Page 42 of Montana Heat

What the fuck?

Kenzie’s breathing was coming way too rapidly as she talked. “He said, ‘If you care about anybody but yourself, you need to stay away from Colorado.’”

Holy shit. I leaped up, grabbing Kenzie’s hand and pulling her along with me, running back toward the main section of the lodge.

“Lucas!” I yelled as we reentered the great room.

I didn’t talk much, so when I spoke, people usually listened. I put enough urgency and volume into that one-word shout that the whole house went silent, and everyone turned our way.

“What?” Lucas ran up as I pulled Kenzie into my side. “What happened?”

Daniel was right behind him.

“The stalker might have Kenzie’s parents. She called her mom, and a strange man answered with a threat about staying out of Colorado.”

The Navy SEALs inside my friends broke free—you could almost see the change come over them as they went into fight mode. It had been years, almost a decade, since most of them had been active duty, but that didn’t matter.

The warriors inside them still lived.

Daniel had Charlie on the phone in a matter of seconds and was filling him in on what had happened. Lucas was asking the other guys who they knew in Denver who could get to Kenzie’s parents’ house as soon as possible.

“Zodiac Tactical has an office in Denver,” Jude responded. “I’m on it. They’ll have someone out there as soon as possible.”

“Meanwhile, I’ll try emergency services in Denver,” Liam said, all traces of his normal merriment gone. “They won’t like that there’s not an overt threat, but I’ll see if I can talk them into sending a unit by the house.”

If anyone could talk them into it, it was Liam. He was definitely the most charming of the group.

Kenzie’s eyes were wide as she watched everyone in movement all around her. The guys peppered her with questions—her parents’ address, exactly what the guy said on the phone, her parents’ phone numbers.

The men weren’t the only ones helping. “I’ll keep calling Kenzie’s dad to try to get through,” Evelyn said.

Lena nodded. “I’ll do the same with her mom.”

Jude put his hand over the mouthpiece of his phone. “Have a second phone ready to record in case the stalker answers again. Any details will be helpful.”

I pulled Kenzie closer to me and kissed the top of her head. “It’s going to be okay.”

She didn’t answer, but at least she wasn’t shaking the way she had been before.

The phone rang in Daniel’s hand, causing her to jump. He put it on speaker so we could all hear. “Charlie.”

“Watters is having an officer drive to the address now.”

“Okay. We’ve also called Zodiac Tactical and emergency services to see if we can get someone there. Better to have more than needed.”

“Agreed,” Charlie responded. “Whoever hears first, update the other.”

“Roger that,” Daniel said.

The tension was thick surrounding us as we lapsed into silence, while my mind raced with questions. Maybe someone had paid a stranger to make the threat? A machine to disguise it? The stalker himself?

Kenzie still leaned against me. She didn’t want to sit down—I couldn’t blame her for that—so I just stood with her and lent her my strength as best I could.

And I prayed I wouldn’t need to lend it while Kenzie got horrible news.

The minutes stretched by intolerably long, but finally, Daniel’s phone pinged on the table with a text. Kenzie’s nails dug into my arm as we waited for Daniel to read it.

“They’re okay!” The room erupted in cheers, and Kenzie all but sank into me. “The officer Watters sent got to them firstand found them at home. They’re fine. He’s going to have your mom call on his phone.”

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