Page 68 of Fire Peak

Ani shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips. “I worry about you. But I know you, Charlie. Remember what happened after the track meet shooting?”

The mention of that event sent chills along Charlie’s spine. They rarely talked about it, the four of them. Lila’s intuition had saved them when she insisted they all skip that meet.

“You got really involved in marches and advocating for more mental health support and gun restrictions. You’re a fighter for justice. I don’t know exactly what you do with your hacking, but I trust that you’re doing it for good.”

Charlie’s throat was so tight she had to force the words out. “You always believe the best in people.”

Ani’s face went shadowed. “Not always.”

Charlie cursed herself for being insensitive. If anyone knew the dark side of humanity, it was Ani. “Sorry.”

Impulsively, she pulled her friend close for a hug. “Thank you. Thanks for being my friend.”

“That goes both ways, you know.”

They hugged each other for a bit. After all this was over, she was going to tell Lila and Molly too, Charlie vowed to herself. Then she pulled away. There was work to be done. So long as someone with a bow and arrow was lurking in the area, she couldn’t just sit around moping because her father was all grown up now.

“I need to find April and ask her some questions.”

“Let me check your bandage first,” Ani said firmly. “Then you can do your detective thing.”

But as much as Charlie searched for April, the entire day passed without a single sighting of her. No one seemed to know where she was.

The only success Charlie had was unearthing the ownership status of Fire Peak.

Which was a real shocker.

April owned the entirety of Fire Peak.

Everything else in the immediate vicinity was federal land, except for the stretch of border along Chilkoot property.

Another search told her that no other mountain peak in the Wrangell-St.Elias ranges was in private hands. Somehow, April had managed to claim the entire thing. Had she paid off a surveyor? An assessor? All of the above? Or just gotten lucky?

She was a member of the Whitfield family, after all.

30

Nick arrived at The Fang around nine. He spotted Bear moving from one customer to the next with a grace that defied his big frame. Bear caught his eye and shook his head ‘no.’

Damnit. He hesitated, wondering if he should just go back to the rental cabin and join Hailey while she watched a video—an actual VHS videotape, which struck her as hilarious. Especially because the only videotape they could get to play was Goonies.

Or he could hang out for a bit and hope that the Russian-ish man showed up. According to Bear, he’d been wearing high-tech outerwear gear, which fit with the other bits of info he and Charlie had gathered.

Bear came over to take his order. “Sorry for the no-show.”

“Do you think he’ll still show up?”

“He might. I told him his next drink was on the house, made up an excuse.”

“Good man.”

Bear jerked his head toward the other end of the bar. “You know, he was talking to Pinky last night. You could see what you can get out of him.”

Pinky Barker had earned his nickname when he’d shot off his own finger while being chased by a bear. The bear had turned out to be a large porcupine. Porcupines didn’t chase people. So Pinky’s story had a few holes, but no one bothered to call him on it.

Nick liked the guy, but he wasn’t the sharpest arrow in the quiver. Pinky loved to ramble on about his favorite topic, sacred geometry. Getting information from him would be like fishing for a tadpole in a whitewater river.

But you never knew, and information-gathering was his job. So he grabbed the Mason jar of beer that Bear brought him, and hitched himself onto the stool next to Pinky. The old man beamed a smile at him.

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