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.

He’d seen right through her. She’d always been tough, self-sufficient. Never shown any weakness. She hated that Rick saw her vulnerable now. In the military, Rick was accustomed to being surrounded by strong women, so he expected nothing less from Shay. This was the first time he’d seen the weakness she’d worked so hard to hide. Resentment over that, compounded with the fear she’d felt when the men had chased them, made her want to snarl at Rick.

“Why are they after us, Rick? What in the world is going on? You don’t think they’re trying to keep us from getting that plane, do you?”

“It seems like too much trouble for that. Why chase us down like this when all they have to do is keep us from taking it? That’s why we should try to sneak in—so we won’t have to have a confrontation, with or without guns.”

“So what’s the plan, then?”

“We wait until I’m sure we’ve lost them.” Rick examined his weapon and chambered a round. “Then I’ll get you back to the village as soon as I can. You’re getting on the next plane out of here. Unfortunately, that probably won’t be until morning.”

“But...there’s a plane that I’m supposed to repair, and then we can all three fly out of here.” Shay stared straight ahead, unwilling to face the resolve she knew would be in his gaze. “I’m sure your brother is fine. This is all a big mistake.”

When he said nothing, she finally looked his way and caught him watching her.

“Just being optimistic,” she said.

“I’m a realist, and in this case, that means that I know Aiden is not fine. And we won’t be either, until we find out who those men are and what they have to do with our missing plane and my missing brother.”

* * *

Rick started up the Jeep, shifted into Reverse and edged back, watching for their pursuers. When the vehicle lurched forward onto what went for a road around these parts, he headed back. Time to return Shay to town.

Optimism.

He liked that about her, but she was just too inexperienced when it came to dealing with the reality of criminals in the world. He wished she hadn’t come with him on this trip, but there had been no getting out of it. Aiden had said he needed a mechanic, and Shay was it.

They hadn’t known what they’d face or that Aiden would disappear, and Rick still didn’t know what was going on.

Guilt corded his throat as he pressed on the accelerator, pushing them back toward town. This road trip had been a waste of their time. “I know what I said about checking things out, but it’s clearly not safe. I shouldn’t have taken this road to begin with.” Though he would have loved to see where this road led and knew he might not get another chance.

But neither could he risk Shay’s safety. Aiden would have to wait. Aiden was an ex-marine, too, and knew how to take care of himself.

“It’s not your fault, Rick,” she said.

“I know what everyone thinks about my brother,” he said. “But I know him. This isn’t like him. And those men...” Rick sighed. “Doesn’t matter. I’m sending you back. The next flight out can’t be too soon.”

“No. I’m not going. If you’re staying, you’ll need someone to repair that plane. I’m your man.”

It shouldn’t have surprised him.

She hadn’t wanted to make the trip to Alaska but she’d come anyway, saying that it was her job. She’d expressed her displeasure taking to the dirt road and the backcountry, but here she was, offering up her help in the face of difficult circumstances.

He’d had a certain image of her, working on the planes at Deep Horizon, handling everything they threw at her with grit and determination. The resolve she was showing now fit in with that picture...but he couldn’t forget the fear in her voice earlier. She might be strong, might be tough, but she was still scared. It made him realize that in truth he didn’t know much about her. Not really. And now she was either going to live up to the image he’d conjured in his head, or she wasn’t. Likely, he would do the same for her. Live up to what she thought she knew about him or not.

As for Shay, he’d always had a feeling about her. And that was why he’d kept his distance. Rick slowed the Jeep, the road growing narrow. Somehow, he had to convince her to go back.

“If we don’t find Aiden, I’ll need to get help. We’ll worry about the plane later,” he said.

Of course, it wasn’t as if he could call 911 out here. They’d have to wait until they got back to true civilization—far from Tanaken’s wilderness. Cell service pretty much followed the Alaska Highway system, but there were still long stretches of road that weren’t covered, and anyone outside a major city was out of luck. Aiden had sprung for a satellite phone for this trek into the interior and since Rick had been simply meeting him in Tanaken, Rick hadn’t thought he’d need one. He banged his palms against the steering wheel.

“And if he’s not drunk somewhere and those men really have something to do with his disappearance, what do you think is going on?” Shay asked.

Rick knew of someone who’d been found dead—in Alaska, no less—recovering an airplane. That had been several years back. He hadn’t thought of it until that moment. “I couldn’t say.”

Considering they were about as far from civilization as a person could get, anything in the world could have happened to Aiden.

A deep sense of dread lodged in his gut. He had to find his brother. Couldn’t leave him behind. Images of a raid in the desert accosted him. He squeezed his eyes shut for an instant, hating the unbidden memories. In the end, he’d failed.

But never again.

Especially not this time, when it was his brother who needed him.

Around the curve in the road, a fallen tree log blocked their path. Rick jammed his foot against the brake, sliding to a stop inches from the log.

“Rick!” Shay’s scream sliced through the cab.

He jerked around to stare down headlights—the truck plowing straight for them.

THREE

Bright lights—laser beams on the grill of the truck—loomed in Shay’s vision, blinding her, growing larger as the truck raced toward the Jeep.

Her screams echoed in the cab, seeming to come from outside her body. She reached for the seat-belt clasp.

“We have to get out of here!” she yelled, struggling with the button. The seat belt kept her imprisoned, helpless against whoever in that truck wanted them dead.

To her right she glimpsed the ridge that dropped off only a few yards from her. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart hammered against her ribs, demanding to be free, but her fingers were too slippery as she grappled with the clasp.

“Rick.” Her desperate whisper cracked. “Who are these guys?”

Instead of answering her, Rick shifted into Reverse.

The truck roared forward, closing the distance too fast. Before Rick could back out of the way...

Impact!

Everything happened in slow motion.

The Jeep rocked with the collision, lurching to the side.

Oh, God, save us! Shay prayed as she felt her body thrown against the door, her head hitting the window, her screams filling the cab of the Jeep.

We’re going to die!

When the initial crash was over, Shay gulped a breath.

The truck had just barely missed Rick’s door, which would have completely pinned him behind the steering wheel. Behind his seat, the Jeep was crushed inward. The crash hadn’t killed her and Rick, but pain, fear and shock kept her frozen in her seat. She tried to gather her wits and take in what was happening.

Through Rick’s window, she could see into the cab of the other vehicle. She looked into dark, sinister eyes beneath an Alaska moose baseball cap, unable to grasp that the man driving the truck seemed to be enjoying this.

The truck pressed in on the Jeep; they were like two elks that had locked horns. The Jeep was moving, but not because Rick had put it in Drive. Instead, the tires ground against the dirt road as the truck pushed, and the Jeep slid sideways, gravity pulling it downward along the ridge. She squeezed Rick’s shoulders. His door jammed shut, he moved toward her, climbing over the console, his intention clear—to get out of the Jeep and away from the truck.

The big-wheeled truck shoved the Jeep again, wheels spinning, throwing gravel and dirt. Shay peered out her window. “Rick?”

His expression was grim as he looked past her to see the ledge the Jeep was being pushed toward. They were powerless to stop what was happening. She’d never seen fear pour from his eyes like this. Slow and malicious, death awaited them at the bottom of the fall. Terror struck her heart at the thought of tumbling down the rocky precipice.

The Jeep edged them closer to the fall. “What are we going to do?” she asked. Desperation twisted her voice. She struggled, gasping for breath.

Rick slipped her seat belt off.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“It’s our only chance.”

The right back tire breached the drop. “Hurry,” she whimpered.

Weakness coursed through every limb in her shaking body.

“Hold on,” Rick whispered in her ear. She heard a measure of reassurance in his voice but knew that was for her benefit only.

“Hold on to what? Rick, what are you thinking? Tell me so I’ll know what I need to do.”

She turned to stare at him, to look into his gray eyes that pierced her soul, his face millimeters from hers.

“Hold on to me.” His gaze shifted to the window behind her.

She heard him swallow, an echo of her own horror. Did he really want her to hold on to him as they plummeted to their death? “Isn’t there another way out?”

The right front tire slid over the edge and the Jeep shifted onto the forty-five-degree incline. They had fifty yards maybe before the incline took a complete two hundred-foot vertical drop.

Shay’s breathing turned rapid. Not now!

She couldn’t afford to hyperventilate now.

Behind Rick, she saw the truck’s grille as it backed away. It had pushed them far enough and would leave gravity and momentum to do the rest.

“Rick.” She gasped out his name. Hoping, praying for an answer.

“We’re getting out,” he said.

Shay could hardly believe him, but their options were limited.

Physics worked against them now, the tires slick against the gravelly incline even though the Jeep was parallel to the edge. They continued sliding, bouncing, and in fact picked up momentum.

“Now!”

Fast as lightning, Rick shoved her door open and wrapped his arms around her. She wasn’t sure how he did it, but they tumbled from the vehicle milliseconds before it met with air and dropped over the final edge, the crashing noises resounding against the valley below. Greenery and gray sky flashed in her vision as branches stabbed and ripped at her body. She rolled with Rick, and yet somehow he protected her. Kept from crushing her.

Finally, they stopped rolling and her body crashed against Rick’s. Air left her lungs. Blackness edged her vision. Strong arms squeezed her. She gasped for breath, listening to the Jeep as it continued to fall, smashing against the rocks.

Broken to smithereens.

A whimper broke from her throat. That could have been them if not for Rick. If not for his quick thinking. His ability to act on it and actually pull it off. And she still didn’t know how they’d survived. Where had they fallen if not the bottom of the gorge? Looking around, she realized they’d landed on sort of a terrace of foliage before the drop-off.

“Rick,” she said, and tried to move away, embarrassed at her pathetic moans.

“Shh,” he whispered, and his arms tightened around her.

All her life, Shay had tried to hold her own. Didn’t want to need anyone. But right now Shay couldn’t help herself—she needed Rick at this moment. Needed his arms around her. Shay kept quiet and still, trusting the man that had saved their lives just now. She stared at the thicket where they’d fallen and suddenly realized why Rick wanted her silent.

She and Rick—they needed to be dead. She couldn’t see through the greenery, which was good because that meant the men couldn’t see her, either. But she heard them up on the ledge just above them. Doors slammed as their attackers climbed from their killing truck. What kind of people would do something like that? Shove two innocent people over the side of a cliff to their death? And why? Shay squeezed her eyes shut, but that didn’t stop the awkward tears that streamed from the corners. She pressed her face into Rick’s hard chest, fearing she might sob.

She needed to hold her breath, hold back the tears until the men were gone. Their voices echoed, but she couldn’t make out the words.

Rick pressed his lips against the hair over her ear. “They need to think we’re dead, understand?”

She nodded. Though she could barely hear the whisper on his warm breath, when she pressed her head against his chest again, she both heard and felt his pounding heart. Rick was scared, too.

Then she heard an unwelcome noise.

Shay stopped breathing, willing her heart to stop pounding.

One of the men slowly made his way down the incline. Would they keep searching until they found their bodies?

* * *

Rick held Shay to him, protecting her, protecting them both—if she moved or even made a sound, it would all be over.

The crunch of boots filled his ears. Someone cursed when he lost his footing. The scrape against the rocky slope told him when he’d gained traction again. What would the man see when he looked? Would seeing the demolished Jeep at the bottom of a cliff convince their pursuers that Rick and Shay were dead?

He squeezed his eyes shut, sending up a silent prayer. Images of his quick thinking—their only choice, the jump from the Jeep mere seconds from the moment it plummeted—played through his mind. He’d turned just in time so his body would take the impact as they rolled from the sliding Jeep. They were fortunate there had been thick underbrush to cushion their fall and to hide them afterward. They were fortunate the men hadn’t climbed from their vehicle until it was all over. But was this the moment when their good fortune would run out?

Shay shifted against him, and he held her tight and still.

Quiet.

Admittedly, he was more than uncomfortable, his back partially against a flat boulder where he’d rolled. Branches within the thicket stabbed through his layered clothing to scrape his skin. Salty sweat beaded, despite the dropping temperature as evening approached, and trickled into the open wounds, making them burn.

Rick steadied his breathing. Hold fast. Just a little longer.

“Well?” Laced with edginess, a man’s deep voice boomed from somewhere above them. “See anything?”

A few seconds passed, and they heard another curse—this one under someone’s breath. And that someone was far too close.

Shay had done well to keep good and still for this long. But her slender form was beginning to tremble, if only a little.

He ran his hand over her soft hair and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Just a little longer.”

She stiffened and held her breath.

“Answer me.” Again the voice boomed from somewhere above them.

Rick couldn’t see a thing from where they lay, but that would keep them hidden, as well. An eagle screeched in the distant sky and a chilly gust rustled through the trees. Unbidden images of another time and place flashed through his mind and his heart rate soared.

A bomb exploded. The explosive gunfire from automatic weapons seared his thoughts.

Shay squeezed him, bringing him back to the moment. She inched her face up to look at him, the concern in her gaze clear. He could have lost it just then. Given them away.

All because of one fateful moment in his past. A moment he could never forget.

He gave a slight shake of his head. It wasn’t as if he could explain that right now, if ever. But he sure didn’t want those images to bother him at this moment when he had to maintain what little control he had over this situation.

“Nothing,” the man said, his voice ringing mere yards from them. “There’s nothing left. No way could anyone survive that.”

“You’d better be sure. We can’t let them make it to the claim.”

“They’re dead, all right? If by some miracle they survived that fall, how would they make their way out? Much less hike all the way to the mine.”

At the words, Rick’s pulse ratcheted up. The men had planned to kill them to prevent them from reaching the gold-mining claim? But why go to all that trouble? They were only interested in the plane, not the claim. Had they killed Aiden? He reined in the rage, the need to climb the ledge and pound the information out of these men. He was at a distinct disadvantage at the moment.

He released a sigh, then realized his mistake. Like Shay, he held his breath now. Just a little longer, he told himself.

He counted the seconds, praying the man hadn’t heard his heavy exhale.

No way could anyone survive that. The words penetrated his chaotic thoughts—what reason did these men have for pursuing them, for attempting to kill them just to keep them from the camp? If it had anything at all to do with Aiden or even with Rick asking around the village for him, what chance did Aiden have?

He feared his brother was already dead.

No, God, please, no.... Rick wouldn’t think that way. He could only hope that Aiden was in hiding, too, and hadn’t had a chance to contact or warn them.

With Shay in his arms, her weight only a slight burden against him as he cushioned her on the ground, they listened as the man who’d been mere yards above them scraped and climbed his way back up to the road.

They released a collective sigh this time, and Rick didn’t worry they’d be heard. But they weren’t moving from this spot yet. Not until he knew for sure they were safe. Not until he heard the truck drive away, and even then he wouldn’t leave the protective cover of foliage until he searched the area from their hiding place.

Conversation resumed above them and truck doors slammed. The rumble of the truck’s engine started. Shay shifted to move from cover, but Rick held her tight. “Wait. We have to be sure,” he whispered. She had to think he was being overly cautious, but she hadn’t been through what he had.

Didn’t know that things weren’t always as they seemed.

Shay’s trembling grew. She had to be in shock and was losing control, adrenaline fading as she began to believe the immediate threat was gone. Rick was grateful they’d escaped with their lives and, by all accounts, unscathed.

Of course, for him this was hardly anything compared to what he’d already been through in his life. Now that the men were gone, he was more worried about another immediate threat—Shay. With her warmth and softness against him, a pang of tenderness shot through his heart, the kind of affection he remained guarded against at all times.

“Rick,” she whispered. “Rick. You okay?”

He blinked, staring down at her big eyes looking up at him from where her head was pressed against his chest. He was supposed to be helping her, taking care of her. Protecting her. That was what men did. That was what soldiers did. But was he up to the challenge?

He wasn’t a soldier now. He was just Rick Savage. Damaged goods.

The gentle concern in her eyes didn’t help.

I’m dangerous to you.

FOUR

Of all the idiotic questions she could have asked. Of course he wasn’t okay. Neither of them was okay. Someone had just tried to kill them.

She felt a few bruises springing up on her back and arms but knew that it could have been so much worse. And maybe it was worse than she realized—something in his eyes, the way he looked at her right now, scared her. He was wearing that same wild and distant gaze she’d seen before, as though his mind had dragged him to a place that was anywhere but here and now.

Shay didn’t like it. Nor did she like that her hands were shaking. Her whole body trembled, and if it weren’t for Rick holding her against him, she’d probably lose control completely.

Her mind wandered as well, taking her back to the day when she’d last seen that look in his eye—the day when he’d aimed a weapon at her head. She’d startled him taking a nap in the office and she’d found herself looking down the muzzle of a gun. After seeing the darkness that tortured him, she knew she’d been right to keep her resolve not to give in to her attraction to him. She couldn’t fall in love. It was too risky, especially with this man.

The guy had issues.

Something bad must have happened to him during his military service. But Rick kept it all hidden inside. Even if she were prepared to fall for someone, she couldn’t handle another man in her life who kept it all inside. Who didn’t open up. Her father had hurt her enough. It wasn’t worth the risk.

She closed her eyes, remembering how Rick’s hands had gripped her and, in the span of a heartbeat, yanked her from the sliding box of death, his body cushioning her as they fell, branches and bushes breaking their fall.

Rick had saved her. He’d saved them both. In light of that fact, Shay shoved aside the shadows she’d seen behind his eyes—shadows that had nothing at all to do with their current predicament.

Their current predicament was enough.

With his arms wrapped around her, she could almost forget her aches and bruises. But she was still dazed from their near miss with death and needed to catch her breath. How did she thank him?

Was he ready to let her go? She risked another glance at him. The tenderness and concern she saw were too much. Rick had never looked at her that way before. His gaze locked on hers, searching, questioning.

Creases appeared between his brows, and he brushed a few wisps of her short hair from her forehead. “You’re hurt.”

Shay ran her hand over her forehead and a sting from the open cut rewarded her. “It’s just a scratch. It couldn’t be very deep or it would bleed all over the place.”

She couldn’t stand being in his arms anymore, and she worked to free herself from his protective embrace.

“Let me go, Rick,” she whispered. “They’re gone now.”

Rick’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t realized he’d been holding her so long. When he loosened his grip, Shay rolled free, feeling a sudden chill replace the warmth of his nearness.

“Watch it.” He guided her from a thorny bush.

Shay moved to stand, but Rick stopped her. “Wait,” he said, his voice low. “I need to be sure.”

He crawled over and slowly peeked through the brush that blocked his vision.

“What are you looking for?” she asked. “Of course they both got into the truck and drove away. They think we’re dead.”

Rick stiffened. He didn’t move. Was she wrong? Had someone stayed behind to wait and see if they had survived after all? Her pulse pounded in her neck. Her body ached from the fall, even though Rick had cushioned her from the brunt of it.

Breathe.... Just breathe....

Rick took his time before speaking when he turned to face her. “You’re right—”

Suddenly he was at her side, gripping her arms again. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I thought...” She’d thought the worst. “You scared me, that’s all. Why are you still looking for them? They’re gone, right? Please tell me they’re gone.”

Surely he didn’t think they would be back.

“For now, yes.” Rick stood to his full height and assisted her to her feet, as well.

Not expecting the incline, she stumbled a little and he steadied her.

“What do you mean, ‘for now’?” She stepped away. She didn’t need him to smother her. “Rick, why do those men want to keep us from the mining claim? We don’t even care about that. We’re here for the plane.”

Rick shook his head. “I don’t know. I just know that we need to get out of here. Find a way up to the road and get back to the village. Even if we’re safe from those men, the weather could turn on us, and the night will be cold. In the thirties, at least.”

He shoved from their hiding place on the small terrace of greenery before the rocky drop. Shay followed cautiously, careful not to step too close to the drop-off where the Jeep had met its final demise.

Looking up at the edge from where they’d fallen, Shay shook her head in disbelief.

How...how did we survive that? The trembling started up her legs again. To think they’d rolled from the Jeep and...Rick had taken the brunt of that fall, protecting her more than she could have imagined.

His back to her now, she took in his broad shoulders and noted a few rips in his sweatshirt, all the way through the shirt underneath. He had to be in pain, yet he hadn’t said a word. Shay took a step toward him and lifted her hand, wanting to touch his back, but she quickly withdrew. Unwilling for him to see her shaking again, she wrapped her arms around herself.

Rick gazed up the ledge that led back to the road. “I don’t think we can make it back up from here. The top of the ledge is just out of my reach. There’s nothing for me to grab onto, even if I was a rock climber—which I’m not.”

Neither was she. Shay’s heart sank. “What are we going to do?”

“We’ll have to find a different way.” He scratched his jaw and turned his attention to the valley below.

Glad she’d dressed in layers, Shay rubbed her arms, this time from the chill in the air. “Even if we could have made the road, we need our coats, don’t we?”

“Yeah, and we need our gear. The weather could turn ugly. And if that’s not enough, the guy I paid to rent his Jeep for the day isn’t going to be happy. Come on.” He held his palm open. “We’re getting out of here.”

When Shay hesitated, he frowned. “What? Don’t you trust me?”

There was a question she was sure he didn’t want answered. The truth was, she could only trust him so far. “It’s not that,” she hedged.

Rick withdrew his hand and waited. A stiff breeze wrapped around her.

“Then what is it? We need to hurry.”

How did she tell him? She looked at the valley, at the drop where the Jeep had landed. “I don’t know if I can.”

He shifted his weight, his gaze skimming the gorge and the valley beyond. Understanding dawned on his face. “Sure you can. We’ll make our way around and descend along the slow decline. I’ll be right there with you every step of the way.”

“Rick, just standing here like this, everything is spinning. If I look around...”

His forehead crinkled. “You’re not telling me you’re afraid of heights, are you?”

The words hung in her throat, so she nodded.

* * *

He studied Shay, her cute short crop hugging features that still looked pretty despite the smudges and the scratch from their crash through the underbrush. They’d barely escaped with their lives, so he should be grateful a few scratches was the most she had, but it wasn’t over yet.

How was it that an airplane mechanic was afraid of heights?

Now, that was a story he wanted to hear.

That could also explain much of her stiffness during their travel to Alaska. He’d been a little suspicious, but she’d claimed she just wasn’t happy about having to make the trip. He could relate to that.

He scratched his chin and flattened the smile that threatened. “I thought you looked a little sick on the flight to Fairbanks. I just figured it was motion sickness.” Rick stepped closer.

“Well, now you know. I’m afraid of heights. Afraid of flying. Not so uncommon.” Shay’s big purplish-blue eyes stared up at him again. He recalled when she’d done that moments before—looked up at him. He’d held her in his arms then....

Color rose in her cheeks. Was that from the dipping temperatures or something else?

His emotional wall flew up—he had to guard himself, keep from feeling anything for this woman. Even if he were free to fall for her, which he wasn’t, this sure wasn’t the time.

But seeing her like this, this small vulnerability in her tough act, hitched a little place in his heart.

“Yep. Now I know. But you have to realize that if we’re going to survive this, we need to get moving.”

Shay shrugged, looking resigned to the situation. But that wasn’t good enough for Rick. He was counting on her to make this work—both their lives depended on it.

“Listen, I’ve got your back, okay? You don’t need to worry about falling.”

She didn’t appear reassured.

“Is there something else? Something you’re not telling me?” What was she hiding? What happened when someone was afraid of heights? Did they pass out? Oh, Lord, please, no. Then again, maybe carrying her dead weight would be faster than assisting her down.

“Shay.” He kept talking because she wouldn’t respond. “You can do this. You’re strong, and you’re tough. We all have our weaknesses, so this is yours. No big. Just don’t look down.”

“I’m sorry, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing.” She took in a deep breath. “You’re right. Let’s do it.”

Good girl. Rick held his hand out again. “I promise I won’t tell anyone about your...um...condition.”

The corner of her mouth lifted and she smacked him on the arm.

“Ow.” He grabbed his arm, pretending it hurt.

Shay moved by him without taking his hand.

He grabbed her arm. “There’s a slope here and then some boulders and a drop-off. I think it levels off after a while, but let me help you to get your footing, okay?”

“Once we’re in the trees and can’t see how high we are, I’ll be good.” Still, Shay placed her hand in his and together they maneuvered the incline, which was a little steeper than he’d anticipated.

Slipping, Shay yelped.

Rick held tight, his muscles tensing to keep himself steady on his feet along with Shay. “I’ve got you.”

When they made it to the boulders, Rick stopped. “Let me climb down first to find the best way.”

Shay nodded.

“So how did you end up becoming an aviation mechanic?”

Asking her a few questions might keep her mind off worrying about what lay ahead. His mind, too. He wasn’t scared of heights, but that didn’t mean he felt at ease. No matter how you looked at things, making their way back to the road would be a difficult task. But Rick couldn’t just sit around and wait for a rescue that might not come for days, if that. No one was expecting them back anytime soon.

“Do you really want to know?” Shay’s soft voice bounced off the boulders as he made his way down.

“Yes, I do. And I think it’s okay for you to start down. It’s an easy descent—just watch your footing.”

His breathing was a little harder than he’d have liked. This shouldn’t be anything like a tough workout—he thought he was in better shape than this. Maybe it was the altitude. He glanced up to see Shay making her way down. Fortunately, the trees were thick here and she shouldn’t see anything to set off her fear of heights. He hoped.

“My father was a mechanic. I watched him work, helped him and learned from him while I was growing up.”

Rick already knew that answer, of course. He’d heard the other guys talking about her. But he wanted to hear it from her. Get her talking.

“And you liked it so much that you decided to follow in his footsteps.” Rick climbed across the flat top of a big boulder, beginning to see that he’d made a mistake.

“Yep. That’s about it.”

He paused at the edge, confirming the drop would be too much for him to jump. He couldn’t safely hit the rocks below without risking serious injury. Shay definitely couldn’t do this.

“Okay, hold up right where you are.” He directed his voice in her direction, but he’d lost sight of her.

A small animal scurried through the underbrush below. The earthy scent of spruce and untainted wilderness enveloped him. They were really in the thick of it now.

“Rick? Where are you?”

“I’m just on the other side of these rocks. You’ll see me in a minute. I have to find another way down.”

“It’s getting colder.”

Too bad they couldn’t have done this retrieval in the summer.

“When we get down to the Jeep and get our coats, I’ll make a fire and we’ll rest for a while.”

Rick hated that they had to start this adventure already in need of rest after two long days of travel. But sometimes you just had to gut it up. He prayed they found their coats. Everything could have fallen out at different places along the Jeep’s tumble. Stuff could be sprawled all over the valley, never to be found again.

Besides their coats, his main concern was finding his gun.

He needed that gun. They could face wild animals, but mostly he feared they might face the two-legged kind, and they weren’t turning out to be too friendly in these parts. Rick wished now that he’d used the weapon at that instant when the truck had plowed toward them. He could have taken aim and taken out the driver. Maybe. It had all happened so fast.

That might not have stopped the vehicle from barreling toward them. In that split second, he’d made a decision to drive the Jeep out of harm’s way. That decision had been a mistake. Too bad he was no stranger to those kinds of mistakes.

But right now focusing on his failures wouldn’t help Shay. Rick scrambled along the boulders, searching for a better way down. Concentrating on the task at hand instead of trying to make conversation with Shay was probably a good idea, as well.

He glanced up and spotted her watching him. “I think you’re good to follow me now.” He left out that talking too much had distracted him and led them on the wrong path.

Shay nodded, seeming content to end their conversation for now. He might ask about her family if they had a chance to rest. And there was her reference about something happening and her father teaching her to shoot. He’d like to know what that was all about, if she was willing to share.

Rick’s foot slipped on a boulder.

He grasped at the rock, but he couldn’t get a handhold on the surface.

Despite his best efforts, his body slid and he fell backward through the air, Shay screaming somewhere in the distance.

FIVE

Oh, my. Oh, my gosh....

Panic wrapped a tight cord around her throat. She gasped for breath, and finally sucking it in, she screamed. “Rick!”

But he didn’t answer.

Shay called again. “Rick! Are you okay?”

Without thinking about her footing, she made her way down the rocks. She had to get to him. “Rick, please answer me.”

Oh, Lord, please let him be okay. Let this be some kind of joke. But she didn’t think he would joke about something like that, especially at a time like this. Shay chided herself. How many times had she been invited to go rock climbing? To go skating or jogging or to a workout class? She spent too much time cooped up in a warehouse just doing her job. Maybe if she had accepted those invitations, she’d have a better idea of what to do now. She’d be better equipped to climb down these rocks. She’d be in much better physical condition, too. She didn’t know how to do anything other than work. And now she was paying for that.

When Shay made it to the point where she’d last seen Rick, she crawled on shaky hands and knees to the edge and peered over.

“Rick?” She injected a little hope into her tone.

There he lay, at the bottom of the pile of rocks. “Oh, no....”

Careful not to make the same mistake he’d made, she backtracked and made her way around the mountain of smooth and jagged rocks. “Rick Savage, don’t you leave me here alone.”

Talk. Just keep talking. He’ll hear you and be all right by the time you make it down. “Can you hear me, Rick?”

Shay found herself staring at a drop of about five feet. Not that far, really, but if she didn’t land just right, she might not be much better off than Rick. Or worse, she could be injured and in pain and with no way to get help.

Shay slid her gaze to all possible ways down, but there was nothing for it. She pressed flat on the rounded boulder and slid her body against it as far as she could.

She pulled in a breath. Please, God, let me land right.

Releasing her slight grip, she allowed herself to slide and then drop.

Her feet hit the ground and she plopped back on her backside. So far so good. Still, she had a stretch to go to make it all the way down to Rick. He hadn’t responded to anything she’d said. And that wasn’t so good.

Fear like she’d never known—even when the killer truck had shoved them from the road—coursed through her. At least she’d been with Rick at that moment, and with that, she realized that despite the uneasiness she felt at the shadows in his eyes, she’d felt safe as long as he’d been there.

What if Rick never woke up?

No. She couldn’t think that way. Careful to make her way to him cautiously and safely, she nevertheless hurried down the rest of the pile of rocks. Though descending hadn’t been that easy, the stack of rocks had given them a path to the base of the mountain and into the gorge.

Her feet firmly planted on earth carpeted in pine needles, Shay rushed around the edges of the rock pile. “Rick,” she gasped, running.

There. He lay sprawled on his back. Motionless.

She fell to her knees next to him, wanting to touch him, jar him awake, but fearing she might hurt him more, depending on his injuries.

“Where are you hurt?” she asked, knowing he wouldn’t answer. She ran her hands down his arms and legs, gently patting to make sure there wasn’t an obvious break.

Then she rested her palms on his head and pressed her face near his. “Now, you listen to me, Rick Savage. I need you. Please wake up. I have no idea what to do without you.”

Her palms resting against his stubble-roughened cheeks, she felt the rush of warmth through her hands and up her arms. She’d had a thing for this man for the longest time, in spite of the gun incident. Seeing him like this sent shards of pain slicing through her core. “Please, please wake up.”

Brushing his dark hair from his forehead, she noted the sun-bleached strands, remnants of a summer spent outdoors. She ran her hands all the way through the thickness. “I’ve always wanted to do that....” She murmured the words to herself.

“If only you were awake, then I wouldn’t have to feel guilty for doing that without your permission.” She sat back on her rear, thinking. Praying.

“If you don’t wake up, what in the world am I going to do? Where would I begin to get you help? The sky’s growing dark. I wanted to make it to the Jeep for our coats before making a fire, but maybe I should just make one here and wait for you to wake up. That’s something I can do, at least.”

Shay rubbed her arms, warming them against the cold. She had to make a decision. It might already be too late either way. “Maybe I should just leave you and find the Jeep myself so I can bring back our coats and anything else I can find. How far could it be from here anyway?”

A vise squeezed her heart. How could she save Rick?

“Maybe if you were a jerk, it might be easier to leave you. But no, you have to be cute and...” Shay sighed. “Cute and nice.”

There, she’d said it.

Rick groaned and slapped a hand to his head. “Did anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?”

“You’re...you’re awake. Oh, thank You, God.” Shay pressed her hands over her mouth. But how much had he heard? “And no. No one has ever told me I talk too much.”

Tears burned behind her eyes.

Rick sat up, rubbing his head, his hair a scruffy mess. He blinked a few times, then pinned her with his grays. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You made it down all by your lonesome.” Rick sat up, then pushed up to stand, a little unsteady on his feet. “I’m sorry to scare you like that.”

“Never mind about that.” Shay stood, too. “Are you okay? You think you have a concussion?”

Rick rubbed his face and then his neck. “Nah. I’m good to go. We need to make up for lost time.”

Shay started to move by him, though she didn’t know where she was going. But the way he looked at her left her wondering just how much he’d heard. What an idiot she’d been to flap her trap like that, but talking kept her company, chased the fear away.

He stepped in her path, standing a little too near for comfort. “I’m glad you don’t think I’m a jerk.”

* * *

And just a little too glad that you think I’m cute. Too glad for my own good.

When Shay’s eyes widened, he knew she wondered what else he’d heard. Though he’d been unconscious for a short while and had a dull throbbing ache to show for it, he’d felt himself coming to and heard an ongoing conversation Shay was having with herself and him. Her soft, caring voice had brought him back from the darkness.

The problem was he couldn’t stop thinking about her words and he had no business thinking about them now, in this situation. Or ever.

“Let’s get moving.” Rick tore his gaze from the heat of surprise in hers and focused on surviving. “Stay close to me.”

After getting his bearings again, he headed due north in the direction where the Jeep should be. Evergreens and lush undergrowth had taken over the gulch they’d descended into, and maybe somewhere at the bottom they’d find a river or stream.

He shoved through the thick scrub, trying to make time while they still had the last of daylight to guide their path. The temperatures had long ago started dropping below comfort level. If they didn’t recover their coats and make a fire soon, they were done for. The full brunt of winter wasn’t on them yet; still, the temperatures could vary from extreme cold to extreme heat during the spring and fall months. Today had been a relatively warm day, but he had a feeling that warmth was on its way out if the temperatures so far were any indication.

Behind him, Shay was breathing hard, and he wasn’t doing much better.

He paused and turned to face her. “You okay?”

“Sure,” she said, a shiver to her words. “Keep moving.”

Of course she understood the danger they’d face if they didn’t find what they were looking for. They hiked on for a few more minutes, darkness finally closing in on them.

“How much farther, Rick?” Her teeth chattered a little. “You sure we’re headed the right way?”

“It has to be around here somewhere. I know this is the place.”

Rick gazed up where the moon shone above them, illuminating a familiar cliff, but he hadn’t exactly seen this side of it from the top, making it hard to gauge their position. “Recognize that?”

“You mean the ledge of death?”

“Is that what we’re calling it?” He almost chuckled at the name she’d given it.

“No. That’s what we’re going to call it if we end up dying because we can’t find the Jeep.”

“We’re not going to die. We’ll build a fire and stay warm tonight, then look for the Jeep tomorrow if we have to. But for now, stay close. Let’s work our way over and hope to find the Jeep. If Providence is on our side, we might even be able to turn on the lights.”

Shay huffed. “I know my stuff, but that doesn’t mean I could get that thing running again.”

Forcing his way through the brush in the light of the moon with Shay remaining near, Rick smiled to himself. “I bet you could get it to start even if it sank in the river.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Savage.”

Mr. Savage. He liked the sound of her voice when she said it. What an idiot. Now he was a jerk for thinking along those lines. Shay didn’t deserve damaged goods.

When Rick took another step forward, he kicked something that had a metallic ring to it. They both froze.

Clouds had momentarily slipped over the moon, leaving them in darkness. He leaned over and pressed his hand against the cold metal, sliding it until he came to the end. “The bumper. Or one of them. It must have come off.”

“We’re close, then.” Shay’s voice rang with hope.

“Yeah, close.” Faced with the prospect of finding everything they needed with only intermittent moonlight to guide them and the cold grip of an Alaskan night threatening them, Rick started to think maybe they’d made a mistake. This wasn’t going to work. “Wait here.”

“No. I’m coming with you.”

He slipped his hand into hers and squeezed. She didn’t try to pull away as he led her in search of the body of the vehicle. He hoped everything they needed remained intact inside what was left of the vehicle.

As they pushed through a thick stand of bushes, Shay’s gasp reflected his own morbid thoughts. The Jeep rested overturned and on its side, the front end and right side collapsed. Shay had been sitting on the passenger’s side. Now that seat no longer existed, having been crushed by the toppling two-ton vehicle.

They should have been ecstatic to find it—at least in the face of their circumstances—but instead, Rick and Shay both stared in shock. The next thing Rick knew, Shay was in his arms, trembling. When had he tugged her to him? Or had she simply stepped against him and wrapped her arms around him?

He shook his thoughts free. “This time I need you to stay here. I’m going to shove it over so it won’t be unstable, and then we can search inside, okay?”

She nodded her agreement, taking a few steps back. “Be careful.”

Rick marched around the Jeep, watching where he stepped so he wouldn’t twist his ankle or stumble. He wasn’t exactly sure he could right the thing, but it appeared to rest at an awkward angle, looking as though even the slightest nudge would push it completely over. The sound of pebbles trickling down the cliff face drew his attention up, though he couldn’t see much. He hoped any rocks loosened by the Jeep’s tumble didn’t decide to slide while he stood here.

“Shay? You out of the way?” he called.

“I’m good. Go ahead.”

Rick pressed his foot against the crumpled roof and shoved. Hard.

The Jeep rocked back and forth, the sound of twisting metal resounding through the gorge. Okay. This would take a little more than a mere shove on his part. He pressed his back against the roof and heaved with all his strength. While the Jeep teetered, Rick stepped back and kicked it hard.

It toppled onto the tires, and the driver’s-side door, already dented from the first collision, fell off, clanking through the night. Dust rose while steam spewed from the radiator. Rick’s shoulders rocked with an incredulous laugh that the radiator was only just now ejecting its contents.

Shay jogged up to him, her cloudy breath visible in the moon’s illumination. “The door light went on a little. You see that?”

She grinned. Funny how such a small thing in the worst of circumstances could bring a smile to her lips.

He’d always liked her smile. “Yeah, I see it,” he said, but he wasn’t talking about the light that had come on when the door had fallen off.

Then her attention shifted away from him, a look of alarm spreading over her face as she angled her head, listening.

Somewhere in the distance, an ominous sound echoed.

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