Epilogue
The late afternoon sun blazed over the Moose Range Run finish line as Gina scanned the trail for any sign of Brooke. They’d been waiting for hours, and runners were starting to arrive more frequently.
The leaders had finished long ago, and the mid-pack was finally hitting its stride. Now that Brooke had entered town and once again had phone reception, Gina was able to track her on the app and expected her to appear at any moment.
“There!” Joe pointed down the trail with his camera already raised. “Red shirt, blond ponytail?”
Gina squinted against the afternoon sun. “That’s her!”
Even from a distance, Brooke’s determined stride was unmistakable. She looked tired but strong, her form still efficient after fifty-two grueling miles through the rugged Wyoming mountains.
“About time,” Nick said, slipping his arm around Gina’s waist. “I was starting to worry she’d gotten lost.”
“Brooke doesn’t get lost,” Gina replied, leaning into his warmth. “She just takes her time when she wants to.” She yelled Brooke’s name and told her she looked great.
Brooke smiled and raised a hand as Gina thought about all the ways things could’ve ended differently—how close they’d come to never seeing this day. Gratitude and disbelief tangled in her chest, and she felt Nick’s hand brush hers as if he’d read her thoughts.
The past five weeks had flown by in a blur of police interviews, media attention, and the slow process of returning to normal life. Or what passed for normal after surviving what they’d been through at Bearwater.
Kelsey was gone. One day she’d been there, participating in the investigation and preparing for the legal proceedings ahead.
The next, her apartment was empty and her phone was disconnected.
She’d left a brief note for Gina and Brooke, apologizing again and saying she had to go away for a while to “make things right.”
Joe had written a follow-up article after her disappearance, quoting someone from the Department of Criminal Investigation who said Kelsey was “cooperating fully with ongoing investigations.” When Gina had pressed him for details, Joe had shrugged and said he suspected witness protection, but they may never know for sure.
It hurt, losing a friend that way. But Gina had come to terms with the fact that Kelsey’s choices had consequences that went far beyond their small running group.
“She’s really moving,” Joe said, snapping photos as Brooke rounded the final curve. “Look at that kick she’s got left.”
“Show off,” Nick muttered, but Gina could hear the pride in his voice.
Tears pricked Gina’s eyes as she watched her friend power through the final hundred yards.
After everything that had happened, after the trauma at Bearwater and the decision to drop down from the hundred-mile race, Brooke was here. She was finishing. She was smiling.
“Come on, Brooke!” Gina shouted, her voice carrying across the crowd.
Brooke never broke stride as she approached the timing mats.
“Fifty-two miles!” the announcer called out as Brooke crossed the line. “Brooke Davies from Irma, Wyoming!”
Gina rushed forward to catch her friend in a hug, not caring that Brooke was drenched in sweat and covered in trail dust.
“You did it,” Gina said, squeezing tight. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I can’t believe I actually finished,” Brooke laughed, accepting the finisher’s medal from a volunteer. “For a while there, before I made it to the Antler Creek aid station, I thought I was going to have another DNF. But you all were there, cheering me on, and I knew I couldn’t quit.”
“You were amazing,” Nick said, joining their group hug. “You pushed through.”
“Yeah, well, surviving a blizzard and a homicidal maniac puts a fifty-two-mile run into perspective,” Brooke said. “Turns out, regular old muscle fatigue and altitude aren’t that scary anymore.”
Joe approached with his camera, still snapping photos. “How do you feel about next year? Any thoughts on attempting the full hundred again?”
That spark was back in Brooke’s eyes—the one Gina had thought Bearwater might have extinguished. “Next year, the Moose Range Run 100 is mine,” she declared. “This was just practice.”
“You sure about that?” Gina asked. “It’s okay to be satisfied with what you accomplished today.”
“Are you kidding?” Brooke gestured toward the mountains surrounding them.
“After what we went through, I know I can handle whatever this race throws at me. The cold, the altitude, the mental game—I’ve been tested by worse.
And this time, I’m not going to let the training plan drive me nuts. I’ll pace myself properly.”
Gina exchanged a glance with Nick. He’d been worried, too, that the trauma might have broken something in Brooke’s competitive spirit. Instead, it seemed to have strengthened her resolve.
“Well, I’ll be here to crew for you again,” Gina said. “Just maybe pick a training schedule that doesn’t involve abandoned mining towns.”
“Deal,” Brooke laughed. “Though I have to admit, outside of Bearwater is some of the best hill training around. Even if it didn’t go as planned.”
They spent another hour at the finish line, getting Brooke a proper meal while cheering for other runners as they completed their races. The atmosphere was celebratory and infectious, filled with the kind of camaraderie that Gina had always loved about the running community.
As the cut-off time approached, the crowds began to thin. Brooke was still smiling, even though her legs were stiff and moving wasn’t easy. They had a couple of rooms in a nearby hotel and decided it was time to head to those.
“Wanna lean on me?” Joe asked Brooke as she hobbled to her feet.
“Don’t mind if I do. I’m fighting off cramps.”
“You were amazing,” Joe said as they walked ahead of Nick and Gina. “I knew you could do it.”
“She’s going to be fine,” Nick said, reading Gina’s thoughts.
“I know. Better than fine, actually. I think what happened made her stronger.”
“What about you?” Nick asked, stopping to face her. “Any second thoughts about us?”
“None,” Gina said firmly. “You were exactly what I needed, even when I was too scared to admit it.”
“Even though I came with no guarantees?”
“Especially because of that.” Gina moved closer to him. “You showed me that real security doesn’t come from someone’s job title or bank account. It comes from knowing they’ll show up when it matters.”
“True.”
Gina was still amazed sometimes by how natural it felt to be with him. “Although I have to say, your remodeling jobs are much less exciting than your cousin’s training runs.”
Nick had started his own business, landing three projects in the past month that he worked on in his spare time while continuing his day job.
Word traveled fast in small towns, and his reputation for quality work was already spreading.
The coffee shop expansion for Brooke was scheduled to start in late fall.
“Boring is good,” Nick said, wrapping his arms around her. “I’ve had enough excitement to last a lifetime.”
“Hmm.” Gina pretended to consider this. “Boring might be overrated. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“My sense of adventure is planning weekend camping trips with proper weather forecasts and no criminal conspiracies involved.”
“That does sound nice,” Gina admitted. “We could do a group camp with the running club, some trails, maybe a lake for swimming . . . ”
“Exactly. Normal, boring, getaways where the biggest danger is forgetting the bug spray.”
Gina rose on her toes to kiss him, tasting the warmth of sunlight and dust on his lips, and the promise of everything they still had to build.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you too.”
The words still felt new and precious between them, but they came easier now. The crisis that had brought them together had also taught them both that life was too short and too uncertain to waste time being afraid of vulnerability.
Around them, the Wyoming mountains rose up in all their rugged beauty, reminding Gina of the wild country that had tested them and ultimately brought them together.
“Ready?” Nick asked, reaching for her hand.
“More than ready,” Gina said.
Together, they stepped forward—not toward safety, but toward a future they’d chosen.
Brooke thought she’d faced her hardest challenge. She was wrong.
Her story continues in Beartooth Betrayal: Deadly Miles Book 2.
Continue reading for a sample of Beartooth Betrayal.