Page 2 of Mountain Defender

Rafe led the way to his office. The small, cramped room was illuminated by a tall window. A simple metal desk held only a laptop and a picture frame. Without looking, Tripp knew the photo was of Rafe’s talented and adorable fiancée Zoe. She not only wore her Olympic gold medal in the skiing event but a dazzling grin of victory.

“Take a seat.”

Tripp dragged the chair another foot away from the desk in order to make room for his long legs. At six-three, he was used to making more space for himself.

They looked at each other across the desk. In a short time, he and Rafe had grown tight. Rafe often confided in him whenever chatter concerning their next target came in before he gave orders to the rest of the team.

Tripp sensed something heavy coming.

Rafe met his gaze. “There’s a detective who wants to talk to you.”

Tripp didn’t immediately respond to his statement, though it couldn’t be further off course from what he expected to hear.

“What for?” He formed his words carefully.

Rafe eyed him in the same way he did whenever Tripp returned from one of his mountain “retreats.” Which really meant his personal quest.

In this case, to find someone. And kill him.

Rafe swiveled a little in his chair. “Her name is Alexia Oaks.”

Thanks to SEAL training, Tripp was damn good at concealing his reactions. “Never heard of her.”

“She’s been assigned to a case.”

His stomach sprouted claws that started digging into the soft flesh.

Tilting his head down, Rafe leveled him in a look. “Your niece’s case.”

There it is.The moment Tripp had been waiting for—when someone on his team connected all the dots.

He pulled in a deep breath and blew it out. “I don’t mind talking to this Oaks woman.”

Hedidmind discussing the rest of it.

“You’re not even going to say anything about your niece?”

He twitched his shoulder in a shrug. “What’s to say? You already know she’s dead.”

The words rattled through his hollow chest.

Fine lines etched worry around each of Rafe’s eyes. “Goddamn, man. Why didn’t you ever talk about it?”

“Not much to discuss. The investigation hit a wall, and there’s a dead trail leading to it.”

“Does this have anything to do with the trips you take into the mountains? Or you spending hours and hours of your time reading reports and looking at photos from our ops?”

Tripp held back a groan. He hated being called out, but he hadn’t exactly been hiding his activities either.

He’d been doing his own investigating. Now he studied every bit of evidence—even concerning their ops—out of habit.

“Tell the detective I’ll talk to her,” he responded.

“Okay. But you can’t bring her here.”

Tripp nodded. “Of course not.”

The base had tight security against outsiders the same as other military bases did. Their remote location helped keep them on the down-low, and even the nearby town had nothing notable to visit, as well as terrible cell service.

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