Page 57 of Mountain Refuge

I fought the need to scoff. “Of course they did. They’re in his pocket.”

“Undoubtedly. With the racketeering, arms dealing, human trafficking, prostitution, and smuggling charges on top of the murder charge, hopefully the Feds will see reason to drop the remaining kidnapping charge.”

That was a long rap sheet—but Gunther no doubt had very good lawyers at his disposal.

“What about his organization?” I asked Jack. “They weren’t able to make a RICO case and connect him to others, but he’ll still have influence from jail unless we can somehow take that down too.”

“That’s why I got you some help. He should be pulling up next to you any second.”

I paused, looking up and down the street. I saw mostly police cars and news vans. “I don’t see anyone—” Just then a black sedan pulled up next to me. “Oh.”

I expected the back door to open, given the fancy car, but instead the passenger door’s window lowered. I ducked down and my jaw dropped.

Trenton Gunther took off his sunglasses and smiled widely at me. “Good to finally meet you in person, Ms. Gonzalez. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Brooke

Six Months Later

Longest. Fucking winter. Of my life.

This was my tenth winter on my beloved mountain. My tasks were the same as always with the need to survive the harsh temperatures and weather. Nothing had changed—except for me. Time, which had never meant anything to me before, now seemed to drag on at a snail’s pace. Additionally, I’d never felt so cold as I had over the past several months.

After my time with Elijah on the cliff, we’d worked to have more ‘adult only’ time through the fall. I also went down into town to purchase condoms. I felt like a teenager trying to buy their first pack as Jack rang up my purchases—because I couldn’t havejustbought condoms. He would have never let me live that down.

Thankfully nothing had come of our unprotected tryst. Elijah had apologized repeatedly for that misstep and would not accept the fact that I was equally just as responsible.

In the middle of August, we got the news that SebastianGunther had been arrested—and my jaw about hit the floor. As a former NYPD police officer, I knewexactlywho Sebastian Gunther was and it blew my mind that he had been the man Elijah had been running from. Beyond that, I could not understand how a man so corrupt could have fathered two of the most beautiful and amazing kids I’d ever met. Mind, I was a bit biased.

After that revelation, Elijah and I realized our families were nearly from the same area. He’d grown up in New Jersey and I’d grown up in White Plains. We’d both moved into the city as adults, but it hadn’t been until we’d both landed on a mountain in the middle of Nowhere, Montana that we’d met and fallen in love.

With Gunther behind bars awaiting trial, Jack had gotten word to Elijah that Trenton, the kids’ older brother, was working to dismantle the corrupt organization. It wasn’t until I overheard on the radio Jack tell Elijah that the murder charges had been dropped that I realized my elation was premature. What if Elijah decided not to stay on the mountain? He was almost a free man. His requirement to stay was no longer valid…

But Elijah had quenched those fears almost immediately. The next time we’d met for our scheduled rendezvous, he’d skipped over common greetings and small talk to assure me that he had no intention of leaving the mountain.

“I like who I am on this mountain, Brooke. I like who my kids are. Moreover, I like who I amwith you. We’re staying, regardless of the charges.”

Following that conversation, I asked if he wanted to return to being ‘Adam’. It would have been confusing for a bit—especially after I’d worked so hard to remember to call and think of him as ‘Elijah’—but he had told me that he wanted no part of Gunther to touch his or his kids’ lives. They were keeping their new identities.

Jack and Corbin agreed with this decision because there were some who might want to take Gunther’s downfall out on Adam Greene and the Gunther children.

As we had approached the end of September, Elijah and I knew our frequent time together was coming to an end. We had already had the conversation that he and the kids would remain at Corbin’s cabin over the long winter months. My cabin, though spacious for just me, did not have the room to comfortably keep two adults, an upcoming toddler, and rambunctious little girl. I didn’t know who dreaded the first snowfall more: Elijah or me. We knew what it signified.

As we watched the kids joyously play in the first snowflakes of the coming winter, Elijah and I sat under the covered front porch of Corbin’s cabin. Neither one of us able to take in the beauty of the first snowfall and clinging to each other for the time we had left.

Unlike our last goodbye, though, it did not signify a lack of visits. Corbin helped Elijah bring the kids down to my cabin or I would go up to Corbin’s when the weather permitted. Elijah and I remained in contact via the HAM radio, though we had to keep our conversations mostly platonic due to the potential eavesdroppers.

It wasn’t the same though. Sometimes weeks would go by before we could see each other because it wasn’t safe to take the snowmobiles up or down the mountain. Getting to Dalton’s or Tommy’s cabin was not as far a distance as Corbin’s or as steep up the mountain. As much as wecouldhave seen each other, it wasn’t worth the risk just to do so.

Plus, winter required more maintenance. I couldn’t leave my cabin for more than a day at a time without risking my stores.

February was still just as harsh, but we were experiencing an odd lull in additional snow. The snow that had fallen createda nice fluff on the ground and surrounding foliage. I was trying to figure out if I could get away for the day. If the weather turned suddenly, which was completely within the realm of possibilities, I could be stuck up at Corbin’s for more than the overnight. That would place the responsibility of keeping my stores safe on Dalton—and I didn’t want to ask that of him when he had his own property to look after.

The roar of a motor broke through my thoughts. Without putting on boots, I ran out to my porch in my wool socks. I knew the echo of that engine. It had been seared into my brain to announce Elijah’s arrival.

I hadn’t seen him or the kids since Christmas, when Dalton and I had journeyed up the mountain to celebrate with the kids. That was over five weeks ago.

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