath leaves my lungs.
“What?”
“Oh, I know all about the mountain ranger.” His tone sharpens slightly now. “Big guy. Protective. Possessive.” He tilts his head. “You fell for him fast.”
My pulse spikes harder.
“How do you know about Rhett?”
“I’ve been watching you. I know things have gotten…intimate between you.”
The simplicity of it makes me sick.
Every moment.
Every touch.
Every kiss.
Observed.
“You think he can protect you?” he asks quietly.
“Yes.”
The answer comes instantly.
Without hesitation.
Something dark flickers across his expression.
“There it is,” he murmurs. “That look he likes.” He grips my jaw suddenly, forcing my face upward. “You should look at me that way. It might save your life.”
I jerk away from him hard enough to make him curse.
“You’re delusional.”
“And you’re ungrateful.”
He drags me away from the wall abruptly, forcing me deeper into the abandoned station while snow and wind scream outside.
I stumble over broken floorboards. “Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere private.”
Panic claws higher now.
Because Rhett was right.
About all of it.
Every warning.
Every order.
Every possessive, overprotective instinct that made me furious.
He saw this coming.
And I ignored him anyway.
The thought hits so hard it physically hurts.
Rhett.
God.
He’s going to come looking for me.
The certainty settles into my chest immediately.
Not hope.
Fact.
Because that man would tear this entire mountain apart before he stopped searching.
My captor shoves open another door leading toward the rear of the station where old logging trails disappear deeper into the wilderness.
Snow explodes inward instantly.
“You really should’ve stayed with him,” he says almost thoughtfully. “That was your smartest option. Such a stupid little girl.”
Chapter Thirteen
Rhett
The second I realize Nora’s gone, something cold and violent tears loose inside me.
Not panic.
Panic gets people killed.
This is worse.
This is focus sharpened into something brutal.
The cabin door slams behind me hard enough to shake the walls as I hit the porch, snow driving sideways through the trees in thick sheets that would blind most men in under five minutes. Not me. I scan the ground once and find her tracks immediately cutting away from the cabin toward the lower ridge trail.