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“Shep,” Boone said.
His friend grunted. “I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve saved your ass, Hendrix.”
Atlas bounded over and licked the former Ghost Ops soldier’s hand.
* * *
Gemma’s pulsewas still racing, her heart hammering. She clutched Boone’s arm like a lifeline.
He’d stormed in like some warrior—strong and composed. Then she’d been terrified those men were going to shoot him and Atlas.
Now Boone’s friend—who looked big, a little scary, and a lot grumpy—stood there pulling zip-ties from the pocket of his brown leather jacket.
“You have freakishly good timing,” Boone said. “As always.”
Shep grunted, then closed the distance between them. The men hugged, slapping each other’s backs.
“Good to see you, Boone. Even if I did have to haul my ass into the city to find you. I hate the city.”
“Shep, this is Gemma. Gemma, Shepherd Barlow.”
“Hi.” She held out a hand.
Shep took hers. He had a scarred, callused hand that was twice the size of hers. She felt his assessing gaze on her. “Glad you’re okay.”
Atlas leaned into her, and she ran a hand down the dog’s back.
Shep’s lips twitched. “I see Atlas has good taste.”
Boone snorted. “That dog is a born flirt.”
“Come on. I suggest we get back to my place as quickly as we can.” He finished tying up the mercs. “I’ll call a buddy at Denver PD to come and get these clowns.”
The three of them made it back to the THS Jeep.
“I suggest we take mine,” Shep said. “They could have a tracker on yours.”
“They sure as hell seem to find us easily enough,” Boone muttered. “We need to stay off any cameras as well.”
“Come on.” Shep whistled for Atlas.
They transferred their gear to Shep’s big black Dodge Ram. Gemma sat in the backseat with Atlas, while the men talked in the front.
The pair had an easy camaraderie, and it made her smile. She was happy to see Boone had friends. As they drove toward the mountains, Shep placed a call to his cop friend.
Soon, they left the city behind them. The mountains were dark, and she wished she could see the view. The city lights of Denver behind them were pretty spectacular, though.
As they drove on, she found herself dozing. They left the highway, following the twists and turns of a road into the mountains. Shep followed a river for a bit before the road turned into dense trees. Finally, they turned and drove through a plain wooden gate.
The gravel road twisted higher up a hill. Then she saw a cabin with lights on up ahead, but she could see the shadows of several other buildings dotted around.
She leaned forward between the seats. “This is your place?”
“Yeah.” Shep pulled to a stop and shut off the engine. “There’s an old mine, as well. You’ll see the old structure on the hill in the daytime. It was a silver mine during the boom in the late 1800s. It shut down decades ago. Then some rich guy bought the land to build these cabins. It was a fancy mountain getaway, and he rented the cabins out, but then he went bust. I bought it for a song while I was still in the military. I like the solitude and privacy.”
Boone turned in his seat. “What he actually means is that Shep has a strong aversion to dealing with people.”
The man grunted. “Only stupid people. Unfortunately, I find most people pretty stupid.” He opened his door.
