Page 20 of Burning Secrets

“C’mon, Viper. What, did you think I’d let these guys get away?”

Viper frowned.

He glanced at Jo, back to Viper.

“You’re playing her?”

“Trust me. You want the smokejumpers, she’ll lead us to them.” Then he winked.

And Viper smiled.

And for the first time in days, Crew stopped what-iffing and started to hope.

Because the light was back.

FOUR

“What just happened?”At least she was keeping her voice down as Crew walked her to the guest cabin. He glanced back at Viper, still watching them, and opened the door.

JoJo glanced up at him, her jaw tight.

“Trust me, please,” he whispered, and she narrowed her eyes but stepped inside.

He closed the door behind her.

The late evening cast shadows into the room through a half-boarded window. A simple one-person cot—it looked out of a World War II movie, with a canvas top and wooden frame—was pushed up against one wall, a simple wooden table and two straight chairs against another.

“Are we in some Russian gulag? What is this place?”

She seemed to be shaking a little, and he didn’t blame her. Crew took her by the arms, met her eyes. “I’ll explain everything.” Then he turned her, pulled out a knife, and cut her zip ties.

She rubbed her wrists, met his eyes.

And for a second, the kiss rose up in her beautiful hazel-green eyes. Maybe it had been a little more real than he’dintended. He’d tried to be gentle, to keep the desperation out of it, to ask her, with it, to go along with him. To remember her words to him—I’m going to choose to trust you, Crew.

Please.

He stepped back from her. “First, I’m sorry I ghosted you in Copper Mountain.”

Her mouth opened, closed. “That is the last thing I care about right now.”

Right.

“You okay?” He met her eyes, and it seemed like she’d been crying. Why not? A couple thugs had grabbed her, tied her up, and given her a harrowing ride on the back of an ATV. But her expression remained fierce, sturdy.

“Did they hurt you?” His gaze fixed on hers.

She drew in a breath. “Not much.”

Not much.

He closed his eyes then, and the cold knot inside him uncoiled, just a little.Thank You, Lord.He opened his eyes. “Thank you for trusting me in the yard.”

“For not calling you out when you called me your girlfriend?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Sorry. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Yeah, well, Thug in Charge looked like he wanted to strangle me—and you, so…I don’t know. I went with it.”

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