Mountain Refuge

by Sarah Varland

  “You took a risk and it paid off.”

  “A calculated one, but yes.”

  He nodded. “Impressive,” he told her truthfully. He wasn’t sure Summer understood how remarkable her whole handling of that situation had been.

  She shrugged. “I did what I had to do. I still keep replaying it in my mind. First, in case there are any details I missed that might help and, second, because I wonder what I could have done differently. Could I have avoided it? Should I have reacted in a different way than I did? Things like that.” Summer exhaled, her shoulders dropping as she did so.

  “You did a good job. Trust me. Now show me where we’re going today.”

  She set the map on her lap, paused and shook her head. “Actually, come with me.”

  She stood and walked to the stairs, and Clay followed her to the second floor and into her room. “What’s up?”

  “I just had a bad feeling. I’m probably just jumpy from talking about the attack, but I didn’t want to risk being overheard by anyone. If we are supposed to keep the location a secret until we’re heading on the hike, to minimize the chances my attacker can find me, that includes keeping it from everybody who isn’t family. Or you. Or Erynn.”

  “You don’t think there’s a connection between your attacker and one of the guests, do you?” The idea had crossed Clay’s mind but he’d written it off fairly quickly. If one of the guests wanted Summer dead there would have been plenty of opportunity to attack her closer to the lodge. Following her up the steep mountain trail would have been unnecessary.

  “I don’t know. I just don’t want to take chances.”

  “Just calculated risks, right?” Clay smiled a little. Whether she acknowledged it or not, Summer was a risk taker. She just had her own unique ideas about what constituted a risk and what didn’t.

  “So have a seat.” She motioned to the two chairs on one wall of the room. Clay sat, Summer taking the seat next to him. She unfolded the map again. “We’re here.” She set her finger down. Clay nodded, doing his best to memorize the general topography around the lodge, looking for landmarks. “And we’re going here.”

  “Is it a pretty steep hike?”

  “Not as steep as the trail I was on yesterday.”

  “Yeah, but you were on your way up a mountain.”

  “That’s where I prefer to be.”

  Summer stopped, almost cutting herself off in the middle of the last word. She gazed up at him, her face giving nothing away, but looking like she was studying him, waiting to see if he’d caught something.

  “What is it?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing.”

  “I’d already figured out the mountains are home for you, Summer. It’s not a secret.”

  She flinched a little at the word secret unless Clay was mistaken.

  “So what will you tell people about the hike, as far as difficulty level? I’m guessing you’re planning to advertise it in some way so people will know what they’re getting into, right?”

  Summer exhaled, the tension lines in her face easing. One of these days Clay’s curiosity was going to get the best of him—she’d react to something he said, and he wouldn’t be able to let it go—but for now it seemed like the right thing to do. Even if Summer was becoming more and more intriguing to him.

  “I’ll probably call it moderate. A young kid who’s a good hiker could do it. I have a friend in Anchorage whose son climbed one of the peaks up here—they call it Little O’Malley—when he was four.”

  “I’d probably try that one if a four-year-old could do it.” Clay laughed.

  “I didn’t say it was easy. I said a good hiker could handle it. Hiking is less about age or agility and more about your mental state, and how badly you want to be on top of that mountain.”

  “You think so, huh?”

  She nodded, and Clay could tell that once again they were dangerously close to an area of Summer’s life that meant enough to her that she guarded it from other people. So there was something about the mountains that was crucially important to her. Interesting.

  “What time should we leave on the hike?” she interjected as Clay reminded himself not to push her for answers about things like this, that intrigued him but didn’t have anything to do with the case.

  “When do you usually schedule them?”

  “Sometimes morning, sometimes afternoon. It’s just after eight now. We could easily post a 10:30 departure time and take lunch with us, or we could eat here and hike afterward.”

  “Let’s do that, then.”

  “Thanks for doing this, Clay.”

  He nodded, smiled back at her and tried not to second-guess everything as she stood up to get ready for the day. He only hoped he was doing the right thing, and not taking risks that would put her in greater danger.

  SIX

  Hours later, Summer walked along the path to the start of the trail, trying to project the confidence she usually felt. She wasn’t sure she was fooling anyone with her attempts not to be scared out of her mind by the fact that someone was after her, but she sure was trying.

  Not that she wanted to deceive anyone, but she didn’t want to be babied. And most of all, she didn’t want anyone blaming her, in any way more than they already legitimately could, for the failure of Moose Haven Lodge.

  Summer had no idea why Clay didn’t understand how much the lodge meant to her. He had no idea of the circumstances of her past few years, true. So he didn’t know that if it weren’t for her, the lodge would be sitting pretty, bringing in more than enough money to support all of them. But she’d left right when they needed her most and now things were tight. Most of that weight was on Tyler’s shoulders, but Summer didn’t want him to have to shoulder that alone.

  Besides, whether Clay understood or not, it was her family’s lodge and family mattered, so it was her responsibility too. Did Clay not understand that? Maybe not.

  She didn’t know enough about him. Didn’t know if he even had a family. She shuddered at the very thought of being alone in the world. She didn’t know what she’d do without her family. They had never let her down…even if she hadn’t been able to return the favor.

  Pushing the past from her mind, something she felt like she spent too large a portion of every day doing, Summer stared down at her favorite hiking boots. They were covered in dirt, now not just from enjoyable adventures in the woods, not just a visible symbol of how she loved to push herself, but also from running for her life.

  Summer wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It seemed wrong, somehow. Another thing her mystery attacker had tainted. Nothing about this situation seemed right though. Right down to the fact that as protective as Noah was, her brother didn’t have the time to invest in keeping her safe one-on-one, not if he was going to make any headway in solving the case and making something like a protective detail unnecessary.

  So she had a stranger keeping her safe.

  That was something she needed to get over sooner rather than later. The way she’d behaved toward Clay wasn’t something she was proud of and it needed to change.

  Summer took a deep breath at the trailhead as she eyed the woods. “‘Lovely, dark and deep,’” she muttered under her breath, reminded of a poem she’d studied in high school.

  “Robert Frost, right?”

  She jumped, not having realized Clay was right behind her. She nodded. “I think so. You read a lot of poetry?” She wouldn’t be surprised if he said yes. There was more to him than she would have assumed.

  “Not since high school English—I think that’s when I read that poem.”

  She laughed. “Me too.”

  “It must be required across the country or something.”

  Summer nodded, having forgotten in the seconds of kinship there that they came from different ends of the country, different worlds if you thought about it. This corner of Alaska was familiar to her, where she was raised—the mountains that were her home. She’d looked Clay up online and learned that he w
as from South Georgia, near the beach. They couldn’t be more opposite if they tried.

  “You nervous about going back in the woods?”

  The perception she’d noted as being part of his character seemed to be coming out even stronger now. But she didn’t see a need to answer. He could take that however he wanted to.

  “Alright,” she said, raising her voice to be heard by the small crowd, “if everyone will meet me here by the trailhead I need to go over some rules.”

  She went through her spiel the way she did before every single hike she led—some tourists underestimated the terrain or Alaska itself, and she liked to make sure they understood the risks as well as how to minimize them before they started. Among other things, she reminded them of how to act during a bear encounter and to make sure they stayed with a hiking partner.

  “Does this mean you’re my hiking partner?” Clay drawled softly as she walked by.

  Summer whirled and caught the smile in his eyes. This playfulness was a new side of him. She smiled back for a split second, welcoming the more lighthearted interaction, before realizing she really couldn’t afford to let her guard down. For the sake of her safety and her heart. “I guess you don’t have much choice right now, do you?”

  Not waiting for a reply, Summer started down the trail. Of course, a quick glance over her shoulder not many seconds later, which she told herself was to check on the hikers she was leading, confirmed that he’d caught up and was directly behind her. From the little she knew about him, she was certain he wasn’t going to let her go far from him. He took keeping her safe seriously, something she appreciated.

  “On the right in just a few more minutes you’ll get your first glimpse of the falls,” she called back to the group. “We won’t reach the base of the falls for another two miles because of the way the trail twists and turns through the forest.”

  Some appreciative murmurs behind her from the tourists confirmed to Summer that she’d made a good decision for this hike. Of course, it wasn’t long after that that she remembered why it wasn’t one of her favorite trails—the mud could get slick on some of the uphill sections.

  She made it up one particularly steep section and then turned to the group. They seemed to be doing okay so far. She saw more smiles than frowns—so far this hike was a win. She felt her shoulders relax a little as she prepared to deliver her next fun fact about this trail. That was something that made her hikes more enjoyable than people just wandering through the woods by themselves. She was able to offer tourists her expertise about the area and help them recognize some of the unique elements they were seeing.

  “I’m sure you’re noticing the mud helping you break your hiking boots in.” Summer kept her voice light. “For those of you who don’t already know, both Moose Haven and the nearby town of Seward are in the farthest north rain forest. I know when you think rain forest you probably don’t picture spruce trees but it’s true.”

  “Explains the mud,” Clay muttered under his breath. Summer glanced at him, catching his smile. He did have a nice smile. More than nice.

  They kept hiking.

  “Just about another mile to the falls.”

  Most of the people had stopped talking by now. This was the most intense part of the hike. Thankfully the wind had shifted, bringing some of the cool moist air from the falls their way. Summer brushed her hair from her face as she hiked, noting in amusement how the hairs by her forehead had curled up in the forest’s humidity.

  A quarter mile from the falls, Clay’s demeanor changed. He moved closer to her, keeping in step with her perfectly, walking beside her now, not behind her like he had been earlier.

  “What is it?” Summer didn’t think anything the man did was without intention.

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  Cryptic, but she was working, she didn’t have time to crack his evasive-man code right now.

  “Alright, up ahead you’ll see Bear Creek Falls.” Summer glanced at Clay, who was looking elsewhere, back in the direction they’d come maybe. What did he see back there? She intended to find out, once she’d gotten the tourists settled.

  “Please finish making your way to the falls, take some pictures and enjoy—” she glanced at her watch “—forty-five minutes on your own before meeting back here.” She motioned to a large spruce tree with a rock underneath it. “Remember, this is the Alaskan wilderness, so be cautious. Yes, there are trails and if it weren’t safe in this area, then I wouldn’t have brought you here, but you still need to stay alert and pay attention to your surroundings. Make notes of landmarks if you want to wander at all and keep an eye on the clock. I’ve given the lodge our approximate return time so someone will be coming to check on us if we aren’t back when we should be.”

  Summer stayed still while the group wandered toward the falls, making their way at a leisurely pace down the trail.

  When the last tourist had passed her, she turned to Clay. “What is it?”

  “I told you I’m not sure yet.”

  “But you suspect something.”

  His face was serious, his eyes giving away nothing. He was 100 percent in police officer mode, Summer knew.

  “You found something, didn’t you? We have some time. Take me with you and let’s see what it is.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not sure you want to be there.”

  “So what, you’re going to take me back down to the lodge, find someone to cover bodyguard duty and come back up here? It would take hours—whatever you thought you saw could be long gone. Plus, you don’t know the trail. And anyway, I thought keeping me safe was your job.”

  *

  Summer was right about one thing. His primary job was keeping her safe. Not just from physical danger, but from anything that would add to her nightmares.

  The smell of decaying flesh wasn’t something you easily forgot once you’d smelled it, and Clay had before. He’d caught the first whiff on this trail about five minutes back from where they were right now and hadn’t decided how he was going to go investigate.

  He didn’t want Summer to see what he suspected he would find. But he knew that there was no way to stop her from coming with him. And she was right that it made more sense not to wait until later. The faster they confirmed his suspicions, the faster they could notify the authorities and get a proper investigation started. He started walking back along the trail, and Summer followed him.

  “Remind me how far this trail is from where you were attacked.”

  Summer shrugged. “It depends. It would take probably about four hours following the twists and turns on the trail from where we are now, give or a take a little time, unless someone took the ridgeline.” She motioned upward. Clay wasn’t sure where they were on this mountain.

  “How close are we to the top?”

  “Not quite two-thirds of the way up. This is the last of the tree line. Another quarter mile or so and it’s clear mountain.”

  “Have you done the ridgeline, then?” Clay suspected he knew the answer but wanted to hear it from Summer.

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Were you planning to do it the other night?”

  She exhaled. “No.”

  “No?”

  She shook her head.

  “Is it possible that someone could have attacked you over on Hope Mountain and then come over here by the ridgeline, or vice versa?”

  “Sure, but I don’t know why it would matter.”

  Clay picked up his pace and Summer followed. “What is that smell?”

  It was getting stronger the closer they backtracked to where Clay had first smelled it. The wind had shifted again, which apparently was causing Summer to notice it too.

  “We’ll see in a minute,” he said with no hint of amusement in his voice.

  Clay paused and motioned to the left. “Is there a trail that will get us that way?”

  “Besides the ridgeline?”

  Her voice still had a hint of teasing—she must not recognize the smell.r />
  “I need a trail that goes that way, Summer.”

  She seemed to finally recognize that he didn’t have any room for humor at the moment.

  She studied the direction he’d pointed and seemed to finally find a way that would work. “Game trail. This way.”

  She stepped in front of him but Clay caught her arm. Summer paused, then looked at his hand on her arm.

  Clay released it immediately, breaking the touch. She’d been attacked just hours before, what had he been thinking?

  He hadn’t been thinking at all—he’d been reacting on instinct. And he’d learned the hard way that his instincts couldn’t always be trusted.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “It was fine, actually.” She was still studying her arm, where his hand had been. She looked up slowly, met his eyes and held her gaze there. “It wasn’t the same at all, the way you touched me. I could tell your intention was to keep me safe.”

  She exhaled. Relieved to know her attack hadn’t scarred her more than it could have, maybe? Clay knew she was fortunate to have escaped more mental trauma. Some people weren’t so fortunate.

  “I need to go first.” Clay focused back on the task at hand.

  “Why?”

  “Summer.” He didn’t seem to have more words than that, couldn’t find any in his mind. They hiked in silence for a minute. Then Summer spoke up again.

  “Why won’t you tell me what we’re looking for?” Summer coughed. “And what is that smell?” She looked around.

  And saw it a split second before Clay did, if the way she stilled was to be believed. She inhaled sharply, but didn’t look away. Neither did Clay, because that was what he’d been searching for.

  The source of the smell. Fifteen or twenty yards away.

  Female. Midtwenties.

  Blonde.

  This was a match for the serial killer’s MO after all, which meant the case had turned from bad to worse. Their worst nightmare for keeping Summer safe seemed to be coming true.