High-Stakes Blizzard


 
 
 
 They had to get out of the blizzard.
 “We’ll need to listen for the snowmobile,” said Rain. “I think the guy with the gun is looking for the summit pass.”
 “He’s been out here in a storm for an hour and hasn’t given up.” That level of persistence didn’t sit well with David.
 “We’re much better at navigating these woods than he is,” she said, so matter-of-factly. But that’s how she’d always been. Seeing Rain was dragging up all kinds of feelings, and after the way she’d abruptly broken off their relationship, there was no way he could trust himself with those feelings. But that was the past, so he’d focus on what was in front of him.
 “He’ll run out of gas if he doesn’t head home soon,” Rain said. She looked out into the valley, hidden in a cloak of white.
 It was a good point, but if their pursuer retreated, that would only give them temporary reprieve. He’d deal with that later... For now, they needed to get going before it got dark. 
 
 
 Rebecca Hopewell is the kiss-only pen name for an award-winning romance author. In addition to writing, she loves to read, wander in the forest and talk with friends and family. A perfect day is when she manages to do all four of these things! Rebecca lives just outside San Francisco.
 
 
 High-Stakes Blizzard
 Rebecca Hopewell
 
 
 
 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.
 —Proverbs 3:3
 
 
 To Wendy Musell, for your support and enthusiasm all along but especially in the early stages of this book. Our discussion on the many considerations when writing this book was invaluable. 
 And to Gabriela Kramer, for countless talks about our mutual love of romance and that one walk where we discussed triage techniques. I hope I properly saved my character’s life.
 P.S. You both do amazing work!
 
 
 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
 Excerpt from Surviving Alaska by P.A. DePaul
 
 
 Chapter One
 Rain Jordan belonged in the mountains. She thrived in their complicated beauty, their indomitable obstacles. It was the place she found it easiest to believe that the world made sense.
 The landscape in front of her was covered in a blanket of snow, with granite boulders and clumps of evergreens jutting out of the frozen landscape. Even if she couldn’t see the path, Rain knew how to navigate this mountain, between boulders and through stands of trees, up to the ridge. She snowshoed through the white drifts, and Maple followed in the path of her footprints, her paws sinking into the snow with each playful jump. The snow muted the rustle of the trees and the buzz of a snowmobile in the distance. The loudest sounds were her own breaths and the scrape of her jacket and snow pants each time she took a step.
 “Getting tired, girl?” she said over her shoulder. Maple panted back at her, wagging her tail. The German shepherd she’d inherited from her brother, Brandon, seemed to thrive out here in the wilderness just as much as Rain did.
 These woods used to be her second home. During the summers, Rain, Brandon and their parents had walked every trail, exploring every edible plant, every mountain stream, every shelter option. During the winters, they’d follow the animal tracks, making their way through the snow-topped trees—sometimes on skis, sometimes on snowshoes—to see the endless views of the Tahoe Wilderness cloaked in white. The mountains held secrets, hidden away from the world but there for anyone who ventured in. For those who knew where to look.
 But all those memories were clouded by the night a drunk driver had collided with her parents’ car when Rain was eighteen, leaving her and her older brother alone. Only the forest and their cabin on Crystal Lake tied them to their childhood. It had never been enough. The emptiness that night had left lingered inside her, heavy and hollow.
 In the first year after their parents’ deaths, Rain had worried about how defeated Brandon had seemed as the bills piled up. First they’d sold their parents’ house, but the second mortgage on it meant they’d barely broken even. Then Brandon floated the idea of selling their cabin, but she’d put her foot down. There had to be another way. They’d argued until he dropped the subject. But he’d gotten more secretive, and when she’d tried to talk to him about the money, he’d said he had a solution. She’d tried to trust him, but more than once, she’d caught him looking over his shoulder when they were out, like he suspected someone was watching him. Now Brandon was gone, too.
 Rain continued up the snowy mountain, thinking about all the reasons her brother had come up this path to the ridge seven months ago. Maybe it was a sentimental whim, or maybe he’d had a plan. Her brother always had plans. But why hadn’t he taken Maple with him? The dog followed him everywhere when they were at their cabin. Even harder to understand was how he could have fallen from the ridge and disappeared from her life forever. He knew the mountain even better than she did, and she’d never make this mistake.
 But after seven months, Rain was done asking these questions. She had to accept God’s plan for her. She really wanted to, but when so much had gone wrong, doing so was hard. Still, she’d inherited Maple, a ray of light in all the darkness. It was time to make peace with Brandon’s death.
 Rain looked up at the dark, heavy clouds blowing in from the north. A storm was coming, and the news had predicted up to three