“Remember Zoey, Liam. We’re wasting time discussing it. I’m going. I’m not going to sit here and wait around.”
Liam nodded. Astor was up to something, but whether that would lead them to Zoey, he wished he knew. “We’ll gear up at the shop, then get the ski passes. Come on. Let’s hurry.”
Liam was eager to learn who Astor planned to meet on the black diamond trail, where absolutely no one was likely to follow him.
After they’d geared up and stored their belongings in lockers, they waited in line for the gondola to return to drop off passengers and load the next group. They’d lost sight of Astor while getting ready to hit the slopes, but they would stick to the plan and ride the gondola to the drop-off at Bear Claw Café, where they hoped to find him again.
Rae leaned close and whispered. “Have you ever gone skiing while working undercover?”
He chuckled. “No. This will be a first. But you’d be surprised what lengths I’ve gone to in order to keep my cover.”
She frowned and glanced away. She didn’t want to be reminded that she was the reason his cover had been blown.
CHAPTER TWENTY
10:37 a.m.
Saddleback Mountain Ski Resort
On the crowded gondola ride to the Bear Claw Café, Rae stared down at the tall, white-laced evergreens below the hanging box of people.
I’m looking down on the trees!
“Are you okay?” Liam grabbed her gloved hand and squeezed. “You look a little pale. A few minutes on the slopes will bring the color back.”
Liam tried to make small talk and act natural, considering Enzo Astor was on the same gondola ride to the top. Fortunately, Liam and Rae had beaten him to stand in the line, so if he noticed them, it wouldn’t appear they’d been following him. He was alone now.
Liam acted as though he was seriously into Rae and wasn’t aware of the man they were watching—he put on a good show. She could almost believe it was real.
The concern in his pensive gaze rolled through her. Standing so near him, feeling him so close as they rode the gondola reminded her of the past when she’d been in his arms. Two investigators whose paths had crossed, who’d shared a passion for helping others and were compelled to find the truth at all costs. For Rae, finding Dina had been worth the cost of losing Liam’s trust—but why had she had to choose between the two?
She longed to make him understand. Liam tried to act relaxed, but he didn’t fool her. She felt the tension coming off him in waves. Though he appeared focused on her, he was well aware of everything and everyone around him, as he was trained, but no one would ever know, except Rae.
“Yes. I’m okay.” Just breathe. Rae’s palms began to sweat in her gloves.
She had never liked this part of skiing—the sheer drops on the lifts with her legs dangling over the edge of a flimsy chair that rocked or the boxed-in feeling of a gondola or tram ride to the top.
Not to mention that in her boots and suit, she felt more like an astronaut in a space suit than a skier. At least when she arrived at the top and exited the gondola, she’d be on the ground and not tethered to the international space station floating in the fathomless vacuum of space.
Think about something else.
She’d rather focus on Liam’s clean-shaven face, his intense gaze that studied her as if he saw right through her. Better that than the fact that the gondola took them higher and higher up the mountain. Rae tucked her scarf around the helmet. Her actions gave her something else to focus on.
“You ready? We’re almost there.”
“As I’ll ever be.” Definitely ready to get out of the box and onto solid ground.
They exited the gondola and moved along the path, then stopped to take in the breathtaking vistas from the top of the mountain. Others headed to the café while some skiers went straight for the slopes.
Liam pulled her aside and adjusted her helmet and goggles, waiting to see what Astor would do, she assumed. Their helmets included headphones so they could communicate.
“When I was a kid,” he said, “I had a friend whose family took me skiing with them all the time. It was my getaway. My way to clear my head.”
“Are you clearing your head now?”
“If only it was that easy. I think skiing could help us both, except for the