Page 24 of Shared By the Mountain Men Triplets

“We thought he was cutting corners to poach our clients,” Rhett says.

“Not moving product through the passes.” Cade’s voice is flat.

I push my chair back and get to my feet. “I need to call my supervisor.”

Rhett tilts his head toward the hallway. “You can use my desk.” He leads me around the corner, but instead of the small office I’m expecting, I suddenly find myself following him into his bedroom.

There’s a desk against one wall, next to a short file cabinet. I suppose this arrangement makes sense for a small business that’s mostly run from trucks and trails or wherever Rhett can open a laptop, but it makes absolutely no sense to my nervous system.

He clears a few folders and maps out of the way, pulls out his desk chair, and gestures for me to sit, but I’m momentarily frozen in his doorway. There’s a big bed in the center of the room, with a rumpled blanket spread across it. The room smells like Rhett.

The space is spare, dark, and masculine, just like him.

With some effort, I get my legs to work and take the offered seat. Rhett goes back into the hall, but hovers like a guard dog while I pull out my agency phone and call the after-hours number reserved for field emergencies.

Dr. Ballard answers on the second ring in a voice rough with sleep. “Wren?”

“Got something tonight. I observed four men moving through the primary pass a little after eleven,” I say. “They were wearing heavy packs, and they accessed a concealed cache. They heard me, and two of them came after me while the other two kept moving with the packs.”

“Are you safe?”

“Yes.”

“Were you injured?”

“No. Just a couple of scrapes and bruises.”

Out in the hall, Rhett makes a sound that’s a lot like a growl.

“I captured photos and video,” I say. “They’re not clear enough for facial identification, but they show organized movement, the cache location, and what appears to be cache access or a package transfer.”

“Send everything through the secure portal.” Dr. Ballard sounds fully awake now. “Footage, stills, coordinates, route notes, timeline, and any changes to the displacement map.”

“I’ll upload it tonight.”

“I’ll watch for it. I’m expecting the preliminary residue screen tomorrow. If it comes back the way I suspect, this will escalate quickly.”

I glance toward the doorway, where Rhett’s shadow paces.

“Stay safe, Wren. No more night observation, and don’t return to that corridor unless Iclear it.”

“Understood.”

“Get some rest if you can.”

As soon as I end the call, I head for the door, because staying in Rhett’s bedroom any longer than necessary feels dangerous in a way that has nothing to do with the men outside.

He’s waiting in the hallway, his broad body blocking my path, and I have to stop before I run into him.

He doesn’t step back. “You’re staying here,” he says.

CHAPTER 12

WREN

“What?” I can’t have heard him right because that sounded like a command.

“You’re not going back to the hotel. You’re staying here.”