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.After all, they d found Drake on the side of amountain, not in some hospital facility like her first vision had shown.Somewhere inthe past few days someone had done something to shift the events of what was goingto happen, and it could easily be done again.Free will did that. He s going to be okay, Gina, Jewel said.They stood side by side as they watchedthe men until they couldn t see them anymore. I know. She looked at her brother s girlfriend and smiled.Angel had already usedthe satellite phone to call for the air ambulance HPG had on stand-by, and it would bethere within a quarter of an hour. Sorry you had to stay up here with me.As much asAngel knows I can protect myself, I m still his baby sister. Jewel smiled. Family comes first, and with Drake down, Devil s not taking anychances on either of us getting hurt. They walked back to the SUV to wait for the helicopter.29D rake woke up warm and feeling no pain.He glanced around the room, and the firstthing he saw was Melissa, sleeping in the armchair in the corner of the room.He recognized the rustic décor of the HPG Farm, knew she was safe, and drifted backto sleep.The next time he woke up, he heard her before he saw her. I am not leaving here until Drake wakes up and tells me to get lost. It s just a shower.He s not going to wake up just because you leave the room. How Drake loved to prove his partner wrong.Drake was grinning before he evenopened his eyes. Melissa. Drake! She threw herself on the bed, her arms wrapped around him, breasts pressedagainst him, as her unique womanly scent filled his head. You re awake. And I see we both made it to HPG. Her grin turned to a growl. Yes.You scared me, y know? Sorry. He drank in the sight of her.Long hair pulled back in a ponytail, skinscrubbed clean, eyes shining. Your buddy here took care of the hunter. I thought you took care of him. Devil stepped up to the bedside. Turns out she did, mostly.Jewel and I went on alittle hunt once you were on your way here in the helo.Her first one, and we foundRichard Bradley, a mile away from your spot, stumbling around in the snow, leavingus a nice trail of blood. Richard Bradley? Erin s killer, Melissa said softly.Relief flowed over Drake.Melissa was safe.Not just safe at HPG, but safe if shewanted to go home.Drake nodded. So Melissa shot him, but he was okay to walk, and he stumbled in theother direction? Devil smirked. He thought the mountains of B.C.were as easy to hunt in as his landin Montana. He asked them what else had happened, and Devil told the story.Melissa just sat byhis side, holding his hand and touching his arm. Gina to the rescue again, Devil said. Earlier in the day she said she knewsomething was going to happen on the road, so we loaded up and headed out aroundnoon.We d hoped to meet up with you guys before things went south, but we weretoo late.But Gina knew knew exactly where you went off the road. By the way, he said. Satellite phones are going to be standard issue in all HPGvehicles, personal and work, thanks to you and the jaunt through the Valley of NoSignals. Things had moved swiftly once Melissa hooked up with Drake s team.His team, hisfamily, was nothing if not determined and efficient. Gina and Jewel tried to get Mel to sit in the SUV and wait, to get warm and be safe,but she d have none of it, Devil said. She flew down to you, got dressed, andprepped you for our arrival.By the time Caleb and I got to you, she d bound you uptight in the sleeping bag and was ready to go. They d used a satellite phone before even heading down to Drake and the HPGhelicopter was waiting at the road by the time Devil and Caleb hauled Drake to the top. Melissa came back with you, Gina, and Caleb, and Jewel and I finished the job withBradley. So what was his story anyway? He slid a teasing glance at Melissa. Was he asecret government agent? Devil s lips twisted, and he gave Drake a look as if he d bumped his head.And notrecovered. No.He was a rich rancher dude from the States.Fancied himself a biggame hunter because he hired people to bring the game to his land, where he let themgo, then hunted them down.Only the last wolf he hunted turned into a man after heshot it.Which sent him on another hunt. So it was just a freak twist of luck that we found the papers pointing us to Chadwickat the same time this psycho decided to use it as a hunting ground? Devil shrugged. Old Man Hunter got us permission to go over the findings atBradley s ranch.I m betting we find a connection from him to the werewolf you tookout a couple weeks ago.The one with the papers on Chadwick and Sharza. Devil went on about how they d found Bradley and Jewel had gotten him to talk withone of her gypsy potions.But Drake tuned him out.He only had eyes for the womanbeside his bed, and she was looking a bit uncomfortable now that all the loose endshad been tied up.Drake finally tired of hearing about how wonderful Jewel was and sent Devil a mentalmessage. Get lost, Devil. Devil chuckled and left the room without another word.Melissa shifted her weight from one foot to the other. So, now what? Drake took a deep breath. Now, you re free to do whatever you want go back toChadwick and reopen your store.I m sure the RCMP will release Erin s body and theapartment in the next day or two if they haven t already. I meant about us. Christ, he felt like a schoolboy with a crush. What would you like to happen next? Before she could answer, Gina came tearing into the room. Drake! Don t you everscare me like that again! The little fireball jumped on the bed and stretched across his chest, talking a mile aminute.Drake looked at Melissa over Gina s head and smiled. We re not done yet, he said.Melissa s heart pounded at the promise in Drake s eyes.She was glad for Gina sinterruption, otherwise she might ve started a bit of a fight with the idiot man lyinginjured in the bed.She turned away from where the two friends were talking, and went to stare out thewindow at the HPG farm .It was unlike any farm she d ever been on.Not only was it huge and sprawling in away that reminded Mel of a college campus, but also they had their own medicalwing!Drake had gone into surgery as soon as they d landed and had remained unconsciousfor almost forty-eight hours.And the first thing the asshole says when he wakes upand they re alone is she could go back to Chadwick and open her store?That was the suggestion for what was next for them from the man who d said he wasfalling in love with her only days earlier? Unless it had all been some sort of whiteknight syndrome, and now that the bad guy was caught and she wasn t in dangeranymore, then Drake wasn t interested.But there d been undeniable heat betweenthem even before the danger.Okay, there d always been some sort of danger element, Mel had known from thesecond she d set eyes on Drake that he was dangerous to her.And sure enough, nowthat he held her heart in his hands, he was done with her. I know you two would like to be alone, Gina said, drawing Mel s attention back tothe center of the room
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