Page 20 of Snow River

She shot him an uneasy glance as he walked back to his box of knives.“Wait,” she called.“We still don’t know what kind of knife I saw.”

He turned and held up the sheath.“This kind of sheath is for a throwing knife about six inches long.We’ve been working with hunting knives, because that’s what most people use out here.Hang on.”

After rummaging through his box again, he pulled out a six-inch knife that was just one piece of steel, with no grip.One end was sharpened to a point, the other left dull so it could be held.

“Throwing knives are very different.They’re either balanced or unbalanced.This one is balanced.I’m going to throw it, you tell me if it matches what you saw.”

Now that she’d thrown a knife herself, she could appreciate his quickness and grace even more.The knife spun through the air and embedded itself in the trunk of a cottonwood, where it vibrated, the thud echoing through the forest.

She nodded numbly.“That’s it.That’s definitely it.”

“That’s significant.A throwing knife wouldn’t be anyone’s weapon of choice.That suggests whoever threw it isn’t a hunter or someone comfortable in the wilderness.Maybe knife-throwing is a hobby of his.Rita surprised him and he used whatever weapon he had at hand.”

Lila barely listened as she thought about Rita Casey’s last moments.That poor woman had felt a knife just like that one rip into her back.Lila shuddered as she imagined the burn of it, the terrifying assault of it.Had she known it was a knife, or had she thought it was a bear?Why had she come to the woods alone?She wasn’t from here, she wasn’t an experienced Alaska local who knew how to handle the wilderness.

She hadn’t come here alone.

That knowledge came the way all her intuitions did.Suddenly and absolutely.

“Someone was with her.”Her voice was faint, barely a breath.She cleared her throat and climbed to her feet.The fallen leaves shifted, and suddenly there was the knife she’d thrown.She picked it up, and immediately felt stronger and more confident.Maybe she was about to become a knife person.

“What was that?”Bear was busy packing up his box of knives.

“Someone came out here with her.But they got separated.She was hoping to find him, and they were trying to get help.Don’t ask me for any more details, because that’s all I’ve got.”

11

Bear couldn’t get awayfrom Firelight Ridge until he’d tackled at least some of the fall tasks that had piled up.He had to finish splitting the rest of the firewood he’d harvested from Esther Holt’s place.Eve Dotterkind asked him to dig up her potato crop before the ground froze.In exchange, she offered up a nice supply of potatoes for the winter.Gunnar needed his help fixing his gas pump before the next fuel delivery, which could very well be the last one before the road closed for the winter.

Then there were the usual winter preps at The Fang.Generator maintenance.A broken window to be replaced.The batteries for his solar system had to be switched out.

Once he’d compiled a worthy enough list, he left the bar in Lila’s hands.He had a roster of part-timers he could call on to fill in, but this time of year, everyone was busy.One more reason to hire a cook—something he’d been thinking about lately.Lila’s sporadic soups were great, but what if they brought on someone consistent, someone who could bake as well?

He found Lila sweeping the floor in preparation for opening.He didn’t always bother with that detail, but she insisted.

“I might have to stay overnight in Blackbear after I meet with Cromwell.Can you close and open again tomorrow?If not, just put up a closed sign.Same goes if you need to skip out of here and do something else at any point.”

“Of course.You can count on me.”

But he caught a wistful look in her eyes.“Need anything from town?”

She paused and folded her hands on the broom handle.“I wouldn’t mind a mocha latte with chocolate sprinkles.”

“Uh…I was thinking more like, winter boots, or long underwear.You know, winter survival kind of thing.”

“Bear.”She shook her head at him.“There’s more to life than surviving.I miss my lattes!Now that Billy Jack closed down the breakfast bus for the winter, there’s nowhere to pick up a foamy drink.It’s a tragic loss for our community.”

“I’ll add it to the list,” he said dryly.“One mocha latte.Right between a new lithium iron battery and sheets of foam insulation for the shed.”

She gave him a sunny smile, refusing to take his bait.“Thank you very kindly.And don’t forget the sprinkles.”

He took one last glance at her before he pushed out the door.Sometimes it seemed surreal that this fascinating fairy-like woman had landed in his bar and apparently wanted to stay.Lila reminded him of a monarch butterfly that had landed on his shoulder while he was deer-hunting.He’d stopped in his tracks and watched it from the corner of his eye until he got a crick in his neck from the awkward angle.A Sitka deer had wandered past, not fifty yards away, and still he hadn’t moved.Nothing had mattered except giving that butterfly the rest and safety it needed in that moment.

Eventually it had flitted away, leaving him with the sense of having been blessed.

The same thing would happen with Lila, sooner or later.She’d flutter off to somewhere warmer, somewhere easier.In the meantime, whatever she needed, he would provide for her.

When he reached the Blackbear police station three hours later, Officer Cromwell was none too happy to see him.“Starting to think you want your old job back, ex-Officer Davis.”

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