A Reason to Kill (Reason #2) (2 page)

“Curly,” I shouted in panic, “I don’t see the runway.”

“Water landin,’ the only way to get into Trails End by plane, didn’t ya know?”

Are you kidding me?

“Um, no, no, my travel agent failed to mention that bit of information,” I squeaked as the plane dropped in altitude and the massive body of water grew larger outside my window.

I gripped the seat rests praying to God that if he got me safely on dry land I wouldn’t complain about another thing while I was in Alaska. He must have heard my prayers because a moment later the plane touched down gently onto the lake.

A spray of the crystal water hit the window as I opened my eyes and looked out at the wilds of Trails End, Alaska. “Welcome to the final frontier, Mia Roberts,” I whispered. Relieved to be in one piece I couldn’t wait to kiss dry land, but first I needed to thank God for the safe landing. Therefore, I looked heavenward, mouthed, “Thank you,” and then winked. Ready or not, here I come Alaska!

“Jesus, Buddy, what the fuck?” Max growled as he hoisted bags into the back of his truck looking inside them. The sound of an aircraft landing on Crystal Lake caught his attention so he looked up and watched Curly’s plane land expertly on the lake like he’d done a thousand times before. Buddy, his foreman at Hunter Logging, continued to hand him bags of groceries as he watched Curly taxi to the dock.

“There was a sale,” Buddy mumbled as he handed more sacks to Max.

“Nobody needs that much processed cheese,” Max replied as he watched the propeller stop.

“Figured we could make toasted cheesers with it.”

Max finished loading their supplies, then jumped out of the back of his truck as he and Buddy both watched the door to the plane fly open. When a woman with raven-colored hair fell out of the plane, and hugged the dock, he felt his lip twitch.

“Lower forty-eight,” Max mumbled to Buddy, who nodded in agreement as they continued to watch.

Curly had mentioned to Max he was bringing in the team from SIOZ so he was surprised when he saw a second woman come off the plane. Usually, that asshole Donald Zimmer flew up. He didn’t much care for Zimmer; he was an arrogant sonofabitch who talked down to the folks at Trails End. Though, Max figured anything would be an improvement over that bastard. The longer they watched the newcomers, the more he smiled. From that distance, he couldn’t tell much about the people on board, but one thing was clear, the raven-haired woman was as clumsy as a toddler taking her first step. Shaking his head, Max hoped like hell that she didn’t get lost in the mountains tracking bears. From what he could see, she wouldn’t last a day.

Handing the last of my gear to Lucy, I crawled carefully into the bed of Curly’s truck so we could look around as we made our way to the local hotel for the night. As we pulled out, heading down a narrow road that ran through town, I took in my surroundings. The town consisted of mostly log cabin style buildings and homes. Some looked like they’d been there for a century or more and some looked newer, built as the town grew. Those on the narrow main road that ran through town were single story with wooden signs out front announcing their business. Others were two-story and painted in surprisingly vivid colors. It was a quaint town to be sure, in that Alaskan frontier kind of way, but I wondered who would want to live in such an out-of-the-way place year round. Although, I had to admit, the view around the town was spectacular. Nestled in between two great mountains with a crystal-clear lake on its borders, it looked like a picture postcard you’d send home to relatives stating, “We were here.” The pine trees stood tall, almost proud around the outskirts of town as they reached towards a sky so blue it burned my eyes with its clarity. And the scent of the air was so uncommonly clean, it almost choked me with its purity. I could definitely see the draw for an outsider to come visit; it really was perfect in that “Explore the vast frontier that is Alaska” kind of way. But year round?

As we pulled past what appeared to be a grocery store, I noticed two men standing next to a beat up brown truck. One smiled as we passed by so I grinned back. He looked to be in his early thirties with red hair, a boyish kind of charm, but was big in stature, as if he worked out of doors. So, naturally, since he smiled at me, I lifted my hand to wave. That is until I looked at the man standing next to him.

My breath caught when I saw light colored eyes framed by strong, manly brows that for some reason were scowling at me. The rest of his face, masculine and sexy with a beard that looked a week or two old, seemed to tighten when our eyes met.
What on earth?

He was big, well over six feet and maybe two hundred and thirty pounds of pure brawn. He had dark brown slightly curly hair that he wore too long, but it suited him. He’d covered his massive body with a dark gray flannel shirt with a black thermal underneath. They were tucked into jeans so worn they were threadbare, yet looked like a million bucks on him. I’d bet any amount of money they were Wranglers or Levis. He was gorgeous, the personification of what every woman thought of when she pictured a rugged man from Alaska, and he didn’t seem the least bit happy to see my team.

My heart pounded as I looked at that male perfection, wondering why he seemed angry with us. Then it hit me, so I turned around and leaned through the open window in the back of the truck and shouted, “Curly, has Donald insulted the locals in the past?”

“Zimmer? Ain’t a man within fifty miles of here would lift a finger for that ass-wipe hippie. Pardon my French.”

Sighing, I made a mental note to do what I could to present the team in a more favorable light. Looking back at the two men who were now climbing into their truck, I wondered what a man like that did for a living that would keep him in a town this far north. I figured he grew up here, probably married his high school sweetheart and then settled down to a life of clean air and views so perfect you’d think you were walking on the streets of heaven.

It was just my luck that the first man who’d made my heart beat a little faster lived at the end of the world and seemed to hate the sight of me. “Maybe I should look up Josh—something or other,” I mumbled as I watched the beat up old truck pull out into the street.

Max pulled out of Smith’s Mercantile behind Curly’s truck as Buddy whistled low, mumbling, “Never seen a scientist who looked like that before.”

He gripped the steering wheel tighter as he watched her, but he agreed with Buddy, he’d never laid eyes on a scientist who had ‘’pain in the ass’’ more plainly written across her. She was too damn everything to be anything but a pain in the ass. With long black hair and crystal blue eyes that she’d hidden behind ridiculously large glasses—she had the figure of a stripper and the look of trouble.

She could try to hide her sexuality behind those huge-ass men’s frames, but those damn lips of hers screamed, “Kiss me deep and make me moan.” Not to mention the fuckin’ punch to the gut he’d felt when she passed by in the back of Curly’s truck pissed him right the hell off.

Ever since Kelly left, he’d avoided women who screamed high maintenance. He’d put up with Kelly longer than he should have, thought with time she might give up her dreams of a life in the city, but she didn’t. He’d learned from that mistake and avoided women who couldn’t hack the mountain life. And this one with her flowing black hair, fuck me body, and clumsy ways screamed it loud—she was a city girl through and through.

He kept his life simple now, no entanglements with high-strung women who couldn’t kick back and enjoy the beauty of a sunset or the quiet of a mountaintop as an eagle soared high above. Besides, he was too busy for romance and had no inclination to look after the disaster Kelly turned out to be. He was thirty-three and too old for the bullshit Kelly had put him through. When she’d left for greener pastures or as she put it, “To live her life where something happened other than snow and darkness,” he’d read the note, thrown it in the trash and never looked back.

That had been more than three years ago and he hadn’t tried to stop her when she left. People make choices in life and hers was to live life large and look down on those who wanted something simple out of life. He’d made the decision when he was a kid that he wanted to live here the rest of his life, woman or no woman at his side. It was in his blood, this town, his father’s business and no man or woman was gonna convince him to leave. So for now, his casual hookups when the need hit him or the need hit Annie, a waitress at Last Call Bar and Grill, suited him just fine. As for kids, he figured he had plenty of time to settle down.

Men in his family tended to wait until they were older to get married. Like his father, who’d gone to the lower forty-eight at the age of thirty-eight and found his bride. She was feisty, strong-willed and a pain in his father’s ass from the moment he met her in Gunnison, Colorado. She’d made him work for it, but they’d been happy until the day he died. Then there was his cousin Jack, another example of waiting for the right woman to come along. He’d recently settled down at the age of forty and now had twin sons to carry on the family name. Yeah, Max figured he had plenty of time to worry about the future, time to find the right woman. For now, he’d keep his focus on his father’s business and keeping the town of Trails End employed.

As he continued to follow Curly’s truck down Main Street, still watching that damn woman in the back, he was surprised when it turned into the only motel in town. He figured they’d head straight to their base camp, which was located a short distance from his logging operation. Max needed to stop at the post office before heading back, so he pulled in, told Buddy to stay in the truck and then got out and watched as they unloaded from Curly’s truck. The black haired beauty with the ridiculous glasses was getting out of the back when she saw him staring. For some reason, known only to her, she went out of her way to smile and wave at Max. Shaking his head slowly, though his lip did twitch a fraction at her display, he watched as her face fell in embarrassment when he didn’t wave back. Then he watched in disbelief as she turned too quickly and fell over a suitcase.

Max took a half step forward when she landed and for the first time since he’d laid eyes on her, a moment of real worry for her safety crossed his mind. He didn’t know what idiot sent a woman like her to Alaska, but he hoped like hell that her colleagues kept a close eye on her. There was one thing he was certain of, felt in deep in his bones—that city girl was an accident waiting to happen.

Two

Uptown girl

Last Call Bar and Grill, a dive bar by city standards, seemed like the place to be in a town like Trails End. With winter approaching and the coming months of darkness approaching faster, I figured most in town spent as much time outside as they could while they still had sunlight. However, once dark, evidently everyone headed to the only place in town with Karaoke, beer, pretty women and greasy fries.