Page 11 of Cold Light of Day

Of what or of whom?

“I was out on a boat. It sank. End of story.”

That could happen. And while it made sense, Autumn didn’t believe her. She couldn’t explain why, other than intuition and the fear Sarah tried to hide. She could have died, and Autumn didn’t want to push her for answers just yet. She’d let her recover and return later. The doctor had said he would keep her overnight for observation.

Then, of course, she’d decided she wanted to look for the sunken boat. When she returned to speak with Sarah, she would have enough information to press her for answers. Autumn rubbed her eyes as images of Grier flitted across her mind.

When she asked him to dive with her, he seemed reluctant, and for her part, she would have preferred to ask someone else.

Anyone else.

But if she wanted to dive quickly so she could be ready to question Sarah again, Grier was her man. She didn’t know him well and sensed he hid something, but at the end of the day, here in Alaska, who wasn’t hiding something? But he had proved himself before when he’d brought her drunk father home rather than letting him drive, and then again today when he risked his life to save a stranger. His actions only confirmed what Autumn already knew—she could trust him on the dive with her. Better him than a stranger out of Anchorage who could have connections to Wally. She rolled her eyes at the paranoid thought.

Besides, she preferred to think about Grier. He wasn’t from around here, but he’d quickly fit in with the locals. Autumn got mixed signals from him, though—like he kept to himself, or wanted to, but was ready to help when needed.

She had a feeling about him ... an idea about who he really was—

The door to her office opened, and Tanya stuck her head inand smiled. With her Tlingit ancestry and long black hair, Tanya was beautiful and never seemed to age. Autumn could only hope she would look that good at fifty-three. Tanya worked as the all-around office administrator and on-call dispatch when Kelly Jeffers wasn’t around for the night shift. The five of them—counting her three officers, Ross, Craig, and Angie—managed the Shadow Gap PD.

Shadow Gap might be a small town, but crime still existed.

Tanya handed off more reports to add to the stack on Autumn’s desk to prove it. “Here you go. They’re from the last two days, Chief.” While Autumn wanted to think of the police department as one small, happy family, at least one of her officers—Craig, Wally’s nephew—wasn’t keen on her being head of the department, and so the rest of them called her Chief as a reminder that she was the one in charge. Sure, she got her hands dirty—she literally got out there to investigate alongside her officers—but she didn’t want to give anyone the idea she wasn’t also in charge.

Especially now that she was no longer certified through the state of Alaska. A pang ricocheted in her chest. She couldn’t deny their decision had hurt. But Tanya didn’t need to know that.

The woman winked and closed the door. Having Tanya as the office encourager, and knowing the woman had her back, went a long way to bolster Autumn’s confidence, except when it came to her father. She really needed to check on him but instead procrastinated in her office.

For the rest of the afternoon, she kept her head down and focused on reading through and signing the reports—and ignored the remorse that kept cropping up at the fact that she hadn’t gone home to see Dad earlier in the day after she returned from her trip.

When Tanya finally opened the door again, it was dark outside.

Autumn caught the keys that Tanya tossed. She’d taken the Interceptor to get supplies when her Ford Explorer wouldn’t start. “Almost forgot to return these. I had to park it in the back, by the way. Listen, Ted and my granddaughter Kimmie are waiting on me outside. He tried to start the Explorer, then looked under the hood and decided he can’t fix it, so it’ll sit there until he comes back to tow it later tonight or tomorrow morning.” Tanya frowned. “You look tired. You should call it a day too. I bet your dad is wondering about Anchorage.” A look of compassion crossed her face, and she shoved a strand of her black hair back. “I know it’s hard.”

She didn’t add “to face him.”

Autumn might have responded with, “You have no idea,” except if anyone knew, Tanya was that person. She understood Autumn too well and had also worked for Dad when he was chief, so she knew him equally as well. And maybe she understood the pain that followed his accident, along with his downward spiral.

Autumn dragged in a long breath of stale office air. She needed to go home but first had to work up the courage.

“You’re right. I’ll take him some supper.” She could lead with that and maybe head off a bad night.

It shouldn’t be so hard to face Dad, but oddly, he was her biggest problem.

SIX

Grier entered his private wilderness getaway—a 530-square-foot rustic cabin with one bed and only one bath, but, hey, this was Alaska and he was surrounded by a beautiful rain forest on two acres almost four miles out of town. That was about as far as the road went or the electricity extended. In his mind, this place was as far from civilization as he could push himself to stay for any length of time beyond a day—at least by choice.

Cap jumped off the old sofa that had come with the place, and Grier rubbed the thick white-and-black fur on his head and ears. “I missed you too, buddy.”

He let the dog outside to run around in the fresh air. He and Cap had become fast friends just like he had with the others he’d met in Shadow Gap, and he loved the dog. He suspected Cap wouldn’t be outside long, because while he liked the snow, he hated the rain.

Grier shared the sentiment, and since he’d had enough rain and water today, he shut the door. Cap would let him know when he wanted back in. Pressing his back against the cold wood surface, now, finally, Grier could let himself breathe. He might have been holding his breath ever since the chief askedhim to dive with her. Of course, that couldn’t be true, but it felt real enough, and his heart rate finally settled to a normal-ish, steady rhythm.

Grier pushed off the door and in four strides was at the woodstove. He opened it and stoked the fire to warm the cabin, thinking over the day’s events. One simple act of kindness. But because he rescued Sarah, he now had to dive with the chief tomorrow morning. One thing had led to another. A step in the wrong direction or veering off the trail even a little could land a traveler far from his destination.

Grier had burrowed deep in this small town lost in Alaska, his only intention to remain under the radar until he didn’t have to disappear anymore. Over the last several months, he’d almost started to believe he might live here forever, because he had no plans to leave until it was safe.

So he’d stayed hidden in plain sight. Only a fiery woman with odd eyes could bring him out of his hole, and that’s exactly what was happening now. She was the police chief, after all, and any relationship with her on the friendship spectrum wouldn’t end well no matter how many ways he considered it, especially since she not only had a big brother, buthewas an Alaska State Trooper.

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