Halfway back to the cabin, Kujo topped a hill and froze.

A plume of smoke billowed into the air from the direction of the cabin.

Damn! He knew he shouldn’t have left Molly alone in the cabin. And he’d given her a painkiller.

His heart in his throat, he raced down the hill and through the woods as fast as the damaged four-wheeler would carry him. Every horrible scenario he could imagine raced through his mind. Molly could be trapped in the cabin. By the time he reached her, there’d be nothing left but her charred remains. And Six…

Fuck! Why couldn’t the ATV move any faster? As it was, he nearly crashed into a boulder at one bend in the trail and narrowly missed a tree trunk at another. When he finally emerged into the clearing around the cabin, his heart sank to his knees. The cabin was a complete loss, the flames licking the sky, smoke chugging into the air in billowing puffs.

If Molly hadn’t gotten out…

Kujo brought the ATV to a skidding stop, leaped off and ran around the side of the building, racing for the entrance.

The porch roof had collapsed blocking the door. Even if he’d wanted to go inside, he couldn’t.

He stood staring at the inferno, his chest squeezing so tightly he couldn’t breathe.

A hand touched his arm, and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Joe?”

He spun to find Molly standing behind him with Six at her heels. “Oh, dear God.” He pulled her into his arms and crushed her to his chest. “I thought you were still inside.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her cheek against his chest. “We’re okay, but I’m afraid your cabin is toast.”

“I don’t give a damn about the cabin.” He buried his face in her hair for another long moment before he lifted his head.

Molly looked up at him, her brow furrowed. “We should probably move away from the fire, before we become a part of it.”

Without releasing Molly all the way, Kujo walked her away from the blaze and bent to scratch Six’s ears. He cleared a lump in his throat before he spoke. “I though you two were inside,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“We were in the woods when it started.” Molly touched a hand to his cheek. “We’re fine, but Joe, someone set this fire.”

“What do you mean?” He jerked his head up and looked around. “Who?”

“I don’t know. He wore a ski mask and took off in an old red and white pickup. He used gasoline as an accelerant.”

“Bastard,” Kujo said.

“No kidding.” Molly shook her head. “Six tried to stop him, but he got away. He should have some significant bite marks on his right arm. Six was amazing.”

Kujo ruffled Six’s neck, and then hugged Molly close again. “I’m just glad you weren’t inside.”

Molly stared up at him. “You were really worried?” She stepped back and stared at him. “Joe, you’re shaking.”

He closed his eyes, the images of those soldier’s faces permanently etched in his mind as the world exploded around them. “I couldn’t go through that again,” he whispered.

She cupped his cheek. “Through what?”

The sound of sirens gave Kujo the needed distraction from confessing his own nightmares. “That will be the fire department. You need to hide if you want to remain missing.”

Molly shook her head. “Whoever set the fire knows I’m here. There’s no point remaining in hiding.”

“Good, then as soon as they have the blaze under control, I’m taking you to my boss.”

“Your boss?” She stared up at him, her brows dipping.

A short fire truck bumped up the road toward them, followed by a longer one and a tanker truck filled with water. Pickup trucks lined the drive as volunteer firefighters pulled in and jumped out, ready to assist and put the flames out before the flames spread and created a forest fire.

Kujo moved the four-wheeler out of the way. Then he and Molly loaded the drone parts into his pickup and parked the truck farther along the road, out of the way of the firefighters.

Within the hour, they had the fire contained in a smoldering pile of ash that once was a hunting retreat in the woods.

Kujo stood with Molly in the curve of his arm, watching as the experts dealt with the fire. The sheriff showed up with a couple of his deputies to ask questions.

Molly told him what she’d witnessed.

“You didn’t see his face at all?” the sheriff asked as he made notes on a pad.

“No, sir,” Molly answered. “He wore a ski mask and took off in an ancient red and white pickup.”

The sheriff’s eyes narrowed. “Not many red and white pickups around these parts anymore.”

One of the deputies leaned toward the sheriff. “Doesn’t Old Man Donovan have an antique hunk of junk pickup?”

The sheriff nodded and scribbled a note on the page. “Notify dispatch to send someone out to check on Donovan and his truck.”

The deputy hustled toward his vehicle to do the sheriff’s bidding.

The sheriff locked gazes with Kujo. “You know, Ray Diener blames you for his wife leaving him. You sure you didn’t see him?”

Kujo shook his head. “Molly was here alone. But whoever did it will have a nasty dog bite on his arm.”

The sheriff shot a glance at Six. “He’s not dangerous, is he?”

“He’s a trained war dog,” Kujo said. “But Six was mostly used for bomb sniffing.”

Sheriff Barron reached down to scratch Six’s ears. “Hopefully, he won’t have much bomb sniffing to do around here.”

“He’s retired from service.” Kujo glanced toward the men rolling up hoses. “Are you done with us?”

“For now,” the sheriff said. “Will you be in the area for long?”

“Yes, sir. Now that the cabin’s gone, I’ll have to get a place in town.”

“Good. I might have more questions as we get further along in the investigation.” The sheriff stared at the smoldering heap. “Could have been worse. You’re lucky no one was inside when he lit the place.”

Kujo’s chest tightened all over again. “Yes, sir.”

Sheriff Barron’s gaze swept the surroundings. “And had the fire burned out of control, it could have wiped out thousands of acres. We’ll do what we can to put the arsonist away.”

“Thank you, sir,” Molly said.

Kujo cupped her elbow and led her away from the firefighters as they cleaned up. When he reached his truck, he helped her up into the passenger side and opened the back door for Six. After the dog jumped into the back seat, Kujo closed the door, rounded the front of the vehicle and slipped into the driver’s seat.

“Where to?” Molly asked, fastening her seatbelt.

“To Hank Patterson’s place.”

“He’s your boss?”

Kujo nodded.

Six stuck his head between the seats and stared out the front window.

“What kind of work do you do?” Molly turned to pet Six.

Kujo shrugged. “Security work, from what I can tell.”

“You don’t know?”

“I just signed on. I haven’t had my first assignment. You can ask him when we get there.”

Molly settled back in her seat. “Is he prior military as well?”

“SEAL.”

Molly’s brows rose. “And you’re former Delta Force?” She smiled his way. “The best-of-the-best. Does he hire all former spec-ops-trained personnel?”

“As far as I know.”

“Interesting. I look forward to meeting him. Where does he live?”

“On White Oak Ranch. His wife is Sadie McClain.”

Molly shot a glance his way. “The Sadie McClain? Hollywood phenomenon?”

Kujo frowned. “I suppose.”

“Now, I’m really interested in meeting them.” She shook her head. “Wow, I came to Montana thinking I’d just meet backwoods and small-town folk. I didn’t expect to meet Sadie McClain.”

The rest of the trip to White Oak Ranch passed in silence.

When they pulled up to the ranch house, Hank, Duke, Bear and three other men rose from chairs on the porch and came down the steps to greet them.

“Kujo, I’m glad you’re here. I was just about to send someone out to get you from that hunting cabin.” Hank held out his hand. “You have to move to a place with phone service. In the meantime, I’ll equip you with a satellite phone and a GPS tracker.”

“Hank, Bear, Duke.” Kujo shook hands with the men he knew and turned to the others.

Hank clapped his shoulder and turned to the other men. “Men, this is Joseph Kuntz, or more affectionately known as Kujo. Kujo meet Axel Svenson, Brandon Rayne and Vince Van Cleave. Alex Davila is on assignment. Actually, all these men are on assignment, but came in for a brief meeting.”

Kujo held out his hand to the big Viking of a man with blond hair and blue eyes.

Axel grinned. “They call me Swede.”

Kujo nodded, and then shook hands with a broad-shouldered, man with black hair and gray eyes.

“My parents named me Brandon, but my SEAL team called me Boomer.”

“Which do you prefer?” Kujo asked.

Brandon lifted his chin. “Boomer.”

Molly chuckled. “Do any of you go by your real names?” She turned to Kujo. “I’ll have to remember that. Cujo was a killer dog, right?”

He shook his head. “Nothing that impressive. It’s short for Kuntz, Joseph.” He cupped her elbow and guided her forward. “Hank, this is Molly Greenbriar.”

Hank grinned. “So, you’re Miss Greenbriar.” He held out his hand.

Molly took it, her brows furrowing. “Should I know you?”

“Not at all. I got word from a buddy of mine in the FBI that you’d be in the area. Pete Ralston. Know him?”

Kujo shot a narrow-eyed glance at Molly. “FBI?”

She gave him a sheepish half-grin. “I was supposed to be flying under the radar. You know, incognito.” She shook her head and faced Hank. “Pete’s my supervisor.”

“He asked that I keep an eye out for you. That you were doing some surveillance work.”

Anger roiled in Kujo’s gut. He didn’t like it when he was left out of the information loop. “Apparently, she was doing surveillance work—until someone shot her drone out of the sky and tried to kill her.”

Hank’s brows rose. “Is that so?” He studied her. “Is that why you’re covered with soot? Are you all right?”

“We just came from Joe’s cabin,” she said. “Someone torched it.”

Hank shook his head. “Okay. You two need to fill me in on what’s going on.” He climbed the stairs and entered the house. “Sadie? We have more company!”

Kujo let Molly go first. As she passed him, he whispered, “Thanks for letting me in on the joke.”

“No joke. Just what my supervisor ordered,” she said. “Apparently, the cat’s out of the bag. At least with Hank and his organization.”

He followed her, and Six trailed behind them, entering the house with the big group of Brotherhood Protectors.

Molly’s words didn’t make Kujo feel any better about being left out of the loop. He’d have a long discussion with her later and get all the pertinent facts.

“Oh!” Sadie McClain stood in the middle of the large living area, a baby on her hip. “I didn’t realize you had female company. What a pleasant change.”

Molly stood in awe of one of her favorite actresses.

The woman graced the silver screen in multiple movies that had shot to the top of the ratings. She could demand any salary she wanted, and there she stood in faded blue jeans, her gorgeous blond hair up in a casual, messy bun and baby spit up on the shoulder of her T-shirt.

She laughed, her blue eyes twinkling as she looked down at her mussed appearance. “Pardon my mess. I was awake most of the night with Emma. She’s teething. We just got up from a much-needed two-hour nap.”

“Don’t let me interrupt. I’m sure you have plenty to do without playing hostess to an army of people in your living room,” Molly said. She stepped up to the woman and baby. “I’m Molly Greenbriar.”

“Are you another one of Hank’s new recruits?” She nodded toward Kujo. “I’ve met Kujo and Boomer. I didn’t know he’d hired a female. I think that’s awesome.”

“No, no. I have a job. I just happened to…run into Joe—Kujo, in the woods a couple days ago.”

Kujo stepped up beside her. “Could I?” he held out his hands for the baby.

“Sure.” Sadie handed him the baby then bent to scratch behind Six’s ears. “Hey, Six.” She glanced up. “Oh, be forewarned, Emma just ate, and she tends to burp with projectile vomit.”

Kujo held the baby away from him, raising her up and down without holding her against his body. “On second thought, you’d better take her.” He handed the baby back to Sadie.

“Don’t have the stomach for baby vomit?” Sadie grinned. “No worries. Neither did I before I had Emma. It’s amazing what you learn to tolerate when you love someone as much as we love this little pooping, puking machine.” She rubbed noses with Emma, making her giggle.

“No, I just remembered I smell like smoke,” Kujo said. “I didn’t want to share that with the baby.”

Sadie frowned. “Camping out?”

Molly snorted. “I wish that were the reason.”

Hank joined them. “The hunting cabin Kujo was staying in burned to the ground.”

Sadie’s eyes widened. “Wow. I hope no one was hurt.” She stared from Kujo to Molly. “That would explain the smudged look. I wondered if it was a fashion statement.” She balanced Emma on her hip, grabbed Molly’s hand and said, “Come with me. I can fix you up with something clean to wear until you can get to your own clothes.”

“I’m fine for now. I won’t be here very long.” She gave Hank a questioning look.

“Stay for as long as you need to. You’re welcome to spend the night if necessary.”

“No. I have a room at the B&B in town. And my clothes are all there.” She tipped her head toward Joe—she’d never get used to calling him Kujo. “Kujo’s the one who lost everything in the fire.”

Hank eyed Kujo. “I have some jeans and shirts you can borrow until you can stock up on what you need. And you can stay with us until you find a place of your own.”

“I’ll stay at the B&B in town,” he said. “If they have a spare room…”

Molly’s heart fluttered at the news. She’d see more of Joe than just the past two days. “I would like to use the facilities in the meantime to wash my hands and face. I promise not to leave a mess.”

“Honey, don’t worry about it. I can’t believe you two have been through the trauma of a fire.” She turned. “Follow me.”

Molly fell in step behind the gorgeous actress, pinching herself inside, when all she wanted to do was fangirl all over Sadie McClain.

Sadie showed her to the bathroom on the main level and left her with a fresh towel. “Think you can find your way to the kitchen when you’re done? I’m sure the men will be gathered around the table in there. Just follow the noise.”

After scrubbing her face and hands, Molly finger-combed her hair and grimaced at her reflection in the mirror. So much for swimming in the pool earlier. She was a wreck. The sooner they made it back to the B&B, the better.

Taking a deep breath, she left the bathroom and followed the sound of deep, male voices to a huge kitchen equipped with state-of-the-art appliances. At one end was a table large enough to seat twenty people. With the seven men seated around it, Molly could see how useful it was.

The men quieted when she entered.

Kujo stood and pulled a seat out between him and Hank at the head of the table.

Molly sat. “Don’t stop talking on my account.”

“We were just chewing the fat while we waited for you to discuss what’s happened since you came out to Montana.” Hank laid his palms on the table. “Shoot.”

Molly told him her side of what happened, and Kujo recounted his recollection.

Hearing his side again reminded her of how she owed her life to this man. Joe had saved her from hypothermia or being scavenged by animals.

“And just what is it you’re looking for in your surveillance?” Hank asked. “Pete hinted at terrorists without coming right out and spilling the beans.”

Molly stared around the room at the men before her.

Hank touched her arm. “If it makes you feel any better, we’ve all been involved with special operations so secret, even the President of the United States didn’t know about them.”

“Every man in this room has had a top-secret clearance. You can trust us,” Duke said. “He elbowed Bear in the side. “Well, maybe not Bear. After all, who can trust a bear?”

Bear punched him in the shoulder before facing Molly. “If you want our help, you have to trust us.”

“Yeah.” Kujo crossed his arms over his chest and held her gaze.

Molly nodded. “I got a tip from one of our computer hackers back at headquarters in DC that there might be a terrorist training camp in the mountains near the town of Eagle Rock. I’m here to determine if there’s any credence to that intel.” She drew in a deep breath and let it out. “I was to observe and report back. I’m not cleared to engage the target.”

Kujo dropped his arms to the table. “They sent you out here alone?”

“Apparently not.” She nodded toward Hank. “My supervisor called for backup with the Brotherhood Protectors. In case you’ve been disconnected with the news, there was another ISIS attack in DC. They’re working that now. I got this gig because they didn’t see it as a big threat.”

Joe’s eyebrows lowered in a fierce frown. “Holy crap, Molly. If there’s terrorist training camp here, that’s a huge can of worms that could have gotten you killed, and no one would ever have found your body.”

Molly lifted her chin. “I can take care of myself.”

Kujo snorted. “Like you did when you threw yourself over a cliff to save your ass?”

“The shooter didn’t hit me with his bullets,” Molly argued, though she knew she didn’t have a leg to stand on. She sighed. “I know. I wasn’t expecting to hit pay dirt the first day out.” Which clearly demonstrated her lack of experience. Perhaps she wasn’t ready for field assignments, after all.

“At the very least, you should have had a partner,” Hank said. He glanced past her to the man seated beside her. “Kujo, consider Molly your first assignment. You’re to keep her safe while she performs her mission. And under no circumstances are you to engage the enemy.”

“What if they start shooting at us first?” Kujo asked.

Hank nodded. “Correction: no circumstances except being fired on. In the meantime, I’ll work with your guy back in DC to see if we can track down the source of your intel. Perhaps they can trace the IP address to a street address or a name.”

“Good luck,” Molly said. “The guy in our office couldn’t, and he’s an expert, dark web hacker.”

Hank’s lips curled on the corners. “I’ve got people.”

Kujo pushed to his feet. “The day’s still early. I want to hit a few stores. Much as I appreciate the loan of your jeans and T-shirts, I’d rather have my own.”

Hank stood. “I understand. If you can’t find what you need, you’re welcome to raid my closet.” He turned to Molly. “How many people know you’re in town?”

“The B&B owner, and the guy I rented my four-wheeler from.” She shrugged. “It was my attempt at a low profile.”

“Kujo, you’re still pretty new. Maybe you two can go undercover as a couple looking for a place to live. That would give you the perfect excuse to look all over the county and surrounding mountains.”

Molly shook her head. “I don’t know… I have my room at the B&B. I didn’t tell the lady I had a boyfriend or anything.” The idea of pretending she and Kujo were a couple made a swarm of butterflies take off in her belly.

“You can tell her he just arrived in town to surprise you,” Hank said. “Think about it. It might save you some trouble and give Kujo a plausible reason to stick around.”

With a flutter in her belly, Molly nodded. “Now, if we’re done here, I could use a shower and change of clothes. The day’s still young, and I have a job to do.”

“Not without me,” Kujo reminded her.

“Much as I’d like to do this on my own, I’ll gladly accept your help.” She held out her hand to Hank. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me.” Hank took her hand and held it in his. “Kujo happened to be in the right place at the right time. Be careful in the Crazy Mountains. They say you can get lost in there. And by lost, I mean someone can bury a body that’ll never be found.”

Joe glanced at Molly then turned to Hank. “While we’re out searching for a training camp, could you get one of your people to look at the camera on the drone Molly was flying?”

Molly nodded. “I’d send it back to DC, but that would take too much time and it might get more damaged in transit.”

“There might be some footage to explain why someone felt the need to knock it out of the sky.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Show me whatcha got.” Hank and the others followed them out to Kujo’s pickup.

Kujo handed them the pieces of the drone, pointing out the bullet hole through the motor.

Hank swore. “Not only did they hit it, they hit it where it counted. Dead center. I’ll have my guys look at it. If there’s any video to be salvaged, you and Molly will be the first to know.”

“And while you’re at it, I found a piece of a crate in a cave close to where the drone went down. It appears to have government nomenclature painted on it. Perhaps you can trace it back to its origin.”

Molly stared at the slat. “You didn’t tell me about that.”

“I was a bit preoccupied by a fire,” he reminded her.

She’d cut him some slack this time. After he’d nearly come unglued when he’d found her alive, she figured the board was the last thing on his mind until now.

Having discharged their findings, Kujo held the door for Six, then Molly and helped her into her seat. He shook hands with Hank, got in beside her and started the engine. As he shifted into gear, he shot a glance her way. “Ready to find a terrorist training camp?”

She nodded. “Hell, yeah.”

His brows drew together. “Are you feeling up to it?”

“I’m sore, but I’ll live.” She squared her shoulders and stared at the road ahead. After nearly dying on her last trip into the mountains, she was even more determined to find the person who’d shot down the drone and to locate the training camp. Having Kujo along would be a bonus. He’d cover her six.

But pretending to be a couple? That might push her comfort level a little too far.