snow’s deep enough that most of the forest floor—tree trunks, branches, and shrubs—are covered. But you could still trip.”
Liam paused and held up his hand. “Let’s keep it down from here on out. I just want to see what’s in these woods, if anything. Find a cabin while staying on public lands. See what’s what.”
They continued hiking. Exhaustion contended with the adrenaline that had gotten her this far. Up ahead, faint light from windows drew them closer. Liam kept to the shadows in the trees, and Rae followed his example. “Whose house is this?” she whispered.
Liam pressed a finger against his lips.
Several snowmobiles were parked around the house. A man with a gun lingered outside the sprawling cabin.
Liam crouched behind a tree. Rae did the same.
A man with a gun. What could that mean? Wealthy people often had bodyguards and security.
Liam tugged his ever-ready binoculars from his coat pocket and peered at the home. No blinds or heavy drapes hid what was going on inside. They apparently didn’t expect anyone to be out in this part of the woods at night in the dead of winter.
Rae was dying to look through Liam’s binoculars. She wanted to know what he saw. She held out her hand, and he ducked and slid close enough to hand them off. In the distance, the whir of snowmobiles approached, coming from the opposite direction from which they’d hiked. Liam had been right to take this route. But if it didn’t snow tonight, their tracks would give them away, and they would not be able to do this again.
Peering through the binoculars, she saw a couple of older men and much younger women in the house. While she looked, Liam took a few pictures with his cell phone—not optimal, but better than nothing.
One young woman appeared to be sleeping, her head tilted against the sofa back.
“Zoey . . .” Rae said. Had she spoken out loud?
The woman lifted her head. It wasn’t Zoey. Hope whooshed from Rae.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
The guy with the gun tossed his cigarette and perked up.
Had he heard Rae?
Liam doubted it. Even from here, he could hear voices and music from inside the house, which would have covered the sound of Rae’s voice.
Was this simply a private party? It was an inconvenient place to have one, but they were guaranteed to remain undisturbed. So why the security detail? He’d seen a lot of different setups while working with the DEA, and just about any scenario was possible and would be used for criminal purposes.
He had a bad feeling about what was going on in that house.
Drugs? Or . . . human trafficking? While looking through the binoculars, he’d spotted Astor’s sidekick inside, but not the man himself. So this must be where they’d been headed to earlier in the day.
Rae had pressed herself into the shadow of the tree trunk, so Liam did the same. If the guy decided to explore beyond the near perimeter of the house, he and Rae were in trouble. Their tracks were visible. They couldn’t simply hide.
This was unfolding much differently than he’d imagined. He peered around the tree. The guy had become interested in the woods and was starting forward.
Liam’s heart pounded. How was he going to get them out of this?
A shout resounded.
“Let’s go!” he whispered.
Rae shook her head and gestured toward the house. Liam looked at the house again. Someone inside had called to the guy standing guard. He headed toward a side door, probably welcoming the relief from the cold.
Liam shoved from the tree and grabbed Rae’s hand. “Time to go.” While they had the chance.
He led her back through the woods along the path they’d already taken. He wanted to sag with relief when they made it to their snowmobiles. Adrenaline pumped through him. Rae took off her snowshoes and stored them, then straddled her machine like an old pro.
He couldn’t help but smile. She would go to any lengths to save another human. Take crazy risks because sitting at home nice and comfy when others were suffering didn’t suit her. He liked that about her. It was how he felt once, and he realized that he’d lost himself. Rae was helping him find himself again.
He started up his machine and worked it around, then led her past the hill that had grown quiet. Crazy snowmobilers had called it a night. Once they made it to Heath’s truck, they loaded up the snowmobiles and climbed into the cab. He started the engine and cranked