Alaskan Mountain Search


 
 
 
 “Let’s go find her,” Griffin said to Ember as he opened his truck door.
 The husky jumped in without hesitation and looked back as if to ask what was taking Griffin so long. He climbed in and hit the gas, keeping his eyes peeled as he drove. Bre hadn’t known exactly where she’d been run off the road; at least, it hadn’t sounded like it from her description. She could have just been in shock. Griffin wouldn’t blame her.
 But in shock in the dark, cold woods after the day she’d had with someone after her? Griffin hated that. He hated that she was alone.
 Something inside him blamed himself, though he tried not to. If he’d told her he’d help her find Addy, would she have been home and safe? Why had she been on the way to his house anyway?
 
 
 Sarah Varland lives in Alaska with her husband, John, their two boys and their dogs. Her passion for books comes from her mom; her love for suspense comes from her dad, who has spent a career in law enforcement. When she’s not writing, she’s often found dog mushing, hiking, reading, kayaking, drinking coffee or enjoying other Alaskan adventures with her family.
 Books by Sarah Varland
 Love Inspired Suspense
 Treasure Point Secrets
 Tundra Threat
 Cold Case Witness
 Silent Night Shadows
 Perilous Homecoming
 Mountain Refuge
 Alaskan Hideout
 Alaskan Ambush
 Alaskan Christmas Cold Case
 Alaska Secrets
 Alaskan Mountain Attack
 Alaskan Mountain Search
 Visit the Author Profile page at LoveInspired.com.
 
 
 Alaskan Mountain Search
 Sarah Varland
 
 
 
 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
 —Psalm 62:5–6
 
 
 A lot of people helped to make this book a reality, and I’m so thankful for each of them. Thanks to Greg, my agent, and Carly, my editor, for all the work you did on this story. I appreciate both of you.
 Thanks also to Alaska Solstice Search Dogs, especially Vikki, Donna and Stacy. You were so willing to talk to me about search and rescue work with dogs, and it helped so much—thank you! Any mistakes are mine.
 Thank you to my high school students, who encouraged me to get this book done. You guys really helped!
 And as always, thank you to my family. Whether it’s listening to me talk about writing or answering incessant crime scene questions or being patient when we have sandwiches for dinner again, you all contribute to these stories and I’m thankful for you.
 And thank You, Jesus. I love getting to tell stories for You.
 
 
 Contents
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Dear Reader
 Excerpt from Her Secret Amish Past by Dana R. Lynn
 
 
 ONE
 It was never truly dark at this time of year—mid June—in the land of the midnight sun. But as it edged closer to midnight, Bre Dayton could feel the shift in the air that signaled night, the added chill that hadn’t been present even an hour before. She could also see the slight dimming of the sun’s rays to a tired golden pink that signaled the end of another day.
 Another twenty-four hours gone since her seventeen year old niece had disappeared. Thirty-eight hours total now.
 “Captain Dayton...” Chief Walker approached, shaking his head as he trailed off.
 “We can’t give up.”
 “Not giving up, scaling back.”
 “We can’t do that either.”
 His look of sympathy was worse than if he’d argued with her, talked down to her, or anything else. Bre flinched away from the pity she saw in his eyes. She didn’t want to be the recipient of that pity.
 She didn’t want her niece to be missing either. Especially not in the vast wilderness of Echo Pass, where four women had died in the past five years. Rumors abounded around town, though none was strong enough to deter people from frequenting the hiking trails in the area. Only some people believed that there was a serial killer, that the man or woman called “the Echo Pass Hunter” was real.
 Bre believed. She’d seen the evidence, the bloodied bodies, the senseless loss of life.
 The police department knew it was a serial killer and had called in the FBI after the second woman in the same general age range—eighteen to thirty—had disappeared. The discovery of her body and the similar MO of the killing had confirmed the kind of criminal they were dealing with.
 “What if we split up more so we can cover a larger area? There may still be a trail somewhere, some kind of evidence left behind.”
 “The FBI will still be on the case.”
 Bre appreciated their help but didn’t agree with all their advice or methods. It was the FBI’s advice that had prevented the Wolf River Police Department from sharing more details about the cases with the public, for fear of sensationalizing the deaths in a way that made the killer thirsty for more. Or that caused him—the profilers believed it was likely a man—to change weapons, as the weapon was one of the only leads the police department had to chase. They needed to do whatever it took to keep as many people alive as possible. Bre understood the FBI’s recommendation. But she struggled with the lack of transparency.
 Instead, the WRPD had avoided publicly sharing details about the case but had made it clear that the pass wasn’t safe, that increases in criminal activity were to be expected; overall, discouraging people from any kind of recreation in that area of the backcountry.
 But Alaskans were a stubborn people.
 And now Bre’s niece, Addy, was the latest person whose life may have been lost because the PD couldn’t