by Leah Brooke
Mason crouched next to Quinn. “You’re better at this than I am, but it looks like two sets of prints, doesn’t it?”
Quinn nodded, his jaw clenching. “Yeah. One’s smaller, and it looks like it drags in some places.”
Mason pushed snow aside from one of the prints, and then moved ahead to do it again. “No blood.”
Quinn looked up as Barrett and Grant went through the doorway of the shack. “If she gets hurt with Grant’s gun, he’s not going to recover.”
Mason nodded grimly. “He and Barrett are just coming back to life. I swear to God, I just want two minutes alone with this guy.”
“Get in line.”
Giving the footprints a wide berth, Grant hurried toward them. “No one’s inside and it doesn’t look like anyone’s been in there recently.”
Quinn straightened and began to follow the prints again. “I don’t know where the hell else they would go. They can’t seriously be heading for the mountains, can they?”
Barrett frowned, gathering the reins of his horse and Quinn’s while Grant gathered the other two.
“They?”
Sharing a look with Mason, Quinn nodded. “Two more sets of tracks meet theirs. There’s three of them with Kendra now.”
Quinn wanted to rush ahead. He wanted to get to Kendra as fast as possible, but he couldn’t take the chance of missing something. The tension mounted with every step, and Quinn had to struggle to push his fear for Kendra aside.
He had to be strong for her.
She was counting on them.
She would be terrified. Possibly hurt. Definitely cold.
He didn’t want to think about what the men holding her were doing to her. It messed with his head, and if he let himself think about it, he couldn’t do what he had to do to get to her.
Pausing at the base of the mountain, he shook his head. “What are they thinking? They actually went into the mountains.”
Barrett nodded. “Good.”
Grant spun to stare at him as if he’d grown three heads. “Good?” He looked at Mason, who grinned. “What the hell are you smiling about?”
Barrett looked up toward the mountains. “They have no idea what they’re doing, and they’re wearing city slicker boots. They won’t make it far. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.”
If possible, Grant had paled even more. “I can’t stand the thought of her hurt, scared, and cold. Christ, they’ve got my gun.”
After tying their horses to a nearby tree, the four of them started up the mountain. About ten minutes later, the sound of a gunshot rang through the night.
Quinn, in the lead and arcing his light from side to side to find more prints, stilled, his stomach clenching and his heart in his throat.
“Dear God.”
“No! Oh, God! No.” Grant’s groan sounded tortured, the desperation and horror in it telling Quinn that his friend hung on by a thread.
“Keep going. We’ve got to get to her.” Quinn knew how hard and fast Grant had fallen for Kendra,
He didn’t want to think about her lying somewhere bleeding to death. He couldn’t bear to think about her losing her footing and falling.
He couldn’t allow himself to think about anything except following the tracks and finding her.
He wanted her in his arms, where she was safe.
“They slipped and fell several times.” Keeping his voice low, Mason aimed his flashlight in another spot that showed evidence that at least one of them had slid and had to work their way back up again.
Quinn inwardly winced, trying not to imagine Kendra slipping and skinning her hands and knees on the rough rocks.
Conscious of the amount of time that had passed since hearing the gunshot, they all moved faster, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife.
Since they’d obviously made no effort to cover their tracks, Quinn found them ridiculously easy to follow, even with the steady snow falling.
“We’re close.” He shone his light toward a ledge, careful to keep his voice at just above a whisper. “They tried to get up there, but couldn’t make it.” He followed their trail with his flashlight, trying not to think about how much the temperature had dropped. “They went this way. The tracks are fresh.”
Barrett, who hadn’t spoken in several minutes, moved ahead, his expression as hard and cold as it had been before they met Kendra. “We should spread out a little in case they have an ambush waiting for us.”
Quinn whipped out a hand, grateful for the years of experience they had working together when Barrett, Mason, and Grant all froze. His pulse tripped, the surge of adrenaline rushing through his veins making him light-headed at the sound of an angry male voice coming from the distance.
“You’re going to pay for this, you stupid bitch!”
* * * *
Kendra didn’t know how much longer she could stand here and keep the gun pointed at them. Her arms shook, the gun growing heavier by the minute.
The flashlight she kept held under her arm and aimed at them kept slipping.
She was so damned cold!
Her boots hadn’t been made for warmth and her feet had been frozen before they’d even started up the mountain.
Now, she could barely feel them.
Shifting her weight to the other foot again, and aware that the gun she held trained on them shook more by the minute, she struggled to keep the light trained on the three of them huddled together on the opposite side of the opening they’d found in the mountainside.
At least the small cave they’d stumbled upon protected them from the brunt of the wind and blowing snow.
Kendra stood in the back of the cave, which was much narrower than the opening, where her kidnappers sat cross-legged on the floor, about twenty feet from her.
Behind them was a ledge, not more than five feet wide that had already been slick when they’d arrived, but now had been covered with even more blowing snow.
None of them were dressed for being stranded in the mountains, and even from several feet away, and in the dim light, Kendra could see that her captors didn’t look any better. They all shook as badly as she did, and all of them had paled considerably, Gus more than the others.
Switching the gun to her other hand, she repositioned the flashlight and stuck her free hand into her pocket to warm it.
Gus glared at her, his expression hard and cold. “I can’t believe you shot me. My leg hurts like hell! I’ve got to get to a doctor.”
Kendra smiled coldly, wondering if the men had realized she was missing. “I’m just as interested in your health as you were in mine. I told you not to come any closer. You should have gone when you had the chance.”
She could feel herself getting weaker by the minute, but she knew she couldn’t show any sign of weakness.
She could only hope that Mason, Quinn, Grant, and Barrett were on their way.
She doubted very much they could track them in the mountains, and with blowing snow covering their trail, but the hope that they would find her kept her going.
Gus pressed at his leg and groaned. “I’m bleeding to death here, bitch! Where the hell did you get that gun anyway?”
At first, Kendra thought that the movement behind them was her imagination, or a trick of the light.
Stiffening, she pulled her hand from her pocket and grabbed the flashlight, swinging it in that direction, her breath catching as the ice men she knew and loved appeared at the entrance to the cave.
Covered in snow, and their faces lined with worry, they appeared every bit as hard and cold as she remembered.
Until she looked at their eyes.
Filled with relief and love, they all stared at her as if she was the most adored woman on earth.
Smiling, she blinked back tears, meeting Grant’s horrified gaze. Her knees wobbled, and with a combination of a laugh and a sob, she lowered the gun, relief making her weak. “Grant left it for me. It was on top of the washer. I stuck it in my pocket to keep it safe right before you jumped m
e.”
* * * *
Grant shone his light on Kendra, weak with relief. Sidestepping the men sitting on the floor, he rushed to her, taking the gun from her hand and pulling her close, closing his eyes as he buried his face against her neck. “Thank God!”
He held her only long enough to breathe in the scent of her before pushing her away to look at her. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? We heard a shot.”
Barrett’s deep voice held the tension of the last several hours. “The gunshot wound is over here. You okay, baby?”
Gripping Grant’s coat, Kendra smiled at Mason, Barrett, and Quinn as they dealt with the others. “I’m fine now. What the hell took you so long?”
Delighted with her, and almost dizzy with relief that she hadn’t been hurt, Grant gathered her close again, and laughed. “Sorry, honey. We got here as soon as we could. You’re freezing. Let’s make you a little more comfortable. Did I hear you say that you shot him with my gun?”
“Yep.” Kendra smiled up at him. “I’ll explain it all later. I just want to get out of here.”
Grant nodded. “Let’s check you out and get you more comfortable first.”
Quinn came toward them, still holding his rifle pointed at the other men as he shrugged off his backpack, taking the time to sink his fingers into Kendra’s hair and pull her close for a kiss. “Hey, baby. You’re freezing. First thing tomorrow, we’re going to town and getting you some warm boots.” He moved back to stand guard over her now unarmed kidnappers while Mason came toward her. Kneeling beside her, he touched his lips to hers, running a gloved hand over her hair. “And a new coat and some gloves. You scared the hell out of us, darlin’.”
Grant spread a thin weatherproof blanket on the ground. “Sit on this, honey. I’ll wrap another one around you. It holds in heat. I want to get you warmed up a little before we head back out.”
Shrugging out of his backpack, Mason kept an eye on the other men. “Her clothes are in there. There’s the usual water and protein bars in there, too.”
Grant pulled a battery-operated lantern from his pack, turned it on, and set it next to Kendra. “You need some light over there, Barrett?”
“They can hold their own flashlights. I’m just wrapping his gunshot wound.”
“Hey! That hurts. Why don’t you start a fire or something?”
Barrett cut a strip of tape with his teeth and began securing the gauze. “We’re not staying long enough for a fire. Shut up. You’re lucky I’m even bandaging you.”
Grant cracked open a bottle of water and handed it to Kendra, hiding his concern at how badly she shook. “Drink a little of this.” He peeled the wrapper from one of the bars. “And eat some of this. As much as you can. I’m going to get these boots off and see what I can do about warming your feet.”
One of Kendra’s other kidnappers leaned forward. “Hey! Can I get some of that, too?”
Quinn shifted his feet, his fury obvious. “You’re lucky I don’t throw you off that fucking ledge. I still might.”
The man who Kendra had shot, a man clearly not used to taking orders, eyed all four of them nervously. “She shot me! I’ve got a right to—”
Barrett snaked out a fist, punching him in the jaw. “Shut the fuck up. The only reason I didn’t knock you out was because I don’t want to carry you out of here.”
Shaking his head, Grant focused on Kendra. “Wanna bet he gets thrown off a cliff before we get to the bottom?” He removed her boots and tugged her socks off, alarmed at how cold her feet were. Warming one of them in his hand, he reached into backpack Mason had been carrying. “These socks are dry. We’ll get them on you and then I’ve got a little surprise for you.”
He dragged another blanket out and wrapped it around her shoulders, forcing a smile. “Every time we find you, you’re freezing.”
Reaching out a hand, she touched his arm, glancing toward the others. “Grant, I need to tell you something.”
She knew the others would be able to hear her since sound carried in the small cave, which, other than the occasional rip of tape, remained virtually silent. Sliding a look toward Barrett, who turned to meet her gaze as if he’d felt it, she grimaced, and turned back to Grant.
“Lisa was a part of this.”
In the process of sliding a sock on her foot, Grant paused, his eyes narrowing. Clenching his jaw, he looked down at her foot and slid her sock on. “Tell me.”
Mason cursed and came toward them, nudging Grant aside. “Let me do that.”
“No. I can do it.”
Mason slapped a hand on his back. “I know you can, but I want to take care of her, too. Why don’t you get behind her and hold her up? She’s drooping.”
* * * *
Kendra opened her mouth to tell Mason that she was fine, but snapped it shut when he gave her a meaningful look. Nodding once, she slumped against Grant when he moved in behind her. “Oh, God. That feels so good. You’re nice and warm.”
Grant gathered her close and buried his face in her hair. “Tell me what happened. Everything.”
Mason grinned and reached into one of the backpacks, pulling out several small packets, and tossing them to the blanket. “These will warm you up until we can get you home and warm you up right.”
He opened one of the packets and stuck it into another sock, which he slipped over the first. “It’ll warm up in a minute. I’ll put one on each of your pockets, too.”
“I’ll give you five hundred dollars for one of those.”
Kendra grimaced. “I don’t know if you recognize him from his picture or not, but that’s Gus. He’s the one who kidnapped me. Apparently, Lisa came to town to check on Grant and give him another chance to beg her to go back with him. Those two ran into each other.”
As Kendra told the rest of the story, Grant held her from behind while the others listened, their expressions becoming harder and colder by the minute.
Mason slid her boots back onto her now warm feet, handing the water to her before opening two more of the magic packets and sticking one in each of her coat pockets.
Barrett finished bandaging Gus and came to her, tilting her head back to look into her eyes, and checking her pulse, not saying a word to interrupt her story.
Kendra sighed. “So that’s what happened. I still had the gun in my pocket, but I couldn’t get to it because of the way he kept holding on to me. You should have seen his face when I pulled it out of my pocket and aimed it at him. He already admitted that once he got the money from you, he was going to kill me.”
Mason grinned, looking over her shoulder to Grant. “Seems that gun saved her life.”
Quinn, who stood over the three men with a rifle trained on them, looked over his shoulder. “We’ll have to get her one of her own.”
“No, thanks.” Kendra shuddered and sipped from the bottle of water that Barrett held to her lips. Pushing it away, she reached for the protein bar. “I never want to touch another gun as long as I live. I was afraid I was going to kill him.”
Quinn shrugged. “He deserved it. Self-defense, baby. No jury in the world would convict you.” Turning back to Gus, he smiled in that way that sent a chill down her spine. “If they fall off the mountain on the way down, that wouldn’t be our fault, either.”
Barrett gripped her chin, lifted her face to his. “I’m damned proud of you. You’re a hell of a woman.”
Quinn turned. “That she is. I don’t care what she says, I’m getting her a gun and giving her shooting lessons.”
Grant lifted his head. “I’m sorry for Lisa’s part in this. I’ll take care of it.”
Turning her head, she leaned back against his shoulder to look up at him. “She’s planning to leave the country to get married again.”
Grant bent his head, touching his lips to hers. “She won’t get away with this. I love you, Kendra.”
Blinking back tears, Kendra smiled up at him. “I love you, too. Thanks for loaning me your gun.”
Grant’s tender smile warmed her heart
, the relief in his eyes evident. “Anytime, baby.”
Barrett ran his hands under Kendra’s coat, obviously checking for injuries. “You sure you’re not hurt?”
“No, just cold. Warmer now. I’m glad you guys found me. With the snow falling and the wind, I didn’t think you’d find me.”
Quinn chuckled. “Baby, I told you that I’m the best.”
It didn’t take long for Mason and Grant to bundle Kendra up again while Barrett tied several knots in some rope. “Okay, honey, step into this.”
Before she knew it, she had ropes attached to her, and watched in surprise as Barrett attached the free end of one side to himself, while Grant did the same on the other.
Bending to kiss her forehead, Barrett pulled the collar of her coat higher. “Okay, baby. Nice and slow. You’re attached to Grant and me, so if you lose your footing, we’ve got you.”
Kendra blinked up at him. “Then you’ll fall, too!”
Shrugging his backpack back on, Barrett grinned. “I think the two of us are big enough, and strong enough to hold on to you.”
“What about us?”
Quinn motioned for the other men to get to their feet. “You’d better be careful. If you fall, you fall. I’m sure as hell not risking my life to save you.”
Barrett stepped out on the ledge first, holding on to Kendra’s hand. “Come on, baby. It’s only about fifty feet and then the rest is easy. Just keep your back to the rock and take small steps to the side. I’ll guide you. We’re going to take our time. Just don’t look down.”
The shock of cold air made Kendra realize just how much warmer it had been in the cave. “Hell, it’s cold.” The slick soles of her boots didn’t seem so slick. “That gauze you wrapped around my boots really helps. I’m throwing them away as soon as we get home.”
Grant squeezed her other hand. “You don’t know how good it makes me feel for you to finally refer to the ranch as home. Easy, honey. Nice and slow.”
Listening to the other men grumble, she snuck a look behind them to see Mason walking behind Grant, Gus and his men in the middle, and Quinn bringing up the rear.