To the Xtreme (Xtreme Ops Book 2)

by Em Petrova

  “This doesn’t look good.” Pax continued forward and stopped next to the vehicle. Jenna straightened, and her gaze met Lipton’s.

  “What happened?” He started to climb out and realized he couldn’t get his cast wet in the mud.

  She glanced between him and Pax. “Flat tire, and the mud makes it too dangerous to change here. Rick just radioed for a lift.”

  “We can squeeze one of you into ours,” Lipton said before he thought.

  She eyed the small space Lipton didn’t take up. Inches of a seat. And she’d be in his lap…her backside bumping up and down on his crotch.

  “Go ahead,” the other park ranger named Rick told her. “You should go on home too. You’ve been at it all day.”

  The man’s care for Jenna irritated Lipton for no good reason. He waited for her to make her choice.

  “All right. It’s going to be a squeeze for us, though.” She started forward, and Lipton leaned onto one hip to allow her to slip into the seat with him. Luckily, the Xtreme Ops team had been provided with the best and roomiest equipment to accommodate their big sizes, but she was right—it was a hell of a crunch.

  One that had him gritting his teeth as she squeezed her backside in. Her toned thigh against his had the same effect as her breast against his arm. What made him offer her a ride? Again, he wondered if he had an undiagnosed head injury.

  “Ready?” Pax asked.

  “Yes.” She waved to Rick, and Pax took off. She leaned forward to talk to both him and Pax. “I heard a piece of climbing equipment was found. Where was it?”

  “I think you refer to the area as the D loop,” Pax said. “Do you want to go there?”

  “Yes. I’d like to see where the item was found.” She shifted back again, making Lipton grit his teeth at the feel of her body sliding against his.

  She moved her foot and kicked his cast accidentally. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” She leaned forward again to touch his cast. He swallowed a groan. Right now, he was seriously regretting his offer to give her a lift. He’d never been called chivalrous in all his days, so what had he been thinking to open his mouth?

  “I’m fine. Sit still.” His tone came out as enough of a bark to cause Pax to raise his head.

  Ignoring them both—or trying to—Lipton raised his binocs to search deep in the brush. Other than a few deer bedded down, he didn’t catch a single thing that raised his suspicions.

  “Stop!” Jenna’s exclamation had Pax braking.

  Lipton reached for his weapon along his spine, knocking his elbow into Jenna’s breast. She grunted but a split second later leaped out of the ATV and took off into the underbrush.

  “Jesus Christ!” He tried to follow her and Pax shoved him back down.

  “You can’t walk on that cast. I’ll go after her.”

  Feeling as helpless as he’d ever felt in his life, even as a child who’d endured enough shit from his father to put a man in therapy for the rest of his days, Lipton watched as Pax joined Jenna in the thick bushes. From here, the leaves were black from shadows and he didn’t even want to think about the dangers that could be lurking there. Besides wild animals, there was a fucking crazy bomber on the loose.

  She cried out, and he lurched half-out of the ATV, balanced on his good foot. Heart pounding, he called to them, “What did you find?”

  “It’s a hawk! He’s hurt. Quick, Pax, gimme your coat. I’ll wrap him up.”

  A rustling sound followed, and a minute later, both returned to the ATV with Jenna carrying a large bundle wrapped up in Pax’s military issue coat.

  “I’m sorry, Harris. Can you just…scoot over more to make room for me to hold the hawk on my lap? It looks as if he was attacked and narrowly escaped from whatever predator took a chomp at him. You should see his leg and wing.”

  With no choice, he scooted over as far as possible, crowding into Pax’s seat.

  “How the hell did you spot that from the moving ATV?” he asked.

  “It’s what I do. I’ll need to get him back to the ranger office and someone will call the woman who rehabilitates birds of prey. Is that possible?”

  Lipton lifted his jaw toward Pax. “I’ll take you to the team and you can go with them while I take Jenna and the bird back. I’m not much help on the search anyway.”

  Pax nodded and made a call to Broshears to find out the coordinates of the other team members. Jenna guided them from trail to road and finally another trail to reach them. After they came across Broshears, Pax climbed out.

  “Guts and glory, man,” Pax said to him.

  “Guts and glory.” Lipton slid into his seat and took the wheel.

  “Should you be driving?” she asked.

  “Yes.” He couldn’t look at her. When he no longer felt the warmth of her body next to his, he missed it.

  Dammit, if he didn’t know better, he’d think that doctor back at the hospital had slipped him the pain meds he refused to take. Lipton was not thinking like himself.

  As he drove away, Jenna pointed out a road. The animal bundled in her lap remained still, quieted from not being able to see anything. “Take that trail clear to the end and you’ll end up about two hundred yards from the station.”

  He threw her a glance.

  “Why are you giving me a dirty look?” For the first time, he detected an undertone of irritation in her usual calm voice.

  “You have zero regard for your personal safety, do you?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “You’re used to what—the occasional drunk and belligerent tourist? Or a bear who didn’t appreciate being woke up from a nap?”

  She sliced a glance his way before she returned it to the dirt trail ahead. Her silence was enough of an answer for him.

  “You can escape a bear but not a bear of a man.”

  “I’m trained in self-defense. Besides, I’m armed the same as you.”

  He swallowed down the laugh that threatened to emit from him. No, it was not the same at all.

  He needed to unload this woman as quick as possible and return to work. Even being locked in the cabin staring at a computer sounded better than watching this woman throw herself into danger.

  She didn’t say a word for the rest of the ride. He wondered if he’d pushed her far enough to make her angry. What would an angry Park Ranger Jenna Underwood look like? Probably sexy as hell, with her eyes flashing and a flush riding just underneath her skin to pinken it. His guts clenched, and he shot down the image in his brain at point-blank range.

  When they rolled up to the station, she climbed out with the bird tucked against her chest.

  “Want me to come with you?” Lipton asked.

  “No.” She didn’t bother looking at him and walked into the building. Five minutes later, she returned bird-less.

  Her green eyes met his as she braced her hand on the frame of the ATV and leaned in. “Can you take me to the cabin? My truck’s still there.”

  He nodded, and she settled in the seat next to him. As they bumped along the trails leading back to the cabin where this entire catastrophe of a night began, he wondered what he could say to ease the tension snapping between them.

  “You’re pissed off,” he said.

  She turned her head to pierce him in her stare. “I have no reason to be pissed. I’m tired and Rick was right—I should call it a day.”

  “How far away is home?”

  “About a thirty minute drive east.”

  He fell into silence, brooding over her living conditions and if she took precautions with her safety. Crazy woman probably doesn’t even lock her doors. She probably invites intruders in to sit around and sing Kumbaya with her.

  He heaved a sigh, and she shot him a glance from the corner of her eye but said nothing. When they arrived at the cabin, she eyed the front. “I can’t leave you with those windows blown in. I’ll help you find something to close them off from the elements. Rain’s coming tonight.”

  “I can manage.”

  She eyed hi
s cast and the crutches rattling around behind the seat. “I’ll help,” she said with a bit more force.

  When they stopped before the cabin, Penn walked up to them.

  “Anything new to report?” Lipton turned all business in the presence of his captain and forgot about bird-rescuing fairy nymphs. Or at least he managed to shove Jenna to the back of his mind.

  “We didn’t find more of the equipment that this fell from.” Penn pulled an object from his pocket and opened his palm. In the center lay a small metal clip.

  Jenna leaned over his hand to inspect it closer. “Looks like it might be a buckle from a waist belt.”

  Penn nodded. “Any you’ve seen before?”

  “Too good for anything we have.” She straightened. “All our equipment’s old. We had some better, but it went missing six months ago.”

  Lipton and Penn glanced at her sharply. “Missing?” Lipton repeated.

  “Yeah, a couple rangers lost some items from the bed of a truck. Thought it bounced out along the road but they never did recover any of it.”

  “Do you recall what went missing besides the climbing gear?” Penn asked.

  “A shovel. Some flares. A whole box of stuff bounced out. Later they figured out that one of them had left the tailgate down.”

  “I see.” Penn rubbed at his jaw, deep in thought.

  “I have one of those boxes in the back of my truck right now if you’d like to see the contents.” Jenna gestured toward her vehicle.

  “Yeah, I’d like to see.” Penn waved to Lipton, who entered the cabin. The floor was still littered with glass shards, and a cold breeze washed through the open windows. After a search of the cabin, he located a broom propped in the corner of the kitchen area and a dustpan hanging on a nail. Carrying these humble items while managing his crutches proved to be a challenge.

  He made it halfway to the windows, having dropped the dustpan twice, when Jenna entered again.

  She took in the situation he was in and hurried forward. “Let me do that.”

  He relinquished the items to her, watching as she bustled to the glass scattered far and wide on the floor and began to sweep.

  Staring at her might not be a good idea, so he sat at the desk and tried to focus on the words on the screen again. The sound of glass grating across the floor and the swish of the broom distracted the hell out of him, though.

  After several minutes, she dumped the last of the glass into a trash can. “There. It’s not perfect, and I wouldn’t go walking around barefoot. I admit I’m not the best at housekeeping.”

  For some reason, that made him want to smile. He didn’t, of course.

  She went outside and returned carrying a box. She dropped it to the cabin floor, took out a knife from some pocket and proceeded to slice the box into panels.

  “Can I do anything?” Lipton hated being on this end of the action.

  “Should be duct tape in that drawer.” She gestured to the kitchen, and he hobbled across the space to retrieve it.

  When he returned, she stood with her back to him, a panel of cardboard held up to the open window. She threw him a look over her shoulder that had his guts clenching, thinking of her thigh against his. Her breast against his arm.

  “Are you able to tape while I hold this in place?” she asked.

  “Yes.” Maneuvering around her to do the taping gave him a different kind of challenge. Because each time their bodies brushed, he grew more aware of Jenna.

  They managed to seal off the windows with an ample amount of cardboard and duct tape. Once finished, he handed her the roll. Extending his wrists, he leveled a stare at her. “Tape my wrists together.”

  She blinked up at him. “Um…is this some kind of sexual fantasy of yours or something?”

  A noise left him, bordering on a chuckle but sounded like tearing paper instead. “No. Remember I told you that you can escape a bear but not a man? I’m going to show you a trick.”

  “I don’t really need a lesson in safety. It’s almost two in the morning.”

  He continued to hold his wrists out to her. Finally, she relented. “Fine! If it will get you off my case, I’ll do it. Besides, I might like taping you up more than I thought.” She yanked the duct tape with a screech and began applying it to his skin, wrapping it around his wrists a couple times.

  “More.”

  Pulling her lower lip between her teeth, she applied more.

  “Nice and tight, Jenna.”

  Her gaze shot to his. With more determination than he’d seen from her, she made the last two loops super tight. He saw that she did enjoy incapacitating him. No wonder—he hadn’t exactly given her an easy time over the past twenty-four hours they’d known each other.

  She stepped back, roll in hand, a curl flopping down into her eye. She pushed it back. “Well, Lieutenant. Show me what you can do.”

  Holding her stare, he raised his arms overhead. In one swift move, he jerked his arms down and his elbows back, snapping the duct tape and freeing himself.

  She stood there, staring at him. “Impressive. But I took a course on getting away from an abduction right after ranger training, and I knew that already.”

  He peeled the tape off one wrist and wadded it in his fist. “Why would you take a course on that?”

  “Because I’m a trailblazer, Harris.”

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  “A person who hikes alone.”

  He felt a rumble of a growl start low in his chest and bubble up his throat. “Alone? You hike Denali alone?”

  “Not just Denali. All over Alaska. Spent some time in Oregon two summers ago as well.”

  He shifted his weight, remembered his cast, and shifted it back. “You’re telling me you take off alone into the wilderness to hike?”

  She looked at him for a long moment. “I’m going home now, Harris. I’ve had a long day. You have too. You should get some sleep.” She didn’t answer his question, but he didn’t need her to.

  He told himself not to say what he was thinking—but she could encounter anything driving out of the park. He’d already determined the woman had absolutely no regard for her own safety.

  “You shouldn’t go out there, Jenna. Stay the night here. There are two rooms.”

  Her green eyes widened.

  “You’re so exhausted you’re swaying on your feet. And you need to rest.”

  She stilled, her expression faraway as though she was taking stock of her own physical capacities. For the first time, he felt as if he understood something about the woman. He too checked himself at times, because his mind pushed him far beyond his physical limits.

  “Are you on duty tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “What time?”

  “Seven a.m.”

  “Mere hours from now. You should stay.” He tried for an offhanded tone but even to himself the words sounded tight. What did he care if she wanted to go?

  Because she could be in danger just by going to work.

  He wasn’t her personal bodyguard, though. He’d seen crime his entire life, starting with his own father’s raised fist, used against him.

  Jenna met his stare, bringing him back from that dark memory. “I don’t have any clothes with me.”

  “I’ll give you one of my shirts to sleep in. The guys dropped off all my gear. I probably even have a spare toothbrush I haven’t opened yet.”

  He jerked his head nonchalantly toward the small rooms in the back of the cabin. “The bed’s there if you want it. I’ll probably be right here in my chair, reading files for the rest of the night.” He went to his duffel sitting next to the fireplace and unzipped it. He came out with a black long-sleeved shirt, which he placed on the chair before he moved to the desk, aware that she watched him in silence.

  “All right, I’ll stay. This will be easier. I don’t have anyone waiting for me at home anyway.”

  Until this minute, he didn’t realize that was important to him…that she didn’t hav
e someone special waiting for her to climb into bed after her long day.

  Without another word, he took his seat at the desk.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jenna pick up his shirt.

  Jenna slept like the dead.

  Maybe it was the long day or her mind making an escape from the dangers of the day, but she couldn’t even recall a single dream.

  She spent a moment going through emails on her phone and then found a text from a friend of hers, a trail buddy she hadn’t heard from in a good six months.

  She’d met ‘Jack’ in the Ketchikan area more than three years before. She was on a solo hike and when she came across a group of campers, they invited her to share their fire, a common practice on the trails. She took them up on the offer and made new friends.

  She’d also earned her nickname of Moon Shadow that night. When the moon shot high into the Alaskan sky, she found her people—and her true self.

  A song had come to mind, something her parents sang when she was a kid, and she broke into “Moonshadow” by Cat Stevens.

  After she finished singing to wide stares across the fire, the campers broke into applause.

  One called Jack began calling her Moon Shadow. Trail life was a whole culture, and many dropped their own names once they stepped foot on one. Jack made it known that wasn’t his real name, and he had fled a high six-figure job at a tech company to get back to his roots. He hadn’t been home to Rhode Island in a year, and he no longer answered to his former name. He was Jack. And to him, she was Moon Shadow.

  Occasionally, they texted each other to check in, make sure the other was still walking the Earth. Another thing about the trail life was that people cared. The new family she’d gained simply by sharing a fire would forever be dear to her heart.

  Jack had separated from the others and took off on his own. Last she heard, he was living down south in the Chugach Mountains. His text now said otherwise.

  He was hitching a ride to Denali, and did she want to meet up to camp for a night or two?

  She started to reply that she did, but stopped. With all the uncertainty and danger right now, she didn’t want her friend in the park limits. They knew of two explosions, and the Xtreme Ops team suspected other fallen trees were not acts of nature.