Denali Dreams (13 page)

No-go.

“All right,” he called out to the others loud and strong, cutting off Logan’s lecture. “Get your gear and lay it out for inspection.”

David stalked away from Logan, away from the mountain of pressure building at the base of his neck. As he and Logan checked the Decoteau team’s equipment, he tried to scratch the look of shock and hurt lingering in his mind along with the memory of a pair of caramel eyes. It bugged him that he’d hurt her feelings. But he stretched his neck and dug into the check.

Though he’d hoped to find their equipment faulty or to discover vital pieces missing, each check confirmed they’d followed protocol and smart climbing measures to a T. To boot, their gear was top-notch quality.

“Everything should be here,” said a stocky-built guy who was ranked as the senior climber. James Sheppard. His son, Aidan, repacked their gear as David finished checking it. “I’m very careful about my climbs. It’s an adrenaline rush, but I realize who has the power.”

David straightened and considered the man with salt-and- pepper hair. “Yeah? Who’s that?”

He thumbed toward the mountain. “Denali.”

With a nod, David moved to the next spread of equipment and crouched to inspect. He hesitated when someone in brown insulated overpants came into view. Jolie. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Why hadn’t Logan checked her stuff? She was thin and pretty. And blond. Probably had just enough skill to make the climb. But what if she got into trouble up there? Would he be hauling her dead body off the mountain the way he had Mariah’s?

Something in him clenched at the thought. He leaned on her ice axe with his knee, begging it to snap. If it snapped, he could deem her unprepared. Send her packing. A twinge of guilt hardened—just like the axe. It didn’t give.

He stood and stared at the equipment. Everything in pristine order. And just like Sheppard’s—the best available. No surprise for the rich, spoiled daughter of an Alaskan oilman. Yet the gear wasn’t new. Not even gently used. It had enough wear to prove it’d roughed mountains.

“Was this Gael’s?”

Jolie frowned. “No. Why would you ask that?”

“It’s seen some good use, but it’s taken care of, too.”

She turned toward him, shock in her expression. “I—”

“Jolie’s an expert climber,” a guy with too much goop in his hair said as he joined them.

“Not true, Derrick,” Jolie said.

Derrick. The guy she’d said was driving the truck when they hit him. This was the type of guy she wanted to climb with? Someone who would run another person down, then not even stop to check on them? He grunted. That told him how things would go up there.

“I’m not rated.” Voice soft as a light dusting of snow, she leveled her gaze on David. “But I’ve done enough climbing to be experienced.”

David wasn’t going to listen to her go on about how she could conquer this mountain.
You know, on second thought …
“It wasn’t enough that your brother died out there? What, you have a death wish, going up with guys like him?”

She drew back. “Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to talk to me like that?”

“Forget it.” He waved her off with another
forget it
then trudged to Logan. “When they get stuck or hurt up there, I am not hauling these rich kids off my mountain.”

C
oddled on three sides by the high peaks of the Alaska Range—Mt. Foraker, Mt. Hunter, and Mt. McKinley—Base Camp welcomed the DeHavilland Otter that ferried Jolie and her team to the southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier with a stiff wind. The thirty-minute flight numbed her mind as she wrestled with the haunting knowledge that this rugged range had taken her brother’s life. Ironic that Baron had sent her here for safety.

As the pilot and Mr. Sheppard lugged the gear from the plane, Jolie drew her pack and sled off to the side.

“Being that gorgeous, I think I can forgive him for the rich kids comment.”

“What?”

Nikki nodded in the direction of the Base Camp structure jutting out of a mound of fresh snow. There, in his thermal shirt and overpants, stood David.

Mountain lion. Rippling with tension, waiting to pounce from his crouched position. Expression as cold and forbidding as the mountain he guarded. And yet, a lion seemed too small, too paltry. He definitely had the grizzly bear presence—large and powerful.

His comment had cut deep. Why? It wasn’t any less venom filled than his heated words on the day of the funeral. But … maybe she’d hoped that he’d see her now, see that she wasn’t sixteen or spoiled anymore, and he’d …

What, Jolie? Beg for a date? Say he was wrong?

Hurt clogged her mind as Jolie and her team grouped under his all-too-scrutinizing gaze. She wasn’t sure she could stand another day beneath his withering glare. After all, they would spend tomorrow here with logistics and crevasse rescue practice before setting out on Tuesday.

Mr. Sheppard and Aidan staged the equipment and set up tents, and Jolie busied herself with helping Nikki set up the last of their equipment for the night. Derrick banged his iPhone against his palm, cursing.

“No reception, Derrick.” Jolie rolled her eyes and lifted Nikki’s pack onto her back. “Did you pay attention to anything at the ranger station?”

Sporting a knit skullcap and expensive jacket, he grinned. “Yeah, you.”

Ignoring his flirtatious comment, Jolie glanced around the Base Camp. To think, Gael had been here a week before he died doing what he loved, with the girl he loved. She’d ached for what they had, that special something. Not even their parents had the kind of love Gael and Mariah shared. Would she ever? Becoming managing partner of Decoteau Industries pretty much stripped those chances—she’d be immersed in all things D. I. for the next twelve months—at least—getting up to speed on all things D. I. if she wanted to honor her father and carry on his legacy with excellence.

A chill that had nothing to do with the thirty-degree temperature cloaked her in its icy embrace. Bitter whispers on the wind reminded her that she was alone.

Staring at the jagged mountains jutting up from the glacier, she shuddered, remembering Baron’s words.
“… someone is trying to take Decoteau Industries out from under you.”

Her father possibly murdered? Too insane to think about. It bordered on the ridiculous. But what if Baron was right? She’d thought about the possibility the whole trip to Talkeetna, then a little more on the flight up to here.

She twisted and appraised the landscape with a long sigh. At least, out here, she was safe from whatever or whoever.

“He’s watching you again,” Nikki said in a nonchalant voice as she unrolled her bedding.

“Huh?” Jolie looked up from her arctic sleeping bag.

“Ranger Grizzly.” She nodded toward the Base Camp shelter.

Jolie spotted the back of David as he stepped into the inverted U-shaped building, still wearing only his thermal shirt and overpants. Had he really been watching her? What, to see if she was doing something wrong? “Probably wants to point more fingers or find fault.”

Nikki’s green eyes probed her. “What’s the story between you two?”

“He’s Mariah’s brother.”

Gaping, Nikki froze. “Gael’s Mariah?”

Swallowing hard at the way her friend put that, Jolie gave a quick nod. She pushed onto her haunches then stood. “I think I’m going to take a walk before I bed down.”

“A walk?” Nikki looked around, her face puckered with confusion. “Where?”

With a shrug, Jolie said, “Around.”

Tromping the perimeter of the 7200 Base Camp pumped heat through Jolie’s body and afforded her the physical and mental room to think. Why, of all places and times, did David have to be here, to remind her, to reprimand for a perceived wrong? She came to Denali to release her brother and father one last time. To move into the role her father had named her to. A role she accepted with honor but …

She hunched her shoulders and let her gaze travel the forbidding mountain. As if it stared down on her, daring her, warning her.
You’re not good enough. Never have been. You’ll
regret invading me just as your brother did.

But Jolie did not believe her brother had one regret.

Well, maybe one—that he didn’t get to spend his life with Mariah the way he’d wanted. They’d had a long talk before the proposal, and he shared how he wanted to show Mariah the world, lavish love and gifts on her like she’d never known. And even then, Gael worried that he couldn’t make her happy. She had a close-knit family. She’d known a type of stability she and Gael hadn’t despite their parents still being alive and married—well, until Daddy died. Jolie always guessed Gael’s love for Mariah was more about the girl being the antithesis to Mother, a rich socialite. Used to wealth. Arrogance. Entitlement. Women had jockeyed to be her friend. Few wanted to be friends—real friends. Most didn’t. And her mom never cared about anything but having the life she wanted, regardless of leaving her family empty emotionally.

I never want to be like her.

“Can I help you?”

Startled by the question, Jolie blinked. Found herself standing just inside the Base Camp store that sported a couple of tables with necessities. Ranger Knox held a thermos, steam spiraling out of the top.

She indicated his steaming drink. “I … do you have any more of that?”

Ranger Knox grinned. “Right here.” He turned to a steel carafe sitting atop a stack of supply boxes. “Do you have a thermos?”

“Oh. Yeah.” She felt the blush rise to her cheeks. The rangers were very protective of the environment, which meant they didn’t hand out Styrofoam cups for hot drinks. “Let me grab it.”

A snort from the side surprised her. Sitting in a camping chair, David shook his head. She could just hear his thoughts,
Stupid rich girl.
Wouldn’t be the first time. And probably not the last. Would he ever see her as anything else?

Did she care?

Jolie stomped into the darkening day. He could keep his foul attitude and gorgeous looks. She groaned as she dug through her pack and retrieved the thermos.

“What’s got you riled?” Nikki asked.

“That grizzly bear.”

“Ran into him again, did you?” Nikki’s words held way too much amusement.

Shooting a glare at her friend, Jolie pushed out of the tent and returned. Inside the Base Camp store, she handed the double-insulated thermos to the ranger.

What David lacked in manners and personality, this ranger made up for in spades. Electric blue eyes. Enough sense to have at least a lightweight jacket, overpants, and boots. “What makes you come up here into the maw of the High One?” He handed the filled thermos back to her.

She sensed a challenge in his question and cut a glance to David. Had they talked about her while she was gone? “What? You think I can’t climb?”

“Whoa.” Ranger Knox held up his hands then tucked them under his arms. “Just small talk, Miss Decoteau. I’ve seen some women best men twice their size on this mountain.” He leaned back against the counter. “Patience goes a long way up here.”

“Sorry.” Steam swirled up from her thermos, tingling her senses with its sweet scent. “Apple cider?”

“Special family recipe.” He poked a finger toward the grizzly bear in the corner. “When he’s in the house, it’s always available.”

Jolie considered the brawny guy and he her, as if waiting for her say something. “What’s in it, poison?”

The left side of his mouth quirked. “Special brand, just for you.”

Her heart pounded. Whether in anger or what, she didn’t know. “What, no extra charge because I’m rich?”

“Hey, we always can use the money if you’re donating.” He studied her, his gaze sweeping over her boots, overpants, and jacket. “I’ll just put it toward the rescue costs.”

She knew he meant to insult her. “Why? Will you need rescuing?”

Logan sniggered, lowering his gaze toward his mug, but the smirk was there and Jolie soaked in his pleasure. That was, till she met David’s scowl. His nostrils flared.

In the back of her mind, she saw the toothy snarl of a grizzly.

David jolted awake. Light pervaded his tent. But that wasn’t what woke him—light reigned in Alaska. Roughing a hand over his face, he pulled himself upright. Glanced at his watch. Two a.m.

Grabbing his jacket as he climbed out of the sleeping bag, he tried to shake the mental fog. Shake the weight that seemed to press on him. Urgency sped through his veins, and he made his way to the Base Camp manager. “Hey, Maggie.”

She looked up from her perpetual cup of tea.

“What’s happening?”

“You tell me. Why are you up? You’ve got a few more hours.”

“Dunno.” He shrugged. “Just woke up. Where’s Logan?”

“Climber went missing in a crevasse shy of 7800.”

David nodded as he peered out at the Base Camp. Lazy light oozed over the horizon as the sun hid behind the peaks.

No real full nighttime. Thanks to a bout of decent weather, the Base Camp looked moderately empty. Climbers headed out at midnight when the mountain was colder, thus reducing the chances of finding one of those crevasses. So, at this hour, most were gone.

Across the way, he saw the marker for the familiar Decoteau cache. A black banner with a lion. The Decoteau Industries symbol. Jolie. When Deline deposited the expedition here, Jolie had gone to work with her team, setting up their Base Camp, burying their cache, then quickly bedding down so they could get out early. Well, that was, after they had the exchange. The one in which she’d accused him of trying to poison her.