Page 24 of Storm Warning

Remi shut the door and put a rock against it. Okay. She knew her way around this old bunker, then.

He shined his flashlight around their temporary shelter. “So, they just let people come inside, roam around on their own?”

“Some of the old bunkers are accessible to explorers. But this one had been locked up until someone busted it open, and sure, I looked around inside. And now here we are.”

A scuffling noise drew Remi around, and she shined her flashlight into the inky blackness, revealing more concrete. “What was that?”

“A forest creature, maybe. A rat. Hopefully not a bear.”

“It’s like a labyrinth down there, and you keep going until you’re deep underground. It was a bomb shelter. But we’re not going deeper than this.” She put her gun away.

Hawk wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of not clearing the entire place, but neither did he want to stir up trouble. They wouldn’t stay long. Just catch their breath and get warm, if possible, while they figured things out and made a plan.

She shrugged out of her drenched coat. He dropped his duffel bag, unzipped it, and tugged a blanket out, then spread it on the floor.

“You carry a blanket in your duffel?”

“Not usually, no. But I didn’t know that I wouldn’t end up sleeping in my truck or some hollowed-out tree, given the way this day has gone, so I snagged it from the bed. It’s always smart to be prepared. And now here we are, like you said, and in this cold bunker, which is a step up from a hollowed-out tree.” For which he was woefully unprepared, but he wouldn’t say that out loud.

“I thought it looked familiar,” she said.

“So, charge me for it. In the meantime, if we sit close enough, we can wrap the edges around us.”

She scrunched her nose.

“You don’t like the idea of getting close to me? You didn’treally think this through, did you?” He couldn’t help but grin and maybe feel a little bit hurt.

“My only thought was to get out of the storm for a few minutes. We’re here now. Let’s make the most of it before we go outside to find our way back to the lodge.”

Hawk blew out a breath. He didn’t want to traverse through a pitch-black forest during a monster storm with a maniac out to get them. The man had attacked Hawk this time because he wanted to eliminate the man standing between him and Remi. And he almost had.

“As soon as there’s a break in the storm,” Hawk said, “let’s get out of here. We need to keep a quick pace. Do you know the shortest and safest path back to the lodge from here?”

Remi sat on the blanket and leaned against the wall. “Nothing short about it, but I know the way.”

“We should probably turn at least one flashlight off to save the batteries,” he said. “I’m not going to sit here in the dark, though.”

He slid onto the floor next to her and leaned his head against the frigid, hard concrete. She was cold and wet. He was cold and wet. He scooted closer and tugged what was left of the blanket over them. Yep. This was a predicament.

He was seriously unprepared for sitting out a storm in a cold, dank military bunker with a woman who had trouble brewing around her. “Now would be a good time for you to tell me what’s really going on.”

9

With Hawk next to her—closeto her—this was panning out to be the tempest of the decade in multiple ways. But she had to admit she appreciated the warmth his body provided in addition to the blanket. Exhaustion threatened—tromping through the woods in the raging wind and rain really took it out of her, and she fought the need to lean her head against his very broad and adequate shoulder and close her eyes. Soak up even more heat. But he’d asked a question, and she owed an explanation, didn’t she?

Except Remi didn’t have the answers.

What. Is. Going. On?

I wish I knew.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she sighed. How did she tell this complete stranger that for some inexplicable reason he had triggered something forgotten in her? She needed time and space to think, which was hard to do when she was taking refuge with Hawk, cozying up to him. For survival reasons, of course, and nothing more. Nestled so close she could practically feel the strength and power contained in thosemuscles, which should have felt awkward but instead made her feel safe and comfortable. Maybe she was too tired to care about the proximity. But she really should care because she needed to know if she could trust him.

She opened her eyes and angled toward him. “To be honest, I kind of hoped you were the one to leave the puzzle pieces, then I’d have answers because you would tellmewhat was going on.”

He huffed a laugh. “And why would you even think I had anything to do with it?”

She lifted one shoulder, though he probably couldn’t see. “I don’t know. I guess because you showed up at the same time as the attacks, and on the same day as a puzzle piece had been hand delivered.”

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