Page 4 of Wind Valley

The door of The Fang swung open and Gunnar, the mechanic, and a couple of his buddies strode in. Her body automatically tensed. Any group of men put her on guard until she could see their faces and eliminate the possibility that SS had found her.

SS. Scary Stalker. She refused to say his name even in the safe space of her own head. That would be like calling an evil spirit into her life.

Gunnar waved at her cheerfully. None of the men with him were SS, of course. Gunnar probably wouldn’t be friends with someone like that anyway. He was a tall blond Viking type who sold propane to Pinky at cost. A good guy.

But SS had also seemed like a good guy. That was why she didn’t trust her own judgment anymore. He’d fooled her, at least at first.

Why was she even thinking about him? She was safe here in Firelight Ridge. The only road in was closed for the winter. The entire place was blanketed in snow. There was barely any cell service and very little Wi-Fi. She’d changed her number and her email address, and was staying off social media entirely. She’d been here in Alaska for nearly a month without any hint that he’d found her. Or was even looking for her.

Her phone chimed, making her jump. The Fang had a pretty week signal, but her phone must have connected anyway. Back home in Colorado, her phone pinged all the time with messages and notifications, except while she was teaching, of course. But here it rarely happened, and the quiet was a relief.

She smiled when she saw Marco’s handsome avatar next to the text he’d sent. But all happiness fled when she read it.

Your official sentinel and bestie checking in. SS came by the apartment today. I answered with phone in hand. 9 and 1 already dialed. Said you were on vaca and out of cell range. He got angry so I dialed the last 1. He left before the cops came, and he’s probs buddies with them anyway. I showed them the restraining order, but they said it doesn’t apply because it’s my apartment, not yours, and you aren’t here.

She checked the time the text was sent. Now, basically. But that was how it worked, wasn’t it? When texts couldn’t send until there was a connection, the timestamp would be the moment they finally did get through.

Just in case he was still online, she texted him back. Are you safe? I hate that you’re caught up in this.

A moment later, her phone chimed again. OMG is it really you? Thought you might have turned into a snowman. Snow-woman

Snow-goddess to you

She couldn’t help joking around, since teasing was Marco’s native language.

Yes ma’am. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I volunteered for this. Watch your back. I didn’t tell him anything, but who knows with that MFer.

Good point. When it came to SS, she never knew what he might do.

“You okay?”

She jerked her head up to find Lachlan gazing at her kindly. The sudden shift from dark fear to friendly green eyes disoriented her. “Yes. Fine. Good.”

Clearly, she wasn’t fine or good, and clearly, he could tell that. He gestured with his head toward the other end of the bar, where Lila was tying a bar apron around her waist. From her prematurely white hair to her tiny form, Lila had an endearing pixie vibe to her.

“Lila got here early. You want to come back to my place and look at some maps?” His face reddened as he heard the words he’d just said. “Uh, that sounded…”

“I’d love to.” She jumped off her stool, antsy to get out of here. It was getting too crowded, and that made her nervous. “Can you give me a ride back here?”

“Of course. It’s not far.”

It wasn’t until she was in the passenger seat of Lachlan’s Nissan Frontier that she realized that she’d hopped right in without a second thought. She should really be more careful. It was much too easy to let her guard down around Lachlan McGowan.

3

As he drove, Lachlan watched a bald eagle float high above them, riding an invisible updraft along the bluff near his place. His house sat on the edge of a ravine that filled up with lush pushki in the summer, and piles of snow in the winter.

He’d bought it for the glass French doors that opened onto a back deck with a view of Fire Peak. That was before he’d learned that the only time it was warm enough to sit out there was in the summer, which also happened to be the time you’d get swarmed with black flies and mosquitoes the second you stepped out the door.

But that bald eagle…there was something strange about how it was flying. It seemed both sluggish and erratic. Drunk? Flying under the influence? Maybe it had just come from the eagle version of The Fang?

He brought himself back to attention as they pulled up outside his house. He and Gil had shoveled out two spaces and a turnaround—an ongoing project that took a couple of hours every time another snowstorm hit. Gil’s black Subaru took up one of the spaces, which meant that most likely either Ani or Gil was home at the moment. All for the best—that would probably make Maura feel less uncomfortable. He’d noticed that she was skittish, and not just around him. Maybe someday she’d completely relax in his presence. He wasn’t sure how to make that happen, except by proving himself over time to be trustworthy.

“My brother’s here,” he said absently as he maneuvered his truck into the second parking spot. “He might have some ideas.”

“Do we have to tell him?”

He glanced over at her in surprise. “You don’t trust Gil?”

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