Page 14 of Mountain Refuge

“I guess I had that coming. Truthfully, I’m completelyout of my depth here. I have two little people who are counting on me and I have no idea what I am doing. I have no idea how to help them or protect them. Hell, I’ve spent over a day here and have only been awake for an hour of it.”

I couldn’t congratulate myself about reading him right regarding his shame for falling asleep. Wasn’t like he’d had a choice. The man had literally collapsed from exhaustion. He needed to cut himself some slack.

“Your children are safe, Adam. The snow would have covered our tracks here. Even if someone found your car, and that’s a big if given where I found you off the road, they wouldn’t automatically find you here. So you have time. We’re expecting snow again tonight. Not as much but it’ll still come. Anyone out there looking for you won’t get far. So take a breath and realize you’re safe for now.”

A shudder went through him. He let out a long breath, as if he’d been holding it for a while. Slowly, he sat down again. His gaze was straight ahead, but not on me. He was staring out over the loft rail again. “We haven’t been safe in a long time, so thank you.”

Despite my uncertainty before, I knew in my gut this man was not a criminal, but it was obvious he was running from something or someone.

Maybe my little mountain paradise could be his sanctuary as well.

Chapter Six

Adam

Iwanted to tell her. I wanted to unload all my problems. Not to give them to her, but to purge them from my system. I needed to be free as much as I needed my kids to be protected.

But this was not my home. We would need to leave here one day—clearly not any day soon with this snow—but still one day. When we did, I could not leave my problems with her. I had to take them and solve them on my own. Telling her, if she was ever found out to have helped me, would only put her in further danger. If someone ever did come to her door to question her about us, all she could say is that she helped out a father and his two kids when they were stranded in the snow and she’d never seen them again. With no information, they should have no reason to harm her.

I flinched. Just because they didn’t have a reason, didn’t mean they wouldn’t. Christ, had I just signed Brooke’s death certificate by accepting her help? Would it have been better if I’d refused her help at the car?

I looked down into the living room, saw my sleeping son with his little butt up in the air, saw my sleeping daughter withfar too many worries for a child her age, and knew I’d made the right decision. Even with the possible consequences, I’d had to protect my children. We would have died out in that blizzard.

Yet, how could I call myself a man or even a respectable human being, knowing the danger my very presence was bringing to her doorstep if we were ever found out? How could I pay Brooke back for her kindness in that way?

Was it better to tell her everything so she could be prepared?

No, my brain immediately answered for me. If she knew everything, she’d likely call the police herself. I needed to keep my kids safe for as long as possible. And if Brooke’s predictions of the forecast were true, we would be stuck here a little bit longer.

“I hope you know how grateful I am.” There were no words to repay her. “But I can’t tell you the truth. It would put you in danger. Please know that you are safe with me, I would never hurt you, but I need a safe place for my kids. I can’t take them out in this weather. Please allow us to stay.”

I hated the pleading in my voice, but I would get on my hands and knees if it reassured her enough to let us stay.

Brooke snapped her fingers in front of my face to bring my attention back to her. I found her eyes too intriguing. I wanted to stare into them for far too long, which was one of the reasons I kept looking away from her. I didn’t want her to think I was a creep by constantly staring at her.

“You leaving was never an option.” Then she added, “Well, not unless you admitted to being a serial killer. But then you’d have been kicked out and I was keeping those kids.”

I cracked a smile. “Not a serial killer.”

“Good to know.” She smiled back. “Look, you don’t need to tell me your life’s story. I just find it very…dangerous,” she said pointedly, like she’d intended to say another word and switchedat the last second, “that your friend would send you to this mountain. The people up here aren’t known for being friendly and welcoming.”

Guilt coursed through me for having blindly put my kids in such danger. “Well, it wasn’t actually him who said it. It was more of a friend of a friend situation.”

Brooke looked confused. “A friend of a friend?”

I could feel myself start to sweat and knew I’d never last in a real interrogation. “I’m not exactly an expert on evasive maneuvers or hiding. I needed help. I guess I trusted someone I shouldn’t have or misunderstood a direction. I can’t see how me ending up stranded on the mountain in the middle of a snowstorm was their plan after all the effort and money it took them to get us here.”

Brooke contemplated that for a moment. “What’s your friend’s name or the friend of your friend?”

I hesitated. The way she asked it, almost like she didn’t believe me, was what gave me pause. She’d already admitted to living out here secluded from society. It didn’t sound like she got out much. Mind, she’d been out on her snowmobile the day she’d found us stranded in the car. She’d also been talking to someone on the radio.

Would she even know Corbin’s name? If I told her Corbin’s name and someone came looking for us, she would be able to tell them where we went. Then again, I wasn’t even sure Corbin was here. Maybe he’d gotten us to the mountain with the intention to only meet up with us and then was taking us to a different final safe house.

Though what could be safer than a secluded mountain in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm? Brooke was hopefully right that our tracks had been covered up in the snow and no one could find us here even if they found our abandoned car.

The possible stolen abandoned car. Shit. What if the copsfound it and ran the plates? What if they found the bag of license plates, our burners, and the rest of our supplies in the car? How would I contact Jack or Corbin then?

“Look if you don’t tell me, I can’t help you when the snow clears. I can get you back to town but that’s it. I can’t point you in a direction to go.”

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