“HEY, JOHN,” Dev called as she hesitated at the door to the main office at ranger HQ, “I need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a minute.”
John Welborn, working nearby at his desk, grinned. “Yeah, I don’t think I need to follow you into the bathroom, do I, Dev?”
She laughed. “No way! I’ll be right back.” Dev turned and hurried down the white tiled hall to the first floor of the long rectangular two-story building. It was 10:00 a.m., and it felt good to be back at work. Yesterday she’d spent the day with Sloan, which hadn’t been bad at all. They’d made love yesterday afternoon and even now her body glowed from his skilled hands and mouth. The man knew how to tune her body like a finely honed instrument of utter pleasure, no question. And she’d slept with Sloan last night because it felt so right. They belonged together. He’d left it up to her to decide, and she appreciated that Sloan wasn’t pressuring her.
As she walked down the hall, she passed several people from the same office, coffee cups in hand. It felt good to be wearing her dark green gabardine trousers, her long-sleeved tan shirt and black leather boots. She’d been wearing a uniform one way or another since she was eighteen. Dev aimed herself toward the last door located near the outside entrance to the rear of the building. She kept a watchful eye, however. Sloan had warned her that Bart Gordon could still get inside the park. He had been a ranger at one time himself, and he knew how to sneak past the gate entrances.
John, who was in his forties, a father of two girls and happily married for thirteen years to his wife, Susan, had been a great watchdog for Dev. He had been a Marine at one time before joining the Forest Service. And he knew how to use the pistol he carried on his hip. Best of all, John was easygoing, much like Sloan was, and it had served to allow Dev to relax, despite the circumstances. As she pushed the light green door to the women’s restroom open, her boots sounded hollowly against the tiled floor. She leaned down, looking to see if anyone else was present. There were ten stalls, but they were all unoccupied. She was the only one in the facility.
Her heart lingered on Sloan. Today, he was out at the corral of Grand Teton Park, shoeing six mules. She was glad that he was nearby. Dev was going to go to lunch with him at a nearby restaurant within the park. Her heart sang with happiness. She washed her hands in the sink afterward. She stared at herself in the mirror. Her green eyes were clear and she saw gold flecks of happiness deep within them, put there by Sloan loving her. She’d never made love in the afternoon before, and it had been a delicious experience. Never had Dev laughed so hard as when they lay in one another’s arms afterward. Sloan had a wonderful sense of humor. He got to talking about his growing-up years as a boy in the woods of the Allegheny Mountains, sharing some of his silly adventures.
I love him.
There, she admitted it as she dried her hands on the paper towels. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, so it was out of the way. Wishing she didn’t have to wear a pistol, but knowing she always had to, Dev wished the threat of Gordon’s would just go away. How badly she hoped Cade and the Teton Sheriff’s Department would spot and capture him. Throwing the paper towels into the receptacle, she turned to go to the door.
A scream lodged in her throat.
Bart Gordon stood five feet away from her, his face dark and intense. He held a Glock 19 pistol directly at her.
“Well, good morning to you, too, Dev,” he snarled. “Don’t make a sound. If you do, I’ll kill you right where you stand.”
Dev felt her heartbeat roaring in her ears. Felt the shattering effect of adrenaline crashing through her bloodstream. Oh, God! Her mind whirled with a hundred questions. How had Gordon gotten in here? Why hadn’t she heard him enter the restroom? Her eyes were wide with fear, her mouth going dry. She saw satisfaction burning in his dark brown eyes. He was dressed like a civilian. Instantly she noticed he’d dyed his red hair and beard a brown color. The beard, now scraggly, made him look even more dangerous. On his back was a big black knapsack bulging with unknown gear. He had a long knife on one hip, a holster on the other. Everything he wore was camo colored. The boonie hat on his head fit the camouflage of the rest of his attire.
“Don’t do this,” she whispered unsteadily, tense, wanting to run. But there was no place to run. A gleam of triumph came to his slitted eyes.
“Why not? You put me in jail, doll face. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to extract my special revenge on you. Walk toward me. And if you try anything, I’ll kill you. This pistol has a silencer on it. They’ll just find you dead in here in the restroom at some point.”
Dev believed him, and her knees suddenly started to go shaky. Try to escape? Or go with Gordon and be raped and then be killed? The hatred in his eyes guaranteed that was a possibility. Her cell phone was in her back pocket. She had a Buck knife on her belt. But it was a small knife in comparison to the one he carried. Forcing her feet forward, Dev walked toward him.
“Stop. Turn around.”
Her heart was pounding so loud Dev could barely hear his low order. She halted, slowly turning her back to him. Gordon yanked the safety off her pistol and removed it from her holster. He unsnapped the case that carried her Buck knife, removing it, as well. Dropping both of them in a washbasin, he returned, raking her from head to toe with his gaze.
“Any other weapons on you?”
“N-no...” Dev felt his hatred wash over her as he loomed over her. Gordon was six feet tall and heavily muscled. She remembered the last time he’d attacked her from the rear, his brute strength and power. And he’d shoot to kill. The drive to stay alive filled her terrorized mind. Somewhere in her tumbling thoughts, Dev knew if she stayed alive, she might be able to escape. Maybe...
The instant his hands roughly began groping at the top of her shirt, moving across her breasts and back, searching her, Dev jerked away in reaction.
“Damn you,” he hissed, grabbing her by her ponytail. “Stand still!”
Muffling a cry, Dev was yanked against Gordon as he continued his frisking of her, even the insides of her trouser legs. Humiliation and embarrassment shot through her. Stiffening, Dev tried to evade his hand between her thighs and heard him growl a warning.
“Bitch.”
Her scalp burned with pain as he held her head against him with her ponytail. After he leaned down, thoroughly checking her back pockets and finally around her ankles, he released her.
“Now,” he said, glaring at her, “you’re going to turn right and go out the rear door. I’ll be right behind you. If you so much as make a sound, it’ll be the last one you make. Got it?”
Giving a jerky nod, Dev started for the door on wobbling legs. She had to think! She had to get a grip on her escaping emotions! Tears burned in her eyes. Oh, God, Sloan! She loved him! She hadn’t told him! Her hands flattened on the door, pushing it open. Gordon was so close it nauseated her as she walked into the hall. Glancing swiftly down it toward the office where John was, she saw him with his head bent over his paperwork. There was no one else in the hall. Without hesitating, Dev made a right turn and pushed open the glass door.
The moment they were outside, she swiftly glanced around, looking for help. The rear exit was backed up to a long black asphalt parking lot. There were thirty or so cars and pickups parked in it. But no one was out there. It was deserted. Gulping, her throat tight with terror, she felt the grip of Gordon’s hand wrapping tightly around her upper right arm.
“This way,” he hissed, shoving her ahead of him, aiming for the nearby line of trees.
Dev moved quickly. Gordon’s breath was rancid, making her nauseous. His fingers dug hard into her arm and she whimpered in pain. He practically shoved her into the dark, thick woods. She stumbled, and he caught her and jerked her back onto her feet. Pain arced up Dev’s arm, her shoulder burning from the wrenching power of his strength.
“Straight ahead,” he ordered.
The forest closed in around them, hiding them. Dev knew she was lost now. No one would see her. No one.
“Where?” she demanded breathlessly, Gordon forcing her into a trot.
“The river.”
The Snake River. It was only about a hundred yards from the building. Her mind twisted. Why there? Did he have a raft? That was all that was allowed in this area of the river. And then, it hit Dev. Gordon would never be able to drive in or out of the park because he knew they were looking for him. He’d somehow found a raft and would float out beyond the boundaries of the park, home free. And her with him.
Dev searched the woods and saw an opening ahead. The Snake River was about a hundred feet wide, deep and swift moving even though the surface didn’t look that disturbed. But rafters were well acquainted with the deep currents that flowed through it, unseen. How could anyone find her once Gordon had taken off in his raft with her? It felt as if a knife were being twisted in her gut and she felt tears burning in her eyes. She was going to die soon. Gordon would have his way with her and then kill her.
“Halt.” Gordon pulled her against him, his hand like a claw on her shoulder. Quickly, he scanned the parking lot where the rafts would land from upriver. A number of rafting companies used this docking area as their final place to come ashore with their group of rafters. Dev saw nothing. The parking lot was half-full, but no people were nearby. “Okay, we’re going to trot toward the bank.” He pointed straight ahead.
Dev was pushed forward. Her knees felt like so much jelly as she trotted quickly across the parking lot, weaving in and around cars. As they got closer to the bank, she looked upstream, hoping to see rafters coming in to dock. She could yell for help, but there was no one in sight. Gordon guided her to the ramp and she spotted a river raft tied nearby. It was a big one, about twenty feet long. A rafter would stand in the middle of it with two long oars. He would then guide the raft in and around islands and logs that had fallen from the banks into the Snake.
“Get in!”
Dev clambered into the soft, squishy bottom of the raft.
“In the front of it! Just ahead of the center of it. Hurry!”
She felt and heard Gordon’s panic. He was looking around. His gun was holstered. She knew the Snake River was comprised of glacier water and would be deadly cold. Anyone staying in that deep, swift-moving water for longer than ten minutes would go into hypothermia and drown. Scrambling over the wooden seat and missing the oar handles, Dev went and knelt down in front of the spar, facing the bow. She felt Gordon’s weight move into the raft. He pushed by her and released the rope from the branch it had been tied to onshore. Throwing it in front of her, he quickly shoved it away from the loading dock.
The sun was warm and the sky cloudless. It was a beautiful day, but Dev didn’t see any of it. Within a minute, Gordon had taken his position in the center of the raft, grabbed the long oars and guided the raft to the very center of the river. The bridge across the Snake was just ahead of them. There was tourist traffic on it, but no one would hear her if she yelled for help. Oh, God, if only Sloan knew!
They drifted silently beneath the busy bridge. There was a lot of foot traffic on it. As they floated beneath it, Dev saw a young boy of ten lift his hand and wave at them. She didn’t dare respond. Others were watching them, as well, some clicking photos with cameras or cell phones. Dev knew many tourists had never seen a river raft before. If only one of them could get those photos to a ranger, someone would know she’d been kidnapped.
The swift current carried them far away from the bridge. Dev heard Gordon chuckle as he expertly guided the raft, keeping it in the center of the Snake.
“Well, we’re outta the park boundary. No one is gonna know where you’ve gone.” He laughed heartily, enjoying the triumph of his plan. “They’ll never find us.”
* * *
SLOAN WIPED THE SWEAT off his brow with the back of his sleeve, straightened up and patted the last mule that had to be shoed. The morning sunlight lanced brightly into the huge barn, where the doors were open at both ends to allow air to circulate throughout the facility.
He placed his tools in a wooden box, pulled off his thick leather gloves. He took a well-earned swig of water from a bottle nearby. Just as he finished drinking nearly all of it, his cell phone vibrated in his rear pocket. He pulled off his leather apron, dropped it on his toolbox and answered the call.
“Sloan here.”
“Sloan, this is John Welborn. Dev is missing.”
Instantly, Sloan’s heart dropped. “What happened?” he demanded, swiftly leaning over, picking up his tools and placing them in the tack room. Moving to the mule in the ties, he unsnapped the animal and led him by his halter out to the corral where the other mules were standing.
“Dev didn’t come back from the bathroom,” John said, his voice taut. “I went in there to find her just now. We found her pistol and Buck knife in a sink. No signs of a struggle.”
“Damn,” Sloan growled. “Have you called Cade? Alerted the rangers at the entrance and exit gates?”
“Already done. I need you down here. Can you make it?”
“I’ll be there in five minutes,” he rasped, settling a black baseball cap on his head. Sloan clicked off his phone, running down the long, wide concrete breezeway. In thirty seconds, he was at his truck, climbing in. Dev! Gordon had somehow gotten into the park and found her. His heart wrenched in his chest as he hauled the truck out of the parking lot, tires smoking and screaming.
By the time Sloan pulled into headquarters, there were two black sheriff’s department Tahoes there along with four green forest ranger pickups. He parked and got out, trotting over to the group of men and women. He spotted Shelby Carson, a well-known tracker and deputy sheriff. Her blond ponytail stood out from the men huddled together.
Cade Garner looked up as Sloan squeezed into the group. “We’re assuming Gordon kidnapped Dev.”
“Yeah,” Sloan growled, hands on his hips. “What’s being done to find them?”
Shelby said, “Sloan, we’ve got two deputies canvassing the bridge to the gate. It goes across the Snake River.” She gestured toward the visitor’s center across the street from them. “Two more rangers are canvassing people there to see if they saw Dev and Gordon.”
“Have you got photos?” Sloan demanded, finding it hard to stand still.
“Yes,” Cade said. “We’re asking everyone for their camera cards if they photographed the river area. The rangers are taking the cards over to the visitor’s center to dump them and see if there are any photos of Dev on them with Gordon.”
Sloan looked to John. “There were no signs of a struggle in the restroom?”
“None,” John said, his voice defeated. He gave Sloan an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I thought she’d be safe enough going to the bathroom by herself. It’s only a hundred feet down the hall from our office.”
Giving a curt nod, Sloan said, “It’s all right, John.” Most men wouldn’t have gone into the women’s bathroom. The man looked contrite enough about it, heavy guilt in his expression.
“So, Dev is unarmed. Defenseless against Gordon,” Sloan said to them. “Is there anyone around HQ that might have seen them leave? A strange truck that wasn’t usually in the parking lot?”
“We’re on that,” John promised quickly. “We’re canvassing right now.”
And every second, Dev was in greater and greater danger. Frustration tightened his throat. “I’m taking Mouse to see if we can’t track her scent.” Sloan had left Mouse with one of the rangers at the front desk of HQ. His dog would lie on his bed behind the counter and bother no one.
Shelby said, “Great idea! I’ll go with you.” She looked over at Cade who gave her the nod of approval.
Sloan trotted quickly down to the main entrance of the HQ, Shelby on his heels. He lifted his hand to Ann, the ranger behind the desk. She was stressed, having heard what happened to Dev.
“You’re coming for Mouse?” she asked, hope in her voice.
“Yes,” Sloan said. He moved around the counter. Ann handed him the leash and he bent down, snapping it onto Mouse’s leather collar. Shelby waited nearby.
“I think we should start at her office desk, Sloan. Let Mouse pick up her scent. Then follow it wherever it goes.”
“Right,” Sloan said, guiding Mouse from behind the counter. The dog knew he was now in combat mode—ears up, eyes glinting, panting with excitement. He followed closely at Sloan’s side as they walked down the hall and into the office where Dev was working. The rest of the employees all looked up. Sloan could see the worry in their faces.
“Mouse,” he ordered, pointing to Dev’s chair at her desk.
Instantly the Belgian Malinois sniffed it and whined, wagging his tail briskly.
Good, he had her scent. “Seek,” he ordered Mouse, releasing the tension on the leash.
Nose to the floor, Mouse leaped and strained against it, practically dragging Sloan down the highly waxed hallway. People saw the dog coming and stopped, hugging the wall, giving him the room he needed. Sloan nodded to the rangers, silently thanking them for getting out of the way. Every second was of importance.
Shelby followed swiftly as Mouse leaped up on the bathroom door, whining.
Sloan allowed the dog in and he moved to one stall, then out to a sink, and then he wanted out of the door again. Sloan propped it open with his foot and Mouse was sniffing once more. He made a sharp right, leaping at the glass entrance door.
Shelby unholstered her pistol and took the safety off, wary as she looked outside. “This leads into the woods.”
Grimly, Sloan said, “Yes.” He threw open the door. Mouse leaped outside. Within a minute they were deep in the woods, following Dev’s scent. Shelby was jogging to keep up, always alert, looking around. Sloan didn’t want to take out a pistol yet. Shelby was a fine deputy and he felt she had this situation under control.
They broke out of the woods, Mouse whining and lunging against the leash as they ran across the asphalt parking lot toward the river. Sloan’s mind tumbled over why Gordon had led her here, to the river. No one could swim across it since the current was too strong. The river was well known for swimmers who’d thought they could cross it drowning.
Mouse lunged down the concrete boating ramp. He turned right and then twenty feet down along the thin edge of the gravel and sand bank, he sat down, looking downstream toward the bridge less than a quarter of a mile away.
Sloan jerked to a stop, his heart hammering in his chest. Shelby skidded to a halt, holstering her pistol. What the hell! Terror flooded Sloan as he craned his neck, looking as far down the winding river as he could. He saw no raft on it. Looking upstream, he noticed two tourist rafts coming into the landing ramp, their float trip at an end.
“Oh, no,” Shelby breathed, giving him a horrified look, “he had a raft!”
“Yes,” Sloan rasped, his hand clenching the leash until his joints ached. “He had this all planned. He had a raft, went in that rear exit door and waited for her. He could have easily seen me drop her off at HQ this morning.” Anguish soared through him. Sloan couldn’t let his emotions dictate his behavior. Not now. Dev’s life was on the line. Turning to Shelby, he said, “You have a helicopter. Right?”
“Already ahead of you,” Shelby assured him, pressing on her radio attached to the shoulder of her shirt. “I’m calling Cade now. We need to get it up in the air and follow the Snake River downstream. They’re on it somewhere.”
Sloan looked at his watch. “Fifteen minutes have gone by,” he muttered. “The Snake is a fast river. They could be a mile or more down it.”
Nodding, Shelby made the call to her boss. Her voice was husky with urgency.
Sloan listened, giving Mouse a healthy pat and praise for his good work. The dog looked up, eyes shining with happiness, pink tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. Sloan listened intently to the radio conversation. Cade was going to get the helicopter up and it would land here, near HQ, where there was a helipad. Hope rose sharply in Sloan. The faster they could find Dev, the more chance they had of finding her alive.
How could this be happening? He rubbed his chest, the pain in his heart so real he thought he might be experiencing cardiac arrest. He’d just found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Why hadn’t he told Dev that? Why had he hesitated? Life was so precious and no one knew better than Sloan that it could be snuffed out in a millisecond. Why the hell had he hedged his bets and not shared how he really felt toward her? He’d thought it would be too soon. That Dev would see it as just another pressure she had to deal with presently. Dammit!
His reasoning had been good and solid. More than anything Sloan hadn’t wanted to distract Dev with personal things. But now, it was too late...
“Okay,” Shelby said, pleased as she looked over at him, “it will be at least twenty minutes before the Black Hawk will arrive. They’ve got the helo crew on call and they’ll get there as soon as possible.”
Nothing would be soon enough as far as Sloan was concerned, but he harnessed his violent anxiety. “That sounds good, Shelby. Thank you.” He reached out, touching her arm. The woman smiled sadly at him.
“I can’t know what you’re going through, Sloan, but I can see it in your face. Dev means a lot more to you than you’ve let on.”
Turning, he asked Mouse to stand and come to his side. “I love her, Shelby, pure and simple.” He followed the deputy across the thin strip of the bank and then they climbed the boat ramp, heading quickly toward the HQ once more.
Shelby gave him a compassionate look. “Listen, love has its way with us. I never expected to fall in love with Dakota. It sneaked up on me.”
“Same thing happened between Dev and me,” Sloan admitted, unable to keep the strain out of his tone. “It happened so fast.”
Shelby smiled a little. “It did with us, too. Out of the blue. It took a few months and me being in jeopardy for both of us to get it.”
“I feel a little better, then,” Sloan told her wryly as they moved down toward the other end of the building. Beyond it was a huge cleared area that had an asphalt landing pad for helicopters. There was a white circle painted in the center of it, a guide for the helo to safely land. “That’s the way it happened to us.”
Shelby placed her hand on his shoulder as they came upon Cade, who was waiting nearby. “Does Dev know you love her?”
“No.” Sloan wiped his mouth, sadness serrating him. “I didn’t want to tell her just yet, Shelby. I thought it was too soon.” He gave her a pained look. “I didn’t want to distract her from what was going on with Gordon being in the area.”
“And that was the right choice to make,” Shelby said firmly, giving him a sympathetic look. “Don’t feel guilty about it.”
Sloan drew to a halt near Cade. How could he not feel guilty about it? Saying nothing, he turned to Cade. “I want to go along with my dog.”
“Already a done deal,” Cade promised. “The chopper can handle the three of us, plus Mouse. They’ve got M-16 rifles on board, ammo, and we’re set.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “Another fifteen minutes.”
Fifteen minutes. Sloan stood there, feeling like they had to hurry, but everyone was doing the best they could right now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a ranger coming toward them with a set of parents and a ten-year-old boy.
Sloan remained near Cade as the ranger showed Cade a digital photo that the parents had taken earlier on the bridge. Eyes narrowing as he looked across Cade’s shoulder, Sloan saw a river raft. His heart plummeted with fear. There was Dev sitting in the front of it with a stricken look on her face. Gordon was at the helm with the oars in his hands behind her, a look of triumph on his face. Rage flowed through Sloan. He looked closer, and to his relief, he didn’t see any injuries on Dev’s face.
Cade praised the family and thanked them for their information. He had the ranger take their camera card so they could make copies of it and then email it out to all of law enforcement, not only in Teton County, but anywhere the Snake River flowed further south of the park.
Sloan heard the approaching Black Hawk helicopter that had Teton Sheriff painted in bright yellow on the shining black surface of the fuselage. Luckily, Mouse had been on many helo trips and would remain calm. Right now, Sloan wished he had the working harness on his combat-assault dog, but the leash would have to do. Urgency thrummed through Sloan.
Hold on, Dev. Just hold on. Don’t make Gordon angry. Just be quiet and try to hang on...