Page 64 of Burning Hearts

And she meant it. Jamie was going to stick around—if he wanted, she would be here forever. No matter where he was, she planned to be right beside him.

For as long as he wanted.

No matter what.

No more rescuing people when it was God’s job to do that. Jamie planned to trust Him and to follow His lead. If that brought her to someone she cared about and they needed help, that was one thing. But going off on her own as if she had all the answers was something else entirely.

Someone slammed into them. Logan went down with a cry and a grunt, pulling her with him. She hit the ground beside him, and her head glanced off a rock. Hard.

Everything went black.

FOURTEEN

Logan had heardthe sickening sound of Jamie’s head hitting something hard—not the ground he was currently smashed against.

The guy on him punched Logan in the back, then on his side. Logan couldn’t get up. He tried to push away from the ground with his hands under him. He flipped his attacker off to the side and rolled, turning around to face the guy.

He reached for his gun.

It wasn’t there.

Logan looked for it on the ground around them. Hard-packed dirt and grass, the soil partially frozen. He lifted his knee and planted his foot so he could stand.

A gun cocked.

Logan froze like the ground in winter. Held his hands up.Not moving. Don’t shoot me.

The man who’d tackled him pointed a pistol at Logan’s face. “Don’t even think about it.” He spat to the side and called Logan a foul name.

Beyond him, another man had come into view. Neither was the man he’d hit with that plank at the compound, the one Jamie said had helped her and Tristan.

The third man on the ground stirred.

“Get up, Snatch. We got ’em.”

He clambered to his feet. “What about Tristan? Where is that scum?”

Logan said, “Hopefully as far from here as possible by now.”

Snatch chuckled. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him. The boys will run ’em all down, shoot ’em, and finish this.”

Logan’s stomach clenched. “You don’t need to kill them. They have nothing to do with this.”

“How about that?” Snatch grinned. “Guess you better explain it all to me and I’ll know for sure.”

But would that cause him to call off the hunt for the rest of the smokejumpers? Logan doubted it, but this might be the only shot he had for them to be free. Even if he and Jamie weren’t.

He was even willing to ask God that Tristan be safe.

Logan needed His help to protect Jamie, or both of them were likely to end up killed. “Explain what?”

Snatch said, “Playing dumb will get you a bullet in the leg. That was your only warning.”

“You want answers, tell me what the question is!” Logan gritted his teeth, breathing hard.

Jamie hadn’t moved yet.

He had no chance against these three men.

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