Mountain Refuge. Sarah Varland

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      He followed her into the building.

      “Summer.”

      Noah saw her before she saw him and swept her into a tight hug. Tyler was always the more demonstrative of her two brothers, so having Noah act this way surprised her. She hugged him back and tried not to shudder under the impact of realizing how deeply Noah had been worried. Her family had been her rock through all her troubles—she hated the thought of making them scared for her again.

      “Come into my office.” He looked in Clay’s direction. “You too. Clay Hitchcock?”

      Clay nodded and Noah gave him an approving smile. Any fears Summer had about him being on the wrong side of the law dissipated. To get past one of her brothers was difficult enough, but to get past both would be nearly impossible. Clay must be who he said he was.

      Which left her really no reason to dislike him other than that she was still shaken up by him seeing her in such a vulnerable state—a state that had made her treat him rudely. It wasn’t his fault she’d been attacked, wasn’t his fault she’d learned several years ago that vulnerability with men was dangerous and to be avoided at all costs.

      They went into Noah’s office and sat down in the uncomfortable wooden framed chairs in front of Noah’s desk. Noah went behind the desk, looking very officer-like and Summer felt a burst of pride in her brother. At least she knew he would do everything to find whomever had tried to attack her. The man who’d attacked her had really picked the wrong family to mess with.

      “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

      Summer did so, remembering all the details, which surprised her and the men also, judging by the looks on their faces. She even remembered to tell them that her attacker was left-handed.

      “Not something that necessarily helps figure out who did it but it could help you narrow down a suspect list,” Clay said so quietly Summer almost didn’t hear. She was more convinced than ever that this was a job he was used to doing and surprised herself by hoping she’d get a chance to talk to him about it later. It didn’t have anything to do with him, really, or how attractive he was in his quiet way. She was curious. That was all.

      She swallowed hard.

      “It’ll be okay, Summer.”

      Noah thankfully mistook her expression for worry about the case, which it should have been, not angst over how tangled up her emotions felt from being rescued by this man, whether she wanted to be the type that needed rescuing or not.

      “I hope so.” She hoped everything would be okay.

      “What did you notice?” Noah turned his attention to Clay, and Summer let herself relax a little. She hadn’t meant to close her eyes, but when she heard the words safe house and her eyes popped open she realized she must have been nodding off. Her adrenaline was crashing, no doubt.

      “What?”

      “I think we need to take you to a safe house.” Noah’s words were firm and Summer widened her eyes even further, then started shaking her head.

      “You can’t be serious.”

      “Someone is after you.”

      “Someone was after me,” she corrected. “I got away. That’s the end of it...isn’t it?”

      “Why would she need a safe house?” Clay asked Noah. It didn’t seem like he thought it was necessary, either. Good, maybe her brother was overreacting. Although, was it Summer’s imagination or did she see something in Noah’s expression? Something that implied a bigger issue he wasn’t telling her?

      “I have reason to believe it would be a good idea.” Noah stood his ground.

      Summer shivered. “Why don’t you tell me what that reason is?”

      Noah shook his head. “Summer, listen, you’d go away for just a few weeks, okay? We will do our best to get this solved...”

      A few weeks of isolation during her favorite season, missing mountain running, her hikes with the tourists, time with her family... For what? Yeah, this man was dangerous—she definitely knew that. The police department would need to catch him before he harmed anyone else. But this had been a crime of opportunity. As long as she didn’t make herself an easy target, there was no reason to believe this man would come after her again... Was there?

      Not to mention, the thought of leaving town and going somewhere by herself made her seriously uneasy. She shivered at the memory of how alone and vulnerable she’d been when she’d run from her would-be killer. All she wanted right now was to go home and surround herself in comfort, familiarity and her siblings’ love until she felt safe again. The idea of leaving her support network behind felt chilling and wrong.

      “I’m not going to a safe house, Noah. You’re going to have to figure something else out.”

      A few beats of silence passed.

      “Let me see what else I can work out,” Noah said slowly. “Summer, would you mind stepping outside with Officer Lee?”

      She looked at her brother, looked at Clay and frowned a little, then looked back at Noah.

      Then she nodded, stepped outside of the room with the other officer and shut the door. And hoped she might find an unlikely ally in Clay, that he’d be able to convince Noah to drop the safe house idea. Anything had to be better than that.

      * * *

      “You want me to do what?” Clay said on the off chance he might have heard wrong.

      Noah repeated himself. “I’m going to have Tyler assign you to do everything Summer does at the lodge so you can follow her around, serve as a bodyguard and keep her safe.”

      Clay scrambled for words, managing to say, “You don’t even know me.” Had he really moved four thousand miles away from the only home he’d ever known for a fresh start only to be pulled back into the job he’d left behind?

      “I know you’re a good man. You come highly recommended by your friends in Georgia and by the police chief of the department where you used to work. We do a pretty extensive background check for people who work at the lodge. Alaska’s a good place for people who are running from something, and summer employment especially can attract those types. I like to know who’s working for my family. So I know a lot about you. And I know you’re more than qualified for the job I want you to do.”

      Clay exhaled.

      Noah kept his gaze on him steady. The man didn’t seem easily phased, or easily dissuaded—a good quality in law enforcement. Something they had in common, at least according to people Clay had worked with before who had said the same thing about him.

      “I want to shoot straight with you,” Noah continued. “I’m not completely comfortable with turning this protection detail over to you. Nothing against you, but she’s my sister and I don’t want to trust anyone but myself to keep her safe. But I can’t devote all my time to that and still do my job. And if I’m not doing my job, then the Moose Haven PD suffers and this guy might be able to keep operating longer with one less agency searching for him.”

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