Sarah Varland - Mountain Refuge

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

Extract

ONE

Summer Dawson was alone on a mountain when she heard the first out-of-place sound, felt the first inklings that something might be wrong, that danger might be close.

She’d been running uphill, relishing the burning in her legs and lungs that reminded her that she was alive, when something rustling in the bushes made her pause and listen.

Summer had stilled immediately and stood now, listening to the sounds she’d grown up with. The Alaskan mountain was full of life, even at ten o’clock at night as daylight was starting to fade. She should have started this run hours earlier, and usually did. Her busy schedule working at the lodge didn’t leave a lot of time for training, but mountain running was important to her, her outlet, her dream she didn’t like to talk about.

A dream she’d mostly given up on.

But still, she ran the mountains because it was what she’d always done.

Today’s run, like every Tuesday, was supposed to be up Hope Mountain, across Lupine Pass, then down Cook Mountain, where her sister, Kate, would be waiting for her. From there, they’d drive back to Summer’s car at the Hope Mountain Trailhead. Neither would talk about why Summer trained so hard when she didn’t compete anymore, not even at nearby Mount Marathon, but they did the same routine every week. Like clockwork.

Until now. A shiver ran through her, followed by goose bumps down her bare arms. She untied the jacket she always wore around her waist, put it on and hoped it was just the cold and the later-than-usual night that had her spooked. Much as she tried though, Summer couldn’t deny that something about the rustle in the bushes had her on edge. Her hand went to the bear spray attached to the belt she always wore when she ran. The Kenai Peninsula was known for its large brown bears. Summer had seen more than one in her time in the woods but never too close. So far she’d escaped any encounters like that.

Hesitantly she moved forward again slowly, not wanting to run lest she awaken a bear’s predatory instinct if one did have her in its line of vision.

Then she heard nothing. Just the normal sounds. She exhaled, picked up her pace slightly and removed her hand from the bear spray.

And then something had her, from behind, hands on her arms, rough, pulling, jerking her off the trail. She heard a faint jingle, like car keys on a key chain maybe. That was the sound she’d heard earlier—that’s why she’d been spooked. She opened her mouth and screamed, but the deep humorless laughter behind her reminded her how futile it was. This wasn’t a well-used trail except on weekends. No one would hear her screams.

“There’s no use fighting. You’re going to die today.”

Summer tensed her arms, tried to wrestle out of his grip, but he was too strong, even as he released her with one arm and then threw the other one all the way across her to pull her up against him, his hand heavy, her heart thudding in her chest.

Dying wasn’t an option. Not for Summer. Not when for the last three years she felt like she’d barely lived. She’d gone through the motions, fulfilled obligations, even climbed mountains...

But she hadn’t really lived. She wasn’t ready yet, wasn’t done.

No. Dying was not an option. She stilled slightly, hoping she could lull him into complacency, somehow trick him into loosening his grip so she could escape. Instead he held her against him even tighter, drew a knife with the other hand—he was left-handed, she should remember that—and ran it slowly up her arm. There was nothing remarkable about the knife except that it was large, four or five inches. Shiny. Sharp against her skin as he pressed just hard enough to leave the smallest of scratches.

“This is how it begins.”

Something in the words sickened her, terrified her. Please, God. She didn’t remember the last time she’d prayed. For now that was all she could muster.

Noise in the bushes startled them both. She felt her captor shift and assumed he was looking at the noise. She moved her head like she was too, but lowered her chin in the process. Took a breath and slammed her head back as hard as she could.

He yelled in pain, and when he loosened his grip slightly, she rammed an elbow into his ribs.

And then she was free.

Summer didn’t stop to look back to see if he was pursuing—she just started running. She was free, she was alive and she had another chance to live like it.

She wasn’t going to mess this up.

* * *

Clay Hitchcock pulled into the parking lot at the Moose Haven Lodge, hoping his fresh start wouldn’t turn out to be a disaster. He was already later than he’d meant to be. A glance at the dash reminded him of that. It was 11:00 p.m. If Tyler hadn’t assured him any time before midnight was fine he’d feel awful. As it was, Clay just felt tired. He jerked the key from the ignition, exhaled and got out.

Tyler Dawson, the friend who had gotten him this job, ran from the lodge. “I need your help.”

“What’s wrong?”

“My sister should have been back from a hike an hour ago.”

“And she’s not?” Cop senses died hard apparently, because Clay’s instincts heightened, ready for action as if he was back in his old life.

“No. We’re spreading out. If I give you directions, can you drive around a certain area?”

“Of course.” Clay might be new here, but he did most of his growing up in the swamps and woods of coastal Georgia. Back roads were somewhere he felt comfortable.

“Here.”

Tyler handed him a ripped strip of paper, like they’d written out a list of places to search and divided them up. Not bad for civilians running an informal search. Speaking of which... “You’ve called the police, right?”

“Yes. But we’re a small town with a small department. There are only three Moose Haven officers and one of them is out on maternity leave. So that leaves two.”

Clay winced, knowing from his own police experience that the chances of both even being able to join the search were slim.

“They’re both searching because one of them is my brother.”

Clay whistled low. “Are you going out too?” He hadn’t seen any other cars in the lot when he’d pulled up and had wondered if the lodge was empty this late at night.

“My truck’s around back. Call me if you see anything and I’ll let everyone else know.”

Clay nodded, climbed back into his truck and drove away.

The woods alongside the roads he drove looked nothing like the tall Georgia pines he was used to investigating among, but the situation was familiar to him. He’d been involved in a search or two during his time at the Treasure Point Police Department, but even though he’d only been officially without a badge for two months now, it felt like a lifetime ago.

Unless Clay let himself actually remember it, hang on to that part of his life. And then it felt like yesterday. But he didn’t want that. Couldn’t take that.

He pulled out of the parking lot and looked at the note Tyler had given him. Howard’s Landing Road was the first road, followed by a list of other locations and directions from place to place. He pulled the first road up on his phone’s map setting and pressed the gas.