Mountain Ranger Recon. Carol Ericson

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СКАЧАТЬ likely be suspended from my job, if not fired, while Rocky Mountain Adventures waits for the phone call from your lawyer.”

      Ian smacked his fist against his palm. He hadn’t thought of that. Any red-blooded, litigious American would sue Rocky Mountain Adventures in a heartbeat for this accident.

      “Sorry Meg-o. I waltz back into your life after three years and look what happens.”

      She shrugged, her cheeks flushing a rosy pink at the nickname. “At least I know you don’t have any intention of suing us.”

      Ian clicked the buttons on Kayla’s wet digital camera. “If I’m lucky, Kayla snapped some photos of whatever she wasn’t supposed to see, or maybe even got a couple of shots of her attacker.”

      Meg leaned over his shoulder, but the camera’s screen remained black. Ian blew out a breath and dropped the camera, where it swung from his neck. “The water may have damaged it or maybe the battery’s dead.”

      “You stayed behind to search this area, didn’t you?”

      “Of course, but I didn’t plan to involve you.”

      “You never do.”

      Ouch.

      Meg slid her backpack from her shoulders. “I have some binoculars. Maybe Kayla spotted something across the river or at the top of the falls.”

      Their gloved fingers met as Meg passed the binoculars to him, and for a moment the electricity crackled between them, even though their skin didn’t even touch. Meg snatched her hand back, as if burned. Yeah, she felt it, too.

      Ian had been on high alert from the moment he stepped off the van and discovered Meg was going to be their guide. He hadn’t had a single opportunity to relish being close to her again. This reunion bore no resemblance to the one he’d played over and over in his head these past three years without her.

      And the situation had gotten even worse.

      “I’ll have a look along the riverbank. Maybe Kayla spotted something in the water snagged on the rocks.” She put her hands on her hips. “Just what am I looking for anyway? What kind of suitcase is this?”

      “Your guess is as good as mine. It’s probably a hard-sided case, not too big, not too small.” Ian trained the binoculars on the hillside across the canyon, scanning every ledge, every tree. He caught his breath a few times, only to be disappointed.

      What had Kayla seen from that overlook to prompt someone to kill her on the spot?

      Meg’s radio crackled and a voice sputtered across the airwaves. “Meg? Meg, are you there?”

      As Meg answered the radio call, Ian sharpened his focus to zero-in on an area behind the falls.

      “I’m here with…Mr. Shepherd, Matt. We’re on our way back, unless you can send another helicopter in to pick us up.”

      Ian cursed. The shiny object behind the wall of water had been a trick of the sunlight, now throwing shafts of light through the clouds. He hoped if the search-and-rescue team sent another chopper in, they’d take their time.

      The radio hissed with static. “Not sure we can do that, Meg, but that’s not why I called. There’s another hiker missing from your group.”

      Ian spun around and dropped the binoculars, which banged against his chest.

      Meg’s eyes widened as she gripped the radio with two hands. “Someone’s missing from the hike? Who?”

      Ian’s breath stopped as a red dot of light appeared between Meg’s eyes. His gut clenched for one second before he soared through the air and tackled her.

       Chapter Three

      As Meg hit the ground, the radio flew out of her grasp. She opened her mouth to yell, but Ian clamped a hand across her lips.

      “Shh.” He shifted his weight on top of her, pushing the air out of her lungs and smashing her face into the moist dirt.

      Wet sand from the riverbank flooded her mouth, settling between her teeth, and she sputtered. Ian couldn’t have picked a more perfect way to remind her why she’d left him—his complete devotion to his career at her expense.

      His warm breath tickled her ear as he covered her body with his large frame. He draped his thigh across her hip, protecting her, shielding her. He couldn’t have picked a more perfect way to remind her how much it had hurt to leave him—his complete and utter protectiveness of her.

      He whispered, “Stay still a few more minutes. I saw a red laser bead from a weapon on your forehead.”

      Meg bucked beneath him as if someone had shocked her with a cattle prod. Was Ian trying to finish her off?

      Ian stroked her ponytail and then lifted his head. Taking a deep breath, Meg turned her face into the wet mulch, the smell of the damp leaves and earth invading her nostrils. Maybe if she buried her head in the dirt this would all go away. Except Ian. She didn’t want Ian to go away—not yet anyway.

      Straddling her thighs, Ian rose to a sitting position. He held his finger to his lips and scanned the area with the binoculars. He reached for the backpack he’d dropped when he’d taken her down and pulled out a weapon.

      Meg gasped, although Ian’s hiking accoutrements shouldn’t come as a surprise to her. Her husband had always been armed and dangerous.

      Gripping his gun, Ian rolled off her body. “Stay low. We’re going to have to hike out of here beneath some heavy cover. Get on the radio and find out who’s missing from the hike.”

      Meg rolled onto her stomach, pointing to the racing river. “My radio’s downstream somewhere. Another good reason for the company to fire me.”

      “I suppose you didn’t happen to catch a name before I…uh, knocked the radio out of your hand?”

      “No, but if we see one of the tourists wandering around out here in the wilderness, it’s a pretty good bet he’s our man.”

      “Or woman.”

      She grabbed his arm and pulled him close to the base of the hill. “We’ll be safer following this path, instead of traipsing along the banks of the river.”

      Ian ducked beneath a tree and chugged some water from his bottle. He wiped the rim on the sleeve of his jacket and offered it to Meg. “I was hoping to search the area while we’re here.”

      “You can’t do that with someone aiming red lasers at our heads.” She gulped the water down her parched throat too quickly and coughed and sputtered.

      “Are you okay?” Ian pounded her back.

      She twirled around, holding out her hands. “I’m choking on water. I don’t need CPR.”

      Ian rubbed his brow with the back of his hand, still encased in a thick glove. “Sorry. How long can we hike along the base of the mountain before heading up to the trail?”

      “About an hour.” Meg tipped СКАЧАТЬ