Jake nodded. Simon winked at her. Zander gave her a macho man snort.

Right. How could she forget that alpha male Enforcers simply laughed at snow?

After watching them navigate the slick ground, she crossed the porch and read the sign posted on the lodge door. LUNCH WILL BE LATE TODAY. BECCA.

Inside, the main room was quiet, with only Logan present. He was sweeping the fireplace hearth, treating the sleeping dog as if Thor were a piece of furniture. “Morning, sugar.”

“Good morning to you. Is Becca around?”

“Nope.” He nodded at the snow plastering the glass window. “It’s getting nasty out there. When the blizzard really hits, we might get over a foot of snow, so Becca drove into town for groceries. She and Ansel should be back soon.”

“Kallie?”

“At the Masterson place. Her cousins haven’t returned from a guide trip, so she’s over there feeding the livestock. Rona and Dixon went along with her to visit Summer.”

“Oh. Right.” Rona had invited her, but Lindsey didn’t know Summer very well. Sometimes old friends needed time to catch up on gossip. “I guess the place is pretty empty. Did your other guests flee in the face of the storm?”

“We’re emptying out. One man and an older couple left early—they didn’t want to chance the road closing. Stanfeld’ll be here another day. He went into town to talk with Virgil Masterson. Got one cabin rented out through Sunday, but I haven’t seen him this morning. Don’t know if he’ll stay or not.”

“Since you’ve been abandoned by your staff, is there anything I can do to help?”

His rare smile was her reward. “If you’d answer the phone while I clean and restock a couple of cabins, I’d appreciate it. Be about an hour or so.”

“Let me grab a cup of coffee, and I’m your girl.”

Time went by in a lovely quiet as she drank her coffee and flipped through old Field & Stream magazines. Outside the lodge, the wind picked up, spattering the windows with snow, covering the world in white. With a sigh, she leaned back in the comfortable chair.

She’d had a harsh few months, but now peace wrapped around her like the warmth from the crackling fire. There was an end in sight. Someday soon, she might have her life back.

Or a better life, even.

He loves me. Smiling, she said it aloud, just to hear the unbelievable words. “He loves me.” She’d never dreamed to hope for that—not with Zander.

Every time she remembered the determination in his voice as he’d argued to keep her from being “used,” her insides fluttered as if she’d swallowed butterflies.

God, she loved him so much her poor heart hurt. She’d sure never felt this way about either of her husbands. She’d thought she loved them. Had thought they were friends. Had enjoyed the sex. But her feelings for them hadn’t made her shiver and hurt and…yearn.

Looking into the future, she knew—knew—she wanted Zander beside her forever. Even if they were dumped in wheelchairs in a nursing home, she’d still reach for his hand—and giggle when he growled at a nurse. Which he would so totally do.

And hey, he’d need her there to keep him from getting his aged bony butt tossed out, right? Really, with his unsociable manners, he needed her far more than she needed him. It was her…duty…to love him and cherish him and keep him out of trouble.

And wear slutty-virginal nightgowns to tempt him, and to tease him, and to—her eyes burned—to love him so, so well he’d never remember that his mother hadn’t.

“My mama will like you, Zander,” she whispered. After she got past how scary he could be. She bit her lip at the surge of longing. Never before had she not been home for Christmas with her family.

Hearing the stomping of boots on the porch, she scrubbed her face with her hands and sat up straight.

A man entered and stopped to brush snow off his head and shoulders. His hair was black, eyes dark under heavy eyebrows. Thick stubble blackened his cheeks and jaw. “Good morning. You are the receptionist?”

“I’m filling in for a bit. Can I help you?”

“Possibly. I have a question for one of the staff—I’m in Cabin Five. Is anyone around?” He had a slight Spanish accent.

“Becca will return from town soon. Logan’s cleaning cabins.”

“Guess it’s just you and me?”

She stiffened at the assessing look. “Logan should be back any minute.”

“I only need a minute…Lindsey.” With an ugly sneer, he moved closer. “Chief Parnell has Mrs. Hunt and her baby. You come with me quietly, or he slits the brat’s throat.”

Becca and Ansel? Lindsey’s lungs felt as if he’d stomped on her ribs; she struggled to inhale. “No. Y’all wouldn’t dare.”

The indifference in his expression showed he could care less if a baby died.

She shoved her chair away from the desk. Could she reach her knife before he grabbed her? “I don’t believe you.”

He took a satellite phone from under his coat and punched in a number. “Need proof of life. Let’s hear it.” A second later he held the phone toward her.

Becca was yelling, “Don’t—don’t touch him. Don’t you—”

The sound of a baby crying drowned out everything.

“No! Stop!” Lindsey jumped to her feet. “Don’t hurt them. I’ll go with you. Stop it!”

“Now wasn’t that easy?” As he tucked the phone inside his coat, she saw he had a pistol as well. “Move fast, puta. If Hunt stops us, I’ll put a bullet in his head, and we’ll have a mess.”

***

Jake Hunt made a piss-poor patient, deVries thought, but at least the man’s ankle wasn’t busted. After helping Hunt into the lodge truck, which Simon was driving, deVries continued down the slick boardwalk and into the Bear Flat police station.

Small place. Desks around the walls. A table in the center served as an intake area. Damn quiet for a cop station. Seated at one of the desks was a uniformed officer who looked barely old enough to shave. “Can I help you?”

“Masterson here?”

The boy stiffened. “Lieutenant Masterson is in his office. Give me your name, and I’ll—”

“I see him.” Spotting the glass-fronted room with a LIEUTENANT placard, deVries headed in, leaving the pup gaping behind him.

In the office, Masterson was seated behind an oversize desk while Stanfeld and another man sat at a table off to one side. Masterson looked up from the paper he was studying. “DeVries. Didn’t think I’d see you in town today.”

“Unscheduled trip—we took Jake to the clinic for a sprained ankle.” He ran a hand through his hair, still damp from the snow. “Kallie wants him at your place for a couple of nights. Guess she figures having Summer on hand might help.” Masterson’s wife was a registered nurse.

“Sprained, huh? Bet he’s in a shit mood.” Masterson snorted. “You need assistance transporting him?”

“Nah. Simon is delivering him. I stayed to talk with you and Stanfeld.” DeVries gave the Homeland Security agent a cold stare and colder warning. “You make any plans about Lindsey, you make me part of them.”

Stanfeld frowned. “I can see how—”

Much like a wolf when faced with another male, the other man in the room rose to his feet. Six-one, muscular build, white shirt, badge on his belt, shoulder harness for his pistol. Dark brown hair reached his collar. Trim goatee. Hard blue eyes in a tanned face. “I don’t recall being introduced.”

Interfering bastard. “DeVries. Lindsey’s mine.” He didn’t bother holding out his hand to shake.

The cop snorted. “You’re clear enough.” He did hold out his hand. “Atticus Ware. Detective.”

Ware’s handshake was strong, and he didn’t resort to using it for a pissing contest. The cop might be likeable if he refrained from being an obstacle. “I prefer being clear.”

“I haven’t met your lady,” Ware said. “A Texan?”

DeVries nodded.

“Bet she’s enjoying the snow.”

Masterson grinned. “Coming from Idaho, Ware doesn’t panic at a few snowflakes—unlike the new grad we had from San Diego.”

San Diego. Palm trees. DeVries snorted at the vision of a southern California cop in a blizzard.

“After the fourth time we towed his patrol car out of a ditch, we sent him home,” said Ware.

Stanfeld shook his head. “If you ladies are finished chatting, we might move on?”

Ware resumed his seat.

Now what would have dragged an Idaho cop to California? Odd.

As deVries leaned against the wall, Stanfeld told him, “I came in to talk with the local law enforcement about luring Parnell and Ricks here, where there are limited ways in.”

“And fewer people to fuck things up,” deVries said.

“Exactly.” Stanfeld nodded. “I know you don’t want Lindsey as bait, but—”

The phone on the desk rang.

“Lieutenant Masterson.” Virgil listened and glanced at deVries. “You seen Lindsey here?”

DeVries straightened. “No. Why?”

Masterson’s jaw hardened. “We’ll check around town. What’s she driving?”

He hung up and looked at the others. “She’d told Logan she’d answer the desk phone while he cleaned cabins. He came back, and she wasn’t there. Her car’s gone.”

“Maybe she went to join Rona and Dixon,” Stanfeld said.

DeVries’s gut clenched. “If she said she’d watch something, she wouldn’t leave until relieved. She’s solid like that.”

Masterson was on the phone to his wife. Seconds later, he hung up. “No Lindsey. And Summer says it’s getting to be a whiteout up there.”

“That’s bad,” Ware said to deVries. “What are the chances your coyotes have already grabbed the bait?”

He answered Ware through a dry throat. “Too fucking good.”