Suddenly, she stomped her foot down on the man’s boot.
He growled, but loosened his hold enough that she half turned. And rammed her knee between the guy’s legs. The man uttered a vicious curse.
“Gemma, down,” Boone roared.
She didn’t hesitate. She dropped instantly.
Boone fired.
The man’s body jerked, and his knife fell from nerveless fingers. He clutched his bleeding shoulder and hit the concrete on his ass.
“Gemma—”
Boone didn’t need to say any more. She ran at him, and he caught her. But he didn’t take his gaze off the man moaning on the ground.
“Are you hurt?” Boone asked her.
“No, I’m fine.”
He tightened his grip on her. “We need to get—”
“You aren’t going anywhere.”
The deep voice behind them made Boone’s jaw clench. They turned slowly, and he saw two more mercenaries. One was tall and lean, while the other one was shorter with a muscular build.
They were both armed with rifles.
Both aiming at Boone.
Gemma gasped, her hands digging into his arm.
“We’re taking the girl,” the tall man said.
This one had an American accent. He’d probably been military and now sold his services to the highest bidder. Boone couldn’t stand the sight of him.
Atlas growled.
The other merc shifted his gun to aim at the dog.
“No!” Gemma stepped in front of Atlas.
Fuck. Boone didn’t have a good play here. Not one that didn’t put Gemma at risk.
“Come here.” The tall guy gestured at Gemma.
She lifted her chin. “No. Tell Carruthers to get fucked.”
The men traded a glance, then the tall one gave a slow nod. “Then we’ll have to put a bullet in your hero’s head and drag you out of here.”
She bit her lip.
All of a sudden, a shadow moved behind the men. Boone couldn’t make out what it was, but he kept his face blank.
“I’ll say it again,” the merc repeated. “Come here.”
The shadow moved closer, then attacked.
A blow to the back of the head sent the talking man toppling face-first to the dirty ground. He didn’t move.
The second merc was turning, but didn’t get a chance to defend himself. The newcomer slammed several heavy blows into the man.
The second mercenary went down hard.
Boone pulled Gemma toward him. Their rescuer took a step forward, and Boone noted the guy was big and broad. Then he stepped into a dim light and Boone saw a familiar dark beard covering a square jaw, and shaggy, black hair.
The man scowled at them. “This alley stinks.”
“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 pulse was 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.
Once they were out, Atlas ran around, keen to explore. She smiled. This was the Colorado version of Boone’s place, so the dog looked happy.
“I tidied up that cabin for you two.” Shep pointed to the cabin closest to his. “I keep it maintained for guests.”
“What guests?” Boone asked with a quirk of an eyebrow.
Shep shrugged. “Madden stayed here for a bit when he got out.”
Boone nodded, and Gemma guessed they were talking about another Ghost Ops buddy.
“The fire’s already going. And that’s my place.” He nodded his head at the well-lit cabin. “I figured after the last two days you guys have had, you have some sleep to catch up on.”
“Yeah,” Boone said. “Thanks, Shep.”
“Oh, and the fridge is stocked as well.”
“That’s lucky, because we lost our takeout and our doughnuts.” Gemma fought back a pout. She’d really wanted those doughnuts.
Shep flicked a glance at Gemma. “Food’s not fancy.”
She’d seen the look before and arched a brow. “And here I was expecting Beluga caviar and white truffles.”
Her sarcasm had the corner of Shep’s lips twitching. “I like her. I have a good security system, so you don’t need to worry about anyone sneaking up on you.”