Alex swerved, narrowly avoiding plowing the snowmobile directly into a boulder that came out of nowhere. The two men on snowmobiles were getting away, darting through another bunch of trees on the far side of the hill. His snowmobile stalled from the sudden decrease in speed. He slammed his hand on the front of the seat. He’d lost all contact with Violet. They never should’ve split up. He tried again to reach her. “Violet?”
He stepped off the snowmobile, and his leg sank a foot into the snow. He turned, searching for Violet. Over his shoulder, to the west, a woman with red hair flying out from the back of her helmet and a rifle strapped to her back stood on top of a spire. She paid no attention to Alex or the men on snowmobiles. She was staring at the lake down below.
Below her were two tracks that... Alex’s stomach lurched. The tracks disappeared into a wide berth of disturbed snow that led directly to the lake. The lake... Teddy’s head broke the surface and then disappeared back under.
“No!” He grabbed his weapon and spun back to the woman, but she was gone.
He shoved the snowmobile with all his strength. Lord, if ever I needed help, it’s now! He pushed again, and the snowmobile mercifully slid two feet. Alex hopped back on and cranked the motor. Seconds. He only had seconds to get all the way down the hill to the lake and find her. His entire body trembled as he fought to make smart decisions, weaving his way toward the water. He’d be no help to Violet if he crashed. He hit the radio and called for dispatch. “Where is our backup?” His voice croaked. “District Ranger Sharp is down. Medic, we need a medic. Shooters in the vicinity.”
He hit a snow divot and momentarily lost control, sliding sideways down the steep run. Remembering Violet’s words, he popped the throttle and steered against gravity, standing and leaning in the opposite direction. Mercifully, he came around and straightened. Only a hundred feet to the alpine lake now. The first ten or twenty feet of it had to be solid ice, but the interior section of the blue waters was still visible.
As he reached the ice, he flung himself off the snowmobile and rushed forward. His shoes had little grip as he skated his way to the water. The helmet cast aside, he fumbled for the zipper of his jacket, removing the layers as fast as he could to prepare to dive. The dog’s head crested the water as he reached the edge of the ice.
“Teddy!” A hand. The dog held Violet’s hand in his mouth. Her helmet bobbed on the water as the dog’s powerful strokes headed his way. Never before had he seen a dog’s paws work the way Teddy’s did. The webbed paws created a current of water rushing behind him. Violet’s helmet may have broken the surface, but he didn’t know if her nose and mouth were out far enough to breathe. Her body was still immersed in the water.
Within seconds, the dog made it to the edge of the ice. Alex slipped his hands underneath her arms. “I’ve got her, Teddy.” He straightened and fought against the slippery surface to pull her up and onto the ice. The last thing they needed was to both go under. The frozen surface held, and he gingerly laid her down. His fingers shook as he fought to unbuckle the helmet first. The water had already drained from the inside, but as he pulled the gear fully off her head, his ribs tightened at the sight of her blue face. He fought against nausea as his stomach lurched.
Teddy entered his peripheral view, shaking water off his fur. The dog rushed toward Violet, and those golden eyes held the same question that was on Alex’s mind. Was she alive?
Alex dragged her by the heels until they reached the solid snow. Rivulets of water ran from her hair and hands. Opening her mouth, he forced all emotion to the back of his mind. He moved her head back and tilted her chin to start resuscitation. She gasped. Her eyes flew open. She twisted to the side, coughing as her entire body began to shake violently.
He knew too much about drowning. No water had been expelled from her mouth. So either her body had fought against the water by forcefully closing her airways, or her lungs had absorbed the water. There was a serious risk anytime the brain was deprived of oxygen, but there was also the danger of the lung tissue swelling and filling with fluid. Alex had no idea how long she’d been under before Teddy pulled her to safety.
They hadn’t prepared the snowmobiles with any emergency first aid gear before they left, at least not the one Alex had been driving. He grabbed his coat and wrapped it around her. The woman exuded strength when conscious, but at this moment, she seemed frail and delicate.
She was still wet, but layers had to help. She didn’t fight him as he lifted her into his arms, confirming she needed a hospital right away. Even though she was out of the water and breathing, she was nowhere near being out of the woods, both literally and figuratively. Teddy ran alongside him to the snowmobile. The sleigh designed for Teddy was big enough for the Newfoundland and Violet. “I’m counting on you to keep her warm, boy.”
The dog rushed forward and slid down next to her without prompting. Alex pushed his hands into his fur to confirm the dog was bone dry underneath his top coat. Amazing. Her eyes flickered open and she groaned.
“Hug him, Violet. Hug him tight. I’m going to get us out of here.”
She wrapped her arms around Teddy and buried her face into his fur. How long she’d have strength to do so, he didn’t know. And would he even be able to find his way back to town without Violet leading the way? He had to at least try.
A snowmobile crested the mountain top to the east. Alex froze. One lone man sped directly toward him, gliding over the snow. Teddy jumped up to all fours and barked in that direction, but it seemed without animosity. Alex kept his hand on his gun until he realized the man wore a green jacket. A USFS jacket.
The man flipped the front of the helmet upward as he got closer. “I’m Ranger Alatorres. Are you injured?”
“No. I think they shot at Violet, and she ended up in the lake. Teddy pulled her out.”
He nodded at the dog. “Where are the shooters now?”
“Two headed west. The other one, I have no idea.” Alex pointed at the spire behind him. “She was stationed there with a rifle.” He glanced down and realized Violet was unconscious again. Her bluish skin hadn’t improved.
The ranger jumped off his snowmobile and ripped open a white packet. He shook an orange square of folded plastic rapidly, and it puffed up. “It’s a heated emergency blanket.” He unwrapped it and tucked it around Violet. “Better than nothing. We’re working on getting more backup here. I need you to head due east. Air ambulance will be landing there any minute. Avalanche risk is too high for them to get any closer to the mountains behind me. Follow me.”
Alex didn’t hesitate. He’d lost his helmet somewhere near the icy water, so the wind stung his face as he pressed into the breeze and bounded after the ranger. Helicopter blades in the distance confirmed the ranger’s words, but Alex feared they might be too late.
Violet’s feet and hands had never felt so warm, which didn’t make any sense. Her lungs weren’t burning anymore, either. Wasn’t she in a lake?
“I really don’t think the nurse is going to approve.” Alex’s voice came through her mental fog like a bright light.
She blinked to find Teddy resting on her feet. Alex was leaning over her bed, holding both of her hands between his own warm palms. His attention was focused on her dog, though. “I’m serious, Teddy. If they want to kick you out, that means I’d have to take you, and I’m not leaving.”
“Teddy, off,” she croaked. Oh, maybe that was a mistake. Her throat didn’t enjoy speaking.
Alex flinched and straightened. “You’re awake!”
Teddy got off her feet, but the dog attempted to squirm into the small space between her body and the bed rails. He didn’t fit. His head reached past her hip, though, and the way his golden eyes widened made him appear so concerned. “I think I’m fine, boy. Can I get some water, though?”
Alex lunged for a nearby stand and brought her a cup of water with a straw. She eagerly drank, and Teddy, seemingly satisfied she was okay, finally hopped off the bed as a nurse entered the room.
The woman raised an eyebrow and huffed. “If you hadn’t saved her life, you’d be out on your ear, K-9 hero status or not.”
The water took away almost all the pain in her throat. “He saved my life?”
“Along with a few other people,” the nurse said, nodding at Alex. “Glad to see you awake.” She reached for Violet’s hand and placed a device on her finger. The screen illuminated, and the woman smiled. “The doctor will be checking on you shortly, but your oxygen levels are back to normal. We’ll need to watch you a bit to make sure you don’t have any complications, and then you’ll be free to go.”
Her memory was slightly fuzzy, but Violet remembered the woman with the gun and the snowmobile barreling after her and...
“Whoa!” The nurse shook her head and tapped a monitor next to an IV bag. “Let’s think calm thoughts to keep that heart rate down. In fact, let’s check that blood pressure.” As the nurse grabbed a cuff and slipped it on the arm without tubes attached, Alex approached the bed.
“That’s a tall order,” he said.
“Borderline high.” The nurse hooked the cuff back to the wall. “Keep the conversation light.” She leveled a serious glare at Alex and Teddy before smiling at Violet and leaving the room.
The memory of the water filling her helmet, and her foot being caught, surfaced. “How did Teddy get me unstuck from the snowmobile?”
“You were stuck?” His jaw clenched, and his skin paled.
“A spring had me caught.”
“You were missing a boot when I pulled you out.” He leaned over and rubbed behind Teddy’s ears, and the dog’s back right paw went wild, gently shaking her bed. “I guess your inspiration wall really influenced him.”
“I told you he has those instincts. And we train in water rescue weekly. It’s a little humbling that he doesn’t need me to get it done.”
The dog made a harrumph noise before he flopped over to the side. He was likely more annoyed that Alex had stopped scratching behind his ear, but the timing made her wonder.
“I think we both need you.” Alex’s face flamed. “I mean, we need you to be okay.” He cleared his throat. “I know you’re probably pretty upset with me still.”
Her heart rate monitor was bound to bring a nurse back in soon. He was referring to their conversation before those men had attacked her. That moment at the bottom of the lake wasn’t one she wanted to relive, but she understood why Alex had needed to tell her. He moved to stand, his shoulders hunched as if carrying a physical burden of shame, and she reached for his hand. He stiffened, but his eyes softened, searching her face.
“It was my call, my decision to go left through those boulders. I told you to go right. Imagine if I’d told you to go left. You don’t have as much experience on the snowmobile, especially a large one equipped like that. And you wouldn’t have had Teddy to rescue—”
“Violet, you can’t—” He froze in the middle of shaking his head. His forehead creased, and he seemed to be fighting off waves of emotion.
She held his hand tighter, desperate to make sure there was no misunderstanding each other. “You were going to tell me that in law enforcement, you can’t second-guess every decision, weren’t you?” She pressed forward before he could answer. “I saw the information in front of me, everything in front of me, and I had seconds to react. By God’s grace and the training I had to rely on, I made the best decision I could.”
Alex turned his face toward the door and started to pull away. She placed her other hand underneath his. “Please, Alex. Hear me on this. I don’t need your forgiveness. For all we know, if you had switched places with Rick, both of you could’ve died that day.” Her voice broke. She had to accept the unknown to find peace again. Otherwise, the what-ifs would destroy them both.
His chest rose and fell, and she felt his shuddered sighs as if they were her own. Teddy rested his head on Alex’s foot. Alex lifted his chin, looked at the ceiling and blew out a long breath. “Thank you, Violet.”
“Thank you for saving my life.”
He turned toward her.
She blinked rapidly, willing the blurriness away, and an awkward laugh escaped.
His face morphed into a giant grin. “I’m always surprised when you laugh and cry at the same time.”
That made her laugh again. She wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes. “I think I work so hard to hold back my emotions that when one breaks out, they all come out at once.”
“All of them?” His hand brushed away hair from her face.
Their eyes locked. “Yes,” she whispered. The noises of the hospital faded away as Alex bent over so their faces were mere inches apart. He hesitated before his lips brushed against her cheek.
A knock at the door pulled him upright. Focusing on the doctor at the threshold instead of the keen disappointment weighing on her chest proved a challenge. She barely heard the doctor’s questions or registered as he listened to her lungs and told her she could leave after a few more hours of observation. The side of her face still felt warm from where Alex had kissed her. Why did it feel like he was trying to say goodbye?
The chaos of the week began to flood her mind. The moment the doctor left the room, she turned to Alex. “Before the men broke into the house, I’d started to wonder if Rick’s death was intentional, personal. Bridget was obsessed with the profile of a perfect criminal. Chaos was her solution. If a criminal used minor crimes to thin out law enforcement resources, the bigger crime would go off without a hitch.”
“She thought the Firecracker was the perfect criminal?”
“No, she thought he could be. She thought the Firecracker’s work was the cleanest, the most sophisticated. She admired him. Whenever she got like that, Rick would break the tension by joking that if a criminal started doing what she’d suggested, we’d know to come look for her.”
Alex sat down in the nearest chair, his mouth agape. “Something about this is starting to seem familiar...”
“That’s almost exactly what Rick said to me.”
“And me,” Alex said in hushed tones.
“Was their chaos like that when Rick was...?” She hated to ask questions about his death, and yet it was a relief to ask someone who might actually know the answers.
Alex’s eyebrows jumped. “Yes. Police were overwhelmed that week with a string of robberies.” He shook his head. “But how likely is it that someone would remember college—?”
“You didn’t know Bridget. She was always suspicious, downright paranoid sometimes. She insisted those qualities would make her an excellent detective.”
“She was right, to a point. I’ve already asked the FBI to reevaluate the copycat angle. We should look at the professor who gave your group the case files to study and any other member of your study group.”
“I know it’s a long shot, but it might be worth a check.”
He hunched over, staring at the floor. “Arrangements have been made, Violet. I’m being called back in.”
She stiffened and averted her attention to the ceiling. “Back to the Salt Lake office?”
“Yes. I put in a request before you woke up. I thought you wouldn’t want to see me again.”
“Obviously, that’s not true.” Her words came out in a whisper, straining against her tightening throat. She reached for her water and drank, hoping it would relieve the tense emotions, as well.
“I’m doing my best to convince my boss that what’s happening with you this week is connected to the Firecracker, but I don’t have enough evidence.” He gripped the arms of the chair and squeezed, his knuckles turning white. “Since the future Federal Reserve nominee has left, they figure the danger to you has left, as well.”
“No evidence? You must be joking. The bombing at the parking lot—”
“The explosives were stolen from the ranger shed. Your snow ranger confirmed that. But I’m trying to tell you that we have no proof of any connection to the druggings and the—”
“What about the laser scope I saw?”
“That’s not the Firecracker MO.” He exhaled. “We both know someone has it in for you and everyone around you, but we don’t have proof it’s related to the assassination attempt. It’s just conjecture.” He splayed his fingers wide, set them on top of his knees and leaned forward, finally looking at her. “Would you consider moving to Boise?”
The question jolted her. She set down the water. “What?”
“It’s only a couple of hours away. You’d be close to the Boise National Forest, so you should be able to transfer, under the circumstances. It has a big enough population and plenty of small towns nearby to start your search-and-rescue school.”
She studied his pleading expression. Was he trying to tell her he was going to move to Boise, too? She knew the FBI had an office there.
“Your family is there,” he added. “Your mom and sister, right? And there’s more law enforcement. A city would be safer.”
The taste in her mouth turned sour. He just wanted to get her safety off his conscience. He was leaving, and whatever brief wonderings she’d had about a future together vanished before her eyes. “Will you go back to undercover work?”
He twisted his lips to the side. “Trying to change the subject?”
She shrugged.
“No,” he answered.
“I thought you still have a couple undercover cases you’re working.”
“I was taken off those so I could follow the Firecracker lead my informant gave me. They’ll turn my absence into rumors of my demise.”
“Is it that easy to fake a death?”
His eyes darkened, and he shifted in his chair. “People see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear,” he said softly. “I’ve been wanting to check with the officers who responded to Bridget’s car crash and find out more about her death, as well.”
The change in subject was a welcome one. She wasn’t ready to discuss leaving Sunshine Valley. “I think that’s a good idea.” The thought that Bridget could’ve gotten away with faking her own death horrified her. Bridget on the loose without accountability... She’d either be a vigilante or worse, much worse.
If Violet agreed to move to Boise, the people she left behind might be safer, but what if she brought the danger to her mom and sister? The thought of her family brought her mind back to Daniella. Last thing Violet had heard, the girl was still unconscious. “Is Daniella in the hospital? I’d like to see her.”
He nodded slowly. “She woke up a few hours ago. I actually need to ask her a few questions.”
Daniella had been drugged and helpless in her dad’s car, so close to that bombing. And all because of Violet. She dropped her head into her hands. The past couple of years, she had worked so hard at being okay, at staying busy, at living life without needing others. Now she saw that existence as the lie it was. The people in this town were near and dear to her heart, and she’d been fooling herself to believe that she could live without love again. But it was clearly too late.
“I’d like to get dressed and go with you,” she said. “Go ahead and make those calls. The faster you do, the faster you can pack up and leave, right?”
He pulled his chin back, then slowly nodded before leaving the room. She hadn’t forgotten that Alex’s image had also been circled in the photograph. He’d be the next target, she was certain. If they couldn’t find the person doing this, she’d never be safe again and neither would anyone she cared about. The faster Alex left, the better, for the sake of his safety and her heart. But if he left, would they lose the only chance that remained to finally capture Rick’s killer?