has to be an airstrip somewhere around here or else there couldn’t be an airplane. I didn’t mention anything to the seaplane’s bush pilot because I didn’t want him to know what we were up to, but I did ask an old-timer, a native Alaskan woman, who looked like she’d been around long enough to know something.”
“And?” Shay’s question was accompanied by a jolt.
The shocks on this Jeep were in serious need of repair. She’d never liked Jeeps as it was. Squeezing the handgrip, she pressed her other palm against the top of the cab, but her head bumped the ceiling anyway.
Rick tugged a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over. She recognized his handwriting and read the lengthy, convoluted directions.
“Directions to a gold-mining claim? Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.”
Shay sat up, not liking where any of this was taking them. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Rick exhaled. “Someone’s been watching us. Following me around. They were getting a little too close for comfort.”
* * *
Shay didn’t speak for a few seconds. Rick cut her a glance, catching her frown. Did she think he was overreacting? He couldn’t tell. He’d never spent this much time with her, especially in such close quarters, so he had no experience reading her expressions. Looking for clues into her thoughts, his eyes skimmed over the few freckles splashed across her nose and the short-cropped auburn hair framing her face that was a little mussed from their travels.
“You think it’s related to Aiden and the plane? Why don’t you just ask them instead of running away?”
Rick shot her a glance. “I did.”
Shay’s sunset-blue eyes grew wide with her gasp. “And what did they say?”
“Let’s just say they weren’t forthcoming with answers. They made a wrong move and I had to make a fast exit. That’s when I came for you.”
He glanced her way and she watched him. He didn’t like the look of concern on her face. “Not to worry. We lost them.”
For now, at least—but depending on what they wanted, he could expect to see them again. Were they bent on stopping them from taking the plane? Did they know something about Aiden? Or were they just a couple of guys preying on tourists in backcountry Alaska? If something happened to him, then what about Shay? What would she do? He’d tried to find out what he could in town but when they’d grabbed him, thinking he was an easy target, he’d opted to leave them behind and come for Shay.
The trick would be to stay safe until they could find Aiden or make it out of here on the next bush flight tomorrow—whichever came first.
The Jeep bounced to the right, and Rick turned his focus to the uneven dirt road—a thirty-five-mile loop to a secluded lake. He wasn’t sure he wanted to endure the bumpy road for another thirty-plus miles, and he doubted Shay would be too happy with the journey either, but there was strength behind her beauty. He knew she could handle it.
She sighed and stared at the paper with directions. He knew she was probably still worried about those men. He could only be grateful she wasn’t with him when the confrontation had happened. They could have easily used her against him in that situation, and then where would they be?
“This looks like it’s going to be the scenic route,” she finally said. “What happens when we get to the nine-mile ridge trail? Don’t we need ATVs or something? How’re we going to get there?”
“I suspect there’s an easier way in, but those directions are all I have for now.” If anyone was actually mining the claim, as his conversation with the woman had made him suspect, they’d have had to have built a road to move in the type of equipment used these days. But if something sinister was going on and his brother was in trouble, going in the direct way would be a mistake. The roundabout path would be their best bet.
“Rick,” Shay said, startling him out of his thoughts.
He realized now that she’d been talking to him for a while and he hadn’t been listening. Looking over at her, he sent her a look like he’d heard every word. “Just focusing on the road, thinking about the directions.”
Hoping I wrote them down right.
“These directions aren’t a stroll in the park,” Shay said. “Unless you’ve done a lot of shopping, we’re not prepared to get to this claim. Haven’t you heard a word I’ve said?” Her gaze skewered him, burning a hole through his head.
“I just want to drive the loop to get a look and feel, okay?”
If he was brave enough to stare her down at the moment, he might risk a look into her eyes. Back at the Deep Horizon shop, any time Shay explained some sort of complicated repair she was making, Rick would get lost in those eyes, then shake himself free and pretend he’d been listening. Just like he’d been doing now. He had a feeling he hadn’t fooled her then.
Or fooled her now.
She slapped his arm.
“Hey, what was that for?” He grimaced, making sure she witnessed it.
“What are the plans? I don’t like being left out.”
“Let’s check it out—or as close to it as we can get in the Jeep. See if we can find Aiden. Maybe he’s at the airstrip waiting for us and we just got our signals crossed.” Now, that was like Aiden.
Something in the rearview mirror caught Rick’s attention. Uh-oh. “We’ve got company.”
Shay twisted in the seat to see. “We can’t be the only ones traveling this road. They’re probably just heading home for the day.”
“Or maybe it’s the same two men who gave me trouble. Let’s test your theory and see if they come after us.” He punched the accelerator.
The engine roared to life and echoed the truck behind them as it raced forward, gaining on them. That was a bad sign. A very bad sign.
His weapon bounced on the seat and almost out of reach, but Shay caught it.
“You know how to use one of those?”
“My daddy taught me how to shoot. How to fire a weapon at a target after...”
The way she trailed off, as though her mind was a million miles away, made Rick wonder what had happened. He wanted to her to finish the sentence.
“But aiming at a living, breathing human is different,” she said, redirecting her thought.
She’d left something out.
Apprehension reflected in her expression. She understood what he’d truly been asking when he’d wanted to know if she could shoot. If they had to face off with the men in the truck behind them, and things got bad, could she pull that trigger?
As a marine helicopter pilot, he’d already had the experience of firing his weapon at living, breathing souls and knew he could do it. But he’d hoped to leave those days behind. Still, he wasn’t going to dump the responsibility onto the woman by his side who wasn’t trained for the job.
“Hand it over,” he said, and pressed the gun against his thigh in the seat.
Behind him, the truck’s lionesque roar grew louder as it gained on them.
TWO
“I suppose it’s too late to turn around.” Shay held tight to the edge of her seat to keep from getting bounced around, but her effort felt as futile as her words.
His focus on driving, Rick didn’t respond, but her question was mostly rhetorical. His frown seemed to engulf his strong features as he worked his jaw, the muscles in his neck straining. If anyone could get them out of this, Rick could, but this situation looked