Читать книгу Tundra Threat - Sarah Varland - Страница 12

TWO

McKenna’s plan to get home early and get some sleep was a complete failure.

How was she supposed to sleep knowing she was once again living in the same town as Will Harrison? She’d had a crush on her brother’s best friend since elementary school. There’d been a time when she had thought maybe he was interested in her, too—but she’d done nothing but embarrass herself that summer when she let a little of her interest be known. He’d only seen her then as a kid. Almost like his own little sister.

McKenna wished there was a way to douse cold water on the warm feelings seeing him caused to bloom in her heart. Maybe it would be easier if his eyes weren’t the same electric blue of glacier ice and just as mysterious. Or maybe if his black hair didn’t curl around his ears in such a perfect combination of messy and adorable.

Not that his looks mattered to her. She pulled the covers up tighter and rolled over, willing herself to fall asleep. Anything to get him out of her mind.

She tossed and turned for hours, looked at the clock more than once, hoping against hope it was morning. Beside her, her German shepherd, Mollie, raised her head, ears perking as she looked around. Apparently she couldn’t sleep either.

McKenna listened but heard nothing. The entire day, so out of her comfort zone, had her on edge. She must be passing that uneasiness on to the dog.

The red lights on her digital clock blinked 1:02 a.m. McKenna tensed as she heard something that sounded like a door creaking. This time Mollie let out a low growl and McKenna motioned with her hand for the dog to stay put. It was probably nothing, after all. No sense in either one of them getting up.

More creaks followed, these sounding like someone walking on the old, probably rotting, floor. Most likely the intruder was a large man. McKenna knew someone her size wasn’t heavy enough to cause the creaking. She eased herself out of bed, reaching into her nightstand drawer for her duty weapon, just in case. The dingy brown shag carpeting in the trailer that served as her house would muffle her footsteps. If there was someone there, she should be able to sneak out and confront him undetected.

Despite being told to stay, Mollie followed her to the edge of the room and at the next slight sound from the main living area let out a warning bark.

McKenna heard someone mutter something, then a clatter. She hurried down the hallway, but made it to the living room just as the door slammed and whoever had been in the house ran outside, concealed by the darkness that had finally fallen over the Alaskan sky. She watched out the window for a minute, hoping to see a car or something that would help her identify the person later, but she saw nothing. Defeat threatened to overwhelm her. Finally McKenna moved away from the window, making sure the dingy miniblinds were shut tight before she turned on the lights. The last thing she needed was uncovered windows with the lights on, making her shape an easy target.

After taking a few seconds to try to calm herself down, she moved her weapon from a low-ready position pointing at the floor to directly in front of her, and prepared to check the rest of the house. First she glanced into the kitchen, which she could see from her tiny living room. It was clear, she could see that from where she stood, so she didn’t bother to investigate closely yet. It only took a few minutes to clear all the rooms, Mollie at her heels. McKenna appreciated the canine company, but in truth, Mollie was even less qualified for this than McKenna was. At least McKenna’d had the training. Though the dog was a German shepherd, a favorite of police departments everywhere, her dog had no training and was more at home napping on the couch or trying to climb into McKenna’s lap than sniffing out criminals.

Heart still pounding, McKenna walked back to the living room, took a quick glance out of the corner of the blinds. Still nothing there. She tried to relax some of the tightness in her shoulders since the crisis seemed to be over for now, but her body refused to cooperate. It looked as if sleep wasn’t happening tonight. Instead, she walked to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.

McKenna breathed a quick prayer that God would keep her safe, deciding it wouldn’t hurt to ask for a little help at this point. She’d been in town less than a week. How she’d managed to get caught up in a mess like this already was beyond her. But she would handle it. She had to.

McKenna sat down at the kitchen table as she listened to the comforting noise of brewing coffee, trying to take deep, even breaths and work through what had happened. She was assuming the intruder was the person responsible for the bodies she’d seen on the tundra, but why had he come to her home? Surely he wouldn’t kill her just for seeing his crime scene. Would he?

She stood up to retrieve her coffee then moved back to the table, setting her mug down as she reached to replace the chair that the intruder had knocked over in his hurry to escape. She bent to lift it and noticed a small index card on the floor next to it, blank side up. Hesitantly, she reached to pick it up, just by the corner in case there were prints, and flipped it over on the table.

When she read the words, she dropped into her chair immediately, reaching out to pet Mollie to try to calm her racing-again pulse.

A shiver ran down her bare arms and she read the words again, this time aloud. “‘Go back to where you came from and forget what you saw today, or the next body found on the tundra will be yours.ʼ”

Glancing at the phone next to her, she let out a sigh. She had to text Luke for help. She was now officially in over her head.

* * *

Somehow sleep must’ve finally found McKenna, because when she woke up from her cramped position on her living room couch, the clock said it was past six.

Still alarmed from the previous night’s events, she glanced around the room to see what could have woken her. Was she just done sleeping, or was it something else?

Something or someone banged against her door with increasing force. McKenna jumped. Mollie lifted her head in alarm, then looked to McKenna to gauge her reaction. McKenna took a deep breath. Her assailant, back to shut her up forever? Reason stepped in. No, if he’d wanted to kill her, he’d have done so already. He must have meant to warn her.

For now.

Besides, criminals didn’t knock. Usually. Still, she crept toward the door, stealing a glance out of one of the front windows to see...Will?

She opened the door to him, noting that he looked half-asleep himself. “What are you doing here?”

“Good morning to you, too. That seems like a common question for us, doesn’t it? How about you let me in and pour me some coffee and I’ll answer you.”

She hesitated, looking down at her yoga pants and old T-shirt from a 5K she’d run several years back. Even if there could be nothing between them, her pride would rather he not see her like this.

Will nudged the door. “Come on, McKenna. I’ve seen you look worse. Just let me in.” He pushed the door open farther and stepped in, shutting it behind him and turning the lock.

He looked around the room and shook his head. “Nice place you’ve got here.”

“I recognize sarcasm when I hear it. Even if I am barely awake.” She tossed the words at him as she walked to the kitchen. She’d rather not comply with his request—no, demand—to make coffee, but she could use more herself and she wasn’t about to do without just to spite him.

“Seriously. Did you look for the house that looked most likely to have been the site of a murder?”

“Yeah. That was totally what I was going for.” So maybe the trailer was on the shabby side, but it meant she could save her money. That way, when she finally ended up in Anchorage, she could afford someplace nice. She glared in his direction. “Again, why are you here? Did you have a purpose, or are you just supposed to be a little ray of sunshine on this cloudy morning?”

The smile fell from his face. “Your brother texted me.” His tone was heavy. Serious.

“Oh.” McKenna looked away, went back to fixing the coffee. Great. She’d texted Luke to ask for advice because she was independent not stupid. Luke had said he’d get back to her with some suggestions for keeping herself safe and solving this and that was what she needed. Not Will Harrison showing up and seeing her all damsel-in-distress.

That was the last way she wanted him to see her. Maybe second to last. Right up there behind “like a sister.”

“I don’t know what he told you,” she began as she set a mug in front of him filled with the hot, black liquid. “I just needed to talk to him about a few things last night. I’m fine right now. There was no need for you to rush over here before sunrise looking like you haven’t slept in a week.” She surveyed his sleepy eyes, the stubble on his well-defined jawline. “Did you sleep?”

“I slept fine. Until I got his text.”

“Which was when?”

“Two.”

“So you haven’t slept since two?”

“Couldn’t.” He shook his head. “I came over here as soon as it seemed late enough to not be rude.” Some of the seriousness left his face as his mouth stretched into his trademark charming smile, the one that had made all the girls in high school swoon. “No need to welcome you to town by taking away your beauty sleep.”

“Yeah, because clearly I need every bit, right?” she muttered as she poured her own coffee.

“I didn’t say that. Besides, I figured if I came over here at a decent hour I could talk you into fixing me some coffee. And maybe breakfast? I think there’s a jar of pickles in my fridge. And maybe some sour cream from a few months ago. But nothing that seems edible.”

“Fine. I’ll make pancakes. You’ll tell me what my meddling brother told you. Then you can go back home and go to sleep or do...” She realized she had no idea what he did for work these days. She’d lost track—intentionally. Keeping up with him had hurt too much. She pulled her attention back to the present. “Or do whatever it is you do. I have to get to work. I have a lot to do today. Things are crazy.”

Will leaned back in his chair. “Sounds good. And it’s that part about work being crazy that I wanted to talk to you about.”

* * *

Will watched McKenna’s eyes narrow, knew he was dancing dangerously close to the line where she was concerned, between her teasing him back and giving in to her temper. She was annoyed he was here, that much was clear, but he couldn’t tell if it was because she really didn’t believe she needed help, or because he was the one offering.

He’d always thought they had a pretty good relationship. No one had ever understood him the way McKenna had always seemed to. In fact, if she’d been anyone else, he’d have claimed the first dance at the Seward High School Homecoming her freshman year of high school when he was a senior and seen where their attraction and connection could take them.

But she was his best friend’s little sister. So he’d done what he should and stayed away, keeping their friendship to teasing and the occasional long conversation down by Resurrection Bay, when he’d escaped the house to get away from his drinking father and she’d be down by the water, just watching the waves.

Then he’d gone to one year of college in Anchorage, fallen in love with Rachael, and that was the end of that.

Or so he’d thought.

“Whatever Luke told you is probably not true.”

“Because your brother is so known for not telling the truth.”

McKenna laughed and Will joined her. Luke was one of the most brutally honest people he knew.

“Obviously that’s not it. But anything I told him certainly didn’t include ‘hey, and could you send Will over here before the sun is up to demand pancakes and talk to me about my job?’” She stirred the batter and looked back up at him. “So I can only assume he exaggerated something. Either that or you really are starving.”

“He told me you texted him last night asking for advice because someone broke into your house, possibly connected to a double murder you stumbled upon on the tundra yesterday.”

Her face fell. Apparently she’d wondered if Luke had told him all of that and he had confirmed it. But why did it matter to her if he knew? Didn’t she know he’d want to be there for her as soon as he heard she was in trouble? Was she that determined for them to stay out of each other’s lives?

“So here I am, wanting more details and to see how I can help.”

“That’s the thing, Will. I’m a big girl now. I don’t need your help.” She sighed and softened her tone. “It’s nice of you to care.”

“Of course I care. You and Luke have always been like family to me.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw her flinch.

“At least tell me about it. Luke didn’t give details.”

She kept pouring pancakes onto the griddle, not acknowledging him for a minute, then finally nodded, then exhaled. “Okay. I got here less than a week ago. Yesterday was my first day working and I received an anonymous tip about illegal hunting going on south of here. I had Chris—he’s the pilot who’s supposed to fly me around when I need it—take me to where the caller had described. We hiked quite a bit, searching for signs that people had been there. We eventually found some, followed the trail, and...”

Will watched her swallow hard, saw the way her face paled to an unnatural shade of green. She was tough, but crimes like these weren’t supposed to be part of her job description.

“And then last night someone broke into your house? Do you think the two incidents are connected?”

She set a plate full of pancakes down on the table in front of him and laughed, a laugh that was entirely without humor. “I’m sure they’re connected.”

“How?”

She slid a piece of paper across the table to him, and as he read the overtly threatening words, his stomach clenched.

No question, McKenna needed his help. And she was going to get it. Like it or not.

* * *

“You’re thinking something.” McKenna pointed out the painfully obvious after several minutes of watching Will’s thoughts work out in the expressions on his face.

“I am,” he admitted between bites of pancake.

“So... Out with it.”

“You’re going to hate it.”

“You don’t know what I’ll hate and won’t.” McKenna folded her arms across her chest.

“No, I’m pretty sure you’re going to hate this.”

“Are you going to let me figure that out for myself or not?”

He paused. “Let me fly you around.”

“Fly...me...around... Wait, wait, on a plane?”

Will laughed and it lit up his face. She tried to ignore that and focus on the fact that he was plotting to take the little independence she’d gained by stepping into her life and taking over. He could call it “caring” or whatever else he wanted to, but she knew what he was doing. Exactly the same thing Luke would be doing if he was there. Would the two of them never let her be in charge of her own life?

“Yeah, on a plane. I’m a pilot. Luke didn’t tell you?”

“We don’t really talk about you.” McKenna shrugged, unwilling to admit the various reasons she didn’t ask her brother for updates on him. As a brother, Luke was as good as they came, but she’d rather crawl under a rock and never come out than have him find out about the crush she’d had on his best friend.

“I’ll try not to be too hurt.” There he went with the teasing again. “Piloting is what I do up here. I work for a guide service, shuttling people around on big-game hunts.”

She raised her eyebrows. “So I’m here to save the wildlife and you’re up here to shoot it?”

He bristled. “You know me better than that. I care about protecting the wildlife, too. But as long as the laws are followed, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with hunting, especially for someone who’s planning to eat what he gets.”

And Will did that, too. McKenna respected that about him.

“Fine,” she conceded. “And about your offer, thanks, but no. I have a pilot assigned to shuttle me around. I don’t need the help.” Although she did feel a sinking in the pit of her stomach, something like a large block of glacier ice, when she thought about being alone with Chris again. Something about the way he studied her every move...She shivered.

“I’m not talking about just being your pilot. Officially, sure. But I can be an extra set of eyes for you. You can fill me in about the other details of the case as you learn about them and I can help you solve this thing so you can move on with your life and get out of this town.”

She jerked her gaze up to meet his. “Get out of this town?” Had Luke told him how much she’d dreaded this “promotion” and all it meant? She was going to have to rethink her choice of confidant pretty soon.

“You always planned to get out of Seward and to the city as quick as you could. I’m guessing that hasn’t changed?”

Was it her imagination, or was that hope in his voice? McKenna shrugged. “I do prefer Anchorage to small towns.” Prefer was an understatement. Kind of like saying a polar bear was large.

“What do you think?”

“About you flying me around? I already told you no.”

He raked a hand through his curls and shook his head. “You’re too stubborn for your own good, do you know that? You have to learn when something is too much for you and let people help.”

“What if I don’t think it’s too much for me?”

“People are dead, McKenna. And there’s a good chance the guy who killed them, shot them in cold blood, was in your house last night. You’re on your own out here. You have no backup. Let me help.”

Several beats of silence passed as the truth of his words sunk in. She felt her shoulders sag slightly. “You can’t just go around demanding things of people. I have a right to make my choices.”

“So you want me to offer you something and then say please?”

She sighed. “No, but you know what I mean.”

And then Will’s hand was covering hers, setting her pulse racing twice as fast as it had during the scare the night before and making her hand tingle as though a thousand tiny fireworks had exploded inside. She gulped and tried to remind herself that they were just friends. And that they’d never be anything more.

“So. How about it. Let me help?”

He had the decency to phrase the last bit as a question, though she suspected he was just humoring her. Still, a look at his eyes showed that as he’d said, he did care.

“And how much are you charging?”

He looked insulted that she would ask. “I won’t charge you anything to fly you around. I’d like to be reimbursed for gas, if the troopers have the budget for that, which I’m assuming they do. But for the flying time? There’s no need.”

“Don’t you need your boss’s permission to use the plane?”

Will smiled. “It’s mine.”

“Okay, but this can’t be full-time for you—you need to work.”

“Yes,” he agreed quickly, and she thought she might have found her way out of this situation until he spoke up again. “But the next few weeks are pretty easy for me. I can fly for you around the schedule I already have set up at work. There’s plenty of time.”

McKenna was running out of logical arguments.

His offer made sense. But she wanted to refuse him. Had to.

Then she thought about the man who’d broken into her house, the quick glimpse she’d caught of the back of him. He was tall; she knew that. So was the pilot she’d been using to fly her around the North Slope Bureau. If she turned Will down, she’d have no choice but to continue using Chris for transportation and that was just about the last thing she wanted to do.

While Chris had been working on a contract basis with the troopers, he was paid by assignment. McKenna didn’t think there would be a problem calling Captain Wilkins and requesting permission to give the contract job to Will instead. He’d have to pass a basic background check of course, but since he wouldn’t be doing any on-the-books investigating, just serving as a chauffeur, that was all that would be necessary.

She felt chilled through when she thought about boarding a plane with Chris again. Hadn’t she felt uneasy around him yesterday, felt as if he was watching her reactions more than he needed to? One thing she was sure of—law enforcement officers of any kind were supposed to trust their gut instincts. And hers said that there was more to that pilot than met the eye.

That could spell disaster for her.

On the other hand, the extra time with Will might be difficult. The last thing she wanted was to fall into some childish attraction to him again and embarrass herself. Surely she was past all that, though. As adults, their personalities were far from compatible. Will’s being comfortable with changing plans last minute and flying her around proved that. He’d always been easygoing, ready to take life as it came. And McKenna liked to have a plan. A relationship between them wouldn’t work, so surely she could remember that and keep from humiliating herself in front of him. And if nothing else, accepting his offer would give her a chance to prove to him once and for all that she was a strong woman, capable of taking care of herself. If he got the message, he might even convince her brother to knock off the overprotectiveness. Okay, that wasn’t very likely—but she could still hope. There was a lot she didn’t like about this promotion, but maybe it would give her that longed-for chance to show the people in her life what she was capable of. It was worth a shot.

McKenna took a deep breath. Nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

And as another brilliant grin split Will’s face, her stomach simultaneously danced and churned as she wondered what she’d gotten herself into.