Rocky Mountain Showdown. Victoria Austin W.

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      “Get out of my way. Now.” She sounded deranged, and that was not far from the truth. Laura needed to get her daughter out of the cabin. Off the mountain. And that man was standing between them and the door. His weapon was still holstered, and Laura decided he probably was a park ranger. One who had picked today to come check out the recluse living on the mountain.

      “I don’t know what I walked into, Mrs. Donovan. But I’m not the enemy here.”

      Laura’s short laugh was bitter. Sure he wasn’t. Even before this terrible, terrible day, park rangers had never been her friend. Laura couldn’t tell if she was shaking or if the vibrations were from Abby, but either way they were less than stable. She needed to get it together.

      Laura wished she could wipe her sweaty hands off on her jeans. Relax her shaky arms. Find some medicine for her pounding headache. But that would mean letting go of Abby and that wasn’t happening. She sucked in a breath, trying to make the flow slow and steady. And subtle. The bright lights that had been floating in her vision faded. The haze of static in her head cleared.

      “How do you know my name?” She sounded like she was accusing him of something. Because she kind of was.

      “I told you. I’m a park ranger assigned to this part of Colorado. I know most of the people who live bordering the public lands.”

      “Great. You’re not the enemy. Congratulations. Get out of my way.” Laura tried to sound as authoritative as possible.

      The ranger took a step back but Laura did not move forward. He didn’t look like any of Mahoney’s men, and that uniform looked authentic, but Laura wasn’t sure what was real anymore. Not after today. He was still too close for her comfort.

      “Mrs. Donovan, I don’t know what is going on. But I can help you. My name is Seth.”

      Laura snorted. “You think you can help, huh? Just wandered up here on the off chance I needed some help?”

      His eyes were still wary and confused. “Yes. There’s a fire out there. I got caught up in it while doing patrol. The only way out was up the mountain toward your land. I passed your cabin on my way and stopped to warn you. That’s when I found you.”

      Laura bit her lip for a second. Okay. That rang true. And, more important, his vehicle sounded like a way to get off the mountain. Mahoney had slashed her tires earlier. Right in front of her. Just to show her how completely trapped she really was. “All right. Let’s go.” She jerked her chin, indicating that he should walk in front of her and she would follow.

      Seth looked unsure. “Yeah. We’ll go. But what did I walk in on? Why were you unconscious on the floor? Are you okay? I mean, what’s going on?”

      Laura swallowed, increasing the pressure of her arms around Abby even though she had already been holding the girl tightly. “It doesn’t matter. We need to get out of here.”

      Bringing his hand back to his face, he rubbed the place where she had hit him and looked at Abby. Then he nodded and turned to walk through the living room and out the cabin door.

      Laura took a deep breath and kissed Abby on the top of her head. “Okay, honey. Okay. We’re going to go away from this now. It will be all right.” Abby just pushed farther into Laura’s front in response.

      Seth had walked out. Laura needed to follow.

      She exited the cabin’s front door and saw a park ranger’s truck parked in front. Seth really was a ranger. Once Laura was off this mountain, she would appreciate the irony of a ranger saving Malcolm Grant’s daughter.

      Seth was standing by the passenger side of the truck, holding the door open and waiting for her. She was a couple yards away, walking quickly, when the gunshot came from her left. Out of the forest. Seth was to her before she realized he’d moved. He grabbed her and began to pull. Away from the gunshot. Before Laura fully comprehended what was going on, she and Seth were back inside the cabin, and he slammed the front door shut.

      “I only heard the one shot, but that doesn’t mean there’s only one shooter.”

      Seth didn’t sound nearly as shaky as Laura felt. He had walked over to one of the windows and was peeking through the curtains with a gun in his hand. She hadn’t seen him take it out. Belatedly, stupidly, Laura realized she was just standing there holding Abigail.

      Reaching for an empty loop on his pants, Seth patted around his belt with a force that matched the intensity coming off him as he looked down. He let out a deep huff. Before Laura’s brain could catch up with her runaway nerves, he was focusing all that intensity on her. “My radio must have fallen off when I ran. Please tell me you have one. I radioed in about the fire before I got here, but I need to call in for help with a shooter.”

      Laura was shaking her head before Seth even finished the question. “No. We don’t get cell service this far up the mountain, and we don’t have a radio.”

      “What about for emergencies? If you or Abby needed help?”

      Laura’s mouth tightened. “We rely on ourselves up here on the mountain. We don’t like outsiders.”

      Laura watched his face, her stomach tightening. She knew the rumors surrounding her father. People said Malcolm Grant was the stereotypical ex-soldier turned recluse. Antisocial. Living off the grid and holding himself accountable to no law or authority. They were wrong, of course. But Laura had given up defending her father to people like park rangers long ago.

      The man quickly moved back to the window, peering through the curtains. He spoke to her without looking her way, his voice curt but not entirely mean. “I think now is a good time for you to tell me what in the world is going on.” He was moving as he talked, pushing the couch in front of the door.

      The ranger moved through the living room, pushing the table against the back door. The cabin was really only four rooms—the living area/kitchen, two bedrooms and the bathroom. Now that both outside doors were blocked, Seth was looking out the windows again.

      Laura didn’t know where to start. Or what to say. “There is a man named Victor Mahoney. He is trying to kill me.”

      “Why?”

      “I don’t know.”

      Seth looked ready to argue with her when a second shot sounded. Laura heard it hit the outside of the cabin. She thought she could feel the walls shake from the impact, even though she knew that had to be her mind playing tricks on her.

      Seth’s face turned grim. “We need to get out of here.”

      How had all this happened? Laura didn’t know. But she was trapped in the cabin with a park ranger. And Mahoney was outside still trying to kill them.

      So now she was relying on the park ranger for help. He’d saved them. Maybe. Park rangers were always the enemy. Twenty years of being her father’s daughter had taught her that. She’d watched park rangers harass, and even arrest on occasion, her father more times than she could remember. Her father refused to follow their rules. He wasn’t hurting anyone, but the rangers couldn’t let it go.

      But, when faced with Victor Mahoney, this particular one was probably the lesser of two threats. Maybe.

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