Page 80 of Wind Valley

Yes, he was definitely experiencing some confusion. No wonder, after the trauma of being tied up in his own home.

“Pinky, look at me,” he said gently. When the old man’s watery blue eyes were fixed on him, he said in the clearest, calmest voice he could manage, “Maura needs our help. If Andrea lets us go free, you’ll show us where the rest of Nutty Professor’s stuff is, won’t you?”

42

Maura refused to hold onto SS on the backseat of the snowmobile, figuring that she’d rather fall into the snow and take her chances than touch the man. He didn’t seem to notice. Something told her he wasn’t making the best decisions. He seemed off-kilter, on edge, desperate.

“How did you find me here?”

“Followed that private investigator. I’m a police officer, it’s what I do.”

She had to admit that was pretty clever. “Probably not for long, the way you keep breaking laws.”

“That’s your fault, the way you keep playing hard to get.”

Hard to get? Try never get! she wanted to scream. But she was still afraid of him, afraid of how unpredictable he was. Would he hurt her? Would he abandon her here in the wilderness? What was his plan here anyway?

“What do you want from me? My feelings haven’t changed,” she said carefully.

“Shut up. I have to think.”

They hit a spruce branch weighed especially low by the snow, and he nearly lost control of the snow machine. “Slow down,” she cried. “It’ll be easier for you to think if you aren’t driving so fast.”

“You just want them to catch us, don’t you?”

“Who would catch us? How? You left them tied up with bungee cords.”

“It doesn’t matter. Even if they do catch us, it’ll be too late.”

Alarm bells sounded inside her. “What do you mean, too late? What’s going on here?”

He said nothing, just steered the snowmobile between towering spruce trees. They were traveling through a pristine winter wonderland, and yet she was living her worst nightmare. The contrast was jarringly surreal. His snowmobile was new and expensive, and quiet—it purred over the snow, and they were able to converse fairly easily. How had he afforded such a pricey piece of machinery? He wasn’t wealthy.

Something was off with SS, and she didn’t know what.

Her fear shifted, turned from a helpless feeling to a need to fight back. She’d fled here to Alaska and she’d survived—and thrived. That took resourcefulness. Call upon it now. Figure this out.

“Look, I know how much trouble you’re in. There’s that woman who’s accusing you of harassment. Then you crossed state lines so you could stalk me.”

“I didn’t break any laws,” he growled.

“You broke into our hotel room.”

“They let me in.”

“Maybe they did. But then you came here and you invaded my grandfather’s house and tied him up. You punched Lachlan and tied him up. That’s not good. You’re not thinking clearly. But it’s okay…I’m sure I can convince Pinky and Lachlan not to press charges. I won’t testify against you. All of this can be smoothed out. Just like always.”

That bitter fact left a sour taste in her mouth, but facts were facts. So far, SS had completely avoided accountability. And right now, she just wanted to get away from him.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t care. This is happening. It’s all I can think about. I picture it every time I close my eyes.”

“What do you picture?” She hid a shudder. “Us? Me?”

“Yes, but not here. Someplace better.”

Just as she was puzzling over that, he asked abruptly, “What’s Wind Valley?”

“Well, it’s a valley.” She wasn’t sure what he meant. None of this was making sense. “It has very steep walls and it’s oriented toward the prevailing winds, so it’s kind of a natural wind tunnel. The air currents are so tricky that most pilots won’t go near it.”

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