Kujo ran through the woods, paralleling the road the truck had taken into Pinion Ranch, all the while ignoring the pain in his bum leg. The physical ache would eventually go away. The emotional anguish of Molly’s death wouldn’t be eased by putting his feet up. He had to reach her before her captor did anything to harm her.

Six ran alongside him, his unsteady gate not slowing him one bit. The dog had found a friend in Molly and seemed as concerned about her wellbeing as Kujo.

After what felt like miles, Kujo glimpsed a flicker of a light ahead, between the trees and brush.

He slowed, pulling Six to a stop. If what he was nearing was the ISIS training camp, there could be sentries guarding the perimeter.

Kujo knelt on the ground beside Six, unhooked the lead from the animal’s collar and spoke quietly, but firmly near the dog’s ear. “Heel.”

Six sat on his haunches and waited for Kujo’s next command, his attention completely focused on his master. At that moment, he appeared to be the dog Kujo had partnered with in battle all those years ago.

He tested the theory by taking several steps through the woods.

Six trotted beside him, matching his pace.

With no time to waste, Kujo ducked low and worked his way toward the encampment then circled the area. The only guards he spotted were at the entrance, on either side of the road.

The site was nestled into the trees. Tents had been erected and covered with camouflage netting to blend into the foliage, making it difficult to spot from above. He counted twenty-eight men moving about, loading items into the backs of pickup trucks with short camper shells on the back. What didn’t fit, they stacked in a pile at the center of the area between the tents.

Kujo wished he had his satellite phone to call Hank and warn him about the number of men in the camp. The four or five men his boss could round up from the Brotherhood Protectors would be no match against the number of men he was counting. And all Kujo had was his rifle and Six.

A man shouted, drawing Kujo’s attention. Three men stood near the open door of a pickup. The interior light shining behind them made silhouettes out of their bodies. One of the men seemed thicker than the others until Kujo realized he was holding a body against him.

More shouting made Kujo strain to make out the words. But he was too far away. Then one of the men started to walk away. He didn’t go far before he broke into a run.

The sharp report of gunfire sounded, and the running man dropped to the ground.

The man holding the body shoved it toward the one who’d fired the shot and walked away.

The shooter spun the person around and appeared to bind the figure to the pile of boxes and debris growing in the middle of the camp. With the headlights of a vehicle backlighting the figure, Kujo couldn’t see a face, but he knew by the feminine shape, that person was Molly.

A twig snapped nearby.

Six growled low in his chest and hunkered down, ready to spring.

Kujo spun and dropped to a prone position, his arms out in front of him, his weapon pointed in the direction of the noise.

“Kujo,” a voice whispered in the darkness. “Don’t shoot me.” Bear low-crawled to Kujo’s position.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Kujo gritted out.

“I was more worried about Six ripping off my face.” Bear handed him a headset. “The gang’s all here. Seven, counting you.”

He didn’t know how the hell they’d arrived so quickly, but he was glad they had his back.

“Hank checked with the sheriff. They’re mobilizing and on their way here.”

Kujo shook his head. “Can’t wait for them. See the pile of boxes in the middle?”

“Yeah,” Bear acknowledged.

“Molly’s somewhere near that pile. They’re loading the trucks. It looks like the pile is what they’re leaving behind.”

Bear stared at the center of the camp. “And they won’t leave that much evidence intact.”

Kujo’s gut knotted. Bear’s conclusion was what Kujo had come up with. Which meant when the trucks moved out, they’d set fire to, or detonate, what was left. “We have to get her out of there before that happens.”

“Enemy head count?” Bear queried.

Kujo settled the headset over his head and pressed it into his ear. “Twenty-eight tangos.”

“Four to one,” Hank’s voice came over the radio. “The odds are in our favor.”

Kujo had been in operations where they’d had ten-to-one odds. Hope flared. “If you all could take the rest, I’ll get Molly.”

“Yeah, take the sweet job,” Bear said. “Leave us with the bubbas.”

“Let’s do it,” Hank said. “Keep it quiet, and only use necessary force. We’re not in Afghanistan or Iraq.”

“Your definition of necessary?” Duke said.

Hank didn’t answer. The team moved forward, slipping into the camp on silent feet.

His concentration on Molly, Kujo nearly missed a man lounging in the shadows, his back to the wheel of a truck, sound asleep.

Six alerted Kujo with a low growl.

Kujo hit the guy in the temple with the grip of his pistol. The man went down without a fight, never waking up. He’d likely rouse to a sheriff’s deputy reading his Miranda rights as he dragged the traitor’s ass into the back of his service vehicle. Just to make sure, Kujo pulled the man’s shirt over his head and tied his arms together behind his back. He didn’t like taking the time to do it, but he couldn’t risk the man sneaking up behind him when he was getting Molly out of trouble.

Kujo couldn’t hear the team as they dealt with the men in the camp, but he trusted they’d be there if he needed assistance. He prayed he wasn’t too late.

Molly struggled to loosen the zip-tie Diener’s had used to bind her ankles and to secure her wrists behind her back. Then he’d dragged her across camp and shoved her toward the growing stack of empty crates and boxes. Unable to catch herself, she fell against a wooden crate, hitting it with her hip.

That’s going to leave a bruise, she thought as she glanced off the crate and did a face-plant in the dirt. She rolled to her side and used her elbow to leverage herself high enough she finally managed to sit up.

“Hurry it up! If it won’t fit, we’ll destroy it,” Mohammed called out. “Five minutes, and we bug out.”

The sense of urgency grew more frenetic until the men were throwing what they could into the truck beds, running from tents to trucks.

Molly scooted back against one of the crates and rubbed the zip-tie against an edge of rough wood.

“Come on,” she muttered, rubbing harder, taking layers of skin off her arms and wrists with each pass. Skin would grow back. But if she didn’t get out of there soon, they’d light her up with the debris they left behind. And she needed to get back to civilization to warn law enforcement that these men were planning assaults in Bozeman and Helena the following morning. If she didn’t get away and warn someone, innocent people would die.

With lives hanging in the balance, Molly rubbed harder, and, finally, the zip-tie snapped and her wrists were free. When none of the frantic men were looking, she broke a board off a crate, and twisted it into the zip-tie binding her ankles until it broke. She sprang to her feet and started for the safety of the woods.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Someone grabbed her hair and yanked backward, nearly pulling her off her feet. The barrel of a pistol pressed against her temple.

Instinct kicked in. Molly pushed her hand up between them, knocking his pistol upward.

He fired, the shot going into the air.

The sound of the gunshot threw the rest of the men into a panic. Suddenly there were more people than before, some of them fighting. More shots were fired, and men yelled.

Molly didn’t have time to wonder what the heck was happening around her. She wrapped her arm around her attacker’s and twisted his behind his back, forcing him to drop the pistol. He lurched forward, taking her with him and falling to the ground.

Molly fell on top of him, refusing to release her hold on the arm she’d shoved up between his shoulder blades.

Perez, or Mohammed, as Tanner and Diener had called him, rolled over, crushing her beneath him, his weight pushing the air from her lungs.

A flash of fur streaked from the right and leaped onto Mohammed. Six’s deep, vicious growl might have frightened some, but to Molly, it was the sound of heaven.

Six ripped into Mohammed’s arm, tearing into the flesh.

Mohammed cried out then rolled, kicked and flailed, but Six wouldn’t let go.

When Mohammed’s body slipped off Molly’s, she rolled away and pushed to her feet.

“I should have killed you in town.” Ray Diener stood in front of her, his pistol pointed at Molly’s head.

Half crouching, Molly shivered with rage. She’d been so damn close. “Go ahead, shoot me. But you won’t get away with this. The sheriff is on his way. You won’t get to the highway before they catch you. You might as well give up.”

“Shut up, bitch!” He lowered his weapon and pointed at her chest, but before he could pull the trigger, a shot rang out.

Diener dropped where he was, the gun falling from his hand onto the dirt.

Molly looked in the direction from where the shot had been fired.

Kujo stood with his pistol held out, his hand shaking. “Holy shit, Molly. I thought you were dead.”

Molly straightened and glanced to the side. Six held Mohammed pinned to the ground.

With his free hand, Mohammed reached for the weapon Diener had dropped. When his fingers closed around it, he raised it, aiming toward Six.

“No fucking way.” Molly kicked his hand so hard, the bone snapped and the gun flew into the pile of boxes. Mohammed screamed in pain.

Kujo raced to her side and pulled her into his arms.

Sirens wailed as the fighting came to an end.

The Brotherhood Protectors emerged victorious, the ISIS-trained men lying at their feet, holding broken limbs or hands to the gunshot wounds that had maimed but wouldn’t kill.

“How did you find me?” Molly asked, leaning hard against his chest.

“I was right behind the truck he took you in, up until he turned down the road to the ranch.” He pulled her closer and pressed his cheek to her hair. “I couldn’t let them hurt you. You’re the best thing to happen to me since I got Six back.”

She laughed. “I see where I rank. First Six, and then me.”

“How about equal?” He tilted her chin up and pressed his lips to hers for a quick, hard kiss.

“I can live with that,” she whispered into his mouth. “You both saved my life. My heroes.”

“You’re a brave, woman, Molly Greenbriar.” He kissed her again while Six growled and shook Mohammed’s arm.

The sheriff, and every deputy in the county arrived, along with the fire department and emergency medical technicians.

While the sheriff’s deputies cuffed and read the ISIS trainees their rights, Molly gave the sheriff the rundown on Mohammed’s plans to wreak havoc on Bozeman and Helena. Hank told him about the information they’d hacked from Birge’s laptop and promised to hand it over as evidence.

Hank gathered the Brotherhood Protectors and Molly in a half-circle away from the melee.

“You all did well tonight. I’ve cleared it with the sheriff to cut loose. He’ll want to get statements from you, but we need to get out of here before the media descends on us.”

“But that would be good advertisement for the team,” Duke said.

“Yeah,” Bear agreed. “You’d get more business.”

Hank grinned. “I’ve got more business than I have men to work. Looks like we’ll be hiring more people.” He pounded Kujo on the back. “And you’ve more than proven yourself as part of this team.” He held out his hand to Kujo. “Welcome aboard, Kujo. Glad you’re part of Brotherhood Protectors.”

Kujo shook his boss’s hand. “Thanks, but Six gets the credit for saving Molly. He and I are a team.”

“Absolutely.” Hank dropped to one knee and held out his hand to Six, now that the dog had been relieved of his prey. “Welcome to the team, Six.”

Six put his paw in Hank’s hand and barked.

The team laughed and congratulated each other on a job well done. Then they headed back to the highway where they’d left their vehicles.

Kujo insisted Molly get the EMTs to treat the wounds on her wrists and hip and check her for concussion. When they cleared her, he lifted her into his arms and carried her back down the road to where he’d left his truck.

“You know I can walk, right?”

He nodded. “I know.” But he carried her all the way to the truck and settled her in the passenger seat.

They were back at the B&B twenty minutes later. Molly made the trip in silence, wondering what was next between her and Kujo. Before she was abducted, she’d wanted space to think, to get her mind around her growing attraction to the man.

After all that had happened, all she wanted now was to be in his arms.

Mrs. K met them at the door. “I’ve been listening to the scanner. I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“I’m sorry about the door, Mrs. K,” Kujo said.

The older woman waved her hand. “Now, don’t you worry about that. I’m just glad Miss Molly is okay.” She hugged them both and promised a big breakfast in the morning to celebrate their return.

Molly climbed the stairs and entered their room. She waited for Kujo to close the door, and then she threw herself into his arms.

“Hey,” he said, brushing the hair back from her face. “What’s this? I thought you wanted space.” He chuckled. “How’s that going for you?”

“I’m done with space. I want you,” she said. “I don’t know if you feel the same, but I’ll take any scrap of attention you want to throw my way. If you feel the same, I’ll make it work somehow. We can make a long-distance relationship work, can’t we? I can fly out whenever I have time off. Better yet, I can transfer to the Montana office of the FBI. We can do this.” She looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears. “Please say something. I know I’m making a complete fool of myself.”

He cupped her cheeks in his hands and bent to kiss her forehead.

Molly’s heart sank to her knees. A man didn’t kiss a woman’s forehead unless he was about to break up with her.

She braced herself for the pain, knowing it would be worse than any wound she’d ever received.

Kujo arched an eyebrow. “Now that I can get a word in edgewise, I want to say, I’ll give you the space you need as long as it never exceeds five minutes again. I almost lost my mind waiting for you to come back to the room. I’d given up on waiting, and was about to beg you to come back, when Six started barking.”

She stared up into his eyes, her heart swelling, tears tipping over the edges of her eyes and trailing down her cheeks.

He nodded. “I don’t know how I went from a mountain hermit to falling in love with a woman in less than a week, but here I am, my heart in your hands. Give me a chance to show you how much you mean to me. Go on a date with me. Let me woo you the way you deserve. Will you let me love you?”

“Yes!” Molly stood on her toes and kissed him like there might be no tomorrow. And that had almost been the case.

Kujo held her close, loving her back as hard as she was loving him.

Six pressed his warm, furry body against them, making their joy complete.