Page 18 of Burning Secrets

He sat, sweat prickling his spine, his hands on the chair, staring at the screens. Heard Rio’s voice.We just need to find out the bigger picture and stop them.

Four days.

“Crew?”

He nearly shot out of his seat, jumped anyway. Turned.

Viper stood in the now open doorway. Dark hair, shaved short, with a scar across his cheek, pale blue eyes, built like a moose, skinny legs, power in his torso. He could hit like a bulldozer—Crew had felt it, early days, training.

The man had emptied Crew’s stomach on more than one occasion.

“Hey. Just wanted to say good job on the wolf kill. We traced it to a couple of idiots who poured some chemical waste into the river upstream. Killed a bunch of salmon. We dealt with them.”

Crew raised an eyebrow.

“Gotta protect the land, right?” He held out a fist. Crew bumped it.

Whatever.

“Boss. We got a perimeter breach.”

Viper opened the door. Jer stood there, a wreck of a man despite his relative youth, the drug use and large living hard on his body, a snake tattoo curling up around his neck. Clearly he had some high-up connections that made Viper keep him around.

“You see anything, Crew?”

Shoot. “Nothing on-screen, sir.” He hoped. But he turned, got up. “Where was it?”

“Over by the river. Rocco is bringing her in.”

Her.

No, it couldn’t be her. Maybe it was a tourist, a hiker who’d wandered into the wrong area. A fly fisher—um, woman.

“It’s one of them smokejumpers.”

Ice fell through him. Crew got up.

Viper held out his hand. “You sit tight, Crew. I’ll meet him.” He turned to Jer. “With me.”

Crew stood, frozen, as Viper walked out, shut the door.

He dropped into the chair, his hands white on the arms, and turned to the screen.

No, God, please—his gaze stayed on the front gate, his stomach churning.

He spotted the four-wheelers coming back in—two of them out on perimeter patrol, probably one meeting up with the other. And on the grainy black-and-white screen, a person, tied up, hands behind her back.

She wore boots and a jacket and a backpack and a bandana and…

And as they hauled her up, her long braid swung out.

He was on his feet, the chair slamming back.

She stood, feet out, as if angry—he knew that look—jerking away from Rocco’s hold. Lifted her chin as Viper came into the screen.

If he hit her, even once, he’d break her skull.

Crew slammed open the door, took off down the hallway, through the main hall, out the front door.

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