“It was close enough for me to grab,” Preston said. He pocketed Scott’s pistol. “Come on. We need to get out of here. We have a couple of choppers coming to meet us.”
Moments later, as the five people and two dogs stepped from the woods into the clearing once more, the throb of helicopter rotors cut the air. The first had barely touched down on the snow when the door opened and Denton Endicott leaped out. “Jackson!” he shouted over the din of the helicopter.
“Dad!” Jackson raced toward his father, and Denny knelt to embrace him. Lily was relieved to see him. Had Mike lied when he said Denny was being held by his associates?
Preston turned to them. “You two and the boy can go with Endicott,” he said. “I’ll take Mike with me.”
“What about the dogs?” Lily asked.
Preston looked down at the two dogs, who were sitting at Scott’s and Lily’s feet. “There isn’t room for them in the helicopter,” he said.
“If it wasn’t for them, you might not even be here,” Lily said. She crossed her arms. “The helicopter can take Jackson and his dad and Scott first and come back for me and the dogs.”
“I’ll wait with you.” Scott put his arm around her.
“You two go with the Endicotts,” Preston said. “We’ll send someone for the dogs.”
“I don’t go without my dog,” Lily said.
“Me either,” Scott said. “And I’d like my gun back.”
Agent Shipman glared at them, then shook his head, turned and walked away, prodding Mike along in front of him.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they come back for you and the dogs,” Denny said. “Or we could probably take Lily and Shelby and come back for Scott and Hunter.”
Scott turned to Lily. “Go on,” he said. “I’ll be fine out here.”
“No. I’m not going to leave you now.”
She braced herself for a lecture on not being stubborn. Maybe he would even try to order her to leave, as her boss. She could read the impulse in his eyes. He could probably read her refusal in hers. He opened his mouth, then closed it. “Go on, Mr. Endicott,” he said. “We’ll wait together.”
They stood back and watched the helicopters lift off, one after the other. When they were gone, silence descended like a muffling pillow. “Are you okay?” Scott asked.
“I will be.” She looked up at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so terrified in my life.”
“Me either.” He squeezed her tight against his side.
“Are you okay?” she asked. She touched a bruise forming on the side of his face.
“Agent Preston objected when I pulled a gun on him. I guess I can’t blame him. He probably thought I was one of the kidnappers.”
“Mike has worked for Denny for twenty-five years,” she said. “They were best friends in college! Why would he do something like this?”
“Greed? Or maybe he resented that Endicott had more than he did. Who knows.” He shook his head. “I thought Preston was the villain in this story. When he stepped out of the woods and demanded to know who I was, I was sure he was behind Jackson’s kidnapping.”
“Denny will tell me later what’s going on.” She shook her head. “It’s all so unbelievable. And Shelby!” She looked down at the dog, then bent to pat her side. “You would think she was a trained attack dog or something.”
“She was protecting you,” he said. “You’re her person. The one she loves most in the world.”
She swallowed past a sudden knot in her throat. “I am. That’s the thing about dogs, isn’t it? They love you with everything they have.” Unlike people, who were always holding back. At least she was holding back. Afraid of loving too much. Afraid of hurting too much.
She looked away from Scott, her feelings in turmoil. This ordeal had changed things between them, but what did that mean going forward? He was still her boss. Still prickly and particular, hard to read. She knew him better now, but did that mean they could be a couple?
She wanted that, she thought. She wanted to try. But what did he want?
He sighed, like someone setting down a heavy weight. “I want to go home, take a shower, eat half the refrigerator and sleep for two days,” he said.
She laughed—because he was answering the question she hadn’t asked out loud, and because the answer was so basic. Except for the bath, it was the same things their dogs probably wanted. “Yeah,” she said. “I want that, too.” Later, she would think past those basic needs. Later, she would try to ferret out the answer to the riddle people were always trying to solve—what they wanted. What was within their reach and what was impossible.
