Page 2 of Fire Peak

Whatever the reason, a crowd of people could be advantageous for her. She bounced down the road, scanning the group for anyone she recognized. And then—red hair! Yes! She’d recognize Molly Evans’ mulberry-merlot hair anywhere. And near her, a flash of pristine silvery white. That had to be Lila, whose hair had turned pure white after her eighteenth birthday. Two of her three closest friends were only a hundred yards away.

The four of them—Molly, Lila, Ani, and Charlie—had survived so much together. Please let this be one more of those times.

She gunned the BMW down the gravel road, nearly spinning out in a muddy spot. Then she screeched to a halt a few yards from the small knot of people gathered around…was that a bulldozer? It seemed to be decorated with flowers.

Of course! Molly had mentioned a memorial service for Daniel O’Connor, the murdered plow truck driver. She was crashing a funeral. Sorry, everyone!

Heads turned. She saw Molly recognize her own car—Red. Molly frowned and peered in closer, saying something to Lila, who had stepped to her side.

Charlie crossed herself quickly and said a muttered prayer for the departed. Once a Catholic schoolgirl, always a Catholic schoolgirl, even though the nuns had kicked her out at the age of twelve.

One last look at the rearview told her Nick Perini was closing in fast. She jumped out of the car, slung her travel bag over her shoulder, grabbed the fish tank and dashed toward Molly and Lila.

“I need some help,” she said, breathless. “I’ll explain everything later, but right now I have about two minutes until that man catches up to me.”

She thrust the tank at Lila; it was her goldfish, after all.

Lila’s mouth fell open in a gasp, but Molly didn’t hesitate.

“Sam!” She beckoned to a tall dark-haired man who Charlie realized in a flash was the pilot Molly had fallen for—and the man she’d probably marry someday. She’d never seen her friend look at a man like that. “Charlie needs to disappear. Any suggestions?”

Charlie checked over her shoulder and swore. “Make that one minute.”

“It’s okay,” Sam told her. “We got you.”

She liked the man already. Which was a good thing, because she wanted only the best for her best friend.

Sam clapped his hands for attention. “Listen up, everyone! This is a friend, and she needs a hand.”

A big man stepped forward, all muscles and tawny-copper skin. Tattoos snaked along his arms. He looked like he’d been carved from a chunk of sandstone by awestruck acolytes. He beckoned with his chin. “Come with me.”

Charlie hesitated. He was a total stranger, after all, and not exactly warm-and-fuzzy looking.

“It’s okay,” Lila whispered. “That’s Bear, he’s my boss, and he’s the sweetest man in the world.”

The man folded his arms across his chest and scowled at her. “Thought you were in a hurry.”

Another man joined him. This one was younger, his blond hair shaven along one side of his head. He wore an oil-stained mechanic’s jumpsuit that barely contained his pectorals and so forth. Was this what men in Alaska looked like, or was Firelight Ridge particularly blessed with intimidating mountain men? More importantly, was this a case of “out of the frying pan into the fire”?

Charlie drew in a breath and remembered that Lila, with her gift of intuition, had never led her wrong.

In fact, Lila had literally saved her life.

She should trust her now, and go with the Bear and the Viking. So she did.

The two of them used their bodies to shield her from outside eyes as they hustled her a few feet across the gravel into a side door that led into a mechanic’s shop. The smell of diesel saturated the place, which she found oddly reassuring. Her father had enjoyed working on his vintage Chevy convertible back in the day.

“There.” The Viking opened the door to a storage closet filled with cases of motor oil and other supplies. “There’s a nook back there where I do my paperwork. I might play a little Fortnite back there too. And a few other things. No one will find you there, even if they open this door.”

“Which they won’t, because I’ll be right outside,” Bear added in the deepest voice she’d ever heard on a man.

“You don’t mind if I give you some bolts to sort while you’re hanging out, right?” Viking grinned at Bear, who just narrowed his eyes in a way that had the younger man backing down immediately. He turned back to Charlie. “I’m Gunnar, by the way.”

“Charlie. I really appreciate this, Gunnar.” She stepped through the door, feeling her heart rate spike. Closed-in spaces weren’t her favorite. She’d spent too much time visiting her father at the Indiana State Penitentiary. Every time she walked out of that place, it took her at least half an hour to breathe freely again.

“Hey, Lila’s one of us now. Molly, too. Just not sure she knows it yet.”

“Anything for Lila,” Bear agreed.

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