She shook her head. “They were on the road, looking for me.”
“What about a snowmobile? We can trace the path much quicker. Which means the tracks you left are less likely to be covered in snow.”
She tilted her head to the side. “‘We’?”
“Yes, we,” he said firmly. “There’s a storm outside, and I can’t let you get lost on our property. You’re stuck with me, at least until I’m sure you have a path to safety.”
Ellie raised an eyebrow. “I’m not free to leave on my own right now?”
Michael sighed. “Of course you are. I...” He took a deep breath, searching for the right words. “I just feel strongly that you’d be much better off with a partner. For now.”
And if she said no? He had no idea what he’d do.
She glowered and then glanced out the window again. “I want to be the one who decides what we do and where we go. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
The fear had receded from her gaze and all he saw now was determination. “Okay. We’ll go together.”
FOUR
Ellie clutched Michael’s waist as the snowmobile’s motor sawed and hummed under her. Wet snowflakes smacked the visor of her helmet as they traced their path back up the mountain. The horse’s tracks were mostly buried in the snow and the forest was a blur of dark green around them. The blowing snow made it impossible to see much of anything.
Had she really planned to set out by herself on foot? Tracing her steps up the mountain in this weather would have been disastrous. She supposed that was what desperation did to a person. And that was what she’d felt in those moments after the second attack: desperate to escape the danger that could come from anywhere.
But now Ellie was grateful for the vehicle and the backpack under its seat, packed with food, a first-aid kit, and whatever else Michael had stuffed into it. And she was finally warm, thanks to the black shell jacket and pants, a muff that covered her neck, and a pair of sturdy work boots Michael had loaned her. She had tucked her hair into the helmet in front of the mirror, making sure all traces of her vibrant strands were covered. Maybe it would mean they could search for her car anonymously, or maybe there was other trouble waiting ahead for them—trouble she was pulling Michael into. Michael. Their paths were now connected. Everything about him suggested he wanted to help her, and right now, Ellie didn’t have a lot to go on beyond instinct. She had no choice but to trust him, at least for the moment.
The motor shifted as they approached the end of the driveway. Michael came to a stop on a low mound of snow left by the plow at the edge of the road. He shut off the engine. All that was left was the howl of the wind. Gusts raced down the hill, loud enough that they swallowed up everything else. Were her attackers lurking somewhere nearby? The two men from the greenhouse were strangers, so how was her family involved? That question roared like a flame, warning her away, and her life remained shrouded in an ominous cloud of smoke that lurked, threatening in her mind. Something terrible had happened and the clock was ticking. She had to figure out why she was running before her attackers found her again. Because they would find her—that much she was sure of.
Michael pointed down the road where new tire tracks lay barely covered in the snow. There were footprints on the road, leading directly to the path they were on.
“Looks like someone’s been here recently, checking our path,” he said through the intercom in the helmet.
“Our tracks are still visible.” If anything, the snow hid the fact that it was a horse and not human track.
Michael gave a little nod, and then the engine sputtered to life again. They crossed the road and started up along the switchbacks. On the steeper patches, the tall pines gave way to exposed jumbles of granite. She had been too frightened to pay attention to the path on their ride down the mountain, to landmarks they’d passed. The whole sequence from when she’d been attacked outside the cave to the moment she’d tugged on the thick socks Michael had brought from the house for her was all a blur. But now, as they retraced their steps, Ellie could see they’d traveled much too far to go on foot, especially in the snow. Plus, the higher they got in elevation, the more the clouds obscured the view.
Thank you, Lord, for leading me to Michael. If He hadn’t, she’d likely have frozen to death out here.
The motor revved around one corner then the next and the next, until they were in front of the cabin where she’d found Michael. The snowmobile came to a stop right where he’d picked her up.
She studied the dark cabin and her first thought sent a spike of panic through her. “Does anyone live here?”
Michael shook his head. “Especially not in the winter. No water, no electricity. It’s just a line camp.”
Just. Yet something in his voice told her it meant more to him. She waited for Michael to continue, but he was quiet. It wasn’t her business. Also, judging from what she knew of him, which was admittedly very little, Michael didn’t seem like the type who did a lot of talking about himself. Or a lot of talking in general. In her current situation, that was ideal. Still, it felt strange that he had seen her in such a vulnerable place when she knew next to nothing about him.
“You came down the mountain from that direction,” he said, pointing up at the hillside. “Recognize anything?”
She scanned the mountainside, straining to see through the snow. It all looked...white. With pine trees. Not helpful.
“I don’t remember,” she said. “I was in some sort of cave, and it was surrounded by big boulders.”
“That doesn’t really narrow it down. The mountain is full of boulders and caves.”
“Maybe if we start up that way, I’ll recognize something?” She could hear she sounded just as uncertain as she felt.
“There’s another road about a mile up, in that direction, too. Maybe the car is parked somewhere along there?”
She thought back to that flash of memory at Aidan’s house, the one that looked out at the mountains. Was her car parked at his place? The idea sent a jolt of fear through her, but it didn’t shake loose any more memories.
“What’s up there?” she asked.
“It’s a newer development. I have no idea how they got that one past the environmental commission, considering it’s located right in avalanche territory—”
Ellie’s body went rigid with fear. Environmental commission.
Michael must have noticed the way she clung to him. He put his hand over hers and turned around. She couldn’t read his eyes through the visor, and she was glad he couldn’t see the fear on her face.
“What did I say?” His voice was gentle.
“I—I don’t know,” she finally said. “Something about avalanches and the environmental commission—that was familiar.” And not in a good way. “But I don’t remember anything more. Finish what you were saying.”
Michael gave her a wary look then nodded. “My father and my grandfather went to the city council meetings to protest, but the builders promised to be responsible land stewards. They even bought extra parcels and donated them as parkland.” A vague sense of foreboding grew inside her as he spoke, shaking his head. “Now that the trees are gone and the hillside is all dug up, there’s nothing to do about it. They paid their fines, but we’re all going to pay the price of the unstable mountain face.”
Ellie shivered. Somehow, she was connected to this. She was sure of it.
“You want to continue?”
