Montana SEAL (Brotherhood Protectors #1)(37)

Well, he couldn’t think that way. He would find her and she’d be all right. Then he’d beg her to let him be with her forever, even if she wouldn’t marry him. He’d take her crumbs, follow her to the ends of the earth, and even to LA where she thought he wouldn’t fit in. He could be her bodyguard, though he’d done a crummy job so far. Carla blew up her house, and Sadie would have been inside had they not smelled the gas in time. Making love with the client had shaken his focus.

“I’m losing the tracks, and my vision is starting to blur.” Fin wiped a hand down his face. “I won’t be much help if I pass out.”

“Hang in there, Fin. I’ll get you to the hospital as soon as I find Sadie.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Fin said, his voice slurring. “Find my sister.”

“Do you think Carla would be desperate enough to turn off onto any of the side roads?”

“Maybe. One of these leads to a hunting cabin.” Fin shook his head and blinked, then stared out the windshield again. “It’s up ahead in a curve, if I’m not mistaken.”

Hank slowed, wishing the snow would slack up enough he could see farther ahead than ten feet in front of the SUV.

“Damn!” Fin turned his head. “We just passed the turn-off. I think I saw tire tracks.”

Hank jammed his foot on the brake pedal and sent the SUV skidding sideways and almost off the side of the road. Letting up the pressure, he straightened the vehicle and brought it to a halt. Then he swiveled in his seat and shifted into reverse, backing up several yards.

“There,” Fin said, pointing. “Do those look like tire tracks to you?”

With a nod, Hank’s jaw tightened as he shifted into drive and pulled off the highway and onto a dirt road that was barely wide enough to call a path. Flanked on both sides by evergreens, the road itself wasn’t as thick with snow as the highway was quickly becoming. The tracks in the dirt were evident and fresh.

Hope filled his chest, but soon faded as the road wound upward into the hills. Soon, they came to a curve barren of trees, with a rocky drop off falling away into the darkness. Thankfully, the tire tracks led past it, up the road, into another stand of trees.

As they neared a sharp curve, Hank jammed his foot on the brakes and came to a complete halt.

“What?” Fin’s head jerked up, his face pale, his mouth set in a thin line, pain clouding his eyes. “Do you see them?”

Hope dropped like a lead weight into his belly. “Stay here.” The tracks led off the road and down the side of a very steep hill.

Fin started to unbuckle his seatbelt. “I’m coming with you.”

“Look, you’re hurt. This terrain is rough. With my bum leg and yours, I wouldn’t be able to get both of us back up the hill. If I don’t come back soon, get in the driver’s seat, go back to Eagle Rock, and get the sheriff out here. And while you’re at it, call for an ambulance.” Hank stepped out into the snow.

“Hank!” Fin called out.

Hank paused.

Fin leaned forward, shucking his jacket. “At least take this. You’ll freeze to death if you’re gone long.”

Hank accepted Fin’s offering and turned toward the edge of the road, shrugging into the coat.

Before he’d taken one step over the side, an explosion ripped through the air, knocking him backward. He fell hard on his ass, the landing jolting the hell out of his leg. Pain radiated from the injury through the rest of his leg and stole his breath away.

Flames rose into the sky, the glow enhanced by the low-hanging clouds.

Hank scrambled to his feet, his heart banging against his chest, panic making his breath catch in his throat. Sadie.

Holy hell, what had happened? He went over the edge, limping as fast as he could. Skidding on loose rocks, he slid toward the bottom of the hill where a ball of flames reached for the sky, puffing black, acrid smoke like a steam engine.

“Sadie! Dear God, Sadie!” he cried and ran toward the vehicle. The trunk remained closed. The doors on the side closest to him were closed. Nobody had gotten out of the vehicle that way, and the fire was too hot for him to get close.

Hank had a flashback of when his team had taken that hit with the grenade. His heart raced and he couldn’t breathe. Dropping to his knees, he ignored the pain in his leg as tears ran down his face. He’d lost Lt. Mike. He’d almost lost Swede in that last battle. Now, in the beauty of his home, in the Crazy Mountains of Montana, he’d failed the one woman he’d ever loved. Hank buried his face in his hands. “Oh, Sadie.”

A hand settled on his shoulder. “Hank.” Her voice came to him as if in a dream. “I’m okay. I’m here.”

He looked up, blinked the tears from his eyes and stared into Sadie’s beautiful, dirt-streaked face. Then he was on his feet, pulling her into his arms, his aching leg forgotten in the joy of holding his Sadie, his heart, his love.

She nestled against him, her body trembling.

“You’re cold.” He yanked the jacket off his back and wrapped her in it.

Sadie laughed, her teeth chattering. “Thanks, but now you’ll be cold.”

“I may never be cold again in my life.” He kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, and finally claimed her lips in a deep, soul-defining melding of their mouths.

When she pushed her hands against his chest, he didn’t want to loosen his hold, afraid if he did, she’d disappear, and he’d realize this had all been a dream.