around. He was halfway there when he realized the back door was standing wide open. Drawing near he heard Julietâs voice: ââ¦kind of trouble?â âAn accident.â Mitchâs voice sounded extremely agitated. âCooper said I should come and get you.â Griff stood in the shadows. By the glare of the overhead light in the mudroom he could see Juliet clearly, her hair disheveled, wearing a baggy T-shirt that fell to her knees. âBut what can I do? Why didnât Cooper phone the police?â âYouâll have to ask Cooper. Come on. Letâs get moving.â âI canât just leave with you. I have two little boys asleep upstairs.â âYou said yourself theyâre sleeping. Iâll have you back before morning.â âHow do you know that? What if we have to haul the accident victims all the way to town?â âWeâll stop here and pick up the kids. Come on. Youâre wasting time.â Juliet dug in her heels. âYou go ahead. Iâll put my boys in the back of the truck and drive myself to the hills.â âYou wonât know where to find us.â Her voice turned to ice. âIâll call Cooper and have him direct me to the camp. But right now, I need you to leave so I can go upstairs and deal with my boys.â Mitch made a sound that could have been a laugh or a groan of frustration as he kicked the door shut. âYouâre not going to make this easy for me, are you? Youâre just too damned smart for your own good.â Her head came up sharply. Her eyes narrowed on him. âWhat are youâ?â He snaked out a hand and caught her by the wrist. âYou look mighty fetching in that getup, maâam.â He dragged her close. âYouâll look even better in nothing at all.â Before he could say more, the back door was kicked open and Griffââs voice, deadly soft, was the only sound. âStep away from the lady, or youâre a dead man. You have five seconds to live.â âWho do you thinkâ?â Mitch spun around. He took in the sight of Griff standing in the open doorway, eyes hard as granite, rifle aimed directly at Mitchâs head. The wrangler shot a look at Juliet. âSo. Itâs like that, is it? I canât wait to spread the word around town that the MacKenzie bastardâs a new boarder at the widow Graysonâs ranch.â Griff never raised his voice. It was still little more than a whisper. But every word cut razor-sharp. âYou had to the count of five. Now youâre down to four. Want to try for three?â Mitchâs furious reaction was to press one beefy arm around Julietâs throat and twist around to face Griff, holding her firmly against him as a shield. âYou wouldnât want to shoot the wrong one now, would you?â Griffâs words remained deadly soft. âWhen I take aim I never hit the wrong target, whether itâs an enemy in combat or an ordinary scumbag. Now you have two seconds left.â Juliet dug her elbow into Mitchâs midsection at the same moment that she planted her heel in his groin with as much force as she could muster. Stunned, he released his hold on her. Griff used that moment to haul her behind him before taking careful aim. Mitch lifted his hands in a gesture of defeat. âHold on. You canât kill an unarmed man.â âI can and will if youâre still here in one second. Itâd be justice for what you planned on doing to the lady.â At Griffâs words, Mitch raced past him and dashed out into the darkness. In that same instant Griff saw all the color drain from Julietâs face as she sagged against the edge of the table. Instead of giving chase as heâd planned, he gathered her into his arms. When she went limp, he scooped her up and cradled her to his chest. The sound of a truckâs engine broke the