THRE E

A rusty bright-purple hatchback sputtered and wheezed as it came to a stop in front of Tiikaan as he grabbed his frame hunting backpack and the large McDonald’s to-go bag filled with hamburgers from the cockpit. His childhood best friend Declan unfolded out of the tiny car, a smile stretching across his bearded face.

“Welcome to Utqiagvik, buddy.” He circled the car and wrapped Tiikaan in a crushing hug that lifted him off the ground.

“Easy, BFG.” Tiikaan thumped Declan on the back. “I’m still recouping from that bear trying to make me dinner.”

Declan put Tiikaan down, his eyes wide with concern. “I didn’t hurt you more, did I?”

“Nah.” Tiikaan rubbed his side, then rotated his shoulder, the stitches in his arm pulling.

He was fortunate walking away from a bear encounter with only four cracked ribs, twenty stitches, and some gnarly bruising .

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about you almost becoming bear bait.” Declan’s concerned expression turned back to excitement. “I’m just so stinking excited to have you rooming in the Barrow Bachelor Bunk for the summer.”

That was Declan, the Big Friendly Giant. He was everyone’s friend, and not just on the surface. He didn’t care if you were the jock, the punk rocker, or the loner. If you got within his long reach, you were caught. It’s what made him such a great teacher and football coach.

“You don’t really call your place that, do you?” Tiikaan shook his head in amusement.

“Not when it’s just me. Sounds kind of pathetic then.” Declan clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “But now that there’s two fully eligible and sexy guys? Absolutely.”

Tiikaan rolled his eyes.

Declan grabbed the McDonald’s bag and lifted it in a salute. “Thanks for these.”

“No problem. There’re thirty burgers in there.”

“No pickles or condiments, right?”

“Of course.”

“You’re the best. These babies make the perfect freezer snack. Pop them in the microwave, and it’s almost like freshly made. But the pickles and ketchup would ruin them.”

“Only in Alaska would people freeze McDonald’s burgers.”

“Only in Alaska, baby!” Declan banged his hand on the top of the car. “Get in, and I’ll give you a tour.”

Tiikaan threw his pack in the back and folded himself into the passenger seat. The interior was surprisingly clean given the condition of the outside. It still was way too small for someone as tall as Declan. Shoot. Tiikaan was only five-ten, and he felt cramped.

“What’s with the Barney mobile?” Tiikaan set the seat as far back as it could go, which only gave him three more inches. “Figured you’d have something bigger to haul all your kids in.”

Not wanting anyone to be left out, Declan often became an unofficial taxi for any of his students who needed a ride.

“I do.” He ran his hand along the dash that was a shade darker than the purple paint. “This beaut is yours for however long you need her.”

He gave Tiikaan a wicked smile.

“Seriously?”

“It’s all I got at the moment.” His laugh filled the cab. “Your brothers are gonna flip.”

Tiikaan scanned the car in a new light. A crystal unicorn was superglued to the dash. Fake gemstones lined the rungs of the steering wheel. The seat covers had cartoon unicorns in various colors flying through rainbows and pink clouds. It was hideous.

“Seriously, man?” Tiikaan asked again, praying Declan was joking.

As the only Turo operator in town, Declan’s options were thin, but he had to have something better than this monstrosity.

“I wish I could say that I’m giving you this on purpose, but it’s all I’ve got left.” Declan winked at Tiikaan. “Don’t worry. It’s like a chick magnet. ”

“It’s something.” Tiikaan reached for the crystal unicorn on the dash, but Declan slapped his hand away.

“Car’s got to remain as is. Its owner is a junior counselor at a remote camp this summer, and she’d go banshee if you changed anything.”

“I think I could take her. She’s probably, what? Ninety pounds soaking wet?”

“Yeah, but you don’t want to mess with her. She may still be in high school, but she’s got the woman-in-charge vibe down. Practically runs the place.” Declan gave him a look that bordered on scared. “For my safety, please, please don’t change a thing.”

“Fine.” Tiikaan would be walking anytime he could.

Declan took him around town, pointing out the seven restaurants and what to order. The man always had food on the brain, but Tiikaan had to admit the variety would be a nice change from the two restaurants back in Tok. Declan drove by the Inupiat Heritage Center, urging Tiikaan to check it out if he had time.

The dirt roads and weathered houses with bikes and car parts and fishing gear for yards made him feel right at home. They even had a decent-sized grocery store.

The only part of the area that might make him itchy was the lack of mountains. Flat tundra stretched for miles south, disappearing into the horizon. Blue ocean headed north. Being surrounded by two-dimensional land when jutting mountains called to him could break his spirit.

Not that he wasn’t already expecting this job to do that very thing.

Declan slowed as he drove past a new massive two- story house overlooking the ocean. It stood out like an eyesore. Must’ve cost a fortune to build.

“This is where your meeting is.” Declan’s voice got serious for the first time. “Clayton Harland, the owner of the oil company, had it built a few years ago when he started spending a lot of time up here researching. Ran the business out of the place.”

Declan tapped the palm of his hand on the steering wheel, sighed, and sped up.

“Shame about him dying in the plane crash. Decent guy, if a bit hard-nosed. Kind of reminded me of John Dutton from that show Yellowstone. Hat and everything. Take-no-prisoners patriarch, but he sure didn’t mind greasing the bureaucratic wheels with the cha-ching. I got new uniforms and equipment for the team from the guy.”

Tiikaan hadn’t heard that Harland had died. He probably should have done more research before he came up here.

Any research, actually.

But he’d wanted to get the most out of what little time he had and didn’t really care. In this type of job, money was money. Didn’t matter who he got it from, as long as he got it.

“When he or his family are up here, they live and work from there.”

“Good to know.”

Since Tiikaan was meeting this Merritt guy there, did that mean he was family? Tiikaan had the impression he would be flying a manager around, not the oil heir. A manager was one thing. Mostly levelheaded, they were just a guy doing a job.

A member of a dynasty? From his experience guiding, those people were on a different level of demanding.

Declan drove up to a twenty-by-forty single-story on stilts. “The Barrow Bachelor Bunk awaits.”

He tossed Tiikaan the car keys as they approached the steps leading to the door. Tiikaan rolled his eyes at the sparkly purple unicorn hanging from the loop. One thing’s for sure. He’d have a hard time misplacing the bright key ring.

The house was exactly what he expected to find. Sturdy laminate flooring. Living room with a small kitchen lining the wall. Two matching bedrooms on one end of the house had enough space for a queen bed, a side table, and a plastic three-drawer dresser in the cramped closet. Used dressers were harder to find in Alaska than gold.

The bathroom between the bedrooms had a shower stall, toilet, and tiny sink. The living room window with the view of the ocean was a nice touch. When everything cost an arm and a leg, it didn’t make sense to fancy up a place.

“Well, I should head back to the mansion and get this meeting over with.” Tiikaan really didn’t want to.

Declan nodded and sat at the table, firing up his computer.

“Working on the next bestseller?” Tiikaan scanned the bookshelves of familiar spines.

Declan had been writing thrilling mysteries set in Alaska since they were in high school. Tiikaan was glad Declan had moved forward with indie publishing. The awards stacking up hadn’t surprised Tiikaan at all.

“Yep. This one’s set down Dutch Harbor way, but it’s giving me fits.” Declan’s face scrunched at his computer, then his head snapped up. “Oh, hey. When you get back, I want to introduce you around. I have some hunter friends you’d like to chat with. I thought since you’ll be here for Nalukataq, the festival of the whale, you’d want to get in on the tradition. You won’t be able to hunt being Athabaskan instead of Inupiat, but I’m sure I can get you on a boat.”

“Man, that would be killer.”

Surely, this Merritt guy would want to experience a true tradition of Alaska that had been going on for centuries. Tiikaan would just have to sell the festival hard. Make it so the guy couldn’t refuse.

“All right. I’m out.” Tiikaan swirled the key ring on his finger.

Declan saluted without looking up from the screen. Being in Barrow for the summer wouldn’t be so bad with him around. They hadn’t had time to hang out since high school.

Tiikaan folded himself back into the Purple People Eater and headed through town. The second impression of the house was even worse than the first. The fancy––probably handcrafted––trim and large picture windows that would leak heat faster than a cracked door screamed wasteful.

Well, if they weren’t wasteful, he wouldn’t have this contract. This Merritt could easily stay in the man camp at the drilling site just like all the other workers. One person’s extravagance was another man’s gain. Tiikaan didn’t mind being on the receiving end of the frivolity.

As he walked up to the door, he wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. Where the heck were the nerves coming from? He’d guided rich folk before. This wasn’t any different.

Except before, that was in his domain. Here, he was out of his element. This was a bad idea.

He rang the doorbell, scanned what he could see through the window on the door, and shifted on his feet when no one answered. After waiting a good four minutes, he rang again. And waited.

Looked like he’d get to put the torture off for one more day. Just when he was about to turn back to the car, a person moved toward the entrance.

Dang.

No such luck.

A woman in her late twenties with a haughty expression on her beautiful face answered the door. Her phone was pressed to her ear, and she lifted a perfectly plucked eyebrow over her rich brown eyes at him while continuing her conversation.

He cleared his throat. “I’m here to see Merritt.”

She waved him in and headed back through the house. He stepped inside, trying not to gawk at the over-the-top interior. It was like a Texas dude ranch and the Taj Mahal got caught up in a tornado and the resulting decoration was the outcome.

It was just so… Wow.

He couldn’t even come up with a word to describe how ostentatious the interior was. The woman gave an annoyed clearing of her throat, motioning him to follow her.

As she led him down the hallway, he couldn’t help but notice the thick Fjallraven fleece hoodie even though it was summer, the bright scarf wrapped around her neck, the expensive cut of her tight jeans, and the silver and turquoise cuff bracelet that matched a ridiculously large turquoise ring. Everything about her screamed money.

He tipped his head.

Everything except the well-worn leather hikers.

Those didn’t fit the image at all.

But the fact that she ignored his existence did. She led him to an office overlooking the ocean, and the longer she talked on the phone, the more irritated Tiikaan became.

Was the call important?

Probably.

But still, out of all the uppity hunters he’d had, none of them had been this blatantly rude.

If this was how he’d be treated all summer, he might as well leave now. No amount of money was worth putting up with being viewed as dirt.

Tiikaan scanned the office, his gaze landing on a painting of a bush plane resting on a lake. A small cabin tucked in the woods in the background. His dream captured on canvas.

Okay.

Maybe some things were worth it.

“I’m sorry for keeping you.” The woman turned from staring out the window, put the phone in her pocket, motioned for him to take a seat, and lowered herself into the leather chair behind the desk. “What can I do for you?”

Each movement was measured. Crisp and efficient. And it bugged the heck out of Tiikaan. He forced himself to relax into the chair.

“I’m Tiikaan with Rebel Air Service. I’m here to meet with Merritt.”

“You found her.” She smirked and leaned back in her chair with an air of satisfaction as dread swamped over him in a cold rush from head to toe.

Well, nuts.

That was definitely unexpected.