Undercover Protector. Elizabeth Goddard
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run after her. Still, by the look on her face, he might have said too much.
She cocked a brow. “Getting the lay of the land, huh?”
Time to switch the topic. “I recently rented a house on the coast from a friend. I wanted a change of scenery from my place in Portland. I have a biology degree and worked in wildlife conservation before. I know that tigers are the most imperiled of the wild cats. Three subspecies are already extinct. There’s only about three thousand left, living in the wild.”
She arched a brow. Impressed? Or maybe he was trying too hard. He needed this volunteer position. But he couldn’t let her see just how much.
“It’s because I believe in what you’re doing that I wanted to volunteer my time while I’m between contracts. It makes me angry when I read about the dwindling endangered species populations and abused animals. You’re doing a good thing here. I believe in your cause.” Okay, now he was repeating himself. His pulse was beginning to roar in his ears. He’d better shut this down or he’d go off again and she would think he was too crazy to keep around.
But he didn’t have to worry as he saw the suspicion drain from her face. And all because he said he believed in her cause.
She limped closer to the fire and, without thinking, he offered a hand. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Then remembered she’d said her limp was part of her now. She didn’t want his help. “Since you were in an accident today, maybe you should see a doctor.”
Her look silenced him on the matter. “I’ve already told you what happened. The reason for my limp.” She bent over to stoke the fire, her long hair hanging down.
“You didn’t, actually. Just that you had an injury. How did it happen?”
“I was in another car wreck.” She straightened up. A distant look came into her eyes.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Gray almost tossed out a joke about her skills as a driver but thought better of it. As she stood by the fire to warm up, her eyes grew bright, flames dancing in them. He’d never seen anyone more alive than Gemma Rollins. And she truly seemed to be passionate about sheltering the abused wildlife and caring for them. Yet someone at this sanctuary was involved in crimes against the tigers. To use a sanctuary as a cover for trafficking was about as low as a person could go in Gray’s opinion. Was there any chance someone else was behind the trafficking? Who would have the authority or access to do so without Gemma noticing? The simplest answer was the one he didn’t want to believe—that she was involved in the trafficking after all. He could hardly believe the conflicting emotions she stirred in him. But it was time for him to push them aside and get to know the real Gemma Rollins and what she was really up to with the sanctuary.
“Thanks. It happened a long time ago.” With a frown she refocused on him. “What do you do, Gray, when you’re not volunteering? You mentioned you’re between contracts.”
“I’m a computer programming whiz.”
She angled her head, confusion in her eyes.
He chuckled. “I know what you’re thinking. I have a biology degree and I’m a computer whiz? As it turns out, learning to code is an important skill for biologists or any other science field, especially those who spend most of their time crunching data. I had a heads up on that skill. Growing up, I spent too much time playing video games and ended up learning to code early on as a side hobby. Though when I wasn’t playing games, the rest of the time I was outdoors, exploring nature. I love animals, and I want to do something meaningful with my life.” There. He hadn’t even had to lie to keep his cover. He was currently working on installing new accounting software for Wilderness, Inc., a wilderness survival training company run by his brother, Cooper, though he’d had to put that aside temporarily to investigate Tiger Mountain.
Gray was only a silent partner at Wilderness, Inc. anyway. He invested in the business but didn’t want to make decisions or be involved in running the place.
He’d been at the Wilderness, Inc. office in Gideon when he’d received the tip about Tiger Mountain. With this new tip, he believed he was close to solving this case, and he was geographically close as well.
Gemma sat on the sofa and he did the same, across from her. She studied him over the rim of her cup of hot chocolate.
Gray shrugged. “Any more questions?”
“Nope. You have any for me?”
Yep. I have plenty of questions. But he had to be careful and ask the simple questions a volunteer, a wildlife enthusiast, would ask.
“I’m a hands-on kind of guy. I like to learn the ropes as I work. So any questions I have for you can be answered while I’m working. Oh, well, I guess there is one question. You going to let me volunteer or not?”
She gave him her soft and simple smile, the same one he’d seen on the road. It kindled a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time and he didn’t want to feel that again. He’d have to be careful around Gemma.
“You’re hired,” she said.
A woman appeared from the hallway and came over to them. Gemma introduced Cara as a Tiger Mountain employee. She handed a cane to Gemma. “Found it.”
Gemma’s faced colored. She’d said that her limp was part of her, but she didn’t appear that comfortable with it. “Maybe I can get my other one from the CJ, if it’s even salvageable.”
Gray glanced out the window, noting the rain had finally and completely stopped. How long that would last, he didn’t know. “Mind if I start work today? You can give me a tour of the place and show me what you need me for later, but right now maybe I can get your Jeep down the mountain.”
Her eyes went even brighter. “Are you serious?”
“Sure, if you have a truck with a winch around here. Or, if not, we can call a wrecker, but I’ll take care of it. You can get back to doing what’s important.” Gray found that, despite his true reason for being at Tiger Mountain, he honestly wanted to be useful to Gemma. But he reminded himself he wasn’t here for her. He was working undercover to expose illegal activities at Tiger Mountain.
Gemma gave him the go-ahead and introduced him to Tom, a full-time staffer who had a four-wheel drive with a winch, which came in handy at a big cat sanctuary. Gray rode with Tom so he could show him where the vehicle had ended up.
Tom slowed the truck when they came to the mud slick in the road. A chunk of mountain seemed to have slid across the way. Tom sighed. “Gemma is not going to like this. Not one bit. She’s already had a tough time here. I tell you, if it’s not one thing, it’s another.”
Gray wanted to ask Tom more about what troubles Gemma had, but they were here. “This is where her CJ went into the tree. If you look to your left and up a bit, you’ll see it just over the rise.”
“I can see the bumper from here and hopefully the rest is still attached.”
“Only one way to find out.” When Gray stepped onto the road, his thoughts reverted to saving Gemma, holding her against him and hiking over the rocks and road.
He remembered her mentioning the perfect storm, her brakes quitting during the drive while the power steering had gone out as well. She would have shifted to the lowest gear, no doubt, and possibly tried the parking brake, but going down a steep mountain road would have worked against her. Even if it hadn’t been raining and even without a mudslide, that could have been deadly. The Jeep CJ rested right where he’d left it, only it was steeped in thick, clotting mud. The vehicle was decades old and the brake hose was likely just as ancient and could have given out. But the steering, too, on the same day?
In such situations, he often referred to Occam’s Razor, a principle of philosophy—the simplest explanation was the right one—and in this case, the chance that both the brakes and the steering went out at the same time on their own was unlikely. In which case he wanted to get a closer look. Had the vehicle been