Page 8 of Thunder Pass

He jerked back to attention as the flirty girl in the Volkswagen Jetta smiled at him. “Is the gas free around here or maybe you have a barter system? I could…you know, fill up your tank.”

She winked as her friend snickered. The Jetta was filled with backpacking gear, and they both looked fit and athletic. His type, normally. But he couldn’t keep his thoughts from straying to Ruth Chilkoot. The way Luke had shut her down in that cottonwood grove, it made him burn. Was she really okay? He had to come up with another way to check on her, something that wouldn’t get her in trouble. But Luke had told him to stay away from the property if he didn’t want to get shot at. He took that threat seriously.

“That’ll be seventy-five bucks,” he told the girl in the Jetta. Damn, his thoughts really did keep wandering.

“What?” The two girls exchanged a glance. “Is that a joke?”

“No joke,” he said cheerfully. “It costs a lot to get fuel shipments out here. You’re free to check out the competition.”

“Where’s the competition?”

“You could probably sweet-talk a five-gallon gas can out of Old Solomon. He works on the barter system. You might have to give up that Patagonia backpack for it.”

The girl made a face at him, then dug out her credit card. “Well, whatever.” Another smile. “If you like rock-climbing, we’re headed to Thunder Pass.”

“I’ll pass, sorry. Gotta work. Mean boss, you know how it is.”

“You want me to talk to him?”

“You are talking to him.”

That got a laugh from her. The other girl leaned over to join the conversation. “This is your gas station? Aren’t you our age? Why do you own a gas station? I don’t even own a cat.”

Which was why, even though they were about his age, he and these girls from Outside had almost nothing in common. Their lives looked so carefree compared to his, as if they floated through life on a magic carpet of money.

“It was my dad’s, then he left, and now it’s mine. End of story.” Gunnar completed the credit card run and handed back her card. Talking about his father wasn’t something he enjoyed. He missed his dad and he hated him and he loved him and he wished he was still here and he wondered why he’d disappeared and about a million other things at the same time.

“Any tips about Thunder Pass?” the girl called after him.

“Check the forecast. Bring rain gear. Those storms come fast.”

“Is it true that people die out there on a regular basis?”

He looked past Firelight Ridge to the sharp peaks beyond, where Thunder Pass nestled in the saddle between two ridges. “Put it this way. They don’t run rescue missions out there anymore, not after three helicopters got caught in a storm. If you get into trouble, you’re on your own.”

The girls’ smiles froze at his ominous tone. Then he lightened it up. “But it might be worth it if you find the gold.”

They brightened again. “So that’s real?”

“Hell no. Would I be running a two-pump gas station if there was gold in Thunder Pass?”

They laughed along with him. “Roger that. Thanks again, cutie.” The girl at the wheel winked at him again. “Maybe we’ll see you again. Cocktails on me. Literally, if you play your cards right.”

He played along, but his heart wasn’t in this little flirtation.

What was wrong with him? All winter, he looked forward to when the spigot of hot young backpackers turned on and he could find someone to hang out with any night he chose. Was he losing his edge?

“Did the credit card reader work?” Nelson asked him when stepped back into the garage. The kid was waiting just inside the door.

“Like a charm. Thanks, kid. You’ll have me in the twenty-first century before I know it.” And whether he wanted it or not, Gunnar thought. He liked the feeling of being lost in time. But being connected with the rest of the world had its benefits too.

“You still have to connect to the Internet to upload the transaction.”

“Yeah, yeah, one more reason to visit The Fang.”

Nelson trailed him toward the vehicle currently on the lift—Frank Stetson’s plow truck, which had blown a head gasket just as the last snow melted away. “I found something weird in your computer.”

“Ants? Termites?”

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