Alaskan Ambush. Sarah Varland

raised her eyebrows. “I don’t like a lot of things about it, but if you want to get back to Moose Haven, this is the best way.”

      But she was tense too—he could see it in her jawline, in her shoulders. Still, he followed her down the slope, noting the way she kept looking all around them, head tilted slightly to the side like she was listening for something. Expecting something.

      “You’re worried about avalanches?” He was guessing but by the way she whirled around, he could tell he’d probably come close.

      “I’m not worried about anything except whoever is after us. But there’s nothing wrong with being cautious when conditions are ideal for there to be trouble.”

      So that was a yes, then.

      With every step they took, she grew more circumspect and while Micah knew he hadn’t been able to see well last night, he felt that the routes she was choosing today were a little safer. A little more careful than last night’s sprint down the mountain at what could have been literal breakneck speed.

      Thankfully they made it down without incident and Micah watched Kate relax a little more.

      “Almost there.”

      “Where will we come out?”

      “At the main trailhead.”

      Micah nodded. “Okay, that works. You have a car there?”

      “Yes. Not much farther.”

      They moved into another area thick with trees that Micah recognized from years ago. Another couple hundred yards and they’d be to the trailhead. They just had to navigate this last section, steep with rocks littering the dirt pathway.

      Kate slipped at the top of an incline, kicked one of the bigger rocks. Micah caught her, closed his arms around her out of instinct. They were closer than they’d ever been and his heartbeat quickened. Letting her go was the last thing he wanted to do, which was why he removed his arms the second she seemed to catch her balance. He never would have guessed he’d have reacted this way to the feeling of her in his arms, even for a second, even though he’d known his feelings had danced over the line between friendship and attraction. This was part of the reason he’d not returned to Moose Haven, even after he’d graduated high school and had been free to. Because it didn’t matter if he’d had a crush on Kate then or felt a slight attraction to her now. She was one of the Dawsons, a family who knew how to be there for each other, something he knew nothing about. Much as he’d envied their closeness when he was a kid, he knew he’d never be able to duplicate it if he ever had a family one day, and Kate deserved better. She was far out of his league, and he could only think of her like the little sister he’d never had.

      They were only ever going to be just friends.

      He stayed still for a minute, with Kate, waiting for the rock to finish crashing down the hill, on edge and alert in case someone heard the sound and attacked them.

      But the assault didn’t come in the form he was ready for.

      Instead a concussive blast shook the mountain beneath them, loosening more rock.

      Kate screamed as the puzzle pieces came together in Micah’s mind.

      Someone had set a trip wire for them. Someone who could still be here, watching.

      Waiting for them.