Page 54 of Saved By the Mountain Man

Sure enough, before long I saw her figure moving through the trees. She was heading away from town and deeper into the forest. Where was she going?

My training kicked in, and I stuck to the trees, making sure she didn’t see me following her. The falling snow, coming through the canopy of branches above, made the visibility worse, theweak sunlight barely filtering through, casting the forest into shadows.

It was easy to hide, easy to follow her, stalking her like I would stalk prey.

My breath came in sharp bursts in the cold air.

Rae suddenly stopped and looked around at the trees, as if she was looking for something. She shook her head and turned to the other side.

It looked like she was lost, struggling to find where she was going.

I was just about to step out from between the trees, to take her back to the cabin so that we could talk, when a dark shadow appeared in front of Rae.

She froze.

“Burke?” she asked.

He was a big, burly man with an unkempt beard and shaggy hair. His eyes were hard.

“You’re one hard lady to find, McKenna.” His voice was deep and gruff.

McKenna?

“What are you doing here?” Her voice trembled.

“I’m just here for the evidence.”

Rae shook her head. “I don’t have it.”

Burke took another step closer to Rae. and she shrunk away from him.

“I don’t believe you.”

Rae turned around and tried to run, but he grabbed her arm, and she cried out.

“You’re not getting away this time,” Burke said.

Who the hell was Burke?

“You’re hurting me!”

My heart lurched in my chest, my protective instincts taking over, and I started to step out from behind the tree.

“Tell me where it is, and this will all go away.”

I hesitated.

Rae squeezed her eyes shut. “I told you, I don’t have it.”

“Well, then we’ll just have to figure out who does, won’t we?” Burke said. “You’re coming with me. I’m sure Jethro can figure out a way to make you squeal. He’s always been good at that.”

I bristled as Burke yanked Rae away with him through the trees.

When the coast was clear, I followed them. I stayed behind the trees, making sure I wasn’t seen. Burke wasn’t alone—Jethro was here, too.

Jethro, the man Rae was running from?

I was pretty damn sure whatever this was about was bigger than just a relationship gone bad.

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