Hero?
She looked at him as if he might have answers.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Believe me, I’m still trying to figure out how I got in a plane this morning and ended up outrunning a blizzard.”
“You’re really a cop?”
“A detective. For SVU, out of Anchorage.”
“On leave.”
He frowned.
“You said that, before.” She pointed to his bad knee. “Something happen?”
He drew in a breath. “Wrong place, wrong time.”
She considered him a moment. “Howdidyou end up on a plane this morning?”
“I was on my way to Copper Mountain with my cousin Moose, and we saw the crash. Put down ... then I just followed Caspian here. I think he might have heard you, I’m not sure.”
She looked at Caspian’s snout. “So,you’remy hero?”
The dog settled on the floor at her feet.
It seemed like the right time, the fire flickering in the hearth, the room quiet. His adrenaline had settled, his heartbeat calm. “So, ready to tell me the details of what happened on the plane?”
She drew in a breath and steeled herself, nodding.
She started by describing the two passengers—two. Called one Thornwood, the other Wilder, and he didn’t know either of them. He had to lean forward at the part about the attack, and the wounds Mack suffered fell into place. Then the running, and she stopped talking then, stared away a long while. She finally turned to him and caught him up to the part where he’d jumped Sully.
He sat in her story for a bit, quiet. “Could you identify Thornwood?”
“Probably. But as soon as this storm lifts, I’m out of here. I’ll give a formal statement, if you need me to, but...” She folded her hands and shoved them between her knees. “I need to get home.”
“Which is where?”
“New York City.”
“Alaska is a long way from NYC. And it’s not tourist season. What are you doing here?”
She looked past him, into the darkness, before sighing. “It’s a long story. Let’s just say, wrong place, wrong time.”
Oh.
She reached for her crutch. “How long do you think this blizzard will last?”
“I suppose until the storm blows itself out.”
She glanced toward the darkness. “Seems like that might take a while. Good night, Dawson.” She turned away.
“I will get you home, Keely,” he said softly. “I promise.”
She turned back, smiled. “I believe you.”
He drew in a breath even as she walked away. And tried not to let the voices of the past call him a liar.
5
