Danica Winters - Wild Montana

Have a former FBI agent and a park ranger met their match in the wilds of Montana?

With a mysterious death to solve in Glacier National Park, Customs and Border Patrol agent Casper Lawrence must come up with motive, means, opportunity—and a killer. If he doesn’t crack this case by the book, the former FBI agent on strike two will be out. Teamed with a beautiful park ranger, the cowboy agent with the gritty past has to trust sexy lone wolf Alexis Finch. But as their investigation takes them through dangerous terrain and an outlaw motorcycle club’s turf, Casper will do anything to keep Alexis—and what they’ve ignited—alive.

“What’s going on, Casper?” Alexis asked.

“Nothing,” Casper said, but his eyes were dark.

“Don’t lie to me. What’s wrong?”

He glanced over at her and took off his cowboy hat, then set it on the dashboard. He ran his hands over his face and through his hair in exasperation. “I just think it’s going to be better if you get away from all this—this investigation.”

“What happened?” she asked, trying to stop the hurt from leaking out into her voice.

All she had been trying to do for the past two days was solve this so they both could get their jobs done. Now, after a strange meeting with the Canadian Mounties, she was on the outs. It didn’t make sense.

“You didn’t do anything, Lex. I promise.”

She tried to remind herself they were only friends, and maybe barely that. Sure, they had shared the kiss in the woods, but ever since they had gotten caught he had barely been able to look at her.

“Is this because of what happened…you know, back there?” She motioned in the direction they’d come from.

But she was sure he knew exactly what she was talking about.

Wild Montana

Danica Winters

www.millsandboon.co.uk

DANICA WINTERS is a multiple award-winning, bestselling author who writes books that grip readers with their ability to drive emotion through suspense and occasionally a touch of magic. When she’s not working, she can be found in the wilds of Montana, testing her patience while she tries to hone her skills at various crafts—quilting, pottery and painting are not her areas of expertise. She believes the cup is neither half-full nor half-empty, but it better be filled with wine. Visit her website at www.danicawinters.net.

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To Lane—

You work miracles.

Acknowledgments

This book wouldn’t have been possible without the help of

my fans. Thank you for taking a moment out of your lives to

leave a review, come to book signings and send me notes,

cookies and even the occasional bottle of vodka. You inspire

me to keep writing when the going gets tough. Thank you.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Extract

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

Seven. Most people thought the number was lucky. He’d even thought it had been lucky. This was supposed to be his seventh trip, the last run of the season, the last cleanup before he could head to Mexico and lie on the beach for the winter. Señoritas, sunshine, cervezas...everything he needed to be happy.

Yet now as he stared down the predator, he could have sworn seven was a curse.

The grizzly hopped on its front legs like a dog ready to play, but from what little he knew about bears, it wasn’t an action that meant fun and games...no, that was an action that meant danger.

He eased back a step as he held the bear’s gaze. Its beady black eyes bore into him, sizing him up.

Not for the first time in his life, he wished he were eight feet tall.

“Good bear,” he said, putting his hands up. “Good bear.” He turned to look over his shoulder, but the man he’d been sent there to meet was gone. “Damn him.”

Without warning, the bear charged. The fur on its shoulders rippled, its gold tips harsh against the white snow. He screamed, the sound echoing through the high mountain valley.

The beast didn’t slow down.

He turned to run, but it was too late. The griz hit him like no force he had ever experienced. Its putrid, hot breath seared the back of his neck as he fell to the ground. Heat and pain spread through his body as the predator’s teeth met bone.

He closed his eyes, pain burning through him as the gunshot rang out.

The world, the pain, the fear—everything stopped.

Chapter One

Alexis Finch forced her body up the steep trail and toward the location the hikers had described. Ravens swooped through the air above her, calling out secrets to their comrades as they flew west. Even though she hiked nearly every day through the backcountry of Glacier National Park, each step was torturous. The altitude made her breath come faster, but she focused her attention on the thick pines that surrounded them, and she ignored the pain that shot up from her tired calves.

“Ranger Finch,” the Customs and Border Protection agent called from behind her.

She was thankful as she stopped and turned back, taking the moment to catch her breath and shift the straps of her backpack, as they had started to cut into her shoulders. “Hmm?”

Casper Lawrence stopped beside her, his cheeks pink and a sheen of sweat covering his tanned face. She found comfort in the fact that after more than three miles of this uphill battle, the handsome agent was hurting just as badly as she was. “According to the GPS, this should be the spot.” He motioned around them.

The hillside was covered with thick, frost-bitten grasses, timber and patches of snow that hid in the shadows. No evidence of a struggle. No blood. No fresh tracks.

“Look,” she said, pointing toward the ravens overhead. “No matter what the GPS says, we follow the birds. Listen to nature. It’ll give us all the information we need.” She cringed as she realized how much she sounded like a bumper sticker, but as she spoke the words she knew they were true, especially when it came to finding a body.

If she’d learned anything in working as a law enforcement park ranger in the park for the last five years, it was that the only thing she could trust was Mother Nature’s fickle attitude. She did as she pleased, and danger could be found in the moments that a person underestimated her power. It was easy to identify the people who had misjudged her; they were usually the ones Alexis and the other rangers were sent into the backcountry to find—or the ones whose bodies they were sent in to recover.

“I like nature, but don’t you get tired of being stuck out here?” Casper looked up, taking off his Stetson and wiping away the thin line of sweat that it had collected. His slightly-too-long chestnut hair hung down over his caramel-colored eyes, obviously blinding him from the beauty that surrounded them.