Fugitive Trail

by Elizabeth Goddard

  He cared about her and was here for her, but that didn’t mean he would let himself fall for her. Definitely not. None of what had happened between them should matter now.

  What did matter now was that she was in danger, and Bryce wouldn’t let her go through that alone.

  He sucked up his nerve and crossed the recently plowed street in the throes of an ice festival, presumably the biggest event of the year for the small out-of-the-way town in southwest Colorado. Other than ice climbers, most people opted to visit Telluride and Purgatory in Durango to ski. Crescent Springs offered an ice park to celebrate the ice climbing sport—beginners and professionals from around the world came to the small town to climb the frozen waterfalls of the gorge.

  Moisture surged on his palms as he drew near the toy store he’d seen only on the website before this moment. Bryce drew in a deep breath and pushed open the door. How would she react when she saw him? That question had kept him company as he traveled here from Boulder.

  The smells of plastic and cinnamon and peppermint wafted over him. He had no idea if he would actually find Sierra here, amongst the toys, but it was a start. Aisles of toys blocked his view, but as he browsed, he noted the store was relatively crowded. An older man’s voice offering customer assistance drew his attention to the cash register and counter at the back of the store. A young woman he didn’t recognize stood next to the older man he assumed was Sierra’s father. She took payment from the customer and bagged toys.

  “Can I help you?”

  The voice. That voice. Turning to Sierra, he grinned. In a flash he took in her bright blue irises, her lithe and petite form, and the perfect lips that often turned up in an amazing smile, but which now morphed into a huge O.

  She gasped. “Bryce, what...what in the world are you doing here?”

  “Ah. You’re glad to see me.” He instantly regretted his slightly sarcastic tone. “It’s good to see you too.”

  A frown emerged on her face and seemed to war with a tenuous grin.

  “Well of course. I mean...of course I’m glad to see you. Why wouldn’t I be glad to see you?” She reached forward and hugged him. This was the Sierra he loved—well, loved to see. She was wonderful. Except he sensed her wariness.

  When she released him and stepped back, he saw the fear flashing in her eyes. Her face shifted as though she was searching for the right response, though he saw a spark of amusement when she noted the section of the store he’d stopped in. “Any particular type of baby doll you’re looking for? I’m guessing this is for a niece? Or do you have...um...a daughter?” Sierra handed him a doll.

  Like a fool he took it automatically.

  “No. I don’t have a daughter.” It had been only a year since Sierra had left Boulder, and they hadn’t kept in touch. “I’m not married and don’t suddenly have a young daughter.” He put the doll back on the shelf. “Nor do I have a niece.”

  He jammed his hand into his pockets, wishing he could go ahead and shrug out of his coat. It had kept him warm outside, but in here he was downright hot.

  Sierra turned and walked away, still lacking the usual bounce in her step that he hadn’t seen since she’d been attacked in Boulder.

  “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here,” she called over her shoulder. Then she stopped at the counter. “Are you here for the ice climbing festival? I didn’t know you were a fan. You might have said something back when I was in Boulder—we could have visited my hometown together.” Sure they could have visited her hometown together while they were still “together.” A pain flitted across her features. Had she forgotten that in Boulder, after Raul’s attack, she’d distanced herself from him? No. And that made his appearance all the more awkward.

  He stared too long, struggling to find the words. “I came to check on you.”

  A deep bark resounded from somewhere inside the building and rattled through him. “And Samson. I...missed him.” And you, Sierra.

  I’m worried about you. But he kept that to himself for now.

  She eyed him, then walked around behind the counter. The man he’d seen earlier stepped from the back room. “Dad, this is Bryce Elliot. I used to work with him in Boulder. Bryce, this is my dad.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Young.”

  “Call me John. It’s nice to meet you too. My daughter told me about you. You had her back when she was there in the city. Thanks for taking care of her for me. You can stick around if you like and keep up the good work.” John winked at Bryce then grinned at Sierra.

  She gently elbowed her dad and scowled at him, though love poured from her expression. “Dad. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

  “And me. Your daughter took care of me too,” Bryce said. They had, in fact, saved each other from certain death. He had no idea how much Sierra had shared with her father about what really happened. Bryce suspected she would have kept most of it from John, choosing to spare him the pain of knowing what his daughter had gone through.

  “You want to see Samson?” she asked.

  “You know I do.”

  “Come on back.” She led him through the door past an employee area where boxes of toys were waiting to be stocked. Then through another door into a kitchen where Samson popped up to greet them. “We have an apartment at the back of the store. It takes up two floors. It’s enough for the three of us. Me, Dad and Samson.” She rubbed Samson’s head.

  Wagging his tail, he barked and lumbered over to Bryce. “Wow, he’s gained some more weight.”

  “It takes about three years for them to be full grown, and he’s about four now. He could still get bigger, but I train him often and keep him in good shape.”

  “I’d say that I named him appropriately.”

  “Well, I kind of liked your initial suggestion of ‘Tiny’ for a name, but I think you’re right. Samson suits him.”

  Bryce leaned toward Samson and ran his hands around the dog’s ear and enormous head. “Hey, buddy. How’re you doing? Did you miss me?”

  He received a wad of drool across his face and shirt. Bryce smiled to hide his inward cringe.

  “You’re the one who got him for me.” Sierra’s tone told him she was thinking about the reasons why.

  “You said you wanted something big.” He pet Samson, then glanced up.

  She crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look. “Why are you really here, Bryce?”

  His stomach sank as he noticed something in her eyes. “You already know.”

  “You’re here because Raul and Damien escaped prison.”

  He nodded. Should he tell her that his thoughts went immediately to her when he heard the news? “I wanted to make sure you were okay. Did Captain Stephens call you?”

  “I called him.” She gestured for Bryce to have a seat at the kitchen table. She grabbed mugs and poured coffee without asking. Sugar and nondairy creamer were already on the table.

  “Why did you call him?”

  Sierra took a seat and then placed her elbows on the table. She pressed her face into her hands. “A plane crashed yesterday.”

  “Oh, no.”

  “Samson and I found the crash site. The state is working to recover the bodies. One died before I arrived. One survived only minutes after I reached the plane. But before he died—” horror crept into her eyes “—Damien tried to kill me. He shot at me. I dodged that attempt, but then...then he told me that Raul was coming for me.”

  “Oh, Sierra... I don’t know what to say.” He’d heard about the escaped convicts on the news like everyone else in Boulder and immediately contacted his old boss and BPD captain for the details.

  “That’s not all.” Her voice cracked and, though she tried to appear unaffected, he didn’t miss the shudder that ran over her. “I saw footprints in the snow from a third person—someone who escaped the plane alive. Then I saw him, Bryce. I saw R
aul. He was on the edge of the tree line. He just stood there watching. If the sheriff and SAR team hadn’t caught up to me, I don’t know if Raul would have come back to the plane and tried to kill me.”

  She rubbed her arms and stared out the window to the woods. “As soon as I saw him, I tried to point him out to the sheriff, but Raul had disappeared. It was snowing hard so you could barely see anything. I wanted to go after him, but the sheriff wouldn’t let me. If the sheriff hadn’t seen the tracks in the snow before they were buried, I’m not sure he would have believed me about the presence of another man—and I’m still not sure he believes it was Raul.”

  “Why not?”

  “He might have thought I was seeing things. I failed to hide how shaken I was at seeing Damien.”

  “What did the sheriff do? I hope he took action.”

  “He sent a couple of deputies to search the area, but the storm and nightfall forced them to return before they found anything. They did retrieve the body of the unidentified deceased man though. My understanding is that a team will try to retrieve Damien’s body today. I hear they suspect the other man worked for the brothers on the outside and helped with their prison escape. I guess Raul and Damien escaped prison and thought they’d get revenge before they disappeared forever. But Raul... He’s out there somewhere, Bryce.”

  And Sierra was terrified. She wouldn’t say the words, but Bryce could see the truth she tried hard to hide. She was tough and trained to protect others as well as herself, but anytime you became a target, even as a member of law enforcement, there was nothing wrong with a little healthy fear.

  It was all Bryce could do to remain in his seat and not rush to her. Take her in his arms. He’d missed her since she’d walked out of his life. He’d been such a fool to let her so easily slip away.

  “Sierra. I’m so sorry.”

  “You didn’t have to come all this way to tell me that,” she said. “You could have called.”

  He continued to pet Samson, rubbing his neck and behind his ears. “I don’t have your number anymore.” She’d changed her number—and she hadn’t given him the new one. And besides, he’d wanted to do much more than say he was sorry.

  “Fair enough, but you knew where to find me. You could have called the toy store.”

  Bryce cleared his throat. “I did call.” And left a message that it was important and to please call him back.

  “Oh. Okay. I didn’t get that message. It’s just Dad, me and Jane, our part-time help, working the store. Whoever took the call must have forgotten.” She shrugged.

  When she’d first seen him, she’d hugged him as if glad to see an old friend—glad and yet edgy. Now she seemed downright irritated, like she didn’t want him here at all. He partly understood. He was a reminder about what happened. But then, Samson served as a daily reminder too, since the dog’s sole reason for being in her life was a result of the attack in Boulder.

  As a detective with the Boulder Police Department, Sierra had been instrumental in putting notorious killer Damien Novack in prison. Damien had headed up an arms and drug trafficking organization and had committed numerous heinous crimes and murders. After Damien’s conviction, his brother, Raul, had come to extact revenge on Sierra, and attacked her in her home. Bryce had barely made it in time to save her. Raul had tried to kill him as well, but Sierra had saved him too.

  Bryce wasn’t sure either of them had ever quite gotten over that violent night.

  “Doesn’t matter.” He could shrug too. “I’m here now.”

  “And so you are.” She arched a brow again.

  He resisted the need to shift away from her piercing gaze. Was he prepared to stay even if she didn’t want his help? He wasn’t entirely sure how to take her reaction to his presence, but the fear in her blue eyes over the news of Raul remained.

  And Bryce knew then that he would remain too—until the threat on her life was eliminated.

  TWO

  Sierra rose from the table and moved to dump her drink so she could hide her trembling hands. She was still working to get over what had happened yesterday—the image of Damien’s dark eyes and his intimidating words still fresh in her mind. Yesterday’s experience would have been traumatic even if the man hadn’t been an escaped prisoner who had come for her. Trying to save a man and watching him die like that had felt like a fist squeezing her heart tighter and tighter, crushing her.

  And then to see Raul watching her from the trees...

  As if that wasn’t enough, Bryce apparently thought he could walk back into her world and she would welcome him to save her again—as if he was her knight in shining armor? On the one hand, that he would do such a thing warmed her through and through. But on the other hand, she didn’t want to feel that way about his sudden appearance. They’d been through enough already.

  Before Bryce, she’d cared deeply about someone on the Colorado State Patrol, but he’d been killed after he’d pulled a speeding driver over on the highway. His death had been senseless. It had been hard for her to get over it, but time had eased the pain enough for her to be ready to try. She had been close to letting Bryce in when Raul’s attack came. He’d almost died.

  Sierra wouldn’t let herself care deeply or love someone in law enforcement again. There was too much pain to be had, something she knew from experience.

  She sighed heavily. She truly had no idea how she really felt about Bryce’s appearance. The moment she’d seen him in the aisle next to the baby dolls, her heart had stumbled, then begun to beat erratically until she’d calmed herself and reminded herself why she had to guard against caring too much. But that had always been hard for her when it came to Bryce. His sturdy form, strong jaw and huge dimples when he smiled had always made her heart jump around, but adding to that, he could be tough as steel one moment, then instantly turn gentle and sensitive and caring the next. She was surprised someone hadn’t snagged and married him already.

  “Listen.” He remained at the table, toying with his mug. Samson lay at his feet, taking up half the space of the nook.

  It was a picturesque moment, one she wouldn’t easily forget.

  “I know my sudden appearance today is a surprise to you. But I couldn’t stay away. Not when I heard about Raul and Damien.”

  That news hadn’t filtered all the way to the small town of Crescent Springs—not until they’d found the crashed plane. That Bryce still thought of her, and that some part of him had remained committed to her, could melt the cold places in her heart. And that wasn’t a good thing. She’d tried to forget him and now he was here.

  She’d hurt him before. She’d hurt the both of them. Could she really turn around, face him and ask him to leave? Washing the mug off, she tried to figure out what to say.

  She continued to rinse the few remaining dishes in the sink. “So, what are you going to do?” she asked.

  “I’m staying in town for a few days.” His chair scraped the floor as he scooted it away from the table.

  Oh. Okay. Hmm.

  Facing him, she crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. “Don’t you have a job? Did you take vacation or something?”

  “I’m taking a few days off.” He studied her as if waiting for her reaction. She kept her emotions hidden away.

  Bryce turned his attention to the dog. Samson was a great distraction when one was needed. She totally got that.

  “Is it always this crowded in town?” he asked. “Or is that just because of the ice festival?”

  “No, it’s not usually so crowded. The town becomes an ice climbing mecca during the festival.” The timing of the prison break couldn’t have been worse. The tourists and fans that flooded the town—so many strangers here—could make it easier for Raul to hide in the chaos and get to her.

  If only...

  Bryce glanced up at her. Not even the hint of a smile curved his lips. And why should there be? T
here was nothing to smile about under these circumstances. Bryce showing up because of the Novack brothers only served to emphasize the way the horrors of the past were coming back to threaten her again. Maybe even threaten Bryce again too. Still, the look in his eyes—He wanted to know how she felt about him being here—of course, he would want to know. But she wasn’t sure herself.

  “You know.” She smiled. “I have this amazing guard dog, compliments of you. Samson wasn’t there before, when the attack happened. But he’s here now so you didn’t need to come for me.”

  A pained look skittered across Bryce’s face. Had she imagined it? At the sound of his name, Samson lifted his head. Bryce ran his hands through the dog’s fur. “And I missed Samson, okay? I needed to come see my buddy and make sure you were treating him right.”

  Bryce’s grin ignited memories in her. She’d adored his grin before. She couldn’t let herself adore that grin again.

  “I appreciate you coming to check on me, Bryce. Really. But there’s no need to worry about me. I’m fine—and I’m sure Raul will be captured soon.”

  He crouched to get a better angle to rub Samson’s enormous belly. The dog was really too big for this kitchen.

  “Yeah. Maybe. In the meantime, why don’t we have dinner tonight? You can tell me about life back here in Crescent Springs.”

  Dinner. Two friends catching up. Not a date. As long as they were both clear on that point. “And you can share what you’ve been up to. Catch me up on the Boulder PD.” Wistfulness washed through her. While she loved working here and being close to her father, there were aspects she missed about the daily grind of detective work in Boulder.