Chapter Two
Hank
The truck engine smokes, and the heating gauge blows into the red. Fuck this old truck. I guess that’s what I get for dragging the thing through the klondike and down from Alaska. It’s not meant for a trip into Anchorage, let alone cross country.
I hop from the truck and lift the hood, letting her cool down. I’m sure after a few minutes of fresh mountain air, she’ll be ready to go again, though I’m not sure she’ll ever make it to the riverbed. That’s another thirty miles of steep terrain.
“You need some help?” The pretty red head from the general store pulls up beside me, a woman who I assume is her sister in the seat next to her. I gauge by the conversation we had earlier and their uncanny resemblance, though Reese has more appealing uniqueness about her.
“I think I’ve got it. Thanks, though.” I turn my attention back to the truck, not wanting to look like a complete fool.
Reese smiles, catching the corner of my vision and taunting me to turn back. “You don’t look like you’ve got it. It looks like you’re going to be stuck here.”
“I won’t be stuck here. If anything, I’ll call for help.”
“Up here?” She grins, wrapping her long red hair onto her shoulder. She’s gorgeous. There’s no denying that. “There’s no cell service up here. Not a lot of traffic either. You’d be stuck until the next car comes by. Where are you headed?”
I scuff my boot into the dirt and look toward the engine that’s bellowing smoke into the air. Chances are this old truck isn’t going to get me where I’m going, and if I’m late, a whole world of fucking problems is going to happen down by that river. Then again, telling people where I’m headed isn’t really on the docket of things I had planned for today. That would really piss off Joe.
“We need to be to our camp before dark, so if you want a ride, you need to say so now.” She looks toward me harshly before her sister elbows her in the side and hollers over the top of her. “I’m sorry. We can’t give you a ride. We were just checking that you—”
“It’s okay, Brianna,” Reese says to her sister, whose eyes are bulging from her head.
“She’s right, you know? You shouldn’t give strangers rides.”
“Are you a stranger? I thought we’d met earlier.”
I nod. “I’m still very much a stranger. You have no idea what my intentions are.”
She stares back at me long and hard as her sister chides her from the side to leave.
“She’s right. You should leave.”
“Right,” the woman in the passenger seat says, straightening her body. “We should. Have a great day, and good luck!”
Reese glances toward her sister and says something under her breath before looking back toward me. “Where are you going?”
“I’m supposed to meet a crew by the river.” I look down at the time on my phone, but we’re already running late. “I’ll bet they’ll head out without me. I may as well just wait here at this point. You girls take off before it gets too late.” I wave them away and step back, but Reese stays put, the engine of her Jeep rumbling as she stares back at me. “Get in. We’re going right by the river.”
The sister jumps from the vehicle. “Nope. If he’s going, I’m staying. This isStupid Girl 101. Don’t pick up hitchhikers. Dumb, dumb, dumb.”
“This is the smallest town ever, Brianna,” Reese says, stepping from the Jeep to look up at me. Wow! As she makes her way around, I have longer to look at her than I did in the store. In this light, she’s striking. “If he’s going to do anything to us, everyone on Rugged Mountain would be after him.” She looks back toward me, her blue eyes sparkling in the late afternoon sun. “Besides, everyone knows we came up here. They’ll come looking for us sooner rather than later.”
“I’m not going to hurt anyone,” I say, smiling. “I can call my boss and let him know—”
“No phones, remember?” Reese shakes her head and moves toward the back seat, opening the door. “Hop in.” She looks up at her sister, who’s sitting on the opposite side of the Jeep, and looking as though she’s being forced into her worst nightmare. “You drive. I’m going to sit in the back with our hitchhiker and keep a close eye on his hands. All you have to do is go right up the mountain.”
Brianna shakes her head. “I can barely drive in San Francisco and now you want me to drive up amountain?I won’t make it. It’s—”
Reese looks toward her. “Well then, you can sit back here with the hitchhiker.”
Brianna grinds her teeth and stiffens her jaw before making her way to the driver’s side. I grab the few bags I’ve brought and toss them into the trunk of the Jeep before sliding in. “I appreciate this,” I say, Reese’s soft leg brushing against mine in the tight back seat. She moves away, but my width has nowhere to go and inevitably slides against her again as we begin to move.
“I’m really not going to hurt anyone,” I say lightly, hoping it calms Brianna’s stiffness, but she only hardens more.
“What kind of work are you doing out here?” Reese’s soft gaze is on me, studying me. I can’t tell if she’s interested or if she thinks I’m some laughable old man she met twenty miles back. Besides that, detailed questions aren’t something I’m looking forward to answering. I know what the guy I’m working for is here doing, and to be honest, I’m not looking forward to being a part of it. Unfortunately, I’m repaying a debt that should’ve been paid much sooner.
“A few buddies of mine are searching for some minerals up here.”