Her Rocky Mountain Protector

In the shadowed light, Grady stared back at her, knowing it best to keep his distance. He wished he could get his hands on Lowell again. “Question is, are you?”

She nodded, but avoided any eye contact. “The nightmare must have been triggered by Eric taking Zack.”

At least she’d got a few hours of sleep. He’d covered her with a blanket before going into the one bedroom in the cabin.

She finally looked at him. “Is it light enough to start searching again?”

He nodded. “I expect by the time we have some coffee, it’ll be daylight.” He sure wasn’t going to get any more sleep.

After Grady dressed in fresh jeans and a shirt, he made coffee and they pulled on their coats and headed to the truck. It only took a few minutes to get back to the original spot where Eric’s truck had been parked the day before. Where Gina Williams’s nightmare had started.

Grady ended the call to the sheriff and put his cell phone back into his pocket. “Larkin said they’ll be here in ten minutes.”

“I can’t wait.” Gina opened the truck door. “I’m going to head up.” She was out of the cab.

Grady jumped out and went after her. He grabbed her by the arm, and she immediately jerked away. He raised his hands in surrender.

“Sorry. I just don’t want you to run off. You don’t know the area and could get lost, too. Besides, I want to check out another mine, the Lucky Penny.” He pointed to a different direction. “We didn’t get to it last night.”

“Why not?”

They started climbing the slope. “For one thing, it was too dark and it’s a lot farther.”

“Why do you think Zack could be there?”

“Scout knows the mines around here. I’ve been working with him there on some search-and-rescue training.”

Gina was frustrated. Her son had been out in the elements all night and all she wanted was to find him. “Okay, let’s go there.”

He nodded and they started their hike to the Lucky Penny.

She managed to keep up with him. “Do you think Zack would follow your dog to safety?”

“Your son seems pretty resourceful. He was smart enough to get untied and run away from his dad, then he’s smart enough to stay out of the weather.”

“But he doesn’t know that he’s safe from his dad. He might still be hiding.”

Zack was shivering when he woke up. He’d been cold all night, even with Scout sleeping beside him, keeping him warm. He was still next to him now. He wished it were his mom with him. He was so scared and his scraped hand hurt.

“What do we do, Scout? I don’t want my dad to find me. He’s mean, and he hurts Mom.” He stroked the dog’s fur. “He’ll hurt me, too, because I ran away.” He brushed away a tear, hating to cry.

The dog got up and gave a bark.

Maybe Scout could protect him. But his dad had a gun. He wiped away more tears. “Why can’t my dad just leave us alone?” he said, making a fist. “I don’t want to go away and have to hide again. I like living in Destiny with my mom, Aunt Lori and Uncle Jace and my cousin Cassie.”

The dog cocked his head as if he were listening to every word.

“We have a new house and I’m gonna try out for baseball next month. I get to have a birthday party this year.” He didn’t care about that. He only wanted his mom.

The animal made a whining sound and looked toward the cave opening.

Zack was suddenly afraid again. What if his dad got his mom, and hurt her? He didn’t know what to do.

Suddenly the animal jumped up and went to the opening, then he looked back and barked. He came back several times, and nudged at him before he ran outside.

“Wait, Scout,” Zack cried and took off after him. Once he was outside, the sunlight nearly blinded him. The dog barked again, then he heard a voice calling his name.

He tried not to cry, but he couldn’t help it. “Mom!” he yelled, and followed Scout. “Mom!”

Gina stopped when she heard the sound. She grabbed Grady’s arm. “I hear something.”

Grady paused and the next sound was that of a dog barking. He put two fingers in his mouth and let loose with a loud whistle. He was rewarded with another bark.

“This way,” he said. “It’s coming from the Lucky Penny.” He pointed toward their left, then took her hand and helped her climb up the slope. When they reached the cluster of boulders, a dog and child appeared.

Her heart was beating wildly. “Zack,” she cried, and ran to her son.

“Mom,” he cried, throwing himself into her arms.

“Oh, Zack.” The tears poured out of her as she hugged him tight, breathing in his familiar smell. Even with the mixture of dirt and sweat, it was heavenly. “Oh, thank goodness you’re safe.” She pulled back and did a quick examination. “We were so worried. Where did you go?”

The child looked worried. “When I got untied, I was afraid Dad would come back to get me. So I ran away.

Where is he?”

“Oh, honey.” She smiled. “Don’t worry. Sheriff Larkin has your dad in jail. Mr. Fletcher helped capture him.” She hugged her son again. “He’s never going to hurt us again. I promise, Zack. I promise. You must have been so scared.”

Her son pulled away. “I was at first.” He glanced down at the dog. “Scout came and stayed with me.” His brown eyes widened. “Mom, he’s a military dog.”

She managed a nod. “I know. He’s trained to find people and I’m so grateful that he found you.”

“He kept me warm all night long.” Zack looked at Grady. “Is he your dog?”

“Yes, he is.” Grady stood next to the animal, who sat perfectly still. “We’ve been in a lot of tight situations together. Scout was trained to find bombs. I guess now he can add little boys to the list.”

Gina had completely forgotten about the introductions. “Zack, this is Mr. Fletcher. He’s helped me search for you.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you had Scout.” Zack went over to the animal. “Can I pet him?”

“I know Scout would like that.”

Grady watched the affection between the two. This was a new experience for Scout. A child was hard to resist, could even be distracting. Grady glanced at Gina Williams. So was his mother.

“Maybe we should head back down,” he said. “You need to get warm and checked out to make sure you’re okay.”

They started walking down the slope just as the sheriff’s vehicle appeared next to his truck. The next ten minutes were chaotic as Grady stood back and let the paramedic look over the boy. Then they all piled into the vehicle.

“I can’t thank you enough for all you did, Grady.” She smiled for real this time and he found he liked it too much. “My son is everything to me,” she managed to say.

“Then you’d better go tend to him.” Scout sent a bark toward his new friend in the SUV. Grady watched Gina get into the vehicle and drive off. Suddenly he was alone once again, and realized it wasn’t what he truly wanted at all.

Be careful what you wish for.

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