“Look.” She blew out a breath and shook her head. “I don’t like it when people come around asking about him, okay? Yeah, he lived here before, right up until he moved to Anchorage. I rented the place not long after. Never met the guy. I didn’t know anything about him until the first person came here wanting to talk about him and said he’d lived here, and I looked him up online and found out he got killed in Anchorage sometime in the last week or so. No, I don’t know anything about it, I don’t want any trouble and I don’t want to talk about it anymore, okay? But I guess it’s not your fault so many other people have come by asking for him, so I’m sorry if I was a little ruder than necessary.”
“He was killed?” Piper asked before Judah could stop her.
“You didn’t know? Oh...” She looked back and forth between the two of them like she was trying to figure out the nature of their relationship. “Were you and Jay...” she asked Piper. “Did you know him well?”
“Not at all, actually, but we had some things in common and I’d hoped to talk to him.” Piper’s expression darkened and it felt to Judah like the full realization of what had happened to the man they had hoped to talk to was sinking in. “I’m sorry to hear about his death.”
“Me, too. Wish I’d never heard about it. Maybe soon I’ll get a new place so people quit asking me. Might have been easier, you know, if he hadn’t known so many people. But apparently he had a lot of friends.” She lowered her voice. “And at least one enemy.”
“We’ve got to be going.” Judah said. “Thank you for talking to us, and I hope people stop asking you about him.”
“I certainly do, too. You two take care.” She shut the door again, this time slowly, but firmly. It did not open again.
“Huh.” Piper breathed out. “So someone killed him.”
“It makes our theory look even more possible. Especially when you consider the fact that Randy said someone was following him also.”
“He thinks someone is following him and he feels like he’s being watched,” Piper pointed out.
Judah was already shaking his head. “Sure, but it’s still a legitimate concern on his part. Given even more legitimacy by what we just found out.”
“Can we call him and warn him, or something? I don’t feel good about just leaving him out there. If they meant for him to be dead, it seems only logical that they’re going to continue to come after him until they’ve killed him, too.”
“Get in the car first.” Judah was worried about the guy, as well, but not as much as he was worried about Piper. First he needed her out of harm’s way, at least as much as he was able to get her right now, and then he could worry about the other people affected by this news, and start to think through what it meant.
Everything fit too well together to be coincidence, and Judah didn’t believe in coincidences anyway.
They drove back to the police department. On the way there, Judah called Randy, who promised to be careful and said he appreciated the warning.
Then he called a friend of his in Anchorage at the police department there to confirm that Jay had been killed. They didn’t have any leads yet on who was responsible, as it was a relatively recent murder—recent enough to have been in the Anchorage newspaper for a few days, his friend said. That explained how the woman who now lived in Jay Jones’s apartment had known about his murder, but it was recent enough that it was a current case and his friend couldn’t give him many details. Judah would need to remember to call back later and find out more.
But it looked like a murder. He had bruising consistent with a struggle.
Whoever was responsible for cleaning up the loose ends in whatever this mess was, he was thorough. And that made Judah even more determined to solve this. Because it meant no matter how many attempts there had been on Piper’s life, and how many times she got away unscathed, whoever was after her wasn’t going to quit. This was going to be a constant battle day after day, to maintain their vigilance while not overwhelming her with the truth of the restrictions she needed to be under for her own safety.
It was a tightrope, one Judah felt he was already failing to walk. The faster they had a name of someone behind this, a motive, and could wrap it up, the better.
“So, what now?” Piper asked.
Judah had planned to interview several friends of the woman who had died and told Piper as much. “But I don’t want to do it now. I’m uncomfortable knowing our talking to them could put a target on their backs. If someone is cleaning up messes, I don’t want to make any more messes for them to clean, if you get what I’m saying.”
Piper nodded, her eyes saying she got it. Judah wished he could fix the soul-deep fatigue he saw in her eyes.
Then again...
Maybe he could?
He wasn’t sure yet what the next step in the investigation should be. It would come to him; he’d probably just bring work home with him tonight and sit up until all hours thinking through everything, like he’d been doing for the past few days.
But if he worked some more tonight, he could take the morning off. Piper had once been his favorite person to climb with.
Could he ask her to be his partner again? And would she appreciate the chance to take a break from the case?
Judah knew a place they could climb where the threat against her would be fairly nonexistent. It was an hour’s drive back into the depths of the Chugach Range, but the climbing there was fantastic, and it was above the tree line, so the line of sight went on forever. No one would be able to approach without detection. All that combined, he was comfortable with the amount of risk it would add.
Especially when you considered how much reward potential it had. Piper couldn’t continue this pace much longer. She was a strong woman, he knew, but even strong people had their breaking points. The last thing he wanted was to push Piper past hers.
“I have an idea for tomorrow.”
She waited, watching him.
“What would think about going climbing with me?”
“A day off from the case?” she asked, sitting up a little straighter in the car seat.
Judah laughed. “Yeah, what do you say?”
“I think it sounds fantastic.”
He loved hearing that enthusiastic tone from her, loved her zeal for life.
Judah nodded. “It’s settled, then. That’s what we’ll do.” But instead of feeling completely relaxed and optimistic, he still felt a sense of foreboding he couldn’t quite shake. Piper needed this time. He was confident of that. Judah could only pray he wasn’t making a huge mistake.
* * *
For the first time in days, Piper woke up without the feeling of pressing exhaustion weighing her down. Just for this morning she was going to do her best to forget everything that was going on in her life and simply be present in the moment. Climbing with Judah again... It had been almost a year. They’d danced together on the rocks back then; that was the only way Piper knew how to explain how well they had climbed together.
Getting ready proved to be something of a challenge. Judah had swung her by her house the night before to pick up some climbing clothes and her gear and then brought her back to his brother and sister-in-law’s house, so that wasn’t it. It was more the question of how she looked in general.
Did she go without makeup, like she usually did when climbing? Or look a little more put together, like she would if this was a date?
It wasn’t a date. She knew that much. Judah had only suggested it because he knew she needed a break, Piper was fairly certain. But she wasn’t going to overlook the gift that it was.
Still, mascara never hurt.
She finished getting ready and then walked out into the living room. Adriana whistled.
“What? I’m going climbing.” Piper shrugged.
“With Judah, I’m assuming?”
“Why?”
�
��Because I know he wouldn’t let you go off on your own. And it doesn’t seem like the kind of activity you would try to do alone right now, so it seemed like a good guess.”
“It was,” Piper admitted.
“Hey.” Adriana smiled. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t tease you. The truth is that I want both of you happy. And if this makes you both happy...”
“I don’t know if it does.”
“You haven’t talked about it?”
Piper shook her head.
“Well, talk to him. What could it hurt?”
That was the question that kept echoing in Piper’s mind after Judah picked her up and they started driving to the crag. What could it hurt?
Taking the chance didn’t feel worth the risk to her.
Deeply ironic for someone who enjoyed a hobby that was so much about taking calculated risks.
The sun was bright in the sky when they pulled up to Anchor Rock.
“Gorgeous day to climb.”
Judah nodded. “It is. And I think you could use the break.”
“Just me, huh?” Piper teased, opening her trunk and pulling carabiners and Camalots out and clipping them to the place on her harness. She hadn’t climbed here in a while and didn’t remember exactly what piece of protection she needed to be prepared to place, so she put most of her rack on, knowing it was better to have too many than not enough. She checked all of her gear even more thoroughly than usual, just in case someone could have sabotaged it. Everything looked good.
“Okay, both of us could.” He grinned at her. Wow, she could get used to seeing him smile that way.
It reminded her of the face he’d shown her the night they first met. She’d been climbing here alone, and Judah had asked if she wanted a belay partner. She’d made some comment, half teasing, Piper didn’t even remember what she’d said now, and he’d grinned like that. Then she’d tied herself into his rope so he could belay her, and she’d wondered if she was doing the right thing, putting her life in the hands of someone she barely knew.
It turned out to be one of the most exhilarating things she’d ever done. Judah was a good belayer. She’d climbed with people before who kept too much tension on the rope, which could interfere with a climber’s movements, but she’d also climbed with people who left so much slack in it that Piper had wondered why she bothered with the rope at all. Judah kept a perfect balance and she felt his attention on her the entire time she was climbing. That was probably why she’d sent her first 5.11, because he’d been watching.
She hadn’t climbed as much since he’d disappeared from her life. Once she’d known what it was like to climb with a partner like that, it made it harder to settle for just anyone.
Maybe that was what she was afraid of now. She’d been kissed before Judah, but never like that, never in a way that he’d made her feel. She’d known the night before last that he cared about her much more than he was willing to admit; it was a kiss that had been given to her, not one he’d taken from her. Piper didn’t know if she’d be able to articulate the difference if someone had asked, but she could feel it. Not that anyone was going to ask, because Piper certainly wasn’t going to be talking about it. She was somewhat surprised Adriana hadn’t asked straight out if they’d kissed, but her teammate had been uncharacteristically gentle with her questioning about Judah.
Piper appreciated that. The entire relationship felt like a soap bubble. Shiny and exciting and beautiful but something that might break if it was handled too roughly.
She didn’t want it to burst.
“Which route first?” Judah asked her.
“Secret Santa is one of my favorites.” She mentioned one of the best 5.11s on the wall.
“Let’s do that one, then. You climb first?”
Piper smiled her thanks. Then she tied her rope onto her harness, double-checking to make sure all the loops were operating the way they were supposed to.
“On belay?” she asked, even though she’d been climbing for years and not everyone went through the ritual once they had more experience. As a search and rescue worker, though, Piper knew better than to assume that because she’d done something many times that it made the activity safe. It was better to mitigate risks where she could; that way she felt better about the ones she did take.
“Belay on,” Judah replied.
“Climbing.”
“Climb on.”
Piper reached up, found the first hold easily with her right hand and pressed her left hand out against a slight protrusion in the rock. This route was one of her favorites because of how much it depended on footwork. Piper had decent upper body strength, but routes like this, with small crimps for the hands, which required an artistic, gymnastic sort of movement to get through, were her favorite.
Judah preferred routes with big moves, where he had to jump for the next hold, almost like he should have been a boulderer. Which was funny, because he wasn’t the kind of guy she pictured as liking big risks. Apparently climbing was the only part of his life where he let that side of himself come out.
Piper continued up the wall, pausing at the crux to remember how she’d gotten through this most difficult part of the route before. Left hand there...step up with the right foot, right hand up, switch the feet...
She moved through the rest of the route seamlessly, sent it—climber-speak for successfully ascending a route—and then rappelled back down.
“Nice job.” The approval shining in Judah’s eyes made her feel good. Piper grinned. “Your turn.”
Judah started climbing, and she held the rope, pulling it when necessary, her hands burning from the friction against her skin.
He made it to the top also, though not quite as easily as Piper had. He slipped in one section and Piper paid close attention, thinking he was going to come off the wall, but he caught himself and kept going.
After he rappelled down, he laughed. “Not quite as clean a send as yours.”
Piper shrugged. “Yeah, but you and I both know I picked this climb because it’s one of the ones I’m best at.”
“And here I thought it was just coincidence, not that you wanted to show off.”
“Did I say show off?” She was surprised at how easy it was to flirt with him, still. “I wasn’t trying to show off.”
“You didn’t have to try.”
And then Piper was standing closer to him than she meant to be. He was still tied into the harness, the rope held loosely in her hands.
“Did you...” She swallowed hard. “Did you want to climb this one again? Or go do another line?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“We should,” she said without knowing why. Because she wanted to climb with him more and not have this day end? Or because she was afraid of what another kiss with Judah would do to her?
Not that he would hurt her intentionally. Judah wasn’t that kind of man. It was more of the fact that Piper was afraid that if she kissed him again, she would lose her heart so completely that she would never get it back. And Judah hadn’t done or said anything to make her sure that he’d changed his mind about wanting to be in a relationship.
That was the problem with middle-of-the-night kisses that weren’t followed by some kind of relationship-defining conversation.
“Let’s climb Veins of Gold,” Piper suggested just to change the subject.
Judah looked at her. Frowned.
Then looked farther up the pass. Toward...
Gray Mountain Mine. The local gold mine had been the subject of a lot of controversy with environmental groups and Raven Pass citizens alike. Some people were in favor, since it brought jobs to the area, but most were opposed. Big gold mining operations could be harmful to the environment.
“Actually, can we take a rain check on the rest of our climbing day? I think we have to get back to the case.”
“Now?
” Piper blinked a few times, but nodded.
“We need to go ask the people at Gray Mountain Mine some questions,” Judah said, his tone resolute.
“You think the mine has something to do with the murders?”
Judah hesitated. “Call it a hunch.”
Piper’d had the same one when he’d looked in the direction of the mine. She wished they hadn’t lost the rest of their relaxing day together, but she understood. The case had to come first. Was it because she was involved or would work always come first with Judah? How would it be to date someone whose job was so pressing that workaholism was encouraged?
She didn’t know. But she didn’t have any more time to think about it now. They had people to talk to. A case to solve.
THIRTEEN
Still dressed in their climbing clothes, Judah and Piper headed for Gray Mountain Mine.
“What exactly are you going to ask them?” Piper wondered from beside him. “And why? We don’t even know if there are any connections to the people who were killed.”
“I’m still working on that,” Judah admitted. “But I didn’t think until just now when you mentioned the route with gold in the name. When we went by Randy Walcott’s house, I saw a Gray Mountain logo on the hat he was wearing. Pull up their website and see if you find him listed anywhere.”
“I doubt they have all three hundred employees listed,” Piper said.
“Good point. Look it up anyway, if you will, and tell me who the workers listed are. I want to go into this knowing what I’m looking for.”
“Which is?” In his peripheral vision he could see her doing what he’d asked, though.
“Someone in management at the mine who might want to kill people.”
“Kill them why?”
“Have you read the paper lately? For the last twelve to eighteen months it’s been article after article about the changes Gray Mountain has made and how it’s less environmentally friendly than they promised the town of Raven Pass they would be when they built the mine. The public is losing confidence in them. I just read something recently. What if someone tried to kill an employee to make a statement, convince the mine it wasn’t worth operating here?”
Alaskan Mountain Attack Page 12