Big Sky Showdown

by Sharon Dunn

  The words weighed heavy in the air. So much had happened since the day they’d taken off for the high country. All the assumptions she had made about Zane had been wrong. Everything she thought she knew about her father had been turned upside down.

  Zane came and stood beside her. “Did you make your plane reservations for going home?”

  “I thought I’d wait. I still have to meet with Dennis Havre.”

  His tone darkened to bit. “Right, to sell Big Sky Outfitters.”

  That had been her plan all along—to sell and then get back on an airplane, never to see Montana again. “Yes.” She felt a tugging at her heart. What had seemed like the right thing to do a week and a half ago now turned her stomach in knots.

  Zane ran his fingers through his hair and shifted his weight from side to side. “I don’t have the money to buy Big Sky Outfitters, but maybe we could work out some kind of payment plan? I care more about protecting the legacy of your father’s reputation than Dennis does. That has to mean something.”

  She saw the pain in Zane’s eyes. “Of course it does.” She had come to respect what he did for a living and to love the high country. She stared down at the box then clicked it open. Her breath caught. There were no ashes inside.

  Zane stepped toward her.

  Inside the box was a stack of letters addressed to her. She recognized her mother’s handwriting where she had written “return to sender.”

  Tears warmed the corners of her eyes. “He did try to have contact with me.”

  “Whatever your mother’s reasons for not wanting you to know him, I want you to understand that he was a changed man by the time he came into my life.”

  “I know that now because of who you are. Without my father’s influence you would have been like one of those young men who chose to believe Willis’s lies.”

  He kissed her forehead. “I’m going to miss you, Heather. Please consider my offer to let me buy Big Sky Outfitters over time.”

  She gazed at the man in front of her as the mountain breeze whirled around her and the expanse of God’s creation was laid out before her. She knew then that she loved him, and loved this place. “I have a better idea. What if we ran it together? Do you think you could teach me how to be a guide?”

  He let out a breath as the corners of his mouth turned up and light came into his eyes. “You’ve already proved to me you have the mettle to survive under the most traumatic of circumstances. I’d be proud to take you on. But I’d like to be more than just business partners.”

  She tilted her head.

  “I’d like you to be my wife.” His fingers touched her temple and trailed across her cheeks. The face looking at her was full of love.

  Her own heart burst with joy and she knew what her answer was. “Yes, Zane Scofield. I will marry you.”

  He wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her close. They stared out at the natural beauty that spread out before them. Trees, rivers and mountains, everything her father had loved.

  “Do you suppose my father wanted you to guide me to this spot because he thought we might hit it off?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past him.” Zane kissed the top of her head. “He was smart that way.”

  She stared down at the letters, knowing that she would get to know the man who had brought she and Zane together even better by reading what he had written her.

  Heather tilted her head and looked into the eyes of the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. He leaned in and kissed her.

  * * * * *

  If you loved this story,

  don’t miss these other exciting books from

  Sharon Dunn:

  MONTANA STANDOFF

  WILDERNESS TARGET

  COLD CASE JUSTICE

  MISTAKEN TARGET

  FATAL VENDETTA

  Find more great reads at www.LoveInspired.com

  Keep reading for an excerpt from UNDERCOVER PROTECTOR by Elizabeth Goddard

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  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed going on the wild ride with Zane and Heather as they faced danger together and found a way to each other’s hearts. Big Sky Showdown is more than a love story filled with suspense, though. It is the tale of two fathers and the two men whose lives were changed by their influence. Willis controls Jordan through fear and punishment and the promise of promotion. Stephan transformed Zane’s life by spending time with him and loving him. While it is possible to gain obedience from someone through shaming and fear, only love and grace can change the human heart. Heather’s father was a human being who, before he became a Christian, hurt the people he loved because of his destructive choices. Heather had a great deal of pain because of her father’s legacy and her mother’s bitterness. Even people who love us often hurt us. When I am faced with that reality, I am so grateful that we have a Father who loves us unconditionally, is faithful and keeps His promises.

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense story.

  You enjoy a dash of danger. Love Inspired Suspense stories feature strong heroes and heroines whose faith is central in solving mysteries and saving lives.

  Enjoy six new stories from Love Inspired Suspense every month!

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  Undercover Protector

  by Elizabeth Goddard

  ONE

  Siskiyou Mountains, southwest Oregon

  Gemma Rollins shifted gears as her beloved Jeep CJ bounced over the narrow gravel road carved from the mountain. With this torrential downpour, she was glad she’d opted for the hard cover and doors on this older model.

  But she should have gotten the mud tires too.

  This was just like when the Pineapple Express came through southern Oregon a decade ago. Except spring was the wrong time of year for the tropical moisture to be sweeping in from the Hawaiian Islands. The meteorological phenomenon occurred in the winter.

  And the tigers in her sanctuary, fifteen beautiful creatures she knew by name, wouldn’t be happy in this inclement weather either.

  Gemma downshifted, slowing at the curve on the steep one-lane road, her pulse edging up as the rain pounded harder. This was a lot more like the kind of weather she’d see in Houston, Texas, rather than southwest Oregon. And too much rain might cause flooding in the sanctuary. With a USDA inspection coming up in three weeks, she so did not need more hurdles in her goal of getting Tiger Mountain accredited as a big cat sanctuary.

  She pressed her foot against the brakes as she came up on the switchback. Suddenly, the steering refused to turn. What was happening? The sharp bend approached. She would never make it!

  Throwing her entire body into turning the steering wheel, Gemma’s effort paid off. The CJ slid around the bend, th
ough still much too close to the edge of the ravine.

  Trees and rocks would slow anything trying to take a fall, but that didn’t reassure her. Nearing the next curve, she pumped the brakes. They weren’t working so well either.

  She was behind in vehicle maintenance, no doubt there, but her CJ had never let her down before. Another curve in the road approached, and she shifted to the lowest gear, gripped the wheel with both hands and groaned with the effort to make the turn.

  She’d driven the road that bordered the fenced-in area of the sanctuary enough times to know what to expect—more switchbacks. The road was dangerous on a good day. She hit the brakes harder. Still the CJ picked up more speed. She turned the steering wheel left, barely making another switchback.

  Her beloved CJ was out of control.

  Heart hammering, the realization slammed her—this was a matter of survival.

  She might actually die. The possibility sucked her breath away.

  Mud oozed from the rocky wall to her left as it poured from the hillside above. God, please help me! I don’t want to die today. And please keep the sanctuary intact. Please don’t let those fences give way.

  She couldn’t imagine that would happen, but, then again, she hadn’t dreamed her steering would give way on the same day as her brakes. What were the chances? A question rose from the shadows in her mind. Had this been intentional?

  And on a treacherous, rainy day.

  Images from that night long ago accosted her. Headlights glinting off a wall of water. The grinding crunch. The wreck that left her uncle dead, the Tiger Hills sanctuary her father had founded dismantled and Gemma with nerve damage and a limp.

  Focus, Gemma! She gripped the steering wheel tighter, mentally skimming the road ahead. Another bend. She’d never make it with her steering out like this. But if she could make it around the next outcropping of the rocky wall—before the dangerous bend—and remain on the road, there was an incline to her right, a turn out that she could use to slow the CJ to a stop.

  Would it be enough?

  Come on, come on, come on...

  “God, if You’re listening, and You don’t want me to die today, I need some help.” Gemma wrestled the wheel even harder and yanked the emergency brake, getting no return for her efforts.

  Up ahead, mud and rocks washed over the road.

  A mudslide!

  Though it could be dangerous, deadly even, she could use the mudslide to slow the CJ, except she would have another battle for survival. But it was moving slowly enough she might just be able to make it.

  Was that the answer to her prayer?

  The incline appeared ahead in the thick of the mud. She pumped the brakes again, but they were completely dead. Gemma shifted into a higher gear and sped over the mud before it carried her away.

  The roar of the torrential rain and the sight of the mudslide filled her with dread and morbid memories, erasing all other rational thought. Gemma fought the rising terror.

  She gripped the wheel and steered toward the incline, shifting down once she’d gained enough momentum because she’d need to stop this vehicle, once and for all, on the other side of the mud.

  Regardless of her momentum, the CJ shifted as the mud gripped the tires, but Gemma persevered and evened out the pressure on the accelerator, adjusting her steering until the vehicle lifted up, the front tires gaining traction on the ground that rose above the mud, and sped forward.

  But fast, much too fast.

  The CJ slammed into a tree. Her body ricocheted against the seat belt. There were no airbags in an old Jeep CJ.

  Stunned, Gemma blinked. Sucked in a breath. I’m alive!

  Then she groaned.

  “I’m alive.” She breathed slowly to calm herself. “I’m...alive.” It could have been much worse.

  Gemma squeezed her eyes shut as memories overwhelmed her. Déjà vu. Her uncle had been driving the night he lost control of the vehicle and they hit a tree. He’d died and Gemma had lived. Why had she lived—then and now?

  Drawing in a few more calming breaths until she could breathe normally, she shook away the daze. Felt the ache from her skin to her bones. But that was good news. She could feel everything, even the nerve damage pain in her left leg from the wreck that took Uncle Dave’s life.

  The CJ jerked to the right. What was going on?

  Gemma turned her attention to the environment around her. The rain and the mud had risen even more and caught her rear tires. She had to hurry!

  She tried to unbuckle her seat belt. Stuck. She searched for something sharp to cut herself out, but, strapped in the seat, she couldn’t reach the tool kit in the back. Regardless, she tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. The front end had crumpled as the CJ twisted against the tree. Since she’d opted for a hard top, she couldn’t cut her way out through the top, even if she could escape the seat belt trapping her inside.

  She spied her cell phone—out of reach on the floorboard on the passenger side.

  Gemma was going to die today, after all.

  * * *

  Grayson Wilde had picked the worst day for surveillance of the Tiger Mountain sanctuary. Now he paid the price as he searched for cover on the hillside to wait out the storm. He had an appointment in an hour to interview with Gemma Rollins, Tiger Mountain’s founder, for a part-time volunteer position. A senior special agent for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Gray worked undercover to investigate and infiltrate a wildlife trafficking ring.

  Shivering in the cold, he pushed deeper into a shallow cave to shield himself from the brunt of the wind and rain while he waited it out. He scraped a hand over his face and wiped away the water. As miserable as it was to be in this place right at this moment, he reminded himself of the importance of his assignment. For starters, his mission in life was to thwart wildlife traffickers and poachers abusing God’s creations. It was crucial, dangerous work, considering illegal exotic pet trade and trafficking had become a multi-billion dollar industry, and came in right under drugs, firearms and human trafficking. And, as a source of funding for terrorist groups, it was a significant threat to both global and national security. But even aside from that, Gray had his own reasons for shadowing this sanctuary.

  He’d gotten a tip from an informant that the person responsible for killing game warden Bill Garland—Gray’s friend and mentor—was connected with the project. It was the kind of tip he’d been waiting on for what seemed like a lifetime. Bill had stumbled on a potential trafficking ring years ago, and turned the information over to the feds then ended up dead. With only two hundred fifty USFWS special agents to investigate the entire country, justice was never fully served.

  And Gray needed a chance to make things right.

  He had started as a game warden but worked his way to becoming a federal agent and he finally had a solid lead on his ongoing investigation. Someone to connect with an extensive trafficking ring, though he didn’t yet have a name.

  His new mission was to gain Gemma Rollin’s confidence and work the business with her so he could discover the truth. Find the person responsible for Bill’s death. Arrest him and everyone else involved.

  He might have to show up for the interview soaking wet, but that could work in his favor.

  Over the deluge he thought he heard a cry for help. Who would possibly venture out in weather like this? Well, other than himself. But unless they were conducting surveillance and working undercover, nobody should be out in the wilderness region that hedged the tiger sanctuary.

  Gray quieted his thoughts and listened.

  There it was again, only this time it was not a cry for help but an actual scream.

  He darted from the cave back into the rain, wishing for goggles—a snorkel and a pair of flippers might even work. “Where are you?”

  But he wasn’t su
re how he could have heard the scream over the torrent to begin with and doubted they’d heard his response.

  Careful of the slick ground, Gray made his way in the direction from which he thought the screams were coming. Then he found the road circling the tiger sanctuary.

  That made sense. Someone could have been driving this and he wouldn’t have seen it from his perch. He jogged down the twisted, muddy road, water pouring from the rocky wall to his left. The screams came louder but were muffled.

  Gray ran around a curve in the road and saw the mud rushing down the mountain, eating away this portion of the road.

  And he saw an old Jeep CJ shoved up into a tree. He searched for thin places in the rush of water and mud and did a dance with the forces of nature as he hopped, skipped, jumped and charged like a bull intent on his target. He caught the bumper, gripped it, holding on against the force of the liquid earth sliding under his feet. He made his way to the driver’s side door.

  A frantic woman sat inside, her mouth wide and halfway through the word help when she caught sight of him. She stopped and closed her mouth.

  Assessing the situation, Gray didn’t need her to explain the urgency or that she couldn’t get her door open. He doubted climbing out the other side was even an option, since the vehicle hung precariously near the edge on the passenger side. He tried the door, using brute strength, and then kicked at it, but it wouldn’t budge. If he’d brought his weapon, he might have been able to shoot the door mechanism so it would release.

  Instead, he grabbed a large rock.

  Her troubled eyes grew wide again.

  “Unbuckle your seat belt!” he yelled over the roar. “And move out of the way.”

  “I can’t!”

  “I’m going to smash the window.”

  She nodded. Covering her face, she leaned away.

  Gray hit the window. Glass shattered, falling everywhere inside the vehicle, including on the woman. She carefully tossed aside the bigger chunks, and Gray helped remove the rest. He pulled out his Buck knife from his jeans pocket, cut her seat belt and then tugged off his jacket, laying it over the window jamb to protect her. Gray planned to pull her out, but she climbed out herself, her agility surprising him until she fell to the ground. Her left leg appeared stiff, her expression one of agony.