Page 173 of Heart of Frost and Scars

This feeling in my chest…I don’t know how to process it or what to call it. The throbbing, twisting hollowness of it hits me the hardest at night after hearing Frankie’s voice.

I think I’m homesick. I don’t miss the island or Sitka or any specific place. I miss her.

“I’m ready to go home,” I mutter. “Back to her.”

“I know.” He slumps beside me on the bed. “Me, too.”

The next few days blur into a monotonous cycle of searching and refueling. Each day, we push ourselves further, scouring a new section of the grid under the glare of the endless midnight sun.

Despite our exhaustion, we take time each night to connect with Monty and Frankie before crashing into bone-tired sleep.

As the week draws to a close, our spirits are battered but unbroken.

We have yet to find anything. No trace of Wolf. No hint of Hoss. But the search isn’t over. As long as the sun burns in the sky, we’ll keep looking. For Wolf, for Frankie, for the answers that continue to elude us.

Finally, we return to Sitka. As I step off the plane, the island beckoning in the distance, I know one thing for certain.

We’ll find him. We owe him that much and more.

The hunt isn’t over. Not by a long shot.

38

Frankie

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The air-conditioning in the den blasts from the vents, chilling me to the bone and making me brittle.

Doyle leans forward in the chair, facing me, his eyes intense, magnetic, trying to draw me in, but I feel nothing.

I’ve learned to be wary of pretty faces and charming smiles.

Thank you, Denver.

“How are you feeling today?” He brushes his hand against mine. A fleeting touch, but it makes me shudder.

“Trapped,” I admit. “It’s been a month since Leo and Kody started searching for Wolf’s body in the Arctic. Whenever they return to Sitka, I hardly see them. Kody’s busy with the distillery, and Leo’s finishing flight school. I feel so alone.”

Doyle knows too much. More than he should. I’ve been seeing him for three months, and he’s heard it all—every gruesome detail about my time with Denver, my relationship with Leo and Kody, Wolf’s suicide, and the stalker.

The stalker who’s been silent since we received Wolf’s photo.

“You’re not alone,” he says. “You have me.”

“For two hours a week.” I laugh, hiding my discomfort. “Rhett is still holding my job. I want to go back to work. I need to feel useful, to have a purpose.”

“Your mental health is just as important as your physical safety. If going back to work makes you happy, you should do it. Even with the stalker threat, you can take security guards with you.”

“I live with three men who would be absolutely furious to hear you say that. They want to protect me.”

“Protect you? Or control you?”

“No one controls me.”

Leo and Kody are my world, but their quests for closure and independence keep them from me. I understand, but it doesn’t make the loneliness any easier.

They’re somewhere in the Arctic Circle right now with Sirena. When they return, they’ll be upset and worked up, their eyes haunted by another failed mission. And they’ll direct that aggression at me.

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