Josiah dipped his head in a nod.
“Silas, Landon, Mathias, you’re working the bank.”
“Yep,” his lifelong friend Silas said.
“We were up all night installing firewalls. You woke me up to come here.” Landon’s homeless appearance reflected his sleepless night. He wore a ratty T-shirt with a few holes in it and sported a day’s beard growth.
Ross grunted. “Pretty sure when I left the club, you guys were on your third whiskies.”
“You’re not wrong—but we went straight to work.”
Ross tapped the table with his palm to indicate they were finished with the topic. “All this proves to me that we need to hire more people. Noah, keep on that while I’m gone. And Josiah, you get the honor of babysitting the phone.”
His brothers exchanged glares.
“Can’t we do rock, paper, scissors for it?” Josiah readied his hand.
Ross arched a brow.
“I had to try, Ross. You know I hate sitting around twiddlin’ my thumbs.”
He understood that sentiment, but he still needed Josiah here. Time was slipping by too quickly, and he wanted a strong plan in place.
“Josiah, I could use a route that isn’t a straight shot to Seattle. No goat paths through the mountains either. The weather will be harsh enough this time of year.”
“Got it.”
“Also, I need you to find out everything you can about these names I’m sending you.” He shot off the list he compiled from his discussion with Pippa and turned his attention to Landon. “How long will it take you to run some fingerprints for me?”
He straightened, looking suddenly more alert than five minutes before. “Just have to run them through the database for a match.”
“Good. Follow me to the house and I’ll give you the specimen.” He stood, ready for action. The only other question in his mind was whether leaving first thing in the morning would be best. Pippa hadn’t slept, and they had another long trip ahead. On the other hand, the sooner they got on the road the better.
He started out of the room, but thought of something and turned. “Josiah, I’ll need you to back me up in Seattle.”
“When do I arrive?”
“Sunday.”
“You can count on me.”
He met his brother’s gaze. “I know I can.”
As he left the headquarters and headed to the main house, his mind whirled with all the things he needed in place before their trip, supplies the least of their worries.
His top priority was finding out who was threatening Pippa’s life.
* * * * *
Pippa watched Ross carry a case of water from a metal shelving unit in the garage to the back seat of the truck. He set it on the floor before returning to the shelf for more supplies. He grabbed two blankets and a mini cooler, adding those to the growing stash in the truck.
He tossed a couple heavy chains in the bed, and she arched a brow. “You already got tire chains.”
“Couple extra in case one breaks.” He strode past her and grabbed yet another flashlight.
Okay, this was ridiculous. She knew he took his job seriously, but his obsessive behavior teetered on the verge of some sort of manic breakdown.
She stepped between him and the shelves. He sucked in a sharp breath and met her gaze. “Aren’t you going a bit overboard?”
“Not at all. Blueberry or raspberry?”
“What?”
“Which fruit bar do you prefer?” He looked past her left ear to boxes of food stacked on the shelf.
“Blueberry. But seriously, Ross. We aren’t going to freeze, starve or need three sets of tire chains.”
“You ever traveled the mountains in the winter? We could very well be stranded for up to a week if a storm hits.”
“Did you check the weather? There’s this thing called an app.”
He grunted and reached around her to grab the box of blueberry fruit bars. “I know what I’m doing.”
“I don’t doubt you do—if you’re heading a wagon train.”
The light of his smirk danced in his eyes. “We don’t want to have to resort to cannibalism.”
He pivoted and headed to the truck. She watched him go, and even the sight of a gorgeous cowboy’s backside in worn denim couldn’t keep her from swaying with exhaustion.
After a whirlwind unboxing of her new wardrobe, thanks to Corrine, the woman made Pippa try it all on. She said there wasn’t any point in keeping it if it didn’t fit. But it had—every single thick sweater and soft flannel shirt, as well as three pairs of jeans, socks, boots, underwear and a heavy winter jacket with matching wool scarf, hat and gloves.
Pippa shopped online for clothes only when absolutely necessary, so to say she was overwhelmed received the award for understatement of the year. Everything had been packed away neatly into a canvas duffle bag with a heavy strap that Corrine had also purchased.
As if a full day at the lab, a death threat, fleeing to Montana and being swallowed by the Wyntons hadn’t tired her out, watching Ross pack the truck as though they were headed into apocalypse territory did.
She followed him and leaned against the door. He finished stowing the blueberry bars, giving her a wonderful view of his strong back and the way his jeans hug nice and low on his—
She froze.
He carried a gun, tucked in the waist of his jeans along his spine.
At that moment, he straightened and looked at her hard. The realization came to her all over again—she was on the run, from some crazy person who wanted to kill her. She wasn’t in Montana to vacation and reunite with old friends. This old friend packed heat and would shoot to kill. She knew that as well as she knew he wouldn’t stop packing the truck until he was satisfied they wouldn’t perish on the road to Seattle.
“Pippa,” he said in a soft drawl that sent shivers snaking up and down her spine. “You’re dead on your feet. Maybe we should stay the night here. Leave in the morning.”
She tipped her head, and her hair tumbled to the side like a waterfall. “You said yourself it’s safer to travel at off times of day. I can steal a few hours of sleep in the truck.”
Concern drew his brows together, and he searched her face. She had no doubt he could sniff out a lie clear across the Rockies. But he finally nodded.
“I’m finished here. Let’s go in the house and say goodbye to my family.”
The sun slanted lower in the sky, and she blinked against the glare. A sensation of this all being a dream amplified by the memory of following Ross around the ranch as a kid, waiting with stomach flutters for him to throw her a glance or smile.
So when he did that very thing, she felt too flustered to walk a straight line. Her shoulder bumped his, and he reached out to hook an arm around her middle. “God, you are dead on your feet, Pip. Can you make it inside, or should I toss you over my shoulder?”
A vision of her rump high in the air, riding up around his head, planted two hot coals in her cheeks. She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
To prove this, she pulled free of his touch before her fatigue made her do something stupid like fawn all over him. Quickening her pace, she made it to the house before he did.
He held the door for her. “Your legs are a lot longer than I remember.”