Chapter 15
Gina
The silence after the tree fell was absolute except for the howling wind. Gina sat in the snow, lungs burning, her body trembling with leftover adrenaline. Nick’s arms were still around her—solid, anchoring—but she couldn’t seem to make her breath slow. The fallen tree had missed them by inches.
George was completely still beneath the enormous tree. No movement, no sound. Just stillness that felt final.
“Is he . . . ” Brooke’s voice was barely audible over the storm.
Gina pulled herself up slowly, Nick’s hands steadying her. The tree had to weigh several tons. There was no way anyone could survive being crushed under that much weight.
“He’s dead,” she said, taking in his open eyes and the blood trickling from his mouth and ears.
Joe made a sound somewhere between relief and shock. “I can’t believe it. He was going to kill us, and now . . . ”
“Now it’s over,” Kelsey whispered. She was standing a few feet away, staring at George’s body with tears freezing on her cheeks. “It’s really over.”
Gina looked at her friend, who had put them in such danger. They might have escaped George’s murderous intentions, but it wasn’t over for Kelsey. Not by a long shot.
The storm raged around them, and Gina realized they needed to get back inside before they all froze. But something about the moment felt too important to rush past. They’d all just witnessed a man die, even if he’d been planning to murder them.
“We should go back in,” Nick said, echoing her thoughts. “Sort this out where it’s warmer.”
Gina nodded, but her legs felt unsteady. The adrenaline was wearing off, leaving behind exhaustion and shock. When Nick put his arm around her waist to help her walk, she didn’t pull away.
They stumbled toward the hotel, supporting each other against the wind. The broken window in the dining room was still letting snow blow in. “I’ll grab the jackets,” Nick offered. “Stay in the hall and warm up before we try and sort things out.”
Jackets on, everyone slumped against the walls, too drained to speak for several minutes.
Gina sat next to Nick, close enough that their shoulders touched.
The heat from his shoulder seeped through her sleeve, grounding her in a way words couldn’t.
For the first time in several hours, she felt like she could breathe.
“What happens now?” Joe finally asked.
“We wait for the storm to pass,” Nick said. “Then we get down the mountain.”
“What about . . . ” Brooke gestured toward the door. “Him.”
“We report it when we get back to town,” Gina said. “Tell them exactly what happened. It was self-defense, and then an accident.”
Kelsey let out a shaky laugh. “Self-defense. Right. We were forced to defend ourselves from a situation I created.”
“You saved our lives,” Nick said firmly. “Don’t forget that part.”
“Did I? Or did I just make everything worse?” Kelsey’s voice was getting higher, more unstable. “If I hadn’t been stealing files in the first place, none of this would’ve happened. I used Brooke’s training run as cover for my drop. I turned your legitimate trip into something dangerous.”
Gina wanted to be furious, wanted to scream at her for the lies and the danger. But all she saw was a woman shaking apart under the weight of her own bad choices.
“Kelsey,” Gina said gently. “Take a breath. You’re going into shock.”
“I’m fine,” Kelsey snapped, then immediately crumpled. “No, I’m not fine. I’m not fine at all. I’ve been lying to all of you for months, putting you all in danger because I was too scared to face the consequences of some stupid photos.”
“What exactly are those photos?” Brooke asked.
Kelsey wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Pictures I took in law school. Private pictures. I was dating this guy who said he loved me, and I trusted him. After we broke up, he kept them.”
Brooke shook her head. “A few romantic pictures? Who cares?”
“Not just that . . . other things. We did some stuff that was illegal. Things that could get me disbarred, maybe even arrested. Those were what I was most concerned about. Somehow, he connected with some people who decided they could use the photos to get me to do things for them. My guess is he sold the photos to them, and they took it from there.”
“That’s blackmail,” Joe said.
“I know what it is,” Kelsey said bitterly. “But I thought I could handle it. I thought if I just gave them what they wanted, they’d leave me alone. But after the first time, they just kept coming back, threatening me and telling me one more time and I’d be free. But I wasn’t.”
Gina studied her friend’s face. “What did they want you to steal?”
“Client files at first. Information about real estate deals, mineral rights, development projects. Nothing that seemed too important. But then the demands got bigger. More files, more sensitive information. And when I tried to stop, they threatened me.”
“You could have come to us,” Brooke said. “We would’ve helped you figure something out.”
“How? What could any of you have done? I’m a lawyer. My reputation is everything. If those photos got out, I’d lose everything I’ve worked for since I was eighteen. And now . . . ” Her shoulders dropped.
The pain in Kelsey’s voice was raw. Gina felt a stab of sympathy for her friend, even though Kelsey’s choices had nearly gotten them all killed.
“So, you decided to steal from your clients instead,” Nick said. His tone wasn’t judgmental, just factual.
“I decided to protect my career the only way I knew how. And I told myself it wasn’t really hurting anyone. Just corporate information, big companies that would never even notice.”
“But it did hurt people,” Gina pointed out. “It hurt us.”
Kelsey nodded miserably. “I know. And I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life. Assuming we survive this storm.”
The wind gusted against the building, reminding them all that they weren’t safe yet. They were still miles from civilization, in a building that was partially damaged, with no way to communicate with the outside world.
“The storm has to pass eventually,” Joe said. “And then we can drive out.”
“Eventually,” Nick said. “When that is depends on how much snow we get and whether that road is passable.”
“What do you mean?” Brooke asked.
“I mean we might be stuck here for a while. I doubt the tree out there is the only one that the wind took out. Could be days before the road crews can get up here to clear the way.”
The thought of being trapped for days was almost too much to bear. Gina closed her eyes and tried to focus on practical concerns instead of the horror of their situation.
“We have supplies,” she said. “Food, water, fuel for the camp stove. We can keep warm.”
“And we have each other,” Nick added quietly.
Something in his tone made Gina open her eyes and look at him. He was watching her with an expression she couldn’t quite read.
“Do we?” she asked.
The question hung in the air between them. After everything that had happened, after all the doubt and fear and accusations, did they have each other?
“I don’t know,” Nick said honestly. “That’s up to you.”
Gina realized he was talking about more than just their immediate survival. He was talking about trust, about whether she could accept him as he was, without guarantees about his future or promises about stability.
She’d been so focused on what Nick couldn’t offer her that she’d missed what he could. When George had grabbed her, Nick had risked his life to save her. When the tree was falling, he’d thrown himself between her and danger without a second thought.
He’d been there when it mattered. Not because he had a steady job or a permanent address, but because that’s who he was. He protected the people he cared about, even when it cost him something.
Her whole life, she’d prided herself on being self-reliant. After her father left and her mother fell apart, that seemed like the only safe choice.
Fear of being disappointed. Fear of being abandoned. Fear of trusting someone who couldn’t take care of themselves, let alone her.
But Nick had shown up when it mattered. Maybe not with stability or guarantees, but with action when they needed it most.
“I think we do,” she said quietly.
Nick’s face softened. “You sure about that?”
“I’m sure that you saved my life today. I’m sure that when things got dangerous, you put yourself between me and harm. I’m sure that you’ve been honest with me about who you are and where you’re at in life.”
“I’m still a guy sleeping on his cousin’s couch,” Nick pointed out.
“I know. And I’m still a woman who’s terrified of depending on anyone else.” Gina took a breath. “But maybe we can figure it out together.”
The wind still howled around the old building, relentless and wild. But inside, something warm was growing between them. Not certainty about the future, but something more important: trust—the kind that might just weather whatever came next.