Word Count: 6371
Last Revised: 12/14/08

Chapter One

Any day that involved closing a case or, at least, any day that didn’t involve opening another, was a good day. By that rule, it had been a good day, but from the moment he’d opened his eyes with that long-familiar tension coiled tightly in his neck, nothing else about today had been particularly agreeable. It was just one of those days, the kind that really had no reason to be bad outside the dismal fog of depression. Pat was eager to go home home, fix himself something for dinner and sit on his well-worn couch with a book and the television for background noise and wait for the day to be over.

He was just getting ready to head out the door when a familiar voice put all his grandiose plans for the evening on hold for a little while.

“Pat, meet me in my office in a minute.”

Pat, the captain had called him, not O’Neil. Whatever Bill Granger wanted to discuss, it was personal. Anxiety curled tighter in his gut. There was one subject that had been flirting with his mind all day and he had no desire to let his boss drag him down that road right now. Even on a good day, a trip down that alley, lined with broken glass and knife blades as sharp as a surgeon’s scalpal, was a painful experience. On a day like today, such a trip would leave him exhausted and incapable of doing more for himself than pulling the covers of his bed over himself and praying sleep would relieve him from the bitter memories and empty stomach.

To pass the time, Pat perused his surroundings. Bill’s office was rustically furnished with a log desk on which the captain kept his paperwork in a pair of wrought-iron, four-tiered filing shelves. The craftsmanship was exquisite and unique; he’d never seen anything quite like them outside of Bills office and home. The chair behind the desk, like the one he currently occupied, was upholstered with deerskin and had the texture of silk. Bill had only had them a couple months, but they fit in well with the rest of the office. On the wall behind the desk was a poster-sized photograph of a two story cabin illuminated in filtered rays of golden sunlight Pat hadn’t seen before. The structure was nearly an A-frame, but the peak was not as steep as the sides.

On the desk beside the shelves were several pictures in handmade frames of weathered wood. Pat recognized Bill’s incredible, dark-haired wife and his sister and brother-in-law. There was a new picture of a stunning young woman with reddish-blond hair and beautiful deep-green eyes wearing a day-glow orange hunter’s vest. There was a rifle slung over her shoulder and a triumphant smile on her face as she knelt besidie a magnificent four-point whitetail buck. She gripped the antlers with long, graceful fingers to hold the animal’s head up for the camera. Pat thought the woman must be the captain’s niece, but he’d only seen childhood pictures of her. The eyes were the same shape and shade, though.

The captain’s boisterous laughter rumbled through the closed door from the workroom. With his back to the door, Pat smiled as Bill entered noisily.

“Afternoon, Pat,” was his greeting. “Thanks for seeing me.”

“Afternoon, sir,” Pat replied as the older man sat down behind his desk. “And I wasn’t aware you were giving me a choice.”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? It makes me sound old.”

Confirmation of what he’d suspected. Nothing involving work would be discussed. His lips twitched upward again as Bill opened one of the drawers on the desk and took out a nondescript manilla envelope. The captain was only forty-three and still had the body he’d had at twenty while in the army. His rich brown hair was only starting to gray on the sides and in his short beard. As usual, he wore blue jeans with a denim shirt and a buttermilk dress tie. He looked anything but old.

“So, Bill, where did you get these chairs? Don’t tell me your niece made them, too.”

“She did, actually. This winter, after she bagged a four-point buck near my sister’s cabin.” He picked up the picture of the young woman with the deer and smiled. “Yes, sir, he was a mean old cuss. Too bad she had to wait until hunting season to shoot him.”

“I didn’t know a deer could be a ‘mean old cuss’, Bill.”

“He was. Absolutely destroyed my sister’s strawberry patch. You should’ve heard those girls swearing about it. My niece was going to use the berries for jam.” Bill paused to look at the picture again. “Her friend June took this picture, and the one of my sister’s cabin on the wall behind me.”

“Well, I must say, your niece is a very talented kid. These skins are extremely soft,” he commented.

“Yes, she is. And she likes to keep me immersed in Western style. So, Pat, you don’t have any plans tonight, do you?”

“No more than usual.”

“Good. Mary wanted me to invite you over for dinner. She said something about not bothering to come home tonight unless I brought you with me.”

Pat chuckled. “I suppose I shouldn’t keep you from your wife’s good cooking... not that you couldn’t stand to miss a meal or two.”

“Keep it up, smart ass. I’ll be out of here in a little bit, but you’re more than welcome to head over. As always.”

“I’ll do that,” Pat replied and left.

As he drove to Bill’s house, he decided that an evening with his boss and his witty wife was the perfect medicine for his ailments. So long as that subject wasn’t broached. But Mary was always careful to steer Bill clear of it, especially on days like this one. As much as he didn’t like talking about his ex, he knew he’d have been lost without Bill and Mary Granger there to pull him back from the proverbial cliff’s edge. As it was, he still wasn’t too many steps back from it.

“Pat, welcome!” Mary greeted when he arrived at the Granger’s modest little house on Lake Washington. “I’m so glad you came.”

So am I, he thought. “Anything I can help with?”

“No. Everything’s ready. We’ll just wait for Bill to get home. He called a few minutes ago to say he was leaving. Want anything to drink? Beer? Wine? Juice?”

“Water would be fine, Mary,” he replied.

He followed her through the house––which was decorated much the same as Bill’s office––to the back porch. The handiwork of Bill’s niece was everywhere. More frames of weathered wood like those on his desk hung on the walls, filled with family photos and more of his sister and her family and their cabin in Montana. The end tables and coffee table in the living room were all log, but the kitchen table was solid oak––a family heirloom. Walking through the Grangers’ home was like a stroll through a Rocky Mountain dream. Mary dabbled in interior design as a hobby and she’d put the rustic furniture and decorations to perfect uses. Her house could have graced the pages of a magazine devoted to Western living.

Pat would love to meet Bill’s niece someday. Just from admiring her work, he could get a sense of who she was. Dedicated, certainly, and artistic. But also giving, loyal, and he suspected a little stubborn. Any woman who chose to make her living in a field that traditionally belonged to men was no soft lady to take what life handed her. Maybe he’d meet her sometime, when she came west to visit family.

Bill arrived a scant twenty minutes later to find his wife and Pat laughing uproariously at a story about the latest antics of some of their snooty neighbors.

“Glad to see your mood’s improved, Pat,” Bill remarked as he joined them out on the back deck.

“Your wife is a charming woman,” Pat said. “I can’t help myself.”

“She certainly is.”

Mary went back inside, leaving them to talk. Dread wormed its way back into the pit of Pat’s stomach. There was nothing overly prodding about Bill’s demeanor, but he was suspicious that his enjoyable evening was about to head in a direction he didn’t want to take.

“Before you give me your usual, evasive responses, hear me out.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Absolutely not.” Bill took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “You’re regressing. Over the last few months, I’ve watched you, worried that you’re sliding back down into the pit. I don’t know what’s causing it, or if there is a cause. But I’d be willing to bet a large sum of money that you’ve had as many bad days as good in the last three months. That worries me, Pat. You’ve worked so hard to recover from Sara.”

And there it was.

“I’m fine, Bill.”

“I’d be more convinced by the truth, Pat, and we both know that isn’t it.”

“C’mon, Bill, it’s been a long, wet and gray winter. Everyone’s been––”

The look Bill gave him––auburn brows lifted, mouth flat––silenced him. He’d never been able to lie to his friend. Why should that change now?

“There’s a trend here, Pat. Every time something reminds you of Sara, you have one of these days after,” Bill went on. “What did you see, hear or do yesterday that reminded you of her?”

“My mother mentioned her. First time I’ve talked to my mother in two months and she came up. She always does.”

“What do you mean, ‘mentioned her’?”

“Apparently, they bumped into each other at the grocery store. Sara asked how I’ve been.”

“That little….” Bill shook his head. “I’m sorry, Pat. I shouldn’t be dragging you through this tonight. But it just makes me so angry sometimes, especially when I can see how much farther you still have to go to heal. What you need is a good woman like my niece to show you Sara isn’t worth any of the pain she’s caused you. That’s the other reason why I wanted you to come to dinner tonight.”

Pat sat back in his chair and gaped. The situation had suddenly gone from depressing to absurd.

“Oh, no. They’ve finally gotten to you, haven’t they? Listen, I’m sure she’s a very nice girl, but…” Pat was interrupted by Bill’s laughter. It boomed loud and clear, in the still evening air.

Bill kept laughing until his eyes glittered with moisture.

“You think that’s what I’m trying to do? You really know how to bring a man to tears, Pat.” Bill wiped beneath his eyes and chuckled again. “Yes, I know about the plot to set you up with any available female. I’ve tried to get them to can it, but I’m afraid they won’t. I’d bet my niece would be a much better match for you than anyone they can find, but I refuse to do that to you. Much as I’d love to have you legally a part of my family as a nephew, I’m afraid my reason for mentioning her is more serious.”

Bill pulled the manilla envelope out of his bag and handed it to Pat. On the cover was one of the most unique names he’d ever seen. He knew it had to be the name of Bill’s niece but it was spelled oddly; Bill had always pronounced it like the flower, Alyssum, when he wasn’t calling her what sounded like “Allie”. He guessed her nickname was probably spelled like the first four letters of her name, Aeli. Had he not heard Bill say it, he might have been tempted to call her Aylie. How on earth had the poor girl ended up with such a name? For the moment, however, he ignored his curiosity and opened the file.

Inside was what appeared to be a criminal file, but somehow less… official. There was no rap sheet of past discrepancies or a mug shot. Instead, there was a sheet of personal data including the last known address, phone number––both of which were over a year out of date––the physical descriptions of the man and a photo. Pat narrowed his eyes, instantly unsettled. There was something about the hazel eyes that struck him wrong, a contained madness shimmering beneath a placid surface. He had the look of someone who’d spent his entire life reaching for something unattainable and had not yet realized the hopelessness of his endeavor. When that happened, there would be no bright fervor in those eyes, only the shadow of heartbreak and disillusionment. The longish, messy medium-brown hair was further evidence, but beneath the mop, the man could be called good-looking. What a pity. Pat quickly moved on. Behind the photo was a copy of a restraining order and a list of places with dates and times. There were a few more pages, but Pat shifted his attention for the time being to Bill.

“What is this?” he asked.

“The biggest favor I’ll ever ask of you. Aelissm called me two days ago. I told you that she’d moved back to Northstar, Montana, but not why. Adam Winters was somewhat involved in the death of Bryce Ellington, though the charges against him were dropped.”

“Ellington? I remember something, about a year ago. Isn’t he––”

“Bryce was Aelissm’s fiancé. And Winters has been stalking her.”

“So you want me to find him.”

“Yes and no. There’s more to it. The night Ellington died, he tried to rape Aelissm. Winters heard her scream for help, came to her rescue and started to strangle Bryce. Aeli ran out. As it turns out, Bryce Ellington died of a burst anuerysm, most likely brought about by being strangled, but there’s no way to prove it. A neighbor had seen Bryce that night, stumbling back to his apartment, so he was still alive after Adam left. She thought he was drunk––and he was. By that time, Winters was long gone. The landlord found Bryce’s body in the morning, when he entered the appartment for a routine testing of the smoke alarms.”

“Talk about a prosecutor’s nightmare.”

“It was. Anyhow, a copy of the statements and records of Bryce’s death are in the back there, along with the statements my niece gave to get the restraining order and what she dictated to me over the phone the day before yesterday.” Bill paused to take a deep breath. “Aelissm thinks Adam Winters has always had a thing for her. At first, she was flattered and I thought he would have been a better match for her. I liked him. Until this mess happened. But I think something snapped in him that night. He wasn’t the same and he’s become obsessed with Aelissm. She changed her phone number, moved to a different apartment and finally, about six months ago, she quit her job here in Seattle and moved into her parents’ cabin in Northstar. Her grandparents own a place called the Bedspread Inn and she’s sort of taken over operations. She also teaches a blacksmithing class at the university in Devyn, one night a week.”

“But… didn’t you say it’s forty-five miles from the cabin to Devyn?” When Bill nodded, Pat remarked, “That’s a commute.”

Bill smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Especially in the winter. Anyhow, Adam Winters has found out where she is. Or at least found her phone number.”

“So, how do I fit in to all this?”

“I want you to go to Montana. I want you to protect her, Pat.”

Pat considered Bill’s request, then laughed. “Good one, Bill. You almost had me, what with the file and the story.”

Bill’s eyes hardened. “I wish to God this was a joke. There isn’t much Aeli can’t do, but when she called me two nights ago, she was in tears. I don’t trust anyone else to do this, Pat. I’d do it myself if I could. But there’s another reason why I want you to go. You need the time off because you’re still recoving from your own ordeal. Understand that this is entirely unofficial work. You will be on paid leave until I can figure out what to do with Adam Winters, or at least until Aeli is safe from the bastard. I don’t care how long it takes, even if I have to pay you out of my own pocket.”

Pat sat back in his chair, stunned. This was one hell of a favor and he wasn’t sure if he was up to the challenge. Chasing down criminals in the streets of Seattle that he could cuff and haul in was one thing, but surviving in a cabin in the back of beyond, trying to find a stalker without being able to do anything more than call Bill and tell him of Winters’ whereabouts and activities was entirely different. He glanced at Bill, saw the silent plea in the older man’s gaze, and considered it. Since it was unofficial work, Bill couldn’t force him to take the assignment, but the captain had done a lot for him over the years. The least Pat could do was repay a favor.

“Do you need a day to think about it?”

Pat shook his head. “I’ll do it. It’ll be nice to get away for a while. Like you said, I need it. How long’s it been since I took a vacation?”

Bill sighed with relief that included not just his niece but Pat as well. “Three years. And trust me, Northstar is definitely away.” He scribbled some notes and information on a piece of paper and stuffed it in the file. “All right then. It’s all here. Do whatever you have to to keep her safe and I’ll do whatever I have to to ensure you won’t face undeserved consequences.”

Mary’s return with dinner brought an end to their head-spinning conversation. They talked about other things while they ate, but Pat couldn’t completely force it to the back of his mind. Fortunately, it had the same effect on him as a fresh case and, even while he listened and talked and laughed with his friends, part of his thoughts were focused on what he might be facing and how he could best tackle the task.

“I really appreciate this, Pat,” Bill said as Pat was leaving. “You have no idea what peace of mind I’ll have knowing you’re there with Aeli.”

Pat nodded and, tucking the file under his arm, leaned down to embrace Mary and thank her for dinner and them both for the company. As he drove away, he began to wonder what he’d gotten himself into. When he got home, the first thing he did upon entering his apartment was pick up his road atlas. He glanced at the notes Bill had scribbled before he’d left and studied the map of Montana. There it was, a tiny dot in the southwest corner of the state, marked as being about five miles up a dirt road that bisected a narrow, wedge-shaped valley. The nearest town of any size was Devyn with a population that nearly matched its elevation of just over five thousand feet. Beyond that, the closest city was Butte, many miles to the north. His eyes traveled back to the little dot that would be his home for the next little while.

He sighed. “Northstar, here I come.”

Catching sight of the pan flute on top of the small television, he walked over and picked it up. When had he last played it? Not since his grandfather had passed away five years ago. He moved to set it down, then hesitated. Maybe he should bring it with him. Who knew? Maybe he’d find the heart to play it again.

As he climbed into bed and tucked the blankets around himself to ward off any lingering tensions of Sara, he discovered something. Three years ago, he’d gutted the appartment––the only place he’d lived in the ten years since moving out on his own––of everything and anything that reminded him of his ex. The place looked like he’d barely moved in and, for the first time on a “bad” day, he hadn’t dwelled on it. He hadn’t even noticed.

* * *

“Uncle Bill, I didn’t mean for you to send me a protector. That’s the last thing I need or want.”

“Then you shouldn’t have called me.”

Aelissm sighed. “You’re wasting his time.”

“Am I? You’re calling from June’s, aren’t you?”

Aeli glanced at her friend, rolled her eyes and sighed again. “Yes, Uncle Bill. It’s movie night. When I called you, I only wanted to let you know Adam had called me again. That’s all.”

“You’re not fooling anyone, Aelissm, except maybe yourself. But you’re smarter than that. You were in tears, my sweet niece.”

“I don’t know how Adam got the phone number here. But he can’t find me. Hell, Unk, you couldn’t even find this place last summer and you’ve been here before.”

“But you thought Winters wouldn’t find you when you moved to a different appartment in Seattle, too, remember?”

“Yes, but––”

“Humor me, Aelissm.”

“I don’t need someone to watch over me like I’m a child.”

“I know you can take care of yourself, Aeli darling, but Winters scares me. He won’t stop until he’s found you and when he does…. He’s not the same man he used to be.” Her uncle sighed and she pictured him sitting in his recliner at home, massaging his temples. “I chose Pat because I trust him and because I know he can protect you, if need be. Knowing he’s there will ease my old heart.”

“Old? Ha!”

“I’m serious.”

“I know you are. All right, fine. It might be nice to have a man around.”

Bill laughed. “I know that tone. You’re a devil, you know that?”

“Yep. Well, I should probably get off this thing. I don’t want to run up June’s phone bill.”

“All right. Love you, Aeli Girl.”

“Love you, too, Unk. ‘Night.”

Aeli set the cordless phone back in its cradle and glanced at her friend. She’d known June Montana for longer than she could really remember, since they’d been just five. Then she looked at June’s foster child, a scrawny twelve-year-old boy named Luke McKindel, who was curled up beside her on the navy blue couch, and was amazed by how their lives had changed in just the last year. June had taken on the responsiblity of the recently orphaned boy and Aelissm’s engagement to Bryce Ellington had ended rather abruptly upon his death. And yet… here she and June were, as always, best friends. She was grateful for that constant in her life and knew that if she hadn’t had it in the past year, she probably would have gone insane.

It was June’s off-handed comment about Luke’s reaction to first seeing the valley that had made her decide to come out here and until she’d arrived six months ago, she hadn’t realized just how much she’d needed to come here. The utter peacefulness of the Northstar Valley was such a welcome relief to the constant pulse of Seattle. Besides, even though she’d grown up in Western Washington, she’d been born in Devyn and had spent the first three years of her life in the cabin. This was home. She flopped on June’s matching loveseat and exhaled.

“I take it Uncle Bill is sending one of his officers over?” June asked.

“Yeah, Patrick O’Neil. He’ll probably be here tomorrow evening. I don’t need someone to protect me.”

“Maybe you do.”

June’s tendency toward always being right was sometimes very aggravating, Aeli mused, but it was also nice to be slapped with the truth now and again. She’d thought that coming out here, to Northstar, would end her problems with Adam, and for a pleasant sixth months, it had. But then, two days ago, he’d called her. She still remembered all too clearly how badly her hand had trembled as she held the phone against her ear, frightened beyond words at the sound of his voice. Just leave me alone, she’d finally told him. And then she’d hung up. Running away never seemed to solve the problem, she thought, only postponed it. Damn Adam and damn Bryce! Most of this was his fault. If he hadn’t tried to…. She shuddered and pushed the memories away.

“You remember our first year of college?” June asked. “Sitting up in your cabin, reading and snacking on Spaghetti-O’s while it snowed?”

Aelissm smiled and felt some of the tension she hadn’t realized was binding her shoulders slip away. “Those were good times.”

“Grandma Davis told me about hearing you singing Christmas carols,” Luke said.

“While we were out chopping wood,” Aeli remarked. She tried not to look surprised that he’d spoken, but the boy was usually so quiet that sometimes it was hard not to. “I guess we were making a bit of a racket.”

“I like it up here,” the boy said.

June smiled and pulled her fingers through the boy’s blond hair. Aelissm wondered, as she often did, what had possessed June to agree to Uncle Bill’s plea that she take him. He was a good kid, very quiet, well-behaved and disturbingly clean… and Aeli admitted that life on the mountainside seemed less lonely with Luke around, but June wasn’t even twenty-three yet. Aeli’s mind retorted rather coldly, What possessed you to say yes to Bryce? It wasn’t a question she was willing to ponder. Chalk it up to a disasterous lack of judgement, she told herself. And leave it at that.

“I can’t believe he thought I was asking for help,” Aelissm muttered. “I should have known he’d do something like this. And poor Mr. O’Neil is in for a shock when he sees where I live.”

June laughed. “It’ll be a bit of a jolt for a city boy. What will he do without his Starbucks?”
“Suffer. I swear, if he complains about the lack of creature comforts, I’ll strip him down to his birthday suit and leave him out in the snow.”

June smirked. “Now, Aeli, it’s not nice to judge people before you’ve even met them,” she said. When Aeli opened her mouth to object, June held a finger up for silence. “But if he complains, I’ll help.”

“You’ve got a deal. Now, I don’t know about you, but watching a movie sounds dull. It’s still early, so how about we go take a dip in the hotsprings?”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Luke, run upstairs and get your swim trunks.”

The boy nodded and leapt off the couch. He raced across the living room, skidded around the snackbar and counter that divided the kitchen from the living room and bounded up the spiral stairs. Aeli shook her head and chuckled. “He’s a cute little monkey, I’ll give him that.”

“Yes, he is. You know, Aeli, I’ve been thinking.”

“That’s dangerous.”

June scowled at her, but continued. “I’m thinking about adopting him.”

The flood of maternal warmth surprised Aeli, but June’s admission didn’t. For a fleeting moment, Aelissm was jealous of the bond June and Luke had built in just six months, so unbelievably like that of a mother and her child, despite the circumstances. It wasn’t just the blond hair and blue eyes. Luke looked like her son and had already shown a lot of the same characteristics, right down to June’s quirky sense of humor. She shook off the feeling. What had happened to them, to their promise that neither of them would ever have kids or be dependant on a man? Life happened, Aeli thought. Yes, they were still young and though she often scorned girls her age who already had children, she found it harder and harder to deny that she envied the wives and the mothers. When she’d told Uncle Bill that it would be nice to have a man around, she hadn’t been entirely joking. Even her last, fatal encounter with Bryce and despite the shivers of fear that coursed through her when Adam called or sent her letters or snooped through her apartment––she shuddered and told herself to stop thinking about him––she wanted someone in her life.

Living on the mountain with June just down the hill was wonderful, sort of like old times when it was just two best friends having fun. But something was missing from her life. In the depth of night, when she was lying curled in her warm blankets, she could no longer dismiss the loneliness.

“Hey, June, why don’t you call Aaron and Henry? They always like hanging out with us.”

June rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because they still have the niave hope that a swim in the hotsprings might lead to them getting laid.”

“It’s not niave. It could happen.”

“Please, Aelissm. If I were to go for one of the Hammond boys, it would have been Nick, but I don’t date married men.”

“And sweet Beth is about to pop,” Aeli muttered. “Pity. He’s the best of the three. Henry’s still too much of a partier. And Aaron… well, he’s just not my type.”

“Do you even have a type?”

“Not yet. Get your damned suit and I’ll call them. With Luke around, they won’t dare try anything scandalous.”

She picked up the phone she’d abandoned moments ago and June’s Northstar “neighbors directory”. It was a list of all the residents of the Northstar Valley and included physical addresses, P. O. boxes, and phone numbers. She stared at her own name on the list, then at her phone number. Outside of the valley and its directory, only her parents, Uncle Bill, her father’s brother in Ohio and a friend or two in Washington knew the cabin number. Anyone else wishing to contact her had been given her grandparents’ number. They hadn’t mentioned any suspicious phone calls before they left for Ohio two weeks ago. What if Adam had somehow gotten hold of a copy of the directory? Panic raced like wildfire through her veins, burning at the same time as it chilled her. The only way he could have gotten one was from someone who lived in Northstar. What if he was in the valley right now, looking for her?

Stubbornly, Aelissm straightened her spine and refused to give in to her wild thoughts. This valley was a very close community and anyone out of place quickly became the subject of the grape vine. She was still safe. If Adam were here, she would have heard about it. Taking a slow, deep breath and letting it out even slower, Aelissm reasoned that she was just jittery from his phone call the other night. He’d gotten it from someone else. That had to be it. After all, he knew who all of her friends in Washington were and breaking and entering didn’t phase him in the least.

“Aeli, are you all right?” June asked, coming down the stairs. “You’re shaking.”

“I’m all right now. I just had a scare. I thought maybe Adam had somehow gotten hold of one of these,” she replied, holding the directory up.

“Are you sure you’re all right?”

She nodded, then dialed Aaron Hammond. He wasn’t home and his twin brother Henry wasn’t either. Then she remembered. It was their mother’s birthday today, so they were all probably down at the main house celebrating.

“That’s okay. I didn’t really want their company, anyhow.”

June wrapped her arms around Aelissm. Aeli drew a ragged breath and assured her friend that she would be all right.

“Maybe Uncle Bill sending Mr. O’Neil will help,” Luke said, joining them in the living room. “You know, maybe he’ll be able to chase Adam away.”

Aeli smiled. Sometimes Luke’s insightfulness, so like June’s, startled her. How could a boy so young know so much? She draped an arm around his shoulders and around June’s. “Let’s go take a dip, shall we? Just the three of us. You don’t mind two such gorgeous ladies as June and me hanging on your arms, do you Luke?”

He grinned. “I’ll be the envy of the valley.”

June reached over and ruffled his hair affectionately. She glanced at Aeli and asked, “So, what do you think?”

Seventeen years of friendship had ingrained in them a sort of connection between their brains that allowed them to read each other’s thoughts fairly acurately. Aeli considered what June had said, about adopting Luke, and gazed at the boy. In just the six months he’d been here, he’d already come a long ways from the shy little urchin who had jumped at shadows. She glanced at June and nodded. “I think you should.”

They climbed in June’s new, sand-colored Toyota pickup and drove up to Aeli’s cabin so she could grab her bathing suit. When she opened the door to her cabin––which she rarely ever locked unless she was going to be out of the valley––she saw that there were two messages on her answering machine. She hit the play button. The first was from Bill, letting her know that Pat O’Neil was leaving early in the morning and planning to be in Northstar tomorrow evening. He reminded her to write down every time Adam called her so that when her phone bill came, Pat would be able to look to see where Adam was calling from. He also recommended that she sign up for caller ID. The moment the second message started playing, Aelissm froze.

“You didn’t have to talk to me like that the other day, Aeli,” said Adam Winters’ uncharacteristically rough voice. “It wasn’t very nice. I saved you from Bryce and to thank me, you got a restraining order on me and now you tell me to leave you alone. You’re a bitch, Aelissm.”

The message ended and Aeli stared at the machine. “Fuck off, asshole,” she muttered. She picked up the note pad beside the phone and jotted down the approximate time of the message, the date and what he’d said. Then she erased the messages, grabbed her swim suit and a towel and trotted back out to June’s truck, locking the door behind her.

“He called again,” she told her friend as they drove down the mountain.

“Oh? What did he have to say?”
“Well, he told me I was rude and then called me a bitch. Maybe I should prove him right and shoot his balls off with a ten guage if I ever see him again.” Half of her was amused at the idea, the other was terrified that she might soon have the opportunity.

Twenty minutes later, Aelissm was sliding into the soothing embrace hot water of the Ramshorn’s larger pool. They were the only people in the pools and Aelissm was grateful for the solitude. It might have been fun if Aaron and Henry Hammond had been able to come, but this was better. This way, she could relax. With a sigh, she settled on the steps, covered in blissfully warm water up to her neck. She tilted her head back and stared skyward. Steam rose in drifting clouds beneath the blue-white light of the lamps around the pools, obscuring and revealing the glittering stars in random patterns. The night was crisp and fresh with all her favorite scents of home––pine, sagebrush, and snow. There was still almost six inches of the latter in places on the boardwalk around the pools. Aelissm grabbed a handful and held it under water, amused by the tickling sensation as it quickly melted.

June joined her on the stairs and they watched Luke swim around for a while, silent. God, what’s happend to me? Aelissm wondered. She’d never run from anything in her life until that night. Yet, she had run away that night and kept running and now, here she was, hiding in a remote valley in Montana, terrified that Adam would find her.

“I’m scared, June,” she said.

Her friend looked at her, concern etched in her face. “Then maybe it really is a good idea Bill is sending someone. Having a big, strong man around might give you peace of mind, if nothing else, or a distraction.”

“Maybe.”

June smiled and returned her attention to her foster son. The boy was down at the deep end, hanging off the side to catch his breath.

“Let’s fling him,” Aeli said. “Hey! Luke! C’mere!”

Obediently, Luke swam back to the shallow end. June and Aelissm stood, facing each other, their hands locked together underwater. The boy grinned, put his feet in the cradle and they launched his small body skyward. He went in head first, then resurfaced, laughing. For good measure, they tossed him five more times.

Aelissm enjoyed herself more than she would have imagined and slowly, she felt the tension easing out of her muscles. Everything would be all right. She had her best friend close by, good clean mountain air in her lungs and two good jobs. Except for Bryce’s death and Adam’s obsesion with her, life was pretty good. She helped June launch Luke one more time and decided things could be a lot worse and would someday get better. Look at Luke. Six months ago, after his father had been shot and killed in a police shooting, Luke had been sickly, pale and terrified of his own shadow and now he was healthy and happy.

“He’s still skinny, though,” Aelissm murmured.

“Not because he doesn’t eat,” June remarked, watching the boy as he swam around. “He’s tiny now, but I’ll bet he’s going to be tall.” She turned her eyes on her friend. “But that’s not what you were thinking.”

“No, I was just thinking that I’m glad I came back to Northstar. If I have to face Adam, I’d rather do it here.”

“I hate to say it, but you might have to. It doesn’t matter where you go, Aeli, he always seems to finds you.”

“I know. But I’m done running.”