Page 11 of Smoky Lake

“Should we go back inside now?” she murmured.

“Let’s wait a little longer, just to be safe. They might know we’re hiding, and plan to turn around and ambush us. Might as well get comfortable.” He brushed something away from her face. “Don’t let this pushki touch your skin. It secretes a substance that reacts to sunlight and can give you blisters.”

“Maybe we should go a little farther away from the house.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be—” Oh. He must be talking about her limp. “I can walk just fine, in fact I can hike several miles without a problem,” she said irritably. “I’m on my feet all day at work. You won’t catch me running down a trail, but I can keep a steady pace.”

He gave another of those matter-of-fact nods. “Okay.”

She liked that he didn’t ask any more questions. It wasn’t his business. Except maybe it was, if they were going to walk any distance together. She decided not to hold his original question against him. Are you okay with that? was innocuous enough.

Not that she was sensitive about her limp…it was just a part of her by now. But she was so used to it that she forgot that it stood out to other people. She didn’t want them to focus on it instead of her.

But Gil hadn’t done that, he’d simply checked in with her. Fair enough.

He rose to his feet and was about to head deeper into the ravine, when she remembered the car she’d borrowed from Gunnar to come out here. “How long do you think we’ll be gone? I told Gunnar I’d bring his car back later today.”

“Can someone come pick it up? I want to go to Smoky Lake to search the building where Victor was working. It might be a couple of days.”

“A couple of days?” She ended in a squeak. “I can’t just disappear for a couple of days. My friends would worry about me.”

He studied her face, showing no expression. It probably didn’t matter to him whether she came with him or not.

“I understand. It’s probably safer if you go back. Victor isn’t your problem. All I ask is that if you feel like you’re in danger, either call me immediately or get somewhere safe.” He took her phone and added his number to her contacts. “And keep my whereabouts to yourself, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course. I know how to keep a confidence, with patients and with friends. Virtual strangers, too, of course. Although hiding in the pushki has brought us closer together, don’t you think?”

He merely lifted one eyebrow and gazed down at her like that fearsome Highland warrior Victor had described.

A thrill traveled through her. What would it be like to abandon all sanity—all normal rules of common sense—and disappear into the wilderness with Gil McGowan? She’d never seen Smoky Lake, but she’d heard it described as remote, beautiful, and mysterious.

But Gil wasn’t going on a sightseeing trip. If she simply wanted to see the place, Sam could probably fly her over it. This was a quest for answers, an investigation. And she had responsibilities to tend to. She was supervising the treatment of two injured teenagers.

And face it, she was an indoors kind of person, not someone who loved the wilderness. For all her bravado about her leg, walking several miles over rough terrain would be difficult.

She squashed that adventurous, reckless part of her and stuck out her hand. “I should get back to reality. It was nice to meet you, Gil McGowan.”

“You too, Ani Devi.”

They shook hands in the shade of the ravine, surrounded by pushki and spruce saplings clinging to the steep rock walls. His palm felt rough and warm against hers, and his eyes picked up the deep green of the forest. The way he looked at her, with such close attention…she wasn’t used to it, and it gave her a shiver down her spine.

“You’re a kind person,” he said, as if coming to a sudden decision. He dropped her hand. “It was kind of you to worry about Victor enough to come see me.”

“Will you let me know if you find out anything?”

“Possibly.”

At her questioning look, he explained, “It depends on what I find out. There’s a chance his research has put him in someone’s crosshairs. He hinted about that. If that’s what’s going on, I wouldn’t want you to be involved. He wants me to protect you.”

That certainly made sense, and yet, as she picked her way back along the embankment toward his house, she felt…empty. As if she’d let something important slip away.

6

As she drove back down the road toward Firelight Ridge, Ani kept a careful eye out for camouflage Jeeps. She didn’t see any, nor did she pass any in town. Had they already gone back to Blackbear, or Kursk, or wherever they’d come from?

Lila was on shift at The Fang, which opened at noon. If there were military folks around town, people would be talking about it and she would have heard.

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