To the Xtreme (Xtreme Ops Book 2) Read online

  He caught himself short of falling on his ass again.

  “Son of a bitch.” He got up and stumped around the cabin, looking out windows. He threw open the door and peered at the vast forest.

  Slamming the door shut didn’t give him the relief from his frustrations he needed.

  After he inwardly raged another few minutes, he sank to the desk and sat before the computer once more. He needed to get a grip. He might be out of commission for a few weeks, but things could have ended much worse. That treetop was meant to kill a person, and he’d been the next victim.

  Now he—and the Xtreme Ops team—had to find out who was pulling the trigger.

  As he walked the team through disarming the unit, he’d screen recorded the footage they transmitted to him. And he learned the bomb was a damn primitive setup—not at all high tech enough to be a professional skilled in bomb-making.

  The big question weighing on them all was who climbed the trees to place the bombs and why? Serial killers typically didn’t profile hikers—they found much easier prey.

  A knock stopped his flow of thoughts. “Come in!” he called, turning in his chair and half rising.

  When a dark head of curls popped around the door, he dropped to his seat again. The fairy nymph.

  “Am I interrupting anything?” she asked, hesitating to step inside.

  Just his solo temper tantrum.

  “No. Come in and close the door.”

  She did, her gaze shooting from him to the fireplace and back again. Attention centered on his face, she offered a smile. “We didn’t get much time for a proper introduction.” She stepped forward, hand out. “I’m Jenna Underwood.”

  He stared at her hand. Small, soft but capable, he knew from watching her fashion a crutch from a branch. As he took her hand in his and closed his fingers around it, he felt a small pang of connection.

  Quickly, he withdrew his hand. He didn’t connect with women unless it was to drill his dick into them for one night only. Afterward, he climbed off them and walked away. Hell, if asked to name all the women he’d slept with, he couldn’t bring their names to mind, and not because there were too many to count—because he didn’t give enough of a damn to remember.

  Jenna laced her fingers in front of her, bringing his attention to her attire. The same green thermal underneath a stiff tan button-up shirt, green pants and a tie that made him want to rip the ugly thing off her and throw it in the fire.

  By his guess, she had a few curves beneath that ugly uniform. But it was really her face that captured his notice.

  A round face with a complexion he guessed would turn pink in the heat of passion. Her lips were full but small, and red on the bottom lip as if she’d chewed it a lot before stepping into the cabin. Or eaten a lollipop. Fuck—don’t think of that.

  He passed over her pert nose with a spattering of freckles he recalled from the close-up of her hovering over him. And then those eyes, flecked with gold. He stared into them for a moment, wondering if she knew they matched the green of her uniform.

  She seemed to be sizing him up too. A long heartbeat passed where he wished he knew what the hell was going on in her mind.

  She shifted her feet, breaking the moment.

  “I stopped by to see how you are.” Her voice had a calming lilt that reminded him of a pastor he’d once heard when a foster family dragged him to church. While he didn’t get much from the lessons he was told there, he did come away with a feeling of peace.

  “I’m…as well as can be expected when I’m stuck here instead of out there with my team.” His gaze shot behind her to the door and back again.

  “Captain Sullivan said you were a little…disgruntled.” She bit off a smile but didn’t quite succeed.

  “He said that, did he?” He chuckled, and her smile broke out full force.

  “I’m sorry about your ankle, but I’m glad it wasn’t so much worse, Lieutenant.”

  He stared at her for a second. “My name’s Harris. Harris Lipton.”

  “Should I call you Harris or Lipton?”

  Few people used his first name these days. Maybe it would be nice to hear it spoken in her peaceful, soothing lilt. “Either’s fine,” he responded.

  She nodded and started to speak, when his phone buzzed. He grabbed it, read the text and twisted to face his computer screen as information began to shoot in from various sources.

  “What is all this?” Jenna edged closer to the desk.

  His fingers flew over the keys, opening news stories and reports from all over Alaska and even Washington, as well as a number of files with classified information. “We’re trying to find any connections to the event today.” Was it still today? He’d lost track of time with the extended daylight hours.

  He eyed her. “It’s after ten p.m. Shouldn’t you be finished with your shift, or do they work you park rangers day and night?”

  She stared at the screen, reading over a news article from the Hoonah area and not paying attention to him staring at her profile. And that damn little braid. Why was it so distracting to him?

  “I’m off duty, but I wanted to see if you needed anything before going home.”

  Her words were a warm balm, and they touched him.

  Undecided about whether or not to keep staring at her or send her away before he made some stupid move, he reached for the control pad on the laptop. She edged closer to read, and he froze.

  Did she realize her soft, full breast that was trapped inside that ugly, stiff ranger’s uniform top brushed against his arm?

  Hell, if he didn’t know better, he’d think he suffered a head trauma along with the broken bone. He wasn’t thinking straight…

  And he dwelled too much on Park Ranger Jenna Underwood.

  Too late Jenn realized that leaning over the desk this way—in such close proximity to the big, tough special operative—was a mistake. But she was so curious to see the information regarding the case, she didn’t consider how his closeness would affect her.

  It must be her inner mama bear making her feel drawn to the man. Since he’d been injured on her watch, she naturally felt the need to check up on him.

  But that didn’t account for her thinking about how handsome he was in a rugged action movie star way.

  Harris Lipton was pretty far from her type. She always dated shaggy-haired hipster guys. Harris sported a trim military cut, and even though the strands were short, she had a shocking desire to run her fingers through it.

  She straightened, which caused the side of her breast to brush against his arm. A dark shock ricocheted through her. Feeling heat infuse more than her face, she took a step back. “It’s late. I should get home. Tomorrow I have to be up bright and early to patrol the trails. Do you need any—”

  Her question was cut short by a sharp, eardrum-splitting blast outside the cabin. All the air seemed to be sucked out and then the front windows exploded inward, raining glass over the floor.

  “Oh my God!” She threw her arms over her head even as Harris leaped up and started for the door.

  His cast thumped on the hardwood. Jenna watched him take two wobbly steps before she jumped to action, grabbing his crutches and thrusting them at him.

  The insane man’s going to injure himself more.

  Another boom shook the cabin. “What is happening?” she screamed.

  He grabbed the crutches and reached the front door in a few swings. He threw open the door, rushing into the eye of danger instead of cowering away from it the way most men would.

  “Stay back,” he ordered.

  She couldn’t do that. Of the pair of them, she had both legs in working condition.

  She ran to the door. Harris swiped an arm out, shoving her away.

  “Get my phone and call Sullivan,” he barked the order as he reached along his spine and produced a weapon.

  She ran back to the desk for the phone, searching the contacts list as she did. When she dialed him, she brought her shaking hand to her ear. She didn’t get
a single word past her lips before Harris snagged the cell from her hand.

  “We need backup at the cabin! There’s been another explosion. Now!”

  Staring through the open door, Jenna tried to make out people or vehicles in the area but saw nothing but woods and a deep hole where something had blown up. She had to do something.

  “Whoever it was might still be out here!” She pushed past Harris, jumped the steps and hit the ground running. He bellowed for her to get back, but her job required her to search for threats too.

  “Wait here for your team!” she called over her shoulder. She skidded to a stop beside the ranger truck, whipped the door open and grabbed her weapon off the seat. On high alert, she threw out all her senses as she started to search the surrounding forest.

  Seconds later, the rumble of an ATV sounded. Spinning toward the noise, she spotted one of her fellow rangers buzzing through the trees.

  Paul Gibson saw her too and braked hard to stop next to her. “What the hell’s going on? I heard a blast and rushed over here!” he shouted over the engine.

  She pointed to the front of the cabin. From here, it was obvious the front windows had been blasted out from the concussion.

  “The special ops team is on their way,” she told him.

  “We should have a look around. Come with me!”

  She jumped onto the back of the ATV and gripped the metal rack bolted on the back, and Paul took off.

  “What are you doing in this area?” She spoke loud enough for him to hear her. Even without the grumble of the engine, he was a little hard of hearing from years of shooting when he was younger before wearing hearing protection was common practice.

  “Was comin’ to check on our guest in the cabin. I wanted to make sure the place was stocked with enough supplies before heading home.”

  Not for the first time, Jenna thought of Paul as a cross between Santa Claus and a grandpa. While he didn’t wear the white beard, his merry eyes gave off the vibes to draw parallels.

  They circled to the trail. If Jenna had to make a guess, Paul thought whoever was responsible for that explosion took the path that intersected with an access road, which wasn’t open to the public. With a gate at each end, the criminal would have a difficult time making a quick getaway and might run out of time before one of the rangers came to investigate the noise.

  “I didn’t hear an engine,” she called out to him as they sped down the trail.

  He twisted his head to respond. “Must be on foot!”

  A ranger truck passed on the road, the white visible through the trees from the brushy path where she and Paul rode. She pointed, and Paul angled the ATV through the trees, going off trail to meet up with the other ranger.

  In minutes, three of them stood in a group, getting Jenna’s side of the story.

  Her coworker Joffrey stared at her. “You left a helpless man with a broken ankle in the cabin alone?”

  Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to speak. “I-I figure he’s trained to handle dangers and can see to himself.” Harris could probably kill a man with a spoon. A little broken bone wouldn’t hinder him.

  A sudden roar of an army of ATV engines sounded, all circling the cabin, and she knew the Xtreme Ops had answered Harris’s call.

  Now that Joffrey questioned her leaving her post, she experienced a dropping sensation in the pit of her stomach. What if he was right and Harris could be in trouble?

  She glanced at Paul, who was deep in a call over the radio to their base dispatcher. She turned to Joffrey. “I need to go back to the cabin.”

  His brows crinkled. “We’ll go. You should probably go home instead. You’ve been on the clock since seven.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t walk away now, but I need to return to the cabin. Actually, we all should go and talk to the team, see if there’s anything they need us to do.”

  Paul’s conversation ended, and she repeated her idea to meet up with the special forces. Having more experience and age on him, he made the final call to take Jenna’s suggestion.

  As soon as they reached the cabin again, Jenna leaped down from the ATV and ran toward the front door. Guilt burned in her stomach. She’d never forgive herself for leaving Harris alone if something happened to him. Or if he’d hurt himself trying to overdo it.

  The door stood wide open. Harris and another team member she’d learned they called Gasper spoke in rapid tones. As she entered, Harris looked up, straight at her. His dark eyes seemed to spear through her, and she saw his jaw clench.

  She worked around men for enough years to know when one was pissed. She raised her head and started forward, an apology for her lapse in judgment on her lips.

  He broke away from Gasper and stumped over to her on his crutches. Before she even reached him, he grasped her by the upper arm.

  “Are you freakin’ crazy running out of the cabin into danger? I gave you a direct order to stay back!”

  She reeled, and any words of apology fled. “I was doing my job. This park is my territory, remember?” she challenged back.

  He stared at her for a long heartbeat, eyes narrowed on her as if he’d never seen her before and didn’t recognize her. “You could have been killed,” he ground out, tendon pulsing in the crease of his jaw.

  “I’m sorry I left you. I wasn’t thinking that you’re incapacitated.”

  He released his grip on her upper arm and slashed his hand through the air. “You’re worried about me? Christ, woman. You rushed into the woods to stop a dangerous mark, and you’re worried about leaving me alone?”

  She nodded.

  His eyes gave a dangerous glitter. “I can handle myself.”

  She was right to think this man was very different from those she knew. Harris Lipton was not part of her happy, peaceful group of colleagues, the few men she dated, or those she met on the hiking trails she loved to frequent outside the park.

  “I’ve insulted you. I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

  Gasper called him over. Harris gave her one last long look and then turned away, thumping back to his teammate. Even on crutches, he appeared to be untamed, built for strength and speed like a predator.

  She turned back to the door.

  Denali National Park was Jenna’s second home. She never felt out of her element. She handled every situation with calm ease. But right this minute, she had a feeling she was up against a big challenge.

  And his name was Lieutenant Harris Lipton.

  Chapter Three

  “I’m going with the team.” Lipton squared up with his captain.

  Penn wasn’t taking any shit. He shook his head. “We got it handled. We even have Cora with us.” He spoke of their newest member of the Xtreme Ops team, who acted as their personal bush guide and pilot most times. If Lipton had to guess, she’d been brought in to take his place.

  “You know I’m fine on an ATV,” Lipton argued.

  “It hasn’t been twenty-four hours since your injury. Don’t you think you should rest just a little while?”

  “Maybe kick back with my foot propped on a nice plump pillow? Hell no. You know that isn’t me, Penn. I’ll take it easy, but I need to be out there with the team.”

  Penn stared at him for a long minute. Finally, he sighed. “You’re not gonna let this go, are you?”

  “No.”

  He gave his head a shake. “Fine. Just don’t fuck yourself up even more. Being down a man is hard enough on the team, let alone for months if you do yourself more harm.”

  “I won’t. Just get me an ATV.”

  “You’re in the side-by-side with Pax.”

  “Captain, we found something.”

  They both turned to Pax, their other newbie.

  “I’m coming.” With all the focus of a general in battle, Penn stepped away from Lipton to follow Pax out the cabin door. Before he stepped over the threshold, he threw a glance over his shoulder. “Don’t fuck yourself up, Lip. That’s an order.”

  Lipton gave him a solemn
nod of a promise and followed him out of the cabin. It would be a relief to drop the crutches and ride. He made it down the two steps to the ground, and his crutches sank into the wet earth. Scanning the area for Pax and the ATV, he noted the team had scattered to search the area. And off to the side of the road in front of the cabin, a group of park rangers congregated.

  The sight of brown curls had his gaze zeroing in. Jenna turned her head slightly at the sound of the cabin door closing. The braid she wore swayed slightly. Though he couldn’t see the golden thread, he still searched for it.

  As he watched, she climbed into an ATV with another ranger and took off. Pax waved to him. “Comin’, man?”

  “Yeah.” He hobbled across the uneven ground to their own machine and he stuffed his crutches into the back beside a full gas can. In minutes, they were cutting through the dense forest.

  He threw Pax a look. “What did you find?”

  “It may be nothing, but it’s a bit of metal off some climbing gear.”

  “Where was it found?”

  “At the edge of a trail. A hiker could have dropped it.”

  “That’s true. Was it buried under leaves at all?”

  “Lots of leaves around it. That’s why we ruled it may be nothing. Penn will give the final call, but even so, we can’t say which direction the bomber might have fled. Any guesses as to what a motive may be?” Pax was one of the most efficient men Lipton had ever worked with. Once on the scent, he was a bloodhound with nose to the ground and he didn’t let up until the job was finished.

  Since Lipton had spent hours in the ER, he didn’t have near enough information. When the intel came in, he’d been distracted by a certain park ranger followed by the second blast.

  “No idea yet,” Lipton answered Pax.

  They rode for a bit longer. The hour approached one in the morning, and daylight still burned. In an hour or so, it would fade for a few brief hours before sunrise. Right now, the fact they weren’t searching in the dark was to their advantage.

  Up ahead, one of the park ATVs was stopped, and two people crouched beside the tire.