Wilderness Peril

ON THIN ICE

Run off the road and left for dead, Shay Ridiker’s only hope for surviving the frozen claws of the wilderness is pilot Rick Savage. The beautiful airplane mechanic came to Alaska expecting a routine repo, but a missing coworker and a crippled plane are just the tip of the iceberg. Now held captive by ruthless killers at a derelict gold mine, Shay needs Rick’s protection more than ever. But Rick has shadows that follow him into the land of the midnight sun. With gunmen at their backs, can he be all Shay needs—a haven…and a hero?

How did she thank him for saving her from certain death?

The tenderness and concern she saw on his face was too much. Rick had never looked at her that way before.

His gaze locked on hers, searching, questioning.

She couldn’t let herself be in his arms anymore, and she worked to free herself from his protective embrace. “Let me go, Rick. They’re gone now.”

His eyes widened, as though he hadn’t realized he’d been holding her. He crawled over and slowly peeked through the brush that blocked his vision.

Was she wrong? Had someone stayed behind to see if they’d survived the crash, after all? Her pulse pounded in her neck. Breathe…just breathe.

“Rick, you’re scaring me. Why are you still looking for them? They’re gone, right? Please tell me they’re gone.”

He stilled. “For now.”

ELIZABETH GODDARD

is a seventh-generation Texan who grew up in a small oil town in East Texas, surrounded by Christian family and friends. Becoming a writer of Christian fiction was a natural outcome of her love of reading, fueled by a strong faith.

Elizabeth attended the University of North Texas, where she received her degree in computer science. She spent the next seven years working in high-level sales for a software company located in Dallas, traveling throughout the United States and Canada as part of the job. At twenty-five, she finally met the man of her dreams and married him a few short weeks later. When she had her first child, she moved back to East Texas with her husband and daughter and worked for a pharmaceutical company. But then more children came along, and it was time to focus on family. Elizabeth loves that she gets to do her favorite things every day—read, write novels, stay at home with her four precious children and work with her adoring husband in ministry.

Wilderness Peril

Elizabeth Goddard

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

—Revelation 12:11

This book is dedicated to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who died that we might live. Who said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). And to those who have gone before and serve even now in the armed forces, laying down their lives so we might live, and live freely.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

DEAR READER

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

EXCERPT

ONE

Interior Alaska

“Did your brother ever show?” Shay Ridiker asked as she climbed into the passenger seat of an old rusty Jeep Cherokee. She fought to keep her voice calm and to shake off the eerie, uncomfortable feeling that she was being watched.

She might be one of the best aircraft mechanics around and people might think she was tough because of it, but that didn’t mean she could handle a day of travel to Nowhere, Alaska, without her nerves starting to kick in, especially if there was a chance they would have to face trouble.

And trouble was exactly what she saw in Rick Savage’s gunmetal grays. “No,” he said.

Aiden Savage—a fellow employee of Deep Horizon Recovery Services—was supposed to have met them two hours ago to lead them to the plane he had come to Alaska to repossess—only it needed a mechanic, hence why Aiden had asked for Shay’s help. They’d arrived to find no sign of him. But Aiden... He had a few troubles. Wasn’t always the most dependable person, and maybe this was one of those times.

Rick’s brother had struggled with alcohol abuse in the past, but Connor Jacobson, the owner of Deep Horizon Recovery Services, had given him a break because he’d served in the armed forces like Connor—the guy had a big heart and was all about second chances. Aiden had been sober for a year now and definitely deserved that chance. And as far as she knew, in the time that he’d worked for Deep Horizon, he’d never let Connor down.

Something was wrong.

“Maybe someone’s onto us taking the plane.” And had prevented Aiden from meeting them.

“Maybe.”

Shay rubbed her forehead. His one-word answers were getting to her. Obviously, he was thinking things through and didn’t want her opinion. Either that or he didn’t want to tell her everything.

Behind the wheel, Rick shifted into Drive and urged the vehicle he’d begged or borrowed for the day out of the dark alley where he’d parked and onto the street. The beautiful, sunny autumn day seemed to contradict the uneasiness spilling off Rick.

Their short visit to Alaska wouldn’t allow Shay to experience the midnight sun or inordinately long nights since it was September, and for that she was thankful. But it was the only thing she could find to be thankful about this trip. Shay wasn’t a wilderness girl. She might be a mechanic, but she didn’t like roughing it.

Rick steered away from the general store and the hostel next door that provided meager accommodations for the few who traveled into Alaska’s interior. A glance into the backseat revealed their bags and coats. Rick hadn’t checked them into the hostel as planned?

“Your tools, the replacement part for the plane, they’re in the back,” he said.

Shay blew out a breath. “So that’s why you got the wheels? We’re going to look for him? As in drive some wilderness back roads?”

“Yes.” Rick focused on the road, his voice gruff, concerned.

When Rick’s brother had called from Alaska to say that the plane they were supposed to repossess had a mechanical problem, it had been easy for Shay to diagnose the problem as an exhaust leak. The hard part had come when it was decided that she’d have to go out in person to fix it. Add that the plane was in the middle of the Alaskan bush and it was decided that Rick would escort her to meet his brother.

“He’ll make sure you get there safely,” Shay’s boss, Connor, had said.

Somehow, remembering those words didn’t make her feel any better now. Rick’s semiautomatic rested on the seat between them, but even that didn’t give her a sense of security. She had her reasons for disliking guns. Besides, Shay and that particular weapon had a past together that she wanted to forget.

Shay was beginning to think she’d made a big mistake in agreeing to this. She’d only given in after Connor’s assurances that she’d be in no danger. Though the Deep Horizon crew occasionally retrieved property in high-risk situations, that didn’t happen too often. Nor had Aiden mentioned any concerns or potential problems.

This was a small plane he’d gone to get. Usually, they only saw trouble when they had to retrieve Learjets and jumbo jets from rich people and bad guys in third-world countries. Buster Kemp wasn’t either of those, at least on paper. So what had happened to make Aiden disappear? And why did she feel so uneasy?

The Jeep crept along the gravel road of the simple village, barely a town and mostly populated by native Alaskans from a tribe Shay couldn’t pronounce. Rick kept going once they’d passed the last of the buildings that made up the town—the only representation of civilization for a good hundred-mile radius.

Shay didn’t like the idea of heading for the Alaskan wilderness until she knew more.

A lot more.

But it wasn’t as if she and Rick could just go home and come back later. Getting there had already been a two-day journey, starting with a flight from Nebraska to Seattle, then another flight to Fairbanks and finally a ride out on a seaplane mail flight to this remote village.

Until now, Shay’s job description hadn’t included being put in the field. She liked working behind the scenes. Yet here she was.

“Why are we going to trek through the wilderness to look for him when we don’t even know where the plane is? That’s why he wanted us to wait for him—so he could show us where to go.”

“Well, he’s not here. Just what do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know. Ask around?” When Aiden had been late in meeting them, Shay had left Rick to wait for his brother while she hung out at the general store, looking at all the handcrafted beadwork and turquoise jewelry created by the local natives for the tourists.

“What do you think I’ve been doing? I asked around. Nobody knows anything. Nobody has seen him, of course. We make it our job to slip in and out, remember? To be invisible.”

She frowned, hating that she’d not given Rick the benefit of the doubt. Of course he would have already covered the basics.

Peering through the back window, Shay watched the town of Tanaken growing distant. She resisted the urge to say that they should get back on that seaplane when it returned and head back to Fairbanks. She knew that wasn’t going to happen. Not without Rick’s brother, Aiden.

Not without that plane that he’d come to retrieve that Shay could only hope hadn’t been lost through a flare-up of Aiden’s old problem.

“I can honestly say I was hoping to find him drunk somewhere.” Rick rubbed his temple, worked his jaw. “That’d be better than the other scenarios running through my mind.”

Shay wanted to reach over and squeeze his shoulder. Her heart went out to the guy, and for more than his missing brother. But he scared her, too. He kept too much bottled up inside him, and she’d seen it explode at the wrong time.

“He’s had troubles in the past, but there are good reasons for that.” He sighed like an Alaskan facing more snow after a record-setting storm. “He wouldn’t just disappear like this, not with us coming to meet him.”

“So talk to the sheriff, then.”

His half laugh sounded forced. “They don’t have sheriffs in Alaska. Out in the bush, they have village public safety officers. When I asked around, I was told she was helping deliver a baby, so I left it at that.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I wish I were. Besides, Aiden hasn’t been gone long enough to cause concern for the authorities. But I’m still worried. Something about this job hasn’t felt right to me from the start.”

Shay gazed over her shoulder and stared out the back window again.

“That’s why I brought the gun. I had a feeling.” He tossed a glance her way. “You ever have one of those?”

Shay angled her head to look at Rick while she considered his question. When the light hit his eyes just right, the gray almost looked blue. With his thick brown sun-kissed hair, the tanned skin of a man who spent a lot of time in the sun, his toned physique and the way he handled himself— Oh, yeah, she had a few feelings herself.

But attraction wasn’t where the feelings ended, and that was the problem. She’d also had a feeling that Rick Savage would never notice her, and so far he hadn’t disappointed. That was okay, because seeing the pain her father went through after losing her mother, Shay didn’t want to fall in love. Shay was all about staying safe, and love wasn’t a safe choice. Especially not with a man like Rick. That had been especially true after the day he pointed a gun at her.

“I’ve had a few feelings, sure, like the one I have right now that I’m not going to like where we’re going. It’s not like we can get too far on wheels in the direction you’re heading.” Oh, yeah, she’d looked at the maps of Alaska, all right.

“There has to be an airstrip somewhere around here or else there couldn’t be an airplane. I didn’t mention anything to the seaplane’s bush pilot because I didn’t want him to know what we were up to, but I did ask an old-timer, a native Alaskan woman, who looked like she’d been around long enough to know something.”

“And?” Shay’s question was accompanied by a jolt.

The shocks on this Jeep were in serious need of repair. She’d never liked Jeeps as it was. Squeezing the handgrip, she pressed her other palm against the top of the cab, but her head bumped the ceiling anyway.

Rick tugged a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over. She recognized his handwriting and read the lengthy, convoluted directions.

“Directions to a gold-mining claim? Are you serious?”

“Dead serious.”

Shay sat up, not liking where any of this was taking them. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Rick exhaled. “Someone’s been watching us. Following me around. They were getting a little too close for comfort.”

* * *

Shay didn’t speak for a few seconds. Rick cut her a glance, catching her frown. Did she think he was overreacting? He couldn’t tell. He’d never spent this much time with her, especially in such close quarters, so he had no experience reading her expressions. Looking for clues into her thoughts, his eyes skimmed over the few freckles splashed across her nose and the short-cropped auburn hair framing her face that was a little mussed from their travels.

“You think it’s related to Aiden and the plane? Why don’t you just ask them instead of running away?”

Rick shot her a glance. “I did.”

Shay’s sunset-blue eyes grew wide with her gasp. “And what did they say?”

“Let’s just say they weren’t forthcoming with answers. They made a wrong move and I had to make a fast exit. That’s when I came for you.”

He glanced her way and she watched him. He didn’t like the look of concern on her face. “Not to worry. We lost them.”

For now, at least—but depending on what they wanted, he could expect to see them again. Were they bent on stopping them from taking the plane? Did they know something about Aiden? Or were they just a couple of guys preying on tourists in backcountry Alaska? If something happened to him, then what about Shay? What would she do? He’d tried to find out what he could in town but when they’d grabbed him, thinking he was an easy target, he’d opted to leave them behind and come for Shay.

The trick would be to stay safe until they could find Aiden or make it out of here on the next bush flight tomorrow—whichever came first.

The Jeep bounced to the right, and Rick turned his focus to the uneven dirt road—a thirty-five-mile loop to a secluded lake. He wasn’t sure he wanted to endure the bumpy road for another thirty-plus miles, and he doubted Shay would be too happy with the journey either, but there was strength behind her beauty. He knew she could handle it.

She sighed and stared at the paper with directions. He knew she was probably still worried about those men. He could only be grateful she wasn’t with him when the confrontation had happened. They could have easily used her against him in that situation, and then where would they be?

“This looks like it’s going to be the scenic route,” she finally said. “What happens when we get to the nine-mile ridge trail? Don’t we need ATVs or something? How’re we going to get there?”

“I suspect there’s an easier way in, but those directions are all I have for now.” If anyone was actually mining the claim, as his conversation with the woman had made him suspect, they’d have had to have built a road to move in the type of equipment used these days. But if something sinister was going on and his brother was in trouble, going in the direct way would be a mistake. The roundabout path would be their best bet.

“Rick,” Shay said, startling him out of his thoughts.

He realized now that she’d been talking to him for a while and he hadn’t been listening. Looking over at her, he sent her a look like he’d heard every word. “Just focusing on the road, thinking about the directions.”

Hoping I wrote them down right.

“These directions aren’t a stroll in the park,” Shay said. “Unless you’ve done a lot of shopping, we’re not prepared to get to this claim. Haven’t you heard a word I’ve said?” Her gaze skewered him, burning a hole through his head.

“I just want to drive the loop to get a look and feel, okay?”

If he was brave enough to stare her down at the moment, he might risk a look into her eyes. Back at the Deep Horizon shop, any time Shay explained some sort of complicated repair she was making, Rick would get lost in those eyes, then shake himself free and pretend he’d been listening. Just like he’d been doing now. He had a feeling he hadn’t fooled her then.

Or fooled her now.

She slapped his arm.

“Hey, what was that for?” He grimaced, making sure she witnessed it.

“What are the plans? I don’t like being left out.”

“Let’s check it out—or as close to it as we can get in the Jeep. See if we can find Aiden. Maybe he’s at the airstrip waiting for us and we just got our signals crossed.” Now, that was like Aiden.

Something in the rearview mirror caught Rick’s attention. Uh-oh. “We’ve got company.”

Shay twisted in the seat to see. “We can’t be the only ones traveling this road. They’re probably just heading home for the day.”

“Or maybe it’s the same two men who gave me trouble. Let’s test your theory and see if they come after us.” He punched the accelerator.

The engine roared to life and echoed the truck behind them as it raced forward, gaining on them. That was a bad sign. A very bad sign.

His weapon bounced on the seat and almost out of reach, but Shay caught it.

“You know how to use one of those?”

“My daddy taught me how to shoot. How to fire a weapon at a target after...”

The way she trailed off, as though her mind was a million miles away, made Rick wonder what had happened. He wanted to her to finish the sentence.

“But aiming at a living, breathing human is different,” she said, redirecting her thought.

She’d left something out.

Apprehension reflected in her expression. She understood what he’d truly been asking when he’d wanted to know if she could shoot. If they had to face off with the men in the truck behind them, and things got bad, could she pull that trigger?

As a marine helicopter pilot, he’d already had the experience of firing his weapon at living, breathing souls and knew he could do it. But he’d hoped to leave those days behind. Still, he wasn’t going to dump the responsibility onto the woman by his side who wasn’t trained for the job.

“Hand it over,” he said, and pressed the gun against his thigh in the seat.

Behind him, the truck’s lionesque roar grew louder as it gained on them.

TWO

“I suppose it’s too late to turn around.” Shay held tight to the edge of her seat to keep from getting bounced around, but her effort felt as futile as her words.

His focus on driving, Rick didn’t respond, but her question was mostly rhetorical. His frown seemed to engulf his strong features as he worked his jaw, the muscles in his neck straining. If anyone could get them out of this, Rick could, but this situation looked more than out of their league, if you asked her.

Still, what did she know? Maybe it was only out of her league. Rick had served his country in the Middle East. Probably in worse situations than this.

The road grew shoddier the farther they went, the thick evergreens closing in around them, and the incline began to rise, making Shay more uncomfortable. Her knuckles turned white, she gripped the seat so hard.

Rick whipped the vehicle around a corner too fast and the force pressed Shay against her door. She was more than glad it was locked, safe and secure.

“This thing had better not roll.”

The Jeep bucked and bounced next to a ridge—the drop a hundred feet at least. Her face pressed to the window, Shay yelled at him to be careful. But she didn’t scream. She’d never hear the end of it back at the shop if she dared to act “girlie.” Never. If they even made it back to the shop.

“Okay.” She gasped for air. “Did you get a good look at them? Was it the same ones who followed you in the village?”

“I think so, yes.”

“What would happen if we just stopped and faced off with them? Find out what they want. This is crazy.”

“That’s a bad idea,” he said. “We’ve lost them for a minute. Time for a new game plan.”

Suddenly, Rick shifted into four-wheel drive and started up an incline to their left, squeezing between trees. She could only suppose that the plan was for their pursuers to make the corner and miss them completely, clueless to the fact that Rick and Shay had turned off the road and made their own path up the side of the mountain.

Shay glanced behind them, and just beyond the ridge they’d almost tumbled from, she could see for miles. A river splashed over boulders and there was a lake a few miles out. Was that where they’d been headed? Or was that the lake near Tanaken?

But she couldn’t see an airstrip. The trees were too thick; they hid it from her at this angle. While the Jeep traversed the mountain, the grade growing steeper by the second, Shay imagined the vehicle just falling, much like the feeling she’d had on the steep streets of San Francisco.

I’m going to be sick. Rick’s going to know the truth—that I’m not so tough at all.

Connor would find out, and that would be the end of her job. He hadn’t been easy to convince she could do such a physically demanding job in a man-dominated field. But what did that matter if they didn’t get out of this? She squeezed her eyes shut, breathing too hard and fast. Her stomach rolled as if she were on an amusement-park ride.

Releasing her grip, Shay shifted forward and held her face to her hands against her lap and groaned. When would this be over?

Suddenly, it all stopped. Shay’s silent cries had been answered.

Rick’s warm hand gently squeezed her shoulder. “Hey. You okay?”

She sucked in a few more breaths, slower now, until finally, she could breathe normally. She hated he’d had to see that, and she sat up to peer at him. “No, I’m not all right. Are you?” She glared at him. He’d better not tell her he was fine.

The concern swimming in his eyes surprised her. He frowned. “I only meant... You seemed... Never mind.”

Turning the other way, he studied their surroundings. Shay joined him. Her heart was still in her throat, but at least she could breathe now. Breathe...and think of the consequences of her little breakdown.