The flow of the shower ended and he could hear her moving around inside the bathroom when the rumble of engines carried from outside. Angel lifted a hand to knock, when Katie opened it. Damp hair clung to her flushed cheeks. Somehow she seemed smaller, and more delicate than earlier.

“Snowmobiles.”

At his nod, she dumped her dirty clothes into her room and then followed him down the stairs. Smart girl went right to her corner next to the gun safe and picked up her shotgun. Once certain she was secure, he made his way to the damaged front door. The insulation had held, and the covers he’d placed over the side windows shielded him.

“Katie. Angel,” a male voice called from outside. “It’s Hank Patterson, and I have a couple of my guys with me. You’re clear.”

The voice sounded familiar, but Angel eased the door open with the .38 at ready. He didn’t know any of the men, but the guy standing two feet back from the front door also held a satellite phone.

“Friend of yours,” he said, extending the phone to Angel. “Just in case you needed someone to vouch for me.”

Gun steady, Angel took the phone and put it to his ear. Katie could vouch for Hank, since she knew him, but he’d rather not expose her yet.

“Knight,” he said into the phone.

“Angel, buddy of mine,” Jacko’s welcome refrain relaxed him a fraction. “Meet Montana, six feet tall, brown hair and green eyes. The men with him are Swede—6’2, blond hair and blue eyes. Faint limp. The last guy is Bear, 6’1, brown hair and brown eyes. He was Delta Force, but we’ll forgive him the lapse.”

“I heard that,” Bear grumbled. Hank and Swede both grinned.

Not missing a beat, Jacko continued, “Flint and Cannon are both in New York and they have eyes on your guy. Word on the wire is that there’s a bounty on the woman you’re with, and there might be some freelancers in your area. Montana’s guys are going to take you out overland, hook you up with a vehicle, and then we’re putting you on a private plane.”

Private plane? Since when did any of them own a private plane? Angel kept the thought to himself. Jacko had walked him out of more fires than he cared to count. If he had it covered, the genius had it covered.

“Mickey will cover you at the airport, it’s a private one and we can control the security there. Jammer will meet you on the ground when you get to the Empire State.”

Jammer? His former future brother-in-law being involved steadied him. Jammer wanted these bastards caught every bit as much as he did. Angel lowered the weapon.

“Anything else?”

“Anything else?” Jacko actually sounded offended. “Jacko take care of this, track this down Jacko, book tickets for me Jacko—I just handed you a fucking silver platter of awesome, don’t push it.”

“Good to talk to you, too.” And he grinned, for the first time since he’d boarded the flight at La Guardia to head west, Angel had guys around him he could trust. A wall of skilled muscle to put between Katie and the threat. “I owe you one.”

“You owe me five,” Jacko said, hardly mollified but with a hint of humor in his voice. “Not that I’m counting. Stay safe, and hang onto this phone. I’ll call if anything changes.”

Then the line went dead and Angel blew out a breath. The air outside had a bite to it. “Come in.”

“We need to get moving,” Hank said, pulling a bag off the back off his snow mobile before he followed him inside. “Bear and Swede will keep an eye out.” Smart move.

Katie didn’t put in an appearance, and Angel grinned. Good girl had listened. “It’s Hank and his guys. We’re safe.”

She set the shotgun aside as she stepped out, then she greeted Hank with a big hug. The man lifted her off the ground much to her delight based on the squeal she released. Irritation flashed through him, but Angel suppressed the emotion. They didn’t have time for him to crack.

Setting Katie down, Hank gave her a critical look. “Sadie is annoyed you didn’t tell her you were here, but considering the circumstances—you’re forgiven. Get changed, we’re going out on the snowmobiles. We’ll double up with you and Angel on one, and Swede will ride with me.” With that, Hank tossed the bag to him. “Those should fit, you need to insulate against the wind and snow.”

“Problem.” Responding to the other man’s all business tone put Angel back on mission. “Never used a snowmobile before.”

“I have,” Katie said, still waiting at the foot of the stairs. “I can drive it, if you don’t mind sitting behind me.”

He could shield her from there and it left his gun arm free. “Good. There’s coffee in the kitchen,” he told Hank, then led Katie up the stairs. He double-checked her room before leaving her to change. He stripped in the hallway and added the layers to his clothes. His duffel was in the truck, he’d grab that before they left.

Ten minutes later, bundled up, he slid onto the snow machine behind Katie and she handled it like an expert. Bear took the lead with Hank and Swede falling in behind them. Bear also promised to get a crew over to fix her parents window, door and ceiling. Good as new, he’d assured her. The way Katie lit up under the promise added a fresh wave of irritation to his earlier annoyance.

Shoving the reactions to the side, he braced a gloved hand on her waist and kept himself steady as she accelerated through the snow. The sun kept peeking through the clouds, and it turned the snow-laden landscape into something right out of a fantasy novel.

The wind bit at any exposed skin, but they all wore neoprene masks to protect their mouths and noses, and goggles for their eyes. Katie had tugged a dark wool cap over her damp hair before she’d pulled up the hood on her parka. The only thing disturbing the stillness was the hum of the engines.

Thirty minutes into the ride as they followed Bear up a sharp incline, another shot echoed through the air. A glint of light gave him a clue where the shot came from, and the bullet slammed into the chassis of the machine, right between his and Katie’s legs. The snowmobile wobbled, but he tightened his grip on her middle—a squeeze and said, “Go—stay with Bear.” Then he lifted his gun hand and fired in that direction, several quick shots designed to buy them time.

Hank’s snowmobile was already peeling away from them. The repeated pops of sound coming from Swede’s gun as he fired in the same direction. Bear turned sharp at the top of the rise and Katie stayed with him. They made a run, then they were in the trees again and paralleling the road. Trusting Hank and Swede to deal with the threat from behind, Angel kept watch for the next problem.

Their path took them along the shoulder of the road, and the depth of the snow impressed the hell out of him. He hadn’t seen it this bad since they did cold weather maneuvers. Ahead of them, an SUV waited for them—engine running. The exhaust turned to vapor in the icy air.

A man slid out of the driver’s side of the vehicle, and didn’t make it a step before both Bear and he fired. The bullets slammed into the assailant and he went backwards. Katie screamed, but she didn’t let up on the gas. They raced passed the SUV and then down a dip in the road. Flashing lights greeted them—sheriff’s vehicles. Two deputies were bundled into cold weather gear and they had rifles in hand.

The sheriff waved to them and Bear slowed his machine as he came along side, with Katie parking next to them. “The sheriff is getting y’all to the airport, hop in.” Another man came to take the snow mobile from Katie. Even through their gloves, Angel could feel her shaking. Pulling her to his side, he got her into the back of the vehicle and then told her to lie down.

He’d be riding shotgun—literally.

Bear and his companion were already gone, tearing it up through the snow as they went at an angle likely to meet back up with Hank and Swede. The sheriff sent his deputies up the road to deal with the downed man and the SUV, meanwhile, Angel kept watch as the Sheriff’s SUV and its heavy-duty snow tires carried them to the private landing strip.

The occasional sob reached him, but each time he glanced back at her, Katie had her head turned away. The need to comfort her warred with the desire to protect. They’d have time on the plane, he promised them both silently.

It was the longest, most agonizing hour of his life, as the sheriff transported them. Angel couldn’t shake the sensation of being exposed, or how close that shot had come when they’d been on the snowmobiles. If the guy had been even a millisecond faster, Katie would have taken the full brunt of the shot.

Relief came at the sight of Mickey waiting next to a plane behind the secured gates of the landing strip. The sheriff waved them off, then told Katie to be careful. She smiled at the man, but the expression never reached her eyes. As much as Angel wanted to let her take solace in the people she knew, he didn’t want her out in the open any longer than necessary.

“Hey man,” Mickey said, as he grasped Angel’s hand in a fast shake, then he nodded to Katie. “Ma’am. We’ve got food and drink on board, go on.” The plane was nicer than Angel expected.

They stripped out of the heavier gear and Katie dropped into a seat and buckled in. With Mickey heading up front to sit with the pilot, Angel took the seat right next to Katie, then took her icy hand in his as the plane hurtled along the runway. Her trembling turned to genuine shaking, and Angel waited only for the plane to level before he unbuckled them both and pulled her into his lap.

“You did great, sweetheart,” he murmured against her ear as she clung to him. “You were a rock star.”

Every little hiccupping tear ravaged him. When Mickey poked his head out of the cockpit, eyebrows raised, Angel shook his head. The last thing Katie needed was a witness to her meltdown. As hard as she continued to cry, he had to wonder if she’d not let herself react to any of it in all these weeks.

“You’re safe,” Angel continued after Mickey vanished back to take control of the flight. “I promise, we’ve got you.”

After several long, grueling moments of her weeping, she finally lifted her head to look at him. Face red and blotchy and her eyes swollen, she looked like she’d gone through the ringer. “I thought the square was the worst thing that ever happened to me.” Another hiccup punctuated the statement.

Giving her a gentle smile, he brushed away one of her tears with his thumb. “Remember, the only easy day was yesterday.”

Then she released a damp chuckle, but a laugh nonetheless.

Better. “You were a badass. You didn’t slow down, you didn’t give in to the fear. You did exactly what we asked you to do, and you followed the plan. We’re both still here and the bad guys got theirs. Like I said, you’re a rock star.”

The guys who came after her to collect on some bounty were definitely on the bad list. “I didn’t even realize they’d shot at us on that hill until I saw the hole in the snow mobile when we stopped.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you did it.” He adjusted her to a more comfortable position. Her ass on his lap was giving his dick way too many ideas. Though he was halfway considering shifting her back to her own seat, she changed his mind when she snuggled up to him and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. “You didn’t even flinch when we fired back.”

“So if the only easy day was yesterday, how awful will it be when we land?” She spoke so softly, he had to strain to hear her.

“You’ve got me, and Mickey and Jammer will be there when we land.” Fuck, she didn’t know those guys. “You trusted Hank, right?”

“Yeah,” she sniffed, then gazed at him from between damp lashes. “I trust you, too.”

The latter surprised him. “Then trust we’ll get through this. We’ve got a plan.” It was still a plan on the fly, but he’d succeeded with less in the field. They needed to reach out to Jade, the former SEAL turned New York City detective was the lynchpin in the puzzle. Jacko was on it, though, so they could afford to rest.

“Okay,” she sighed and rested her head against his shoulder and he settled his cheek to her hair. The dark strands still held a hint of dampness, but she smelled like roses. Probably her shampoo, but he liked it. Stroking her spine with his thumb, he drew small circles until her breathing evened and she went to sleep.

Needing to rest his eyes, he closed them. Maybe a little nap wouldn’t hurt him either.

Katie slept all the way to New York, she was still yawning and rubbing at her eyes when Angel settled her back into her seat and buckled her seatbelt into place. Wasn’t the flight longer? She’d been white-knuckled all the way to Bozeman the last time, this trip seemed to fly by. Grimacing at her own pun, she accepted the thermos of coffee. It was still warm, if not hot. The sandwich was dry, and she ate it speedily and washed it down with the coffee. Neither were appetizing, but tasted like nirvana.

“So what next?” she asked, glancing from Angel to the man he called Mickey. Though he’d ridden in the cockpit, the man sat across from them now.

“We’ll be landing in about thirty minutes. Jammer will meet the plane, he’s got a nice bulletproof car for us.” The casual way he said the words left another chilly footprint on her soul. Before all this, she would have said the hardest part about living in New York was figuring out which subway line went where. Now they were talking spotter cars, lead vehicles and best routes.

“My fiancée will meet us at one police plaza,” Mickey continued. “She’s an attorney and she’s got a waiver to practice here as well as a secondary attorney who can file anything we need filed.”

“Why do I need an attorney?” She glanced from Mickey to Angel, then back. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“He knows that,” Angel assured her, and covered her hand with his. The action steadied her. “Arizona is more to cover our asses.”

Arizona. Angel. Montana. “Is she military too?”

It was Mickey who chuckled this time. “No, her parents named her after U.S.S. Arizona, but ask her if she’s former military, I would love to see her reaction.” The genuine warmth filling his eyes urged her to trust his judgment on this one.

“Wait, cover our asses.” Was Angel in trouble? “Are they blaming you?” Incensed she switched her attention back to Mickey. “Angel didn’t do this.”

“Ease up on the pedal there darlin’, we know Angel’s clean and the cops do, too. It’s more a matter of form, he was there, and it happened. He also took out a thug.”

God, that was right, he killed JK.

“So, he’s a person of interest whether we like it or not. Arizona’s gonna be there for any questioning, and she’s going to make sure the cops take care of both of you. In the meanwhile, we’ll keep an eye on the Nash character until the police take over.”

“It sounds simple enough.” Though if the last few weeks were any indication, simple didn’t mean better or even safer.

“It is what it is. Angel will help you into the vest before we leave. We want you in body armor. We’re armed, and I’m licensed to carry in New York, Angel isn’t, but we’ll have a gun in the car if he needs it. What about you? Are you licensed?”

“No, and I only use guns for target shooting at home—” Montana. Montana would always be home no matter where life took her.

“And ceilings. She’s a damn wicked shot where the ceiling is concerned.” The teasing jibe ruffled her feathers, and Katie bumped Angel’s shoulder with hers.

“Mean.”

His chuckle pulled a smile from her and chased away the apprehension of wearing a bulletproof vest.

“I use pepper spray here.” It was legal and labeled, and damn painful. She’d never had a reason to pull it out, and wished she’d even remembered she had it after the explosion, but she wasn’t even sure where her purse ended up. Thankfully, she’d forgotten her wallet in her dance duffel or she would have lost her ID, too.

“Let Angel do the shooting then,” Mickey said, though his lips twitched. “We’ll get you there safe and sound. Trust us.” After echoing Angel’s earlier statement, he excused himself to return to the cockpit leaving them alone.

“How you doing?” Angel asked after the silence between them stretched.

“My ass is sore,” she said, the offhand remark not even registering until he twisted to look at her. Then she laughed at herself. “The snowmobile, it’s been a while and sitting here, I think it went numb and it’s been waking up. I haven’t been dancing every day or running like I do—instead I just hid and now I’m aching.”

“I’d offer a massage,” he delivered the line with a quirk of his lips, then winked. “But we don’t have time for anything fun right now.”

Heat flushed through her at the suggestive note. “You couldn’t have thought of it earlier?” The retort took the right tone, because he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

“I’m a little slow sometimes.”

“I like slow,” she said, then licked her lips. “It’s better to take your time.”

“Yes, ma’am. It is.” Then he kept ahold of her hand as Mickey let them know they’d begun their descent. In a few minutes, they’d land and she’d put on a bulletproof vest to make their way through the city.

After she gave her statement? What happened then? How did she go back to her life?

What the hell was her life after all of this?

The two hours after their wheels touched down, they became a frenzied activity of hurry up and wait. First it was into the body armor, and from the plane they went straight into a heavy duty vehicle. The driver—Jammer—turned out to be someone as invested in the disaster as she was. He’d lost his fiancée, Angel’s sister.

No blame existed in his gaze as he and Mickey shielded them on their way into the vehicle. He and Angel didn’t talk much, though what they said always seemed to be short and to the point. They weren’t tense, but they were both watching everything as they drove. A couple of times, Angel told her sit lower in the seat and she did.

Driving into the city took on a surreal quality. A man they greeted as Jade and introduced as Detective Green met them in the parking garage. He guided them upstairs into the heart of One Police Plaza. As Mickey promised, Arizona Kensington awaited them, the attorney shook her hand and ushered her into one room while Jade took Angel to another.

The separation probably made sense, but Katie’s gut wouldn’t stop churning. She told Arizona everything she could remember and the attorney took some notes, then left her to go and speak to Angel.

The hurry up and wait seemed to extend to the tan walled interior of the conference room. When Arizona came back, she was with Detective Green and another man who turned out to be name Rubens, an assistant district attorney for New York County and third man who simply leaned against the wall and didn’t introduce himself.

The questioning took hours, and even with offers for bathroom breaks and water, she was spent by the time the detective and the ADA rose. “We’re going to take you into protective custody,” Detective Green said. “We’ve sent a couple of uniforms to check on your apartment. We can get a search warrant, but do you give us permission to enter and search for anything Mr. Guiness may have left there?”

Nash hadn’t stayed at her place often, but the request made sense. “If it’s still mine, then yes. I haven’t spoken to my landlord or checked on the rent.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Arizona assured her. “I reached out and he had changed the locks, but it’s still your place. We’ll get it all taken care of.”

Well that was a relief. “So do I stay here?”

“For the moment,” the detective said. “We’re arranging a security detail and a place for you to stay.”

After they left, Arizona excused herself to check on things. Katie laid her head on the table. Even though she’d told the whole story to Angel, it didn’t make it easier to admit the sordid mess to strangers. She couldn’t get over how stupid she’d been—to trust Nash, to investigate him, to think he was cheating, and then to follow the breadcrumbs to Storybook Square.

Life was weird, but there was no excuse for her mistakes. The longer she sat there, the wearier she became. The door opened and Arizona leaned in, “C’mon, let’s blow this joint. Mickey’s picking us up in five.”

Mickey. Not Angel.

Shoving away from the table, she pulled on the body armor before following the smartly dressed attorney down the hallway. No one had taken the vest away from her and Angel had wanted her wearing it. A part of her kept looking for Angel, hoped he was okay. She’d stressed repeatedly he had nothing to do with the bombing. He’d been there, just like she and he’d saved her life.

A lot.

Though they’d taken notes, no one responded with whether Angel faced charges or not. At the elevator, she looked at Arizona. “What about Angel? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine.” The attorney gave her arm a squeeze. “Trust me, he wants you out of here and safely back in our hands. The city’s detail is going to back up our guys. Jammer’s already got a place picked out and Mickey will get you there.”

“What about you?” Was the attorney staying because Angel was still here?

“I’m going to do my job.” When the doors dinged open, she guided them inside and they rode down to the parking garage in silence. As promised, Mickey waited for them right outside the doors. He braced a hand against the elevator opening and gave Arizona a kiss, before taking Katie’s arm.

“Stay here until I come back for you, okay sweetheart?” He winked at his fiancée and she laughed.

“I’ll be here for hours yet, I have a lot of paperwork to do and I’m meeting with the ADA again.”

“Are they going to file charges?” If they did against her fine, but Katie was worried about Angel

“I doubt it, but we have to make sure every t is crossed and every i is dotted, now go on.” Only after Arizona assured her did Katie let Mickey guide her out.

They took a town car this time, and while Mickey made her sit in the backseat he didn’t tell her to get low. The drive through the city took a shorter time than the drive in from the airport, but he pulled into another garage—this time for a hotel right in the middle of Times Square.

“Hide in plain sight,” Mickey told her before he stepped out of the car and circled it to open her door. It was nearly midnight outside, and the city was still hopping. The hours had all bled together. She woke up in Montana and she’d go to sleep in New York.

Life really was weird.

Jammer led her inside and to a bank of elevators, they took one all the way up to a high floor. Her feet were dragging and the exhaustion weighed on her like a lead balloon. With a keycard, Jammer opened a suite door.

“Food is waiting for you, and no one will knock that isn’t us, but you still need to check before you open it.” The litany of security precautions washed over her like a bad dream, but she nodded anyway.

“Don’t open it unless its you and you have a key so you can get in. Got it.” Then she paused at looked at him. Despite his unreadable expression, there was a haunting sadness around his eyes. “I’m really sorry about Moira.”

“Me, too, hon. Me too.” Then the door closed behind him. Venturing deeper into the suite, Katie found the food as promised, and the drapes drawn on all the windows. They wanted those to stay closed.

Though a part of her held out hope Angel would be there, a quick survey of the bedroom and bathroom answered that question.

She was alone.