Ice

by Stephanie Rowe

  “Oh, I’m so sorry about your family.” Charity patted Kaylie’s hand, a spontaneous gesture that felt truly sympathetic, not just an act. “I know how awful it is to have someone you love just disappear.”

  Something in her expression told Kaylie that Charity was speaking from experience, and she felt a twinge of camaraderie with this beautiful woman who was so close to Cort. “Did you ever—?”

  At Charity’s sharp look, Kaylie broke off in the middle of her inquiry. She’d been about to ask Charity if she’d ever found whoever it was she’d lost, but her expression made it apparent that it was a private topic.

  Even though a part of Kaylie wanted to comfort this woman who had reached out to her, she also respected pain that was too private to share. So, instead of pursuing the topic, Kaylie switched back to her own problems. “Cort and I are trying to find the pilot who flew my family. I don’t suppose it was you?”

  Charity’s face was tight. “I haven’t been in the air for almost a year.”

  Kaylie cocked her head at the tension in Charity’s voice, and knew something had happened to take away her wings. Was that why she and Cort had split up? Because he wasn’t interested in a woman who didn’t fly? Or was it something worse? Kaylie felt sudden empathy for this woman who had quit a high-risk life, just as she had. Something had happened to Charity. And it had been bad.

  “Charity—”

  “Hello, ladies. Is this seat taken?”

  “Luke!” Charity’s her eyes lit up, the weightiness vanishing from her eyes as she pulled out a chair. “Come join us!”

  Luke. Kaylie jerked her gaze to the man who’d just reached their table.

  Cort’s business partner was wearing jeans and an untucked navy shirt. Dark hair shagged over his collar, and he clearly hadn’t shaved for a few days. His clothes were all bush pilot, but there was a refinement to him that made Kaylie think that, in his blood, he wasn’t all Alaska.

  “Evening, Charity.” Luke nodded at them both. “Kaylie.” He swung his leg over the chair at the head of the table, not taking his eyes off Kaylie as he sat down. “Hair’s dry this time, I see.” His voice wasn’t particularly friendly, but it wasn’t exactly mean, either. Curious, definitely. Thoughtful. Assessing.

  Kaylie felt her cheeks heat up, saw Charity glance curiously between them. But before Charity could ask any questions, Luke leaned toward Kaylie, his expression serious.

  She tensed, waiting for criticism, the warning—whatever Luke was going to lay on her.

  “I think,” he said, “that you just may save Cort’s life.”

  And then he smiled. A real smile.

  And Kaylie relaxed.

  Another friendly overture

  Two in one day. First Charity, then Luke.

  Alaska didn’t just deliver death.

  It granted the possibility of friends.

  And Kaylie needed friends.

  Cort eased in the back door of the Shed, keeping to the shadows as he carefully inspected the bar. The first place his attention went was to the table where he’d left Kaylie. He stiffened when he saw Luke and Charity sitting with her.

  Shit. Those two knew far too much about him and weren’t afraid to talk about it.

  “Hey, Cort.”

  Cort stifled a grimace as he looked down at Annie Stockton. Barely in her twenties, she was a shameless flirt with every guy who came into the bar. She was so sweet and innocent, it made Cort uncomfortable when she came on to him. He still remembered when she was twelve, and he couldn’t shake that image out of his mind. “Hi, Annie.”

  “So, is Kaylie your new girlfriend?”

  Cort studied her, something clicking in his mind. “Someone ask you to ask me that, or are you just curious?”

  Her cheeks flushed. “Both. People here are too scared to ask you. But I’m not. I don’t know why everyone’s so scared of you.”

  He smiled at her innocence. “You should be.”

  She snorted. “Why? Because you might frown me to death? Whatever.” Annie leaned closer, and he had to avert his eyes from her chest. “So, tell me. Girlfriend?”

  “Who asked you to ask me?”

  She rolled her eyes and began ticking names off on her fingers. “Jake, the Maxtor twins, Jillian, Rob, Maria…”

  Cort studied the bar, picking out the names of the people as she listed them, mentally cataloging them. If Jackson’s killer was local, the odds were high that Cort knew him.

  Cort couldn’t think of anyone off the top of his head who’d go around slicing Jackson’s throat, but he’d had plenty of surprises with people over the years, and he knew not to underestimate anyone.

  But of the names she listed, none struck him.

  “Who else has been here tonight?”

  Annie’s eyes widened. “You want me to list everyone?”

  “A twenty if you can.”

  “Oh…This is for that stalker of Kaylie’s, right? I’m on it.” Annie started rattling off names almost faster that Cort could keep track. But by the time she finished, he had one on his list that was interesting: Dusty Baker, a local guide known to be one of the very best in the business for the last forty years. The one Sara had hired to take Kaylie over Denali to search for her family.

  Annie finished her list, and Cort slapped a twenty in her hand. “Is Dusty still here?”

  “Nope. He slipped out while you were in back with Richie. Said he had a flight.”

  “Keep an ongoing list, okay? Let me know if anyone new comes in.”

  Annie stuffed the bill in her front pocket. “You got it.” She frowned and pulled a crumpled napkin out of her pocket. “Oh, and here’s the note Kaylie wanted. Can you give it to her?”

  Cort looked down at the balled-up paper Annie was holding out to him. “What’s this?”

  “Someone bought her a beer. Left a note and a five on the bar. I told her I’d get it for her.” Annie leaned closer. “So? New girlfriend or what?”

  Cort took the note. “She’s under my protection.”

  “What kind of answer is that?” Annie set her hands on her hips. “What does that mean?”

  “Whatever you want it to mean.” He left Annie pouting and headed over to the table, not happy to see that Luke and Charity were in heavy discussion with Kaylie. They were all grinning, as if they’d been trading secrets they all thought were hilarious.

  Shit. Kaylie had a beautiful smile. He hadn’t seen it much.

  Cort got closer, realizing he didn’t like how close Luke was to Kaylie. How much did Kaylie know about Cort’s past now? Luke was sure to distort it. And Charity was too damn irrepressible. Scowling as he approached them, he unfolded the note and looked down at it.

  In rough block letters was written Rolling Rock in a bottle for the new girl.

  Rolling Rock in a bottle?

  Cort reached the table, and no one looked up.

  Kaylie was staring at Luke intently, her brown eyes fixed on him as if she couldn’t tear her gaze away. She nodded once, twirling her hair around the end of her finger. She looked relaxed and focused, and Cort had a sudden urge to grab her and kiss her.

  Just so Luke knew whom she belonged to.

  Shit. Cort was in trouble.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Kaylie looked up suddenly, as if she’d felt Cort’s presence. Relief flickered in her eyes, and she gave him a warm smile. “You’re back.” There was genuine warmth in her voice, and she lifted her hand toward him, gesturing for him to sit.

  And with that, all the tension left Cort’s body. “Yeah. I am.”

  He took the seat next to her, aware that Luke and Charity had fallen silent and were watching him.

  Cort ignored them. He leaned toward Kaylie, close enough that he caught a whiff of her flowery scent. He braced his hand on the table in front of her and used his shoulder to cut out Luke and Charity. Then he bent his head and kissed Kaylie.

  Slow. Precise. Just so everyone would see.

  Her mouth was warm and wet, her breat
h tangy with the scent of wine. It was heady and exhilarating, and she didn’t hesitate to kiss him back, making hot desire shoot straight to his groin.

  He forced himself to break the kiss before he leaned her back in her chair and took her right there. “You okay?” He kept his voice low, a question for her ears only.

  Kaylie nodded, scooting her chair a little closer to his. “Someone sent me a drink.”

  He handed her the note. “Annie told me.”

  She scanned it quickly, her face paling. “It was Rolling Rock on purpose, then.”

  Glancing at the half-drunk wine in front of Kaylie and the Rolling Rock in Charity’s hand, he frowned. “You don’t like it?”

  Her brown eyes were worried when she looked at him. “It’s the only beer my mom drinks. Rolling Rock out of a bottle. My dad used to get so annoyed when she packed glass bottles up a mountain, but she insisted. Ever since her first trip to Alaska—”

  Cort held up his hand. “Her first trip? When was that?”

  “A long time ago. Before I was born. She came for a climb and spent six months here.”

  “How often does she come back here?”

  Kaylie shook her head. “She came back once more, the next summer. That’s where she met my dad. They’d never been back before this year.”

  Cort narrowed his eyes. “Why not?”

  “Why not?” She frowned. “I don’t know. Why would they?”

  “Because this place gets in your blood,” Luke said. “That’s why.”

  Cort rolled his eyes and swung his head. Luke and Charity were leaning forward, clearly straining to hear the conversation. “Don’t you guys have somewhere to go?”

  “No.” They answered in unison, and Kaylie giggled.

  Startled by the sound of Kaylie laughing, he glanced at her. Sure enough, there was a twinkle in her eye as she grinned at Charity. Wasn’t much of a twinkle, and her face still looked strained, but damn, that smile. Gorgeous. “You should smile more.”

  She looked at him and her smile faded. “So should you.”

  “The only time he’s smiling is when he’s hanging on to life by one fingernail,” Luke said. “Psychotic bastard.”

  Cort didn’t miss the look between Charity and Kaylie. What the hell was that about?

  Not that it mattered. They needed to focus. Cort draped his arm over the back of Kaylie’s chair and resumed the conversation they’d been having before Luke had interrupted. “You know who your mom talked to or climbed with when she came before?”

  Kaylie frowned. “Of course not. Why would I know?”

  “Why’d they come back this time?”

  “Thirty-year anniversary of when they met,” she said.

  “Why not every year?” Cort said. “Why wait thirty years?”

  “My mom said she hated Alaska. Didn’t want to come back. The only time my dad came here was when she wasn’t with him.”

  Luke leaned back in his chair, hooking his arm over the back of it. “Something happened when she was here before.”

  Kaylie frowned. “Why do you say that? Maybe she just didn’t like Alaska. It’s possible, you know.”

  “Denali is a climber’s dream. You don’t hate it. You climb, and the mountains bring you to life,” Luke said. “Outsiders who come…once the land gets in their blood, they can’t leave. It’s impossible.”

  Cort looked over at his friend. Yeah, Luke knew. All too well, he knew the price that could be demanded of those falling in love with Alaska.

  Kaylie was frowning. “So, you think something happened when my mom came before?”

  “Something that came back to bite her when she returned, yeah.” Cort rubbed his jaw. “But how the hell does it relate to you? Or Jackson? Or Sara?”

  “It’s easy,” Charity said. “You all are so blind.”

  Cort eyed Charity. “You going to fill us in on your brilliance?”

  “Of course.” Charity glanced at Luke, then focused on Cort and Kaylie. “A woman comes to Alaska for a short trip, but winds up staying six months? And then she comes back the next year for another extended stay? That has ‘I met a hot guy’ all over it.”

  Kaylie shook her head. “My mom never said—”

  “Then, on the second trip, she meets a new guy, jumps ship and never returns to paradise? And now you’ve got a wedding ring and a guy who knows what your mom drinks?” Charity shrugged. “Your mom was a player, Kaylie, and the guy she met thirty years ago never forgot her. She came back, and things got stirred up.”

  Luke snorted, and Cort rolled his eyes. “No guy’s going to have a hard-on for a woman he hasn’t seen in thirty years.”

  “A girl thing to say,” Luke agreed. “Women pine. Men have sex with other women to forget. It’s how it works.”

  Charity folded her arms across her chest. “It’s Alaska. Ratio of a thousand men to every woman. The men out here have nothing else to do besides fantasize about the women they’ve bedded.” She grinned. “Right, Kaylie?”

  Kaylie glanced at Cort, her cheeks red.

  Charity leaned forward. “Tell me, Cort. If Kaylie left today and you didn’t see her for thirty years, would you forget about her, or would you think of her every time you saw the sun reflecting off the snow like diamonds?”

  There was silence at the table, three sets of eyes fixed on him. Charity sparkling with mischief, Luke looking somber, as if he was thinking of the one woman Cort really couldn’t get out of his nightmares, and Kaylie, looking just the faintest bit curious.

  “Snow is just snow,” he muttered. “A place to land.”

  Kaylie looked away as Charity sighed with disgust. “You’re such a guy.” Charity turned her attention to Kaylie. “Do you know anything about your mom’s trip out here before? Or this time? Did she ever mention a guy besides your dad?”

  “Oh, come on,” Cort interrupted. “Trying to re-create something that might or might not have happened thirty years ago is a waste of time.” He pulled his arm off Kaylie’s chair, getting annoyed by all the talk of endless love and obsession. “We have to start somewhere, and the best place is with someone who talked to Kaylie’s mother on this trip, who can tell us something about who she was with, who paid attention to her, who she was talking to. And that’s going to be the pilot who flew her party. Anyone hear of her team going lost?”

  “On Denali?” Luke studied Kaylie.

  Cort set his hand on the back of Kaylie’s chair as she got a hopeful look on her face. He didn’t like Kaylie looking at Luke as if he were her savior. “Yes,” Cort answered for her.

  “Six in the party?” Luke asked.

  Kaylie shrugged, biting her lip. “Actually, I don’t know who was in the party, other than my family—my parents and my brother. I don’t know.”

  Cort slid his hand down to the back of her neck and stroked his fingers over the skin. Her muscles were tight, and Cort knew it was difficult for her to admit she had no idea about the details of her family’s excursion. As the only one left home, she should have been their base, knowing when to call them in as missing.

  And yet Kaylie knew nothing. It spoke volumes about the relationship she had with her family.

  Luke snapped his fingers. “I heard about this. Pilot couldn’t find them when he went to check on them two weeks after dropping them off. Three-day search turned up nothing. Search officially called off last week.”

  Cort snapped a sharp look at him, annoyed that Luke could deliver for Kaylie where he hadn’t been able to. “You heard about this? Why didn’t I?”

  Luke glanced at Kaylie, then back to Cort. “You haven’t been around lately.”

  “I’ve been here.”

  “No.” Luke tapped the side of his head. “You haven’t been present. First time you’ve been in town for months. You’re always in the air, taking every search and rescue we get. How many times have you slept in your bed lately?”

  “Nothing’s changed.”

  “Think about it. That’s all I’m saying.”
<
br />   “You know…” Charity started in on him. “Luke’s right. I haven’t seen you in here in months. Everything okay?”

  Cort became aware of Kaylie watching him. “Are we looking for Jackson’s killer or playing psychiatrist? Who flew that party, Luke? You remember?”

  “Thinking…” Luke nodded. “Yeah, I remember. Tom Gracien.”

  “Old Tom?” Cort rubbed his jaw. “He’s been flying for more than thirty years. He might know something.” And Old Tom was one of the few guys in the state who’d be straight up with Cort. Old Tom was one of the few who hadn’t judged Cort after the mess eight years ago.

  Kaylie touched Cort’s arm. “Isn’t Tom the one you said Sara should have hired to fly me?”

  Cort nodded, giving her a thoughtful look. “Yeah, you’re right.” The wiry pilot was more than capable of taking down Jackson, and on some levels, Old Tom was crazy enough to do just that. But Cort didn’t see it being the case. Just didn’t make sense.

  Annie set a burger in front of Cort and one in front of Kaylie. “Old Tom’s in Devil’s Canyon tonight. Heard him talking last night.”

  Luke’s and Charity’s attention swiveled to Cort at the mention of Devil’s Canyon. The only way to Devil’s Canyon was through Devil’s Pass, and they both knew Cort didn’t fly Devil’s Pass.

  Ever.

  Not even for this.

  Kaylie surveyed the three serious faces. “What’s wrong with Devil’s Canyon?” When no one answered, Kaylie turned to Cort, lines of strain reappearing around her mouth. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  He cupped her shoulder and squeezed it. “Nothing that affects you. Something that happened a long time ago.”

  She gave him a doubtful look. “Well, can we fly up there right now? I don’t want to wait any longer.”

  Cort ground his jaw, but Luke immediately spoke up. “I’m heading that way anyway. I can stop in.”

  Shit. Cort felt like an ass. Luke offering to fly up there for him? Like Cort was so pansy assed he couldn’t fly himself. “No—”

  Annie leaned forward. “Why do you guys want Old Tom?”

  Cort leveled a steady glare at Annie. “Eavesdropping again?”