Chapter 10 #2
“Like I said—he was behind the original sting.” Gabe’s eyes met hers across the table. “Truth is, I think the Sorroses had something to do with our parents’ crash.”
The room went silent.
“What?” Harley’s voice emerged, barely a whisper.
“The ‘official’ finding was that the storm iced their wings,” Jericho said quietly. “But Barry Kingston says differently.”
Gabe nodded. “I agree. Your dad was too good a pilot for that to be the cause of the accident. It happens, I know, but he knew the weather.”
Jericho’s mouth tightened. “Barry thinks their fuel line froze. But they took off from Copper Mountain—Dad would have filled his own plane.”
“I don’t always fuel my own plane,” Winter said. “Sometimes, I call it in, and the FBO takes care of it.”
“Maybe Mr. Bowie didn’t know the fuel was bad,” Topher added.
“I think we need to talk to Barry,” Harley said quietly.
“To the depths of my bones, I’m sure the Sorroses were behind the crash,” Gabe said.
“And they’re still smuggling drugs. But I need current documentation.
Account numbers, shipping manifests, correspondence—everything that ties the Sorros brothers to drug trafficking across Alaska.
” Gabe looked at Sunni. “They were always careful—no digital records, only paper trails they could destroy. If I could get into one of their offices—”
“There’s an office at the Eagle’s Nest site. I can get in there,” Jericho said, a sudden steel to his voice.
“You should take it to the FBI,” Winter said, holding her coffee cup in both hands, blowing on it. “Let them handle it.”
“I will. But . . .” Gabe glanced again at his wife. “After Sunni and Daniel are safe.”
“Is that your plan?” Sunni asked. “Is that why you told me to come out here?”
He stared at her. “I never told you to come out here.”
“Yes, you did. You sent me that picture of the cabin. I knew it was a signal.”
Gabe went a little white.
Harley stilled. “You didn’t send the photo?”
He shook his head.
“Gabe . . . did you see our plane come in?”
He nodded. “And I ran. I didn’t know who might be landing at the cabin.”
Well, at least they didn’t have a stalker in the woods. Or maybe they did . . .
Gabe’s face had whitened even more. “Who sent the picture?”
Silence.
“I don’t like this,” Jericho said.
Harley either.
The fire popped, sending sparks up the chimney. Outside, the wind had subsided, the storm over. Sunlight cast brilliant light across the fresh powder.
Winter set down her coffee. “We should dig out the plane. Get moving before the ceiling drops again.”
Harley carried the dishes to the sink, went back for more while Topher and Winter pulled on their winter gear. Gabe helped Sunni to the couch.
Returning to the table, Harley gathered empty mugs, trying to ignore how her hands still trembled. The weight of what lay ahead pressed in, making the cozy cabin feel suddenly hot.
Or maybe it was simply the weight of what-if. The bright hope of . . .
Justice. Freedom. “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Jericho moved with a sort of contained energy, packing his bag and then feeding Orlando the scraps from breakfast.
She recognized the set of his jaw. Oh no . . .
She walked over to him, crouched next to him. “What’s going on?”
He ran a hand through his hair, rucking it up.
“According to Hudson, the Eagle’s Nest project is hemorrhaging money on building supplies.
” He shook his head. “He can’t figure out why the numbers are so inflated.
” His eyes met hers. “Now we know. They’re buying extra supplies to conceal their drug shipments. ”
“I can’t believe they’re using the Eagle’s Nest project to run drugs,” she said.
He nodded, his eyes darkening. Then he stood, taking her hands, pulling her up. A fierceness burned in his gaze.
“It’s time we end this,” he said softly. “For all of us.”
She read the promise in his expression.
Or maybe she simply hoped it.
Oh, wow, clearly she’d forgotten the past sixteen years and turned into the painfully naive and hopeful girl of the past, the one who wanted to believe his words from last night.
And then his hands tightened, as if he’d never let go again.
She nodded. Because this wasn’t just about Mars anymore. This was about justice. For Gabe. For their parents.
And if Gabe was right, and God did have a plan in everything, then maybe this was why she’d come home.
And if she did it right, maybe she could stay.
IT WAS THE KIND of morning that made a guy believe in fresh starts.
“God does not keep a record of wrongs.”
Gabe’s words hung in Jericho’s head as he helped tidy the cabin. Hard to believe them when he had such a detailed ledger.
“You okay?” Harley stowed the last of the cookware and doused the fire in the cookstove.
“Yeah.” He reached for his jacket.
“You’re thinking too hard,” she said, coming over to him and grabbing her own jacket.
“Just wishing I’d come home sooner.”
“You’re here now.” She touched his arm, and even through layers of wool and down, he felt the warmth. “That’s what matters.”
“Is it?” He grabbed his coat. “Hudson’s been dealing with this Eagle’s Nest mess alone. I should have been here.”
“You were serving your country.”
Huh, first time she’d suggested that wasn’t some sort of abandonment. Now she let him go. “Plane’s not going to dig itself out.”
She stepped outside, and he followed.
The world opened to pristine white. The storm had transformed into a diamond-bright morning. The sky arched overhead in perfect azure, not a cloud in sight. Fresh powder stretched unmarked to the tree line, where dark spruce stood sentinel against the mountains.
“I could let God save me. Get reborn.”
Gabe, still roaming around his head.
“How bad is it?” Harley asked as they trudged down to the plane. Snow had drifted over the skids, securing it to the lake.
Winter had pulled out shovels from the cargo area. “Could be worse. Main thing is clearing the wings and skis. Maybe an hour’s work.”
Topher had already started on the skis. “Harley, start cleaning off the wings.”
She retrieved a scraper from Winter, who went to the other side.
Jericho grabbed a shovel and started to dig out the other ski.
Orlando bounded through the snow, biting at it.
“He loves it out here,” Harley said, laughing.
“He’s part Bernese mountain dog. I have to forcibly drag him in out of the snow.” He didn’t look up.
“You’ve got that expression again.”
He glanced at Harley. Her cheeks were pink from cold, and her blond hair escaped her wool hat in wisps.
“What look?”
“It’s the Bowie look. The one where your family decides they need to fix all the problems in Alaska.”
“What?”
“Oh please,” Topher said. “Winter, am I right?”
“It’s a thing, Jer,” Winter said, now walking around the nose of the plane. “All you Bowies are the same.”
He didn’t know why those words hit him, slid inside, stuck.
Still, maybe.
Harley finished scraping the wing, lowered her voice. “Really. What’s going on?”
It felt a little like that last summer together, when he’d find her out at her dock, they’d sit and watch the sky deep into the night, as the sun cast shadows from the mountains.
He’d probably told her too much, because he’d just ended up breaking her heart. Now, however, he leaned on his shovel. “Just thinking about what Gabe said. About our parents’ crash.” He paused, watching her face. “The Sorros brothers being behind it . . .”
“They certainly hated your family. And mine.”
He frowned.
She cocked her head. “After you left, the Sorroses burned down your family’s machine shed.”
He stilled. “I knew it burned, but . . . that was them?”
“According to my dad. I was in school in Anchorage, but he told me about it.” She sighed. “I wish I’d known Gabe had been clean and was helping Dad. I would have come home.”
Silence, and the wind caught the snow, whipped it across the lake, dusting into the air. He didn’t know why he said it, but . . . “I missed you.”
Her eyes met his, and he couldn’t place the emotion that flickered. Hope? But wow, she was pretty. Snow powdered her hat and had caught her eyelashes.
“I missed you too. Even when I was mad at you.” She winked at him, and the words simply landed, loosened yet another dark knot inside.
The door of the cabin opened. Jericho squinted and could just make out the figure of Gabe emerging, Sunni cradled in his arms, her face buried against his shoulder.
Harley hiked over to help them through the deep snow. The sight of her caught Jericho, drew him up.
“Ice seems to be thawing between you two,” Topher said, coming up behind him. “I’d call it a near inferno.”
Good thing he hadn’t followed Jericho out into the storm last night. Yeah, he’d call it an inferno too.
Oh boy.
“Just like old times.” Topher helped him finish cleaning off the second ski.
Orlando played in the pristine powder, circling close to Harley, tail wagging against the crystal morning. “Maybe. Maybe better.”
“Mm-hmm,” Topher said, setting his shovel aside. “Help me break this plane free.”
Jericho put his shoulder against the belly of the plane, tried to rock it free from the snowy clasp.
“You never said what brought you home.” Topher grunted.
“Had to check on my brothers after my uncle got arrested.” Jericho, too, grunted. Bird didn’t want to move. “He was such a huge part of the lodge . . . I don’t know. I was worried.”
“Of course you were.”
He didn’t know what Topher meant by that. However, “I thought I’d stick around Anchorage. Seemed close enough without being too close, you know?”
They rocked the plane again, started to ease it out of the snow’s grip.
“Then I got a call about training avalanche dogs up at the Copper Mountain Ski Resort . . . seemed like a good idea for Orlando.”
“Mm-hmm,” Topher said again.
The plane broke free. And with a little muscle, they pushed it forward. Jericho clapped snow from his hands, then looked at Topher. Frowned.