Page 70 of Colton First Responder (Coltons of Mustang Valley)

She would need a new life after this was all over. Would she be able to become a first responder and have him hire her?

After all, she enjoyed helping people. Had learned a bit from Grayson about all that first responders do. Enjoyed the idea of becoming one herself.

And that way, they would definitely remain in each other’s lives—even if only professionally.

As she sat there starting to thumb through the book, she realized she hoped they would remain in each other’s lives for additional reasons, too.

It might be too soon for her to embark on a real relationship with another man. But if she ever did, Grayson was one man she was certain she could trust.

And love.

Unlike that horrible former husband of hers, who had tried so hard to ruin her life.

A noise sounded from the entryway. This was much too soon for Grayson to return after having a copy of the recording made and taking it to the police. He’d hardly left. Did he forget something?

She stood and put the book down on the chair. Surely it could only have been Grayson she’d heard, though—right?

Unless some animal also called this bunker home sometimes.

Or—

Oh no!

“Hello, Savannah,” Zane Oliver said with a smirk, walking through the opening.

He was a man of moderate height, with dark hair but a receding hairline. He was a few years older than Savannah’s thirty-one, but his sagging jawline made him look a lot older. He’d been relatively good-looking when they had met, but not any longer. Or maybe that was just because Savannah had come to despise him.

How had he found her here? This place was Grayson’s. It pained Savannah even to see this miserable person in a location she had come to value so much, thanks to the wonderful man who had brought her here.

Like her, Zane was wearing a completely casual outfit—a light yellow T-shirt and black shorts—that wasn’t at all like his usually professional attire.

“Hello, Zane,” she said back, forcing her tone to remain calm, even though she wanted to scream and race out of there.

She couldn’t, though. Zane, blocking the exit, held a gun in his hand and was pointing it toward her. “Interesting refuge you’ve got here. I’d never have thought someone like you would wind up living in a former mine. On the other hand, I never thought someone like you would wind up escaping from the cops and eluding them for so long.”

“How...how did you find me?”

“Oh, that wonderful phone recorder I rely on so much has other functions, too. There’s a GPS transmitter on it. I followed it, and here I am.”

Savannah felt herself shaking. But something about that didn’t make sense. “It’s not here,” she told him. Grayson had it with him wherever he’d driven to, but she wasn’t going to say anything to her horrible ex about that.

“I know that. Your new buddy—he’s a first responder guy, right? Anyway, we saw him drive off a little while ago, and the dot showing the location of my recorder went in that direction. But we could see he was the only one in the car, so I followed what the dot showed before, and here I am.” His smile seemed to grow even more evil, if that was possible.

“Who’s we?” Savannah had to ask.

“None of your business, but I want to take care of both of you and get my recorder back.”

Which meant Grayson could be in danger, too. But at the moment, there was nothing Savannah could do about it. She had to save her own life first, before she could try calling Grayson.

Under the circumstances, she had to assume that the other person was Schuyler Wells. There could be others she didn’t know about, of course. But right now it didn’t matter who it was.

“Okay, Zane, let’s talk about this.” Savannah spoke in as reasonable a tone as she could. “I’m a bit surprised to see you in this area. Don’t you think someone will recognize you?”

“Like someone recognized you? Hey, I’m not going into town. This is far enough out that I’m not too worried. But I do have one concern.”

He paused, so Savannah did as she figured she was supposed to and asked, “What’s that?” She was still standing near her chair, from which she’d risen before. Zane, however, was walking around the room, glancing around as if looking for something.

“I’m debating whether just to shoot you here or take you somewhere else. This isn’t a bad place, since when your buddy is gone I gather not many people, if anyone, would think of looking for you here.”

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