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“Hunker down in the meantime,” Gibson said. “There’s a killer out there. I don’t like the thought of that.”
Neither did Duke.
He glanced around the trading post.
Everyone here still had a long night ahead of them.
The best thing Duke could do was to try to keep everyone inside safe—to the best of his ability.
He’d been an investigator for the Army. He knew how to handle himself in these kinds of situations.
But he was up against a faceless enemy right now.
Maybe more than one.
Duke would need to lean on a power greater than his own to get through this unscathed.
* * *
Andi took in a deep breath as she watched Duke fix the lock.
There had always been something about do-it-all, fixer types of men that she’d found incredibly attractive.
Yet for the past decade she’d resigned herself to dating professional men who preferred to build their muscles at the gym rather than through labor. The irony wasn’t lost on her.
She’d grown up blue-collar with her dad working as a trucker and her mom a homemaker. They hadn’t had much money for nice clothes, a fancy house, or even vacations. But they’d been happy.
Andi wasn’t sure when things began to shift for her. She supposed after law school, she’d surrounded herself with the white-collar, more uppity crowd.
Somewhere in the process, she’d felt herself changing also.
Gone was the country girl who knew how to handle a rifle and wrangle a cow.
In her place was someone refined, whom clients could put their trust in for their cases.
Who was the real Andi Slade?
Sometimes, she wasn’t sure.
She knew she was headstrong. Determined. That people either loved or hated her.
For too long, she’d been defined by her career. What was she defined by now? Her vengeance?
This was the first time in four months she hadn’t been consumed with Victor and how he’d set her up. Loosening her hold on those emotions—even if just temporarily—somehow made her feel defeated.
She turned her gaze away before anyone caught her staring.
She sat near the fire, a warm cup of coffee in her hands. She’d mixed the bitter brew with a packet of hot chocolate, which created a sweeter, more luxurious-tasting drink.
As she watched the flames, her mind raced.
So much had happened today, and this was all so far from being over.
She had no idea what tomorrow might hold. Would her truck be towed and life continue on as usual?
Andi couldn’t see that happening.
But it wasn’t as if she could stay here forever either—not that she would want to. This trading post wasn’t intended to be a home. It was barely meant to be a hotel.
