Mountain Ranger Recon

As the men examined Kayla’s body, Ian held his breath. He couldn’t get into anything with them right now. He wanted to search the immediate area before anyone else had an opportunity to return.

One of the search-and-rescue members rose and patted Ian’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Shepherd. Was your wife leaning over the railing when she fell?”

Ian shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. “I wasn’t with her…and neither were any of the other hikers.”

At least nobody on the hike claimed to have seen what occurred, but Ian knew at least one person, possibly two, knew exactly what had happened to Kayla.

The rescue team unfolded and secured a stretcher and lifted Kayla’s body onto it. As they turned her, Kayla’s camera dangled from her neck.

Ian’s hand shot out. “Can I take her camera?”

“Sure.” The search-and-rescue hiker carefully slipped the camera strap over Kayla’s head and handed the camera to Ian. Then he turned to Meg. “Meg, once we load the stretcher onto the helicopter, there’s room for only one more. We’ll take Mr. Shepherd with us and you can hike back up.”

“No!” Ian shouted the word, and three startled faces turned in his direction. Ian curled his hand over Kayla’s cold fingers and slid the wedding band from her left hand. “M-my wife’s wedding band is missing. I need to find it. I can’t leave without that ring. Leave me here. I want to be alone.”

Ian covered his face with his hands so he didn’t have to do any more explaining. He felt Meg’s hand on his arm. “It’s okay, Greg. I’ll hike back up with Mr. Shepherd. I’ll make sure he gets to the top, and I’ll arrange transportation for him to the hospital in Colorado Springs.”

Through the spaces between his fingers Ian saw the rescue workers exchange a worried glance, but it didn’t look like they wanted to argue with a bereaved, irrational spouse. He should’ve figured Meg would volunteer to stay behind with him.

Before the search-and-rescue team hiked back to the chopper with Kayla’s body on the stretcher between them, Ian clutched Kayla’s stiff fingers, kissed her cheek and whispered, “I’ll tell Jack you sacrificed everything.”

He and Meg watched the hikers disappear before turning back to the river and the falls. “You could’ve gone with the chopper.”

“And leave you here alone?” Meg twisted her ponytail around her hand. “I’m going to be in big enough trouble as it is. I’ll most 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?”