Sheriff Cooper stared at the woods for a few seconds more before he turned. She didn’t miss the curious glance that passed between him and his deputy, who shrugged. Both men quickly jogged to catch up to them.

Tammy knew both people waiting by the ambulance.

She’d gone to high school with Bart Homer and he grimly watched as Valiant gently eased Tammy down onto a gurney he’d yanked out as they approached. Debra Molmes, the other paramedic, was a woman a few years younger than Tammy but she’d gone to school with her older brother.

“Shit.” Debra gawked at Valiant and swallowed hard, a look of wariness crossing her features. She tore her gaze from him and visually examined Tammy. Debra flinched. “Jesus. You’re a mess, Tam.”

“It’s been a rough night for me and I’m sure I’m not looking my best.”

“Uh, excuse me, sir,” Bart said softly to Valiant. “I, uh, need in there to help examine Tam.”

Valiant hesitated a second before stepping out of the way. A bare-chested, huge, buff Valiant was something to behold. He appeared massively masculine in a sexy way when he wasn’t growling and showing off his sharp teeth in a silent snarl. Tammy met his gaze with a forced smile. He crossed his arms over his chest, which only showcased his bulky, muscular arms. He returned her regard with a grim look. Tammy turned her head and caught Debra nearly mooning over Valiant. She seemed to have gotten past her initial uncertainty about how to react to him.

“Tammy?” Sheriff Cooper stepped closer. “You need to tell us exactly what happened. Have you ever met those men before? Did they tell you why they kidnapped you?”

Tammy tried not to wince as Bart and Debra checked her over and cleaned her wounds. Her face hurt when they washed away the blood and treated the area near her ear where her cheek had slammed into the side mirror of the truck. Her wrists hadn’t hurt much after Valiant tended to them.

A s the paramedics worked, she slowly told the sheriff what had happened when she’d left the bar and how the men had grabbed her but she skipped some parts. She chose not to mention anything related to the New Species except to say they’d made comments that made it clear they hated them. She flat-out lied.

“They said they knew I’d gone to New Species Reservation.” She tried to stick to some of the truth to keep her story straight. “They targeted me because I had worked there and they accused me of being a traitor to humanity for liking New Species.”

Sheriff Cooper sputtered with anger. “Those assholes took you because you worked on Reservation one time?

Damn. The entire town is going to be targeted by those assholes next if that’s all it takes to set them off. Where in hell are your pants and why are you wearing his sweater?”

“They…” She dropped her gaze, unable to look at the sheriff while she spoke, afraid she’d burst into tears if she did. “They stripped me, held me down and tortured me,”

she got out. She couldn’t look at the man she’d known most of her life as heat flamed her cheeks. “That’s why I’m wearing Valiant’s sweater. He and the other New Species got to me before they seriously injured me but they stripped me down to my panties.”

“Son of a bitch,” Sheriff Cooper cursed. “Did they rape you, Tammy?”

She shook her head. “No. One of them wanted to but the others were happy to settle for just hurting me. They wanted me to make some video stating I hated New Species too. They were nuts.”

Sheriff Cooper turned to Valiant and offered his hand, to shake. “Thank you, Mr. Valiant. The entire town owes you and your friends a great debt of gratitude for stopping those bastards from killing her.”

Valiant frowned but he took the Sheriff’s hand. “Don’t thank me. She’s mine and I will always protect her.”

Tammy winced as she shot Valiant a warning look and shook her head at him. “Remember our agreement about how I do all the talking?”

He released the sheriff’s hand and shrugged. “It’s true.”

Sheriff Cooper looked confused as he spun to face Tammy. “What does that mean? You’re his?”

She hesitated. “We’re involved.” She left it at that.

“Oh.” The Sheriff’s eyes widened as he jerked his attention to Valiant first and then back to Tammy, his gaze ping-ponged back and forth. “I never would have guessed you two would date. Nope.”

“Miss Shasta!” a woman yelled. “Can you give an interview?”

Stunned, Tammy turned her head to watch a woman and a cameraman attempt to shove past one of the deputies to reach the back of the ambulance.

Sheriff Cooper took a few steps away to yell at his men. “Shove those reporters back. No comment, you ambulance chasers. Get them back, Byron and Vince. I mean it.”

“Why are reporters here?” Tammy wasn’t happy about the situation at all.

The sheriff uttered another curse word under his breath. “Some idiot let it get out that a woman had been kidnapped and that we contacted New Species kidnapped and that we contacted New Species Reservation for help. Those nasty newshounds showed up by the vanloads and our phones at the station are being bombarded with calls from press from everywhere in the world.”

“You need to get her out of here,” Tiger informed the sheriff, walking from the front of the ambulance. “It will quickly escalate into a media frenzy otherwise. We also have to leave the scene immediately.”

“Did you catch those men?” Sheriff Cooper faced Tiger.

Tiger hesitated. “We captured three of them and transported them by helicopter to Reservation. Didn’t you hear it? The fourth one is dead but it couldn’t be avoided.” His pretty catlike gaze met Valiant’s for a few seconds before he focused back on the sheriff. “They had weapons and refused to surrender. One of my men has been shot too but he’ll live. It was just a flesh wound.

We’ll put the dead man on ice until you can arrange to have him picked up at our medical facility. I gave one of your deputies a detailed description of where they were camped out, holding Miss Shasta. It should be easy for you to find the crime scene.”

“You had a helicopter out there?” The sheriff seemed surprised. “Where are my prisoners?”

“We will transport them to your station when they are medically cleared by our doctors, who are treating them at this moment.” Tiger studied Tammy before he returned his attention to the sheriff. “They are receiving medical attention at our facility but you may send deputies to pick them up if you wish to transfer them that way. One of the prisoners is in critical condition and as I stated, one of my men was shot. The helicopter transport was faster than trying to carry them through the woods to here. We keep one on standby at Reservation at all times.” Tiger glanced at Tammy again. “We have excellent medical facilities if you’d allow me to call the helicopter back to transport Miss Shasta and allow our doctors to treat her.”

“They need a real hospital,” Sheriff Cooper replied.

“It’s fine,” Bart the paramedic interrupted softly.

“They have a top-rate facility. A s a matter of fact, we have used them twice so far in severe, trauma situations.

They have better equipment and skilled trauma doctors, something our local hospital doesn’t boast. We just don’t have those kinds of machines. The prisoners are better off if they were sent there.” Bart gawked at Tiger, looking intimidated. “We can handle Tammy’s medical needs but thank you, sir.”

Tiger nodded and addressed the sheriff. “Do you want to pick up the prisoners when the doctors are done treating them or do you want us to transport them to you? We will write full reports and give you a detailed account of everything that transpired when we reached their camp. My men and I will be fully at your disposal to answer any questions you have.”

“I’ll come there,” Sheriff Cooper decided. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done tonight and I appreciate you getting right to the scene when I called.”