Kensie sneaked another glance at Colter, heart pounding madly. She was in the passenger seat of his truck, flying away from the airport at speeds that couldn’t be legal. All of his attention was on the road ahead, his knuckles white against the steering wheel like he was on a mission.
She still couldn’t believe she’d walked away from her flight. There wasn’t another one to Chicago for three days.
Three more days with Colter. He was a dangerous temptation she needed to resist. Because whether it was three days from now on the very next flight, or three days after that, she’d eventually be leaving. And when it came to Colter, nothing had changed.
Falling halfway in love with him already meant heartache was waiting for her. Falling right into his arms would only make it worse.
“I’m glad you’re staying, Kensie,” Colter said, shooting her a sideways glance, as if he could feel her eyes on him.
When she’d thrown her arms around him at the airport, he’d actually lifted her off her feet and pressed his lips to hers for a long, tantalizing moment. People around them had cheered, clearly misunderstanding what was happening.
Now that they were back in his truck, she could read his nerves in the tense lines of his arms, the flexing of his jaw. He was worried he’d talked her into staying for just one more false lead.
Fear and hope blended, making her heart race even faster and her fingers tap a nervous beat against the armrest until Rebel pushed her nose between the seats and stilled her hand.
Kensie smiled at the dog, realizing how much she was going to miss Rebel, too, once she actually did leave. The thought added anxiety to the mix and Kensie took a deep breath.
This is just like every other lead on Alanna, she reminded herself. Approach it like you always try to, with low expectations but high hopes. It was a hard balance, but one she’d gotten fairly good at over the years.
But this time felt different. Maybe because she’d finally decided to let Alanna go and then gotten yanked right back into the search. It really felt like her last chance.
“I’m sorry.”
It took her a minute to comprehend Colter’s words and then she frowned over at him. Had she spoken out loud?
“I should have followed this lead on my own, instead of dragging you back into it. I was being selfish. I’m sorry.”
Selfish? He’d spent the past four days running down leads on someone law enforcement had already given up on. He’d rushed to her side whenever she needed him, twice saving her from dangerous men.
Kensie let out a snort of disbelief. “Nothing you’ve done since I’ve known you has been selfish.”
He was silent for a long time as they navigated the long drive back toward Desparre. Finally, as the roads beneath them changed from pavement to dirt, he spoke slowly, deliberately. “I didn’t want you to go.”
His words stunned her briefly into silence, but while her mouth refused to work, her mind and body shot into overdrive. Her skin tingled with sudden awareness of how close he sat to her, her lips aching for another kiss. Her brain started cataloguing how far they were from his cabin and how soon they could get there.
She’d stayed for Alanna. Mostly. But part of the reason she hadn’t gotten on that plane was the man sitting next to her. Intellectually, she knew it was better to keep her distance, to focus on her sister for her remaining few days here. But her heart had other ideas. And the fact that she was still chasing after Alanna all these years later instead of moving on with her life proved that her heart almost always won.
Before she could figure out how to respond to his surprising admission, Colter spoke again. This time, his voice was all business. “Jasper says he tried to play it cool with this guy, act like all he knew was the FBI had decided it was a hoax. But he’s not sure the guy bought it. So whatever he tells us today, we need to act cautiously. I don’t want another situation like Henry.”
Kensie’s fingers instinctively grazed her still-bruised throat. It seemed to tighten at the touch. “Neither do I.”
He shot a pensive glance at her, then hit the gas even harder. Before she knew it, they were pulling into the lot in front of Jasper’s General Store.
Rebel ran circles around her and Colter as they made their way up to the door until finally Colter laughed and said, “Relax, girl.” He looked at Kensie. “She’s happy you’re back.”
“So am I.” The words came out without thought, but they were true. Even if this turned out to be one more in a series of disappointments, she couldn’t regret anything that gave her a little more time with Colter.
He held open the door for her and his gaze seemed to caress her face, as if he felt the same way.
It put a light, giddy feeling in her chest. But as she preceded him into the store and Jasper ran around the counter as soon as he spotted her, the feeling shifted into a different kind of nervous hope.
“Kensie.” Jasper reached for her hands, folding them between his lean, weathered palms.
The first time she’d met him, he’d been gruff to the point of rudeness. But now he was staring at her like they were long-lost friends, and she realized her story about the day she’d watched Alanna get ripped away had touched him.
Jasper glanced up as Colter and Rebel came in behind her, nodding at them and not saying a word about Rebel being in the store. “A guy came into the store today. I recognized him from that day. And I think he might have been with the girl.” His gaze went back to Kensie, his eyes wide as his words tumbled out. “I didn’t recognize the girl that day, so it didn’t stick, but I recognized the man.”
“What?” Colter stepped closer. “You didn’t mention that on the phone.”
“I know. I called you as soon as he walked out and I’ve been trying to place him ever since. He’s not a regular. Not even a semiregular. But that day wasn’t the first time he’s come in the store. I’ve seen him before. I think he could even live around here.”
Kensie’s heart picked up speed. If he lived around here, they had a real chance at finding him. At finding Alanna.
“I have to be honest, I probably wouldn’t have connected him to that day except he was asking questions. And they were just too casual. It all felt forced, like he was desperate for the answers but didn’t want me think he cared. And then I realized he’d been there. I think he walked out at the same time as the girl.” He gave Kensie an apologetic look. “I can’t be positive they left together that day, or even that it’s your sister, but it all seems suspicious, doesn’t it?”
She slid her fingers from between his palms, patting the top of one of his hands. “Yes, it does.” She glanced at Colter, wondering where they went from here.
“What can you tell us about how to find him?” Colter asked.
“I walked out after him today. Tried to act all casual, but honestly, I’m not sure he bought it any more than I bought his questions just being simple curiosity. So I waved at him and grabbed the shovel I’d left out there, like that was why I’d gone out. Anyway, I saw him get into a truck, but the way he peeled away, it was like he was trying to avoid me getting a plate number.”
“Which way did he go?” Colter asked.
“Now that I can tell you. As soon as he peeled out, I booked it upstairs. Most people don’t know it, but this store has roof access. Gave me a good view of him for a while.”
Jasper walked behind the counter and pulled out a map, drawing a line away from his store and out toward what looked like nothing but forest to Kensie.
But as soon as he drew it, Colter’s gaze darted up to hers, tension in the line of his jaw. “That’s the same area where Henry lived. There’s not much out there. It was true for Henry and it’s true for whoever this guy is. It’s a great place to hide.”
Kensie nodded, her nerves shifting to determination. “Let’s go do a little tracking.”
Rebel barked her agreement.
THIS MIGHT BE HOPELESS.
Colter didn’t speak the words out loud, but Kensie glanced at him as if she’d heard him anyway and shook her head.
“We need to keep going,” she told him, voice tight as she leaned toward the windshield like she could lead them there by pure force of will.
It had started to snow. Big, fluffy flakes that plopped onto the windshield and slowly slid down. They were sticking, making the forest surrounding them look picturesque.
Right now, it wasn’t accumulating much. But Colter knew how fast that could change out here. Although his truck was in good condition, with a nearly full tank of gas, he didn’t want to take any chances. Even locals could misjudge Alaska’s weather, which could turn brutal fast.
“Ten more minutes,” he told Kensie, “and if the snow hasn’t stopped, we’d better turn back. We can make another trek out here tomorrow.”
“But—”
“Kensie, we’re three hours deep into this forest. We don’t want to get trapped out here if the weather turns.”
“I’ll check the radar.”
He glanced at her briefly, most of his attention on navigating the dirt road winding between huge fir trees. “You’re probably not going to get any service. No towers out this way.”
She held her phone up, testing it in different directions, then sighed. “You’re right. No service.”
They drove in silence for a few more minutes, but Colter could feel Kensie’s tension ratcheting up. The snow remained steady, not letting up, but not getting worse, either. And still no sign of any homes.
“Do you think we missed it?” Kensie asked.
“It’s possible. Usually people who live out this way don’t want to be too far off of a main trail, because even these can get buried when the snow gets deep. But the road did split ten miles back. If we’d taken the other way, we would have ended up near where Henry lives. I went this route because I figured if Henry had seen your sister—if she really looks like you, the way Jasper said—Henry might have spoken up.”
“Why would he? He seemed too busy trying to kill me.”
He reached for her hand, squeezed it briefly. “I mean afterward. When the police were there and we were talking about your sister. If he lived near someone who looked like you, he might have put it together and said something, tried to get a little leverage.”
She leaned back against her seat, twisting to face him. “Maybe we should pay him a visit and ask.”
“Maybe,” Colter replied, less enthusiastic about that idea. If they asked, Henry was likely to lie if he thought he could get anywhere—or just to torture Kensie, because he was a sick SOB. If he knew anything, he probably would have already volunteered it.
“Hey, what’s that?” Colter slowed the truck until it was barely creeping forward as he peered through the thick trees.
“Where?”
Colter pointed. “Up ahead, at the one o’clock position, about a hundred feet ahead of us.”
Kensie leaned forward again, squinting through the snow, which was beginning to fall a little faster. “I don’t see anything.”
He gave the truck a little more gas until Kensie exclaimed, “Oh!”
“It is a cabin,” Colter muttered. And it was about as well hidden as you could get. If they hadn’t been looking, they might have driven right past it. Positioned close enough to the road to get in and out, but far enough back to remain unseen unless you were looking. And on the other side was a mountain, so no one would notice it from that direction.
The wood cabin looked like it might have been hand constructed, but as they continued to drive forward, he realized it was a lot bigger than he’d originally thought. “You could fit a whole family in there.”
His shoulders slumped as he said it. How likely was it that the person who’d grabbed Alanna lived in a cabin this big, just the two of them?
He swore as he spotted a sign at the entrance of the long unpaved drive leading up to the cabin. Two slabs of wood, one underneath the other, were staked into the ground at the entryway. The bottom one read Trespassers will be shot. The top one read The Altier Family.
“Isn’t that the name of the couple Yura mentioned when we stopped by his check-cashing place?”
“What?” Kensie was still staring intently at the cabin.
“The Altiers. I’m pretty sure that’s the couple who paid Henry with checks sometimes for odd jobs. It’s not the guy, Kensie. Yura said this is a couple, with a bunch of kids.”
Her disappointment was all over her face as she turned toward him. “Well, maybe they know who else lives around here. Let’s go talk to them.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” He pointed at the Trespassers will be shot sign.
As he did, he spotted a station wagon in the distance, up beside the cabin, and his heart rate doubled. Most people who lived around here drove huge trucks. The last time he’d seen a station wagon was the one that had nearly run Kensie down on the main road in Desparre.
He’d assumed it had been an accident, an idiot driving an even more idiotic car for Alaska weather. But maybe it hadn’t been an accident at all. Maybe, right from the start, Kensie had been a target.
“Kensie, what did you do when you got to town? Before Rebel saved you from that car?”
She frowned at his change of topic, but answered anyway. “Not much. My plane landed and I rented a truck, then drove into town. I had to stop for directions a couple of times.”
“Did you tell people about why you were here?”
“Sure. I figured I might as well, in case someone knew something. Why?”
Colter pointed through the trees again, at the station wagon. “I think that’s the car that nearly ran you down. I think word got around that you were here, looking for Alanna, and someone didn’t want you to find her.”
Instead of fear, excitement shot across Kensie’s face. “This could be it,” she breathed.
“We need to go back and get the police,” Colter told her, his gaze returning to the sign warning off trespassers.
“But—”
“If we’ve really found her, Kensie, it’s not going to do her any good to get ourselves killed.”
She glanced over her shoulder, back behind where Rebel sat, to where Colter had his shotgun. Her gaze lingered on it a long moment before she nodded. “You’re right.”
Not wanting to turn around in the Altiers’ driveway and draw attention, Colter shifted into reverse, hoping there was a wide enough gap in the trees somewhere nearby for him to change direction. The truck was just starting to move backward when Kensie blurted, “Wait!”
Jamming his foot on the brake, Colter glanced back at the cabin. A group of kids had stepped outside and he scanned through them, looking for anyone who resembled Kensie.
In a way, they all did, at least from a distance. Dark hair, slight olive tone to the skin. But as he scanned them, he realized none were the right age. The youngest girl looked to be about six, then there was a boy who was probably twelve, another girl who might have been sixteen and an older boy who had to be in his early twenties. They looked like siblings.
Colter swore. “Kensie, Jasper might have seen that girl there, the oldest one. She looks a little bit like you. He might have mistaken her for Alanna.”
But she was too young. It wasn’t her.
From how pale she’d gone, Kensie must have realized the same thing. He reached for her hand again, all his focus on apologizing for bringing her out here for nothing.
“Colter,” she breathed, pulling her hand free and pointing toward the cabin.
When he glanced back, he saw that the oldest boy was no longer there. In his place was a girl, about nineteen, with dark hair, cut to shoulder length. She had strong, thick eyebrows and lush, full lips like Kensie.
And Colter recognized her. It was the girl he’d seen in the passenger seat of the truck that had flown past him in town, when Danny had cornered Kensie. At first glance, he’d even mistaken her for Kensie.
“It’s her.” Kensie’s voice was barely above a whisper, and he could hear the tears and joy in it at once. “It’s Alanna.”
She reached for the door handle and he grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Kensie, we still need the pol—”
Before he could finish his sentence, a loud boom, like a firecracker that had gone off way too close, split the air. Colter recognized the sound immediately: a rifle.