Page 75 of Deadly Target (Rocky Mountain Courage 2)

“I think that I believe him. Why do you ask? Are you wondering why your dad asked you not to tell anyone?”

“Yes. I feel like I’m missing something.” Hadlow had thought convincing Nathan that he was a “good guy” was important. Nathan wanted to believe him. He wanted to believe Henry too.

“Let’s look at the context of the entire conversation you had with your father. After what we learned in Boston—a woman he loved and her son, another detective, murdered, so he believed—it seems to me that he was afraid of putting more people in danger. He was with you at the fishing hole, a place he deemed safe. He needed to confide in someone. Maybe it wasn’t a matter of trusting, as much as it was a matter of protecting.”

He scratched his scruffy jaw. “I think you’re right. I said as much to Henry.”

The truck hit a pothole and bounced. Nathan almost lost his coffee.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever been on this road.” Erin peered out her window. “It’s ... beautiful, and a little terrifying.” The road overlooked a massive drop of several hundred feet and offered a view of the mountains and foothills for miles. A gentle mist rose from the valleys, weaving in and out of thousands of acres of evergreens. “It’s breathtaking.”

“And bumpy. Sorry.”

“It’s the scenic drive,” she said. “Thank you for that.”

“I’ve been here once or twice. And it’s scenic. But unfortunately, we have some trouble.” He slowed the vehicle at the sight ahead, then stopped.

A rockslide.

“Well, that’s just great,” he said.

Giant boulders blocked their way. The couple of cars he’d passed heading in the opposite direction must have turned around.

“So no chance we can wait for someone to remove the rockslide?”

“It’ll take hours for them to get here, and once they’re here with the necessary equipment, even longer to remove the rocks and secure the area.” Nathan maneuvered the truck and turned around.

A logging truck rumbled above them on a road carved out of the hill of mostly stumps and meadow grasses. The truck would be exiting onto the road at the intersection just ahead. Nathan thought to speed up, especially since the truck was hauling pretty fast. The last thing he wanted was to follow one of these trucks all the way.

Erin seemed completely relaxed despite this wrinkle in their plans.

Coming toward them on the road was another vehicle. Nathan would warn them about the rockslide if he could. Except the vehicle stopped in the middle of the road on the other side of the intersection where the logging truck would turn. Had they spotted the rockslide down the road? Good.

Wait a minute. He’d seen this vehicle before when he thought someone might have been following them from the airport, but he’d dismissed it. Nathan slowly continued forward but slammed on the brakes when a man got out of the car.

“What’s he doing?” Erin asked. She shifted taller in her seat.

The man lifted a gun and aimed at the logging truck speeding down the hill. Disbelief edging over him, Nathan reached for his own gun, but before he could act ...

Pop, pop, pop, pop.

The shooter had taken out the truck driver, and now the logging truck barreled forward at full speed. The trailer leaned precariously, then rolled all the way over, taking the cab of the truck with it and dumping its load of logs.

The lumber rolled and bounced, thundering down the hill directly toward Nathan and Erin.

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