Page 123 of Second Chance Savior

I’d finally broken through the encryption with the help of my network online. We’d thrown everything we had at that damned file, and it had proven more resilient than we’d expected.

Jud Hale’s girlfriend inside Stillwater must not have realized the file would be unreadable when she’d downloaded it, absent Stillwater’s encryption key, which they’d no doubt stored separately. Because they weren’t idiots.

But we’d done it. I’d pumped my fist as the file finally opened, laying bare its secrets.

And that brief moment of triumph had turned to horror.

About twenty-five names, far fewer than we might’ve feared. But one of them instantly struck my heart like the blade of a knife.

Rainey.

Agent Josh Rainey.

Charlie had texted me a few minutes ago, saying she’d headed up to Last Refuge with Rainey and Torres. They’d shown up out of the blue.

“No,” I whispered to my empty apartment. “No, no, no.”

I rocketed out of my chair. It tipped backward onto the wood floor with a loud smack. I grabbed my car keys. Sprinted down the stairs.

As I drove, I called Charlie. Straight to voicemail. I tried name after name in my contacts. Jessi? No, Charlie hadn’t appeared at Last Refuge. Genevieve? No, Charlie had left the diner a while ago. But the FBI agents’ car had been headed toward Refuge Mountain.

“Tell Owen that Charlie may have been kidnapped,” I said. “Get a BOLO on the car the agents were driving. My phone may lose service soon.”

I pressed the accelerator, nearly skidding as I took the curves as fast as I dared. If Rainey had taken her, he’d want to get her to a secure location as quickly as possible. But Torres hadn’t been on the list. Unless Rainey had recruited his partner more recently to Stillwater’s cause, Rainey would need to get Torres out of the way.

I almost drove past the small break in the trees. A dirt path, just wide enough for a vehicle. My body lurched forward as I pushed the brakes. I could just make out a slash of blue through the trees. A car.

I pulled onto the path.

As soon as I spotted the abandoned car, I jumped out, head swiveling as I searched for any sign of Charlie or the FBI agents.

Then I heard a scream.

I drew my weapon and ran.

I reached a clearing. Torres was stretched out. Listless, blood covering a wad of fabric at his chest.

And Charlie was on the ground with Rainey on top of her. She grimaced with pain. Forehead bleeding.

I saw fuckingred.

“Just for that, I’m going to make this hurt,” Rainey said. “I’ll start with breaking the bones in your arms. See howmuch you like it.” He raised the gun in the air. Not to shoot, but to bring the butt down on her forearm. I saw the arc he was about to follow.

This bastard was dead.

I leveled my aim, a microsecond from shooting him in the temple.

But Charlie screamed and raised her other arm. She had a baseball-sized rock clenched in her palm. Twisting, putting the weight of her whole body into the motion, she smashed the rock into Rainey’s head.

The agent careened to the side. Charlie screamed and hit him again. Rainey sprawled in the dirt, arms askew. Out cold. Blood poured from a slash at his hairline.

I dropped my gun to my side and ran toward her. “Charlie!”

She blinked and looked up at me. “River?”

My knees hit the ground, and I scooped her into my arms. Kissed her face. “My God, I thought I’d lost you. When I saw his name on that list…”

“I’m okay,” she said haltingly. “But Torres. We have to help him.”

---