Page 9 of Mountain Protector

“Knox?” There’s a concerned lift to Gage’s voice. “Is everything?—”

“I heard something. Outside.”

“What did you hear?”

Before I can answer, there’s another crack.

Definitely a gun.

Shit.

I jump up from my chair, all my muscles tensed and my jaw clenching. Adrenaline surges through my body. “Two gunshots. Outside.”

There’s a brief pause. “A hunter?”

“After midnight?”

“Probably not,” Gage concedes. “Are you calling 911?”

That would be the logical answer. Stay inside, call 911, and let the police deal with any trouble. I’m not active duty, not law enforcement, so there’s really no reason for me to go tramping through the snow searching for whoever fired that gun.

Except Lark is out there. Just through the woods.

I don’t have any other neighbors close enough to worry about.

But Lark?—

She’s all alone in her cabin. At night. In a snowstorm. Could there be a better time for someone with bad intentions to target her? To rob her? Or…

Shit.

Yes, she has a security system, but it’s no guarantee. And even if the police are notified, it’ll take them ages to get here.

Whowon’ttake at least half an hour to get to Lark’s cabin? Me.

“I’m going to investigate,” I announce. “Call the team and put them on standby, just in case.”

“Knox. I’m not sure that’s a good?—”

“Lark is out there. My neighbor. Her house is the only one close enough to hear. I have to check. See if she’s in trouble.”

Gage’s voice goes brisk. “Of course. I’ll call Enzo. Be careful out there.”

“I will.” Already moving, I pull my headset off and toss it onto the chair. My mind is already three steps ahead, running through everything I need.

Boots. A coat. My Sig. My Ka-Bar, too, just in case. My phone.

Car keys?

No. It’ll be faster to cut straight through the woods, rather than deal with at least a mile and a half of snow-covered roads to get to Lark’s place. Plus, that’ll allow for a stealthier approach, and given I don’t know what I’m walking into, that’s what I’d much prefer.

In under a minute, I’m ready to go.

Just as I’m about to leave the house, I grab a flashlight as an afterthought. The moonlight reflecting across the sheet of untouched snow across my backyard brings an unnatural brightness to the night, but the woods beyond will be dark.

It’s tough to run in the snow, given that it’s already up to my knees, but that’s where the hours of conditioning and hiking and running come in. So I’m barely breathing hard by the time I reach the treeline.

Once I get into the cover of trees, I flip on my flashlight and aim it at the ground. I’ll have to move more slowly now, since I can’t see the inevitable branches and stumps hidden beneath the snow, and I don’t think I’ll be much help to Lark if I end up breaking an ankle out here.

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