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Even though he had the same room he’d had his entire life, he didn’t have the same furniture.

He had an office downstairs, but more often than not, he preferred to do most of his work — and brooding — up here where no one would bother him.

He liked being on the second floor, where he had a fantastic view of Mount McKinley, or Denali as it was now called.

The mountains were the one place where he felt alive.

As close as he lived to them, it was amazing how rarely he got to hike for fun.

To get away from the phone and his brothers — even Daire.

Somehow, he believed that if Daire had gone off to college — as he’d hoped — he wouldn’t worry about him as much.

Exhausted, Sam collapsed into the black leather chair. “How did he get to twenty-one so quickly?”

“I asked myself that same question with each of you boys.” She offered him a soft smile.

“You can’t keep him in the nest forever, Sam.

You have to let Daire fly … make his own mistakes.

It’s the only way he’ll learn. It’s how you learned.

We had to let you boys make your own choices — right and wrong.

If you’re there to catch him every time he gets a boo-boo, he won’t know what to do when you’re not there. ”

Sam rubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah … Look at how well that worked for me. If I hadn’t screwed up —”

“We wouldn’t have Daire,” his mother finished. “Sometimes our mistakes are our greatest accomplishments. I know I wouldn’t trade that boy for all the correct decisions in the world.”

“Me neither.” Sam shook his head as he thought about all the things Daire had put him through.

Most fathers would be honored to have their sons follow in their footsteps.

But when that path put Daire in life-and-death situations daily, Sam found it hard to be pleased with his son’s career choice.

“Why does he have to be so brave? So stupidly brave?”

His mother just stared at him. “Hmm … I wonder.”

“I can’t lose him, Mom. Especially not before I tell him the truth. I’m just not sure how to tell him. What if he asks about his mother?” He lowered his head into his hands.

“I know, honey, but you can’t make his decisions for him. He’s a man.” She stood and crossed the room, reaching to lift his chin. “You know how I feel about telling him … that you should do it sooner rather than later, but … that’s between you and him. You’ll know when it’s the right time.”

“I’m glad you can be so sure and calm. How can you do that after raising five boys? I’m a basket case over one, and I haven’t really even raised him. You and Dad did all the hard work.”

“Well, when you get to my age, you start to realize how silly you were to worry about the things you worried about when you were younger. The things you couldn’t change. And if you’re smart, you just start living for every day. Not wasting chances. You know, like dancing with that woman …”

Sam peered up at his mother, wondering where this conversation had come from. He was accustomed to his brothers pushing him, not his mother.

A wide smile caused her eyes to crinkle at the edges.

“You looked happy, Sam. I haven’t seen you just kick back for a long time.

It was nice. You work too hard. Worry too much.

You should find that girl … ask her out.

Maybe even take some time off, show her our beautiful state.

” She kissed his forehead, the same way she’d done when he was a child, and then turned and left him to his thoughts.

Instead of his mind going right to thoughts about Daire, his mother had planted the seed for a ridiculously crazy idea to take root in his head: finding Nora. Tomorrow, he’d drop by the bar around the same time. Maybe he’d take a personal day and have Vince respond to his calls.

A few drinks. A few more rounds of pool. Maybe he’d even convince her to go hiking with him instead of on her own. By the end of the evening, perhaps he wouldn’t be feeling grouchy anymore.

Nora

Nora contemplated following Sam, but with only one main road, he’d see her.

You don’t need to worry about Sam , she reminded herself. His search-and-rescue team is the best. That’s why you attended his refresher course .

Truly, she should be happy that he’d been called off on some emergency. Otherwise, she would have been tempted to go back into the bar, and he might have pressed her for answers again. Answers she couldn’t give him.

Instead, the moment she hung up with Sergio, she rushed to her cheap motel. She’d only been able to withdraw so much money from an ATM daily, so she’d made a deal with the motel manager to charge her four times the amount of the room if he’d give her half of the extra money.

My husband expects me to stay at a fancy resort , she’d explained to the man with a wink, but I’d rather spend my money gambling .

The manager had been more than happy to oblige her.

She needed to stockpile as much money as possible, because she intended to leave every credit card she had inside her rental vehicle.

Next, she planned to toss her phone into the deepest crevasse she happened upon her first day, then backtrack and take a different trail.

After the first few miles into Denali, Sergio wouldn’t be able to figure out her circuitous route.

With her hiking skills, she was confident she could stay alive long enough to disappear from the public eye.

Four to five months this time of the year in the Alaska wilderness would be easy.

By October, she’d buy a sea kayak and make her way to Seattle.

While researching online at the library, she’d read that one man had kayaked from Seattle to Juneau in sixty-six days.

Not to be beaten by any man, she vowed to do the reverse route in sixty days.

Not that she’d be able to brag to anyone.

But she didn’t need to. Just knowing she was accomplishing a record, and tricking Sergio in the process, would be rewarding enough for her.

From Seattle, she would make her way out of North America via the Pacific Crest Trail, which ended at the U.S.

/ Mexico border, just south of Campo, California.

Getting out of the United States was easy; it was entering the States that required papers.

If she’d thought for a minute that Sergio wouldn’t have tracked her down, she would have just driven to Mexico.

But she knew he would. Her only chance of escaping him was if he thought she was dead.

Once she was out of the country, she’d never worry about Sergio and his murderous activities again.