Holiday Mountain Conspiracy. Liz Shoaf

you married?”

      Her head jerked up and her light brown eyebrows scrunched together.

      “There’s a killer out there and you want to know if I’m married?” Her voice raised several octaves higher.

      He didn’t see anything wrong with the question. It always paid to know whom you were dealing with. He denied the tiny niggle in his chest telling him he wanted to know for personal reasons. That was preposterous. This was about finding Bobby Lancaster and dealing with the people who wanted him and Finn dead, and that was it.

      He stared at her without blinking.

      “Fine, I’m not married, nor have I ever been.”

      He couldn’t stop the next question that shot from his mouth. “Boyfriend?”

      She sniffed. She actually sniffed, reminding him of a little old lady.

      “Not that it’s any of your business, but I don’t have a boyfriend. At least I don’t have one at the moment.”

      The tightness in his chest eased and he had no idea why. Her incessant chattering must have scrambled his brain.

      “Forget the chitchat. We have a big problem on our hands. I need all the information you can give me. The man who tried to kill you is still on the mountain, and I need to track him down, but first you have to tell me everything.”

      Those golden eyes narrowed, reminding him of a mother panther getting ready to strike while defending her young.

      “Do you think that’s why Bobby’s in hiding, because someone is trying to kill him, too?”

      “You’re sticking to what you’ve told me? You know nothing more?”

      Exasperation filled her voice. “I’ve told you everything. Bobby somehow got me that note, telling me to leave DC and find you. Someone tried to run me down in Washington, and then they tried to kill me on this atrocious mountain.”

      Ned’s mind worked furiously. He tried to think of a way to rid himself of Mary Grace Ramsey, but her brother had pulled her into this mess, and Ned’s best opportunity of finding the possible traitor was to keep Bobby’s sister as close as possible. Whether major or minor, Bobby was part of what had happened to him and Finn. Whether by choice or not was another matter. Now that Mary Grace Ramsey was in the picture, his plan to lure those responsible to his mountain was trashed. Her brother had now become his only lead and he had to find him.

      He rose from the chair, crossed the room and reached for his jacket.

      “Where are you going?”

      He didn’t hear a speck of fear in her voice. It was more of a demand. He had to give her credit, the lady had guts.

      He shoved his arms into the sleeves and strapped the high-powered rifle to his chest.

      “I’m going hunting.”

      She winced as she threw her legs over the side of the small cot. “But you can’t just leave me here. What if he comes back?” She held out a hand. “Give me a gun.” At his lifted brow, she added, “I know how to shoot.”

      He didn’t respond and she lifted her chin. “I’m from Georgia. I know how to handle a weapon.”

      “I just bet you do, Miss Mary Grace Ramsey. Do you know how to use a knife, too? Do you plan to slit my throat the first chance you get? Are you and your brother working together to get rid of me and Finn?” He didn’t really think she was there to kill him, especially after she’d been shot trying to find him, but he threw out the question to gauge her reaction.

      Her mouth dropped open and Ned wanted to believe she was innocent in all of this, but he’d learned a long time ago that an innocent face could hide a host of danger.

      “You’re a very rude man, Ned.”

      His lips curled upward at the corners. It was an odd sensation. One he hadn’t felt in a long time.

      He placed his hand on the latch to open the solid wooden door, but stilled when Krieger released a low dark growl. Ned sprang into action. “Krieger, to the cellar,” he commanded. He was by Mary Grace’s side within a few strides. He scooped her into his arms and ran to the back of the cabin.

      “Wait,” she screeched. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you have to get Tinker Bell, the dog carrier and my backpack.”

      Ned shifted Mary Grace to his left side, holding her like a football, wincing when she gasped in pain, and in one fell swoop he ran his arm through the straps of both packs on the floor, grabbed the dog by the scruff of the neck and kicked a lower panel on the back inside wall of the cabin. A portion of the wall lifted just as a huge explosion rocked the small structure.

      Ned practically dove into the yawning darkness below as a bright orange detonation took place at the front of the structure and his cabin shook under the force. The woman was screaming and squirming in his arm and her rat dog bit his hand while he was trying his best to save them. He had a sinking feeling in his gut that this whole mess wasn’t going to end well.

       THREE

      Throwing up became a real possibility for Mary Grace. She gritted her teeth against the pain in her side as Ned held her tight with one arm while running down a flight of stairs into total darkness. She couldn’t believe someone had bombed the cabin. Was there more than one man following her on the mountain? She was used to reporting the news, not being part of it.

      “Hang tight. We should be okay. The cabin is built with reinforced steel under the wood.”

      She couldn’t respond. Air hissed through her teeth until he gently placed her on the floor. She took a deep breath as a lantern flickered to life. The light reflected on Ned’s fierce, concerned expression and she took another quick breath to calm herself. A mass of emotions roiled through her. Fear and—she couldn’t believe it under the circumstances—still that annoying attraction to the man currently hovering over her. It wasn’t possible. She barely knew the guy and he had the manners of a warthog, but there it was, the tiniest little flutter in her heart. She ignored it.

      Tink whimpered and Ned’s big dog trundled over to offer what Mary Grace assumed was comfort. It worked because Tinker Bell quit shivering and growled when the massive dog licked her on the face. The limp and tattered Christmas bows had disappeared and her sweet little dog looked like a wrung-out dishrag in her previously pristine doggy Christmas sweater.

      Tentatively, Mary Grace reached out and laid a hand on the large animal next to her little one. “Sweet Krieger. Nice doggy.” He allowed her to pet him. His fur was long and felt wiry to the touch.

      “Mary Grace,” Ned said in a soft tone, “I’m going to have to recon the area. I bandaged your wound before you woke up, but I need to check and see if it started bleeding again.”

      Mary Grace didn’t want to talk about the explosion and the men who had just tried to decimate them. Not just yet. She needed a minute. “When we get through this, you’ll have to tell me how you and Krieger met. He seems like a sweet dog, once you get to know him.”

      Ned kneeled in front of her and placed the lantern on the hard, cold dirt-packed floor.

      “I was wrong about you.”

      Her hand stilled in Krieger’s wiry, comforting fur. “What?”

      “I thought you were tough, but here you are, wimping out on me at the first sign of trouble.”

      Her nostrils flared at the insult. “You don’t know anything about me, so how dare you accuse me of being a wimp.”

      He grinned and she realized he had done the same thing to her that his dog had to Tinker Bell.

      “I can check my own wound,” she said, embarrassment