Grizz moved up the stairs and pulled a string that rolled the refrigerator back—she now noticed it was on a track—and it reset right into place.
Dani spun around to take in her surroundings. “You have an underground bunker. Oh, wow.” Along one wall of the square room, racks of cases held every kind of weapon imaginable, all under locked glass panels.
She heard Grizz descend the steps.
“Another longbow?” She pointed at what looked like a weapon straight out of a fantasy movie.
“Yes, but I’m more interested in the guns right now. I only saw one man creeping around outside, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be more.”
Her mind spun, creating an amazing news feature.Life Off the Grid.Too bad this mountain man would never sit for an interview. Because this underground bunker was a gold mine of story ideas. Grizz had a lair!
“How long can we survive down here?”
“Weeks, probably. Not that we’ll want to stay holed up that long.” He shrugged and unlocked a wall cabinet filled with gallons of water, military meal kits, and row after row of canned preserves. He even had a fuel source, not to mention a portable grill and coffee pot. A freezer hummed on one side of the ten-by-ten room. How had he gotten that down the stairs? That must be where he kept the venison.
“You canned these things?”
“The berries grow wild, and there are way too many to eat.” He frowned. “A man can’t cook and can things?” He harrumphed for emphasis, and she let out a laugh, then slapped a hand across her mouth.
When was the last time she’d laughed out loud, spontaneous and free? Now was not the time to give into the urge.
Grizz went to one wall and pulled a panel aside. She had to get the man talking. This doomsday prepper had a story to tell. “How did you know the first perimeter was breached? Do you have booby traps set up? Tell me everything. I feel like we’re sitting ducks down here.”
He grabbed a backpack and started filling it with food and water. “I set a series of alerts that let me know if someone is prowling around. I have a motion sensor, high enough so an animal won’t set it off. But it sends an alert to my phone through my closed-circuit connection. Which is great, since the cellular service is down.”
“And there’s a second perimeter?” She watched him move to a safe, open it, and add two guns and some ammo to the bag.
“Honey, there are four perimeters.” Amusement flashed in his eyes.
She tried to hide her interest—and her reaction to his calling her “honey”—but her eyes involuntarily widened. “How will we know if the second perimeter is breached?”
A chirping sound startled her. Sounded like one of those personal self-defense alarms.
“That’s the second perimeter. Time to pack up and move.”
He unlocked another cabinet and outfitted himself with knives and a vest—bulletproof, maybe. She patted her pocket where she’d secured the pocketknife he’d given her.
Her fear of Grizz had been replaced by awe. This hotshot, protector, and mystery man with those broad shoulders and strong biceps was going to put his life on the line to save her. Knowing that added to her growing attraction to him.
Admiration.She corrected herself.
It wasn’t an attraction.
To prove it, she said, “Grizz, you’re the hero in this story all the way around.”
He grunted and got back to work. “Yeah, well, from this point forward, you are sworn to secrecy. No stories, nothing made public. Because you are about to see my outhouse.”
“I take it you’re not taking me to an outdoor bathroom with no plumbing?”
“Just wait.”
Another siren chimed from his phone. “Perimeter three?”
He nodded. “They’re close to the cabin. Let’s go.”
“To the outhouse?”
Grizz approached a wall and pushed it.
