To the Xtreme (Xtreme Ops #2) - Em Petrova Page 0,4

use when they get snowed in and cut off from roads. But you might be able to stay there and we’ll hook you up with all the equipment you need to back us up. If you stay there, you’ll need your stuff, so we’re going to the base to get it.”

“It’s not the same as being with the team, but I guess it’s better than nothing right now.” Lipton’s leg was already itching, the hairs flattened into shapes that would only irritate him more as time went on. Last time he had a broken bone, he’d been seven. And Christ, he didn’t want to think about how he’d sustained that injury. It had gotten him removed from his home and put into foster care.

“First we need to search the forest for more explosives and find out who put it there. We need your twisted brain—you’re the bomb specialist.”

“Yeah…” He didn’t sound very convinced that his role for the next six to eight weeks would keep him from climbing the walls, and after working together for half a year, Penn knew it too.

“We’ll try to keep you occupied while you’re laid up, Lip.”

He could already feel the walls closing in on him. This was going to be a long ass break from doing what he loved…from what he needed in order to keep his sanity.

Explosives in the national park.

Jenna Underwood turned the information over in her mind for the twentieth time since learning about it.

She was trained to handle a lot of situations—recovering dead bodies and arresting people for drinking too much to name a couple. But she had never been taught to handle trees wired to explode. Who would even be crazy enough to climb to the top of a tree with a volatile compound?

Well, it wasn’t her job to find out. She was tasked with protecting people who visited Denali National Park and conserving the environment and wildlife in the process.

She’d already had a long day. Hours and hours of daylight in Alaska in June meant that it was easy to work too many hours, but she’d been on her way out of the park for the day when she heard the treetop crack and crash to the ground. When she went to investigate, she found the man.

In her mind’s eye, she saw him again, sprawled on the ground. As soon as she approached, his eyes popped open, dark hazel and full of confusion that tugged at her insides. Some of the guys she worked with said she got attached to people she helped, and she couldn’t deny it.

After helping to rescue people, she often checked up on them. Following up with them was a kindness that couldn’t be ignored. Not to mention it gave her closure. She didn’t like wondering what happened to a person who’d taken a fall and been air-lifted out of the park.

She even checked up on a bald eagle that had been hit on the road and was relieved to hear it had been sent to a rehabilitation facility outside Anchorage and would be released into the wild as soon as its broken wing mended.

When she received the call from the head of park management to assist a team in scoping out the forest for more explosives, she couldn’t help but experience a surge of pride that she’d been chosen. She could make a huge difference, and it would mean life or death to other hikers like the one she’d rescued today. But it was nerve-racking too. She’d never done anything like this.

She drove up to the ranger station, a rally point for her to meet up with the team. As she parked her vehicle, she sucked in a breath at the sight of the…

What did she call such a sight? A group of men that appeared to be a wall of muscle waiting for her. Working primarily with men meant she was comfortable with the opposite sex along with all their quirks, chauvinistic ways and habits. But these guys were another breed.

Not one of them appeared to be under six feet tall. With muscled legs the size of tree trunks and shoulders capable of holding their own against a grizzly, she wondered what she was getting into.

She’d been told they were a special unit investigating the discovery in the park. As she climbed out of her vehicle and crossed the ground to them, they all looked up. Eight men, each as formidable as the next.

“Hi,” she called out as she approached. “I’m the