She nodded. Looked away.Hey,Goldie,sorry for the radio silence. Funny thing happened—I was in a plane crash and then spent ablizzard—
“Hey. Yeah, I have her.”
She stiffened. Looked at the man, her heart caught.What—?
“I know. Do better.”
She reached for the door handle, but his hand clamped on her throat, tight. She hit his arm with her fist, and his grip loosened.
It didn’t touch his voice.
“Listen, I’ll make the call. And then we end this.”
She fought her seat belt. It unsnapped.
He grabbed at her, but she slammed her unmittened hand into his jaw.
Self-defense class skills,bam.
His head jerked back, and she barreled out the door. His hand grabbed her jacket, but she ripped away and slammed the door on his hand.
Or, almost.
She took off.Runfor the house. Run for the—
Feet crunched in the snow, and she made the mistake of looking back.
Sloan was closing in, too fast, and as she turned back around, he grabbed the back of her snowsuit.
Jerked hard. She slipped in her rubbery Sorels and landed on the ground. He rolled her over, jumped on her, pinning her arms. “Where do you think you’re going, Bliss? You have family to meet.”
Then, just like that, he hit her.
And the world went black.
14
“DO NOTTELL MEto calm down. Again.” Dawson met Moose’s gaze, and his cousin held up one hand. Backed away.
Dawson walked over to the map of the area, his hands folded together behind his neck, stretching, trying not to punch something.
The morning sun lit the conference room of the Copper Mountain sheriff’s office, sliding over the maps and statements and photos of the crash and anything they could grab hold of.
Keely had simply disappeared off the planet.
“All right, everyone, just grab some coffee. It’s been a long night, and we’re tired.”
Dawson shot Sheriff Deke Starr a look as the sheriff slid off the long table.
He wasn’t tired.
He was furious. And no amount of pacing seemed to quell the terrible roil inside.
“We’ll find her,” Moose said, handing him a cup of black coffee.
Beside him, Caspian sat up, whined.
“I know, buddy. You probably need to go out.” He took the coffee from Moose. “Just let me wake up a second, then we’ll take a walk.”
