Endless Night

“That you’d come back here, after two years. To the place where Danny died. And seeing Roman and all. That must be weird, too.”

Jackie swallowed. You have no idea. Weirdest of all was the way she couldn’t seem to get Roman out of her mind. His face, his voice, the golden green of his eyes. “I didn’t know he’d be here. I figured he’d left to join the air force, like he’d always talked about.”

“I guess people don’t always do what you think they will.”

Jackie turned to face her, trying to read the expression in the girl’s face. “Is something wrong, Fallon?”

She chewed at a fingernail. “No.”

She intended to press her further when Skip came in, eyeing them nervously.

“Getting reacquainted?” He sat down next to his daughter. “You really had us concerned there, kitten.”

Fallon turned her face away. “I can take care of myself.”

“Sure you can. We just worry, that’s all. Alaska’s a pretty big place.”

“Not big enough,” Fallon muttered before jumping off the sofa and leaving the room.

Skip gave Jackie a tired smile. “And I thought the hard part was when she was a toddler, sticking her fingers in light sockets. That was a walk in the park compared to this teen thing.”

June reappeared with steaming mugs of cocoa and Byron Lloyd at her elbow.

“Daughter okay?” Lloyd asked, his full cheeks pink over the collar of his jacket.

“Yes, she’s fine,” Skip said. “How did you know she was missing?”

He chuckled and pointed to Jackie. “Heard people calling her name. Saw this young lady scurry off and heard the snowmobile engines. Saw Mrs. Delucchi all worried. I put two and two together.”

Jackie looked at him closely. He’d been watching her, all right—following her every move.

He stared back at her. “You look pretty comfortable on a snowmobile. Must have put in some time on one when you visited here before.”

“Some,” she said. “You know, I’m really tired. Jet-lagged. I think I’ll go back to my cabin now.”

Skip hugged her, and Lloyd offered a cheerful wave as she left.

The frigid air grabbed her in an icy fist as she walked into the darkness. Living in California had stripped her of her cold-weather hardiness. Danny would have laughed. He’d always been impervious to the cold. She looked up into the brilliant sky, decorated with a breathtaking swath of stars and felt suddenly very small and very alone.

Had Reynolds’ men figured out she’d run? Had Asia and Mick found a place to hide? Terror balled up in her stomach, and it took all her willpower to suppress it.

With a deep weariness, she unlocked the door to her small cabin and went inside. The woven throw rug and exposed pine beams of the ceiling should have made her feel cozy and secure, but she could not shake the inner chill. She lit a small fire, prepared a steaming cup of tea and sat down in a sturdy, hand-carved chair to put her thoughts in order.

Coming to Alaska had been a huge mistake. It made her question her other recent decisions. Maybe the entire situation with her boss was one big misunderstanding. Dr. Reynolds was a respected cardiologist, yet Asia had stumbled onto evidence that he was selling patient information, possibly to a crime ring, which then submitted fraudulent claims through a vast network of companies.

Maybe they should have gone to the cops. Even if Dr. Reynolds and his network had paid off some of them, he couldn’t have the whole police department under their thumb.

She thought again about the cop who’d shown up at her apartment. He’d known all about her. Had he learned all about her friends too? A tremor swept through her body. Had Mick and Asia found refuge somewhere? She dialed the phone to check messages on her voice mail. There was only one. The voice was low and raspy. But the words were clear as ice.

If you tell anyone what happened, your father will pay.

Panic set in, filling her up until she thought she would scream. The only thing that kept her from bolting straight to the airport was Asia. She had to know Mick and Asia were okay before she ran again. E-mail. Maybe Asia had sent a message.

Jackie reached out with trembling hands to boot up her laptop, when her heart thudded to a stop. Was it her imagination? Perhaps her hands were hot from the tea. She felt the top of the machine again. There was a faint trace of heat there, as if it had been turned on recently.

In spite of the warmth, her body went dead cold. Somebody was spying on her.

Roman inhaled the frigid air as if it could somehow freeze away the thoughts that tormented him. The faint scent of Jackie lingered on the blanket, a clean fragrance of soap that toyed with his heart. He pressed it to his nose and inhaled deeply. Though the comforting hum of a generator kept the heater going, the minus-fifteen-degree temperature forced its way in. Sitting in the plane, a sleeping bag wrapped around his shoulders, he studied the way the moonlight bathed the frozen ground in luminous silver. It could be so beautiful and so deadly.

Still, winter held so many fabulous memories, framed by snowy days spent with Jackie. Each winter brought her back, more beautiful and full of life than the previous one. Had it really been only two years since he’d decided to propose to her? He’d saved every dime for the Tlingit ring, an intricate twist of gold and silver, the twining together of the eagle and raven.

Then all his dreams came to a halt in one horrific moment. He felt the cold inside now, and it had nothing to do with the air. If he’d just said no to Danny’s request for a ride into town. If he’d only seen the unstable layers in the snowpack that would sweep them off the road. The stubborn part of his conscience spoke again. There was something else, something onthat night that shouldn’t have been there. He could not pull the detail out of his foggy memory any more now that he could two years ago. The amnesia had not diminished.

“Doesn’t matter anyway. I was behind the wheel. I killed him and I’ll have to live with that forever,” he whispered, his breath condensing in the air. He hadn’t asked God for forgiveness, because deep down he knew he did not deserve it. He should pay, and had been paying for the last two years, going on a lifetime. He’d somehow survived without the love that had been the biggest part of his life, and he’d thought those feelings would remain buried forever. He’d believed it, until she’d come back.

The radio crackled to life.

“You’re a hardheaded fool,” Wayne Fisk boomed.

Roman couldn’t resist a smile. “Yeah, I know, but you’re going to get this bird back in one piece.”

“As long as the pilot doesn’t wind up freezing to death or getting chewed by bears.”

“No bear would eat me.”

“True. Not enough fat to savor, all muscle and gristle.”

Roman laughed.

After a pause, Wayne continued. “It’s really something that Jackie’s back.”

“Uh-huh. How come you didn’t warn me? You had to have seen her name when she booked?”

“That’s the funny thing. She used the name J. Marley, so I didn’t connect it. Didn’t figure it out at all until June told me a minute ago, when she called to make the next set of flight arrangements for the guests.”

Marley. Her mother’s maiden name. Roman realized Wayne had fallen uncharacteristically silent. “Still there?”

“Sure. I just wondered how you’re doing, since she’s back.”

“I’m fine.”

“Thought it might be uncomfortable being so close.”

He spoke more loudly than he’d intended. “We aren’t going to be close. I’m sure we won’t even see each other while she’s staying here.”

“Not unless you want to.”

Roman shifted uneasily. “Thanks for checking in. I’ll see you as soon as I can thaw her out tomorrow.”