She’d forgotten her client for a minute. She looked back and smiled. “Fine, just not sure about the trail. Sorry.” Honesty was the best policy, she believed, so she didn’t pretend she was sure she knew where she was going.
Darci was a good sport. Even when the trail disappeared altogether and they were trudging through the snow, pushing the weight of the sled to help the dogs as they struggled through the thick snow, she kept a good attitude. At one point she ran up to Ellie and asked if they were going to be okay. That was when Ellie stopped them, pulled out her SAT phone. She hadn’t wanted to use it before because it felt like admitting defeat. But it was necessary. Brandt gave her directions based on the GPS location her tracker showed, and she got them back here.
They were fine.
Nothing had happened.
Except...the trail she’d taken had been wide and packed down. But after they turned around and reached the junction where it connected to the real trail, Ellie had felt like the snow got deeper. Like someone made a false trail but then covered its entrance with snow again so no one else would take it, so no one could find her, maybe.
But had Ellie imagined the feeling of being watched from the woods?
She didn’t think so. It had been more than a quick impression. It had felt like a steadfast stare.
“Are you okay?” Seth asked her now, standing in front of her. He laid a hand on her arm, the familiar weight of it relaxing her shoulders, making her feel like she had permission to fall apart.
Permission didn’t make it practical, though. Maybe the others around the fire would think she was crying from stress. Maybe that would be okay with them. Or maybe she and Seth would be fired and unable to look into any of the people they wanted to investigate. Brandt. Halley. Peter. Jared.
“I’m...” She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“The trail?”
“I think it was intentional. The trail I took was fantastic, fresh and better than the correct one. Then it narrowed and disappeared. On my way back, though, it seemed like some of the snow had been moved back to hide my side trail. Maybe that’s why you didn’t take it.”
“Do you think someone...what? Put a snow machine down it and then turned around?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m not sure. But I am sure that it wasn’t an accident.”
“But to what purpose? Nothing happened, right?”
She set her snow hook and stepped off the sled runners, moved toward her sled back to get her dogs dinner. “I don’t know.”
Seth followed her, waiting for more, and Ellie didn’t blame him for the look of confusion he wore on his face. She wasn’t making much sense right now.
“I felt like someone was watching me,” she finally admitted to him.
He stood there, inches from her, and she wished he’d do something, pull her in his arms, tell her it would be okay. But she knew she’d made it clear that she didn’t want more than friendship with him. Seth would be careful not to do anything that could make her feel pressured.
So he stood there, arms at his sides, though she noticed his fists were clenched.
“But you’re right,” she said, trying to reassure both of them to ease the tension. “Nothing happened.”
“That isn’t nothing.”
Ellie fed the last of her dogs and then started unhooking their tuglines, which connected to their harnesses. This, Seth had explained to her, gave them more room to move and lie down to rest, and signaled to them that they were taking a break. It was part of what they’d practiced on the run near Wasilla.
“Ellie, you’re back. Everything all right?” Brandt was coming toward them.
“She had some trouble with trail finding.”
She recognized that take-charge tone of Seth’s and stood quickly. She didn’t need him trying to handle this and getting both of them in trouble or drawing suspicion. “I lost the trail, as you know, but thanks for helping.”
“My directions were good?”
She nodded. “Yes, thank you.”
“Why did she get lost in the first place?” Seth asked. “We had that entire orientation, and you went over quite a bit of information, but giving the trail map to the mushers taking your clients on this trip wasn’t a high priority? You said Halley would get them to us before we left.”
“Seth...” Ellie started.
“No, he cares about you. I understand why he’s upset.” Brandt’s face fell. “We usually do. I’m sorry. Wade is familiar with the trail, and so it seems that the maps were forgotten about.”
“You forgot them? After I asked for a map?” Seth was still standing a few feet from the other man; Ellie had stopped worrying that he was going to blow their cover, but he was still fairy angry.
“Halley forgot to make the copies. The rest of the trail should be marked, though. And if it’s not, Jared has offered to go ahead and make sure it is clearly marked. That would give him some extra time for setup, anyway. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve sent him ahead, since it does make it easier for him to do his job. We won’t have this problem tomorrow. I’m truly sorry for the trouble.”
He did seem distressed.
Had he or someone else meant to isolate and kill her? Had Darci’s presence saved her somehow? Ellie thought back to when she’d been the most nervous and felt like someone could see her. It was right about that moment that Darci had come forward and stood beside her. They’d made the phone call together, then Darci had gone ahead to turn the dogs around, and Ellie had stayed on the sled. Then they’d been off.
What if someone had been waiting...a sniper...but didn’t want to hit the wrong woman?
It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility.
“Thanks. I’m glad it won’t be a problem tomorrow.” Ellie finally found the words, stuttered through them.
It seemed to be enough for Brandt, who nodded and walked away.
“You’re sure you’re okay?”
She nodded. “We have to join them now. Talk later?”
His eyes didn’t like that, she found she could easily see. She didn’t look away from him, blinked a couple of times. He hurt when she hurt, she was seeing now. He was more scared for her than she’d been for herself. Was that part of love? Not just being attracted to a person, not just wanting what was best for them, but caring about them to such a great degree?
She reached out for his hand. He raised his eyebrows but took it.
And they walked together, hand in hand, toward the fire.
FOURTEEN
If there was one thing Seth had learned from the expedition so far, it was that RPE knew how to run something like this. Dinner wasn’t the typical campfire fare; instead, a salmon chowder and some of the best sourdough bread Seth had ever had. Dessert was some fancy chocolate cake with sea salt—not a combination he would have thought of, but it was incredible. The support staff was fed the same food as the clients, for which he was grateful. It would have been hard to eat a peanut butter sandwich, knowing what the guests were being treated to.
Ellie had let go of his hand when they’d taken seats on some of the chairs the support staff had hauled in, but she’d scooted her chair as close to his as she could. He still wasn’t sure what had happened between them just then, or if it was just wishful thinking to believe that anything had. She hadn’t said anything, and neither had he, but he thought he’d seen something shift in her eyes right before she took his hand.
Maybe it was a cover? She might just want it to seem like they were romantically involved so that if they sneaked into the woods to talk it wouldn’t seem strange.
Or maybe it was real?
“I’m still not thrilled about today.” Todd spoke up, frowning in Ellie’s direction. “I can assume there will be no incidents tomorrow?”
She gave him a gracious smile and nodded. Seth looked away, r
ealizing this was his chance to see how the other staff reacted to the conversation.
Halley looked sympathetic, both to Todd and Ellie, the way she kept glancing back and forth. Jared hadn’t looked up from where he was cleaning the dishes. Brandt looked like he was forming a response, much like a startled politician looked at a press conference that wasn’t going their way.
“I think they’ve worked out a way to ensure that it doesn’t,” Seth said.
Wade nodded his agreement, grunted a little. He wasn’t a big talker. “What time are we heading out in the morning? I’m ready to get some sleep.”
Seth glanced at his watch. Just past eight o’clock.
“We’ll want to pull out of camp around eight in the morning, so let’s plan for breakfast at seven to give us a nice leisurely amount of time.” Brandt flashed a smile. Wade grunted again and lumbered over toward his sled, then set up a tent next to it. RPE loaned the mushers the kind that was easy to set up in about five minutes. Usually Seth would bring his own tent but had decided it was better to just use the equipment they were being lent.
One by one, people headed to sleep. The RPE staff were all in small pop-up tents, but the two client tents—the married couple was sharing one—were large, and the entrances were rimmed by twinkling lights.
Soon it was just Seth, Ellie and Jared by the fire.
“Can I trust you two to put the fire out? I usually handle it,” Jared asked. “But I’m ready to turn in and you two look cozy.”
Ellie had reached for Seth’s hand again, and he was only too happy to hold hers. Even if there was no actual skin-on-skin contact, since they were both wearing gloves.
“We can do that.” Ellie nodded.
Jared nodded his head in a kind of good-night gesture and wandered off into the darkness to where his tent was pitched near Halley’s and Brandt’s.
They were in three clusters. Client tents. Staff tents. Musher tents. Like a little city in the woods with space in between them. Seth couldn’t begin to compare this to the mushing camping trips he was used to. The solitude and chance to be truly alone in the wilderness then were unparalleled, and this wasn’t anything like that.
However, right now, he had Ellie with him. Maybe that made it worth it. Or it would, under better circumstances. As good as it felt to be holding her hand, all he could think about was the danger she was in. That they both were in. She could have been killed earlier, when she’d been isolated from the group. Murdered miles away from him, and he’d have been helpless to stop it. Seth swallowed hard.
“What are you thinking?” She laid her head on his shoulder, and he took a breath. She felt so right there, but he knew that this was largely practicality. Sound carried easily in the cold night air, and they needed to avoid being overheard. He wished they could just go talk in one of their tents, but though that would provide the illusion of privacy, it was probably just as easy to hear them there, and they wouldn’t be able to see anyone standing close by the tent.
“I don’t like any of this,” he whispered.
“But who do you think...?” She trailed off.
“Any of them could. Brandt has the obvious connection to Aaron, plus he’s in charge of the trips. Halley knows so much about the company and handles the operational details, she could be coordinating with someone. And she was the one who conveniently ‘forgot’ the maps. Jared isn’t with the company, but if he goes on these trips, he could be responsible. Peter, we don’t know much about, but he had to leave this trip at the last minute, which makes me wonder if that has something to do with a drug drop.”
Ellie nodded. “My thoughts, too. At least my logical thoughts.”
“And your gut instincts?”
She shook her head. “I stopped trusting those a long time ago.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have.”
The fire crackled as she appeared to absorb his words and then slowly nodded her head. “Maybe you’re right.”
He wanted to ask her about last night, about what emotion she was still so afraid of. He wanted to talk to her about his sister’s death. She acted as though she were responsible, somehow, in the way she talked about it. But Seth had no idea why and wished he could make her see that she wasn’t at fault, that she could keep on living her life. Liz wouldn’t have wanted guilt to hold her back.
“Why the hand-holding?” he wanted to know.
“I can’t...” She exhaled. “Maybe I shouldn’t. I don’t know, being out here with you, seeing how scared you were when I was lost...”
“Yes?”
“It almost seemed like...” She trailed off, but he heard the unspoken words. It seemed like he loved her.
Because he did.
“I do.”
“I’m not the same person I was back then,” she said, tugging her hand away gently.
He didn’t let go of it.
“Ellie?” he said, using her nickname not just because they were undercover but because that was who this new version of her was.
“Yeah?”
“I love you now just as much as I did then. All the stuff that happened? It didn’t make me love you less. This person you are now? I love her, too.”
He held his breath while he watched her expression, searched her eyes to see if she felt the same. He expected her to break eye contact. Maybe go back to her tent. Run again.
Instead she spoke. “And I love you.” For once she didn’t look away. Seth closed his eyes, letting the words soak in, feeling the impact of them as he relaxed.
She loved him, too.
He leaned close to her, eager to kiss her now that they were on the same page. He knew she wasn’t going to pull away again, and neither of them was going to regret it.
A noise behind them grabbed his attention first. He stopped his forward motion, dropped her hand and looked behind him.
“Sorry to bother you.” Brandt cleared his throat. “I left some of the extra blankets out here in my sled...” He was digging through the snow-machine bag. Pulled a blanket out and held it up like a trophy. “Uh, carry on. Just remember, no funny business until after this trip.” He laughed a little and headed back to his tent.
“You think he was listening?”
“I think if he was, he could only have been around long enough to hear us talk about our feelings, which doesn’t incriminate us much, does it?”
Ellie smiled. “I guess you have a point.” Her face turned serious again. “But do you think he was trying to eavesdrop?”
Seth considered it, moved closer to her, still wanting that kiss. “I think it’s very possible.”
“If so, that could make him our guy.”
“But if it’s not, we could overlook who it really is. And remember, we have to find evidence.” He took a deep breath, decided he wanted better than this. If this really was a second chance, he wanted their next first kiss to be stored, not something rushed in the shadows while they wondered who was watching. And who wanted them dead. “We should get some sleep.”
“I don’t think I’ll sleep at all, alone.”
There was nothing he could do to help her, and nothing he could say that would change the truth. She should be scared, because right now they both had more than enough to be frightened of. But he’d always do everything in his power to keep her safe.
* * *
Ellie’s heart pounded, and she fought to keep her breathing even. She was tucked deep into her sleeping bag, inside a tent that was only ten feet away from Seth’s, and still she felt alone.
She had only become surer that her gut instincts from earlier were correct: she had been watched when she’d taken the wrong trail and slowed down in the woods. In retrospect, the more she ran the scene over in her head, she was almost positive. The way her shoulders had tensed and she hadn’t known why, the way the darkness of the woods had seemed all-encompassing and unner
ving when she usually found it familiar...
Besides her subjective feelings, Ellie knew there was evidence, if she had stayed longer to process the scene. The snow had been moved to recover the trail. Her police training in situational awareness had made her notice that on the way out. It had been an intentional trap.
Someone had been waiting, anticipating she’d take the wrong trail and planning to take advantage of that.
To kill her where she stood? It made sense. Or maybe drag her away and kill her somewhere else. She had no doubt that they wanted her dead, whoever they were.
She turned over again, every movement she made so loud in the quiet.
Her SAT phone vibrated.
You okay?
It was Seth’s number. He’d insisted that they each get a SAT phone in case of emergencies or if they got separated. She should have called him on it when she’d gotten off-trail earlier, but with Darci standing right there, it had made more sense to call the people actually in charge of the expedition. If it happened again, she’d call Seth. He needed to know if anything else went wrong before anyone else knew.
Not just because they were working together, but because she loved him.
She felt herself smile just at the thought. She loved him. She still loved him and she’d told him and he still loved her.
If only circumstances were different, if this threat wasn’t still hanging over them, she could bask in the knowledge that maybe it wasn’t too late for them.
But fear unsettled her stomach. Someone had gotten too close earlier. Probably could have killed her. She couldn’t let that happen again.
Fine.
She texted him back and waited.
Usually that’s code for not fine.
See? He was a smart man.
She picked up the phone again.
I think someone was watching me when I was in the woods on the wrong path.
He texted back quickly. You mentioned that.
I’m more sure of it now. And I want to know who.
A few minutes passed. Then one more text came through.
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