Smoky Mountains Ranger. Lena Diaz

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       Chapter Three

      Stay here? Was he worried that she’d run after the bad guy? It took courage to chase a man who’d pointed a pistol at you and made threats. She wasn’t courageous. If she was, she would have fought harder after the auditor absolved her adoptive father of any wrongdoing in regards to her trust. She would have taken back what she believed he’d stolen from her. But she hadn’t. She wouldn’t. Because she was a coward. Being courageous and fighting back had never done her any good. It had only made things worse. So somewhere along the line, just giving in had become a habit.

      Still, not at least checking on the ranger seemed wrong. So she kept moving forward, toward where he’d disappeared, even though she had no idea what she’d do if he needed help. She certainly hadn’t done anything to help her best friend, the friend who was the only reason she’d survived her awful foster, later turned adoptive, family.

       Where are you, Tracy? That man had to be lying. You have to be hiding somewhere, safe, not some thug’s prisoner.

      The curve where the ranger and his prisoner had disappeared loomed up ahead. What was the officer’s name? Adam something. McKenzie, maybe? Yes, that was it. Cool name for a hot guy. Of course, she hadn’t been thinking about his good looks during that frightening standoff. She’d stared up into those deep blue eyes and all she could think was that her friend Tracy was about to die, because of Jody’s own stupidity. Her only chance to save her friend had been to lie, or so she’d thought. But she hadn’t lied convincingly. She’d been too dang scared to pull it off.

      Hysterical laughter bubbled up in her chest. Pull what off? What had she thought she could do? Convince a police officer that someone pointing a gun at someone else was no more significant than changing lanes on a highway without signaling? That Adam McKenzie would give them a warning and let them go on their merry way?

      Once again, she’d had a choice to make. Once again, she’d made the wrong one. What she should have done was be honest, tell the ranger exactly what was going on. The time for going it alone had evaporated the second a man with scary tattoos had pulled a gun on her. What was she supposed to do now? If she told McKenzie the truth, would that sign Tracy’s death warrant? Probably. Maybe. All she knew for sure was that Tracy needed help. But when help had arrived, in the form of a handsome, dark-haired ranger, she’d squandered the opportunity. And put him in danger, too.

      Why hadn’t he come back yet?

      She stopped and peered down the trail, or what was left of it. McKenzie hadn’t exaggerated its hazardous condition. She’d leaped over rock slides and logs a dozen times as she’d run from the man with the gun. He’d caught her, of course. Had she really thought she’d get away? Just like one of those too-stupid-to-live women in a horror movie, she’d run up the stairs instead of out of the house. Or, in this case, up the trail instead of back to her car.

       Idiot. Stupid, cowardly idiot.

      Her hands fisted at her sides. To be fair, she couldn’t have reached her car. He was standing in the way, and there really had been nowhere else to go. Self-recriminations weren’t helping. She was in deep, deep trouble and had no clue how to fix it, or even whether it could be fixed. But she at least needed to try. Standing here, waiting, wasn’t accomplishing anything. It certainly wasn’t finding her missing friend or saving an officer who might be in trouble.

      She took a hesitant step toward the curve, then another. Her hand itched for the security of her pistol. But, of course, the one time she actually needed her gun it was locked in the safe in her apartment. That decision, at least, she couldn’t feel bad about. There was no way she could have predicted what would happen when she drove up here in response to Tracy’s text. That she might be in danger had never entered her mind.

      When she reached the curve, she squatted down by the wall of rock and peered around the edge. Her stomach sank, as if she’d plummeted down a steep roller-coaster drop. McKenzie no longer had his gun. Instead, he stood about twenty feet away from her, hands in the air. And directly in front of him was another man pointing a pistol directly at McKenzie’s chest.

      The man McKenzie had handcuffed was still cuffed. But he was leaning against a tree another ten feet beyond the ranger and the other gunman. His face bore an angry, impatient expression as he watched the standoff.

      McKenzie shifted slightly, revealing some bloody cuts on the right side of his face. She drew a sharp breath. All three men jerked their heads toward her. She pressed a hand to her throat, belatedly realizing she must have made a sound.

      “Nice of you to join us, Jody,” the handcuffed man called out, his earlier cocky grin back in place. “Stay right where you are. Remember what I told you.” He half turned, looking over his shoulder at the other gunman as he flexed his hands. “Owen, just get the dang keys already and get these things off me. Officer Mayberry can wait.”

      Jody swallowed, his earlier threats running through her mind. Somehow he’d gotten it into his head that she had something he wanted. And he was using Tracy as leverage. It stood to reason that she could do the opposite, couldn’t she? Leverage whatever he thought she had in return for Tracy’s safety? If she helped McKenzie, wouldn’t the bad guy have to keep Tracy alive until he got what he wanted?

      She curled her nails against her palms. Why was she even debating with herself? It wasn’t like she could just run away. No matter what, she couldn’t ignore the fact that Adam McKenzie was right here, unarmed and outnumbered, with a gun pointed at him. He needed help. She had to do something. But what could she do?

      The man named Owen had keys in his left hand now, keys that he must have taken from McKenzie. His gaze stayed on the ranger as he trained the pistol on him and backed toward the tree.

      McKenzie’s gaze locked on Jody. He glanced to the right, toward the curve of rock wall and subtly jerked his head. Clearly, he wanted her to run up the path, to escape while she could.

      She shook her head, even though she really, really wanted to give in to her cowardice and do exactly that—retreat, run, hide. But she’d just had this particular argument with herself. And lost.

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