slopes, searching as he traversed the dangerous slope.
Come on, come on. Where are you, Rae?
As he entered the ungroomed area, he caught a glimpse of turquoise. There. Rae skied back and forth between the trees and toward Liam—and a man followed her.
God, please help her! Let me get to her in time!
Dense evergreens blocked his view. He hit a drift and leapt into the air. “Rae! I’m behind you.”
She didn’t respond—probably skiing for her life as she moved farther and deeper into the woods. He caught flashes of her turquoise ski jacket. Close behind her, moving in, was a man in black. Panic swelled in his chest.
Why did I leave her? How could I have let this happen?
She disappeared. No more flashes of Rae between the trees. He pushed himself, evergreen branches and needles scraping him. His injury from the past stabbing through him.
A swath of color caught him off guard. He wedged his skis to slow and almost hit her. Liam sucked in a breath. Rae was on the ground, facedown. She groaned.
His heart tumbled over and over. No, no, no. “Rae, I’m here.” Liam broke away from his skis and dropped to the ground. “Are you okay?”
She turned her head, then rolled halfway. “Yes. But he’s getting away. Go after him!”
“No. I need to make sure you’re all right.”
“I’m fine. I just need a minute.” She removed her skis, got to her knees, and he helped her the rest of the way to stand. “Now, go. You could go after him.”
Liam glanced around to make sure she was safe. The skier who’d trailed her was nowhere in sight.
“I’m not leaving you. I wouldn’t leave you to go after him.” He gritted his teeth. “What happened?”
“He forced me off the slope, then he came up on me fast. I crashed. If that was his goal, he succeeded. Then he stopped next to me. I don’t know if he was going to do something or speak to me, but I heard you shout my name and he left. So, I owe you. Again.”
“I shouldn’t have left you to go after Astor. I’m so sorry, Rae. I had no idea that someone would go this far and attack you on the slopes in the middle of the day where everyone could see.” Though anyone who witnessed it might have thought it was an accident.
Liam hugged her to him until his racing heart calmed. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes. I’m just a little shaken. I can’t believe any of this.”
His limbs quaked, so he understood how she felt. Liam released her to look at her face. “Who knew you were coming to Jackson Hole?”
“We already talked about this. Alan. The police. Zoey’s mom.”
“And whoever she told.” The snow picked up and skewed his view of the resort below.
The sense of being watched skittered over his back.
He pursed his lips. “Let’s get off this mountain before something else happens. We’ll hike over to the café and take the gondola down.”
“Are you that worried?”
“Aren’t you?”
She didn’t respond as she lifted her skis over her shoulder. The cold air and mountain view had given him a fresh perspective, after all, but he would have preferred more time to wrap his mind around the scenario unfolding.
Liam studied her, looking for signs of trauma. Was she afraid? “Did he say anything to you?”
“No.”
Liam took her in—the way her turquoise suit complemented her striking blue-green eyes. Her silky blonde strands escaping her helmet. He didn’t know if he could go through this again. Seeing her put herself in danger, her life on the line, while she searched for someone. His biggest fear—would he be there in case the worst happened? He’d barely made it in time today.
Liam turned to hike, and Rae kept pace with him as they traversed the mountain. “Just a little farther and we can catch the gondola down the rest of the way.”
“Good, because my legs are shaking.”
He remained alert to their surroundings.
Who was the man who’d forced her from the slope? Was he the same man who broke into her room and took her laptop? Had he wanted to warn her? Or harm her? There were certainly easier ways to go about both those things. Then again, she was on a ski slope, so he could have meant to take an easy opportunity to hurt her when he saw it.
They continued their hike through the trees, heading toward the gondola. Evergreens separated the runs—green and blue, and a few black—that ran parallel to