should go back. She glanced over her shoulder at the cabin.
No—her only hope was out there. Another dwelling. A hunter. A snowmobiler. A forest ranger. Even a forest road. Someone else was out there. Earlier in the day, she’d heard rifle fire. A snowmobile. Another ounce of hope.
Her kidnapper didn’t realize her drive to live.
She took one step after another, willing herself to keep moving. Willing herself to survive. Unfortunately, with the deep snow she couldn’t be sure what she was stepping on. March could warm the ice beneath the snow cover, creating treacherous breaks.
She plodded on, gasping for breath with each lumbering step. A half hour. An hour. Her movements kept her warm. If she stopped, she would die. She had to keep moving until she found shelter or help. The temperature dropped as night fell, but at least the moon lit her path so she could see the far shore that stretched before her.
There is still hope . . .
A crack resounded, and she stopped, feeling it to her bones.
The white powder covering the sheet of ice beneath her shifted.
And she knew how this would end a split second before the surface beneath her fell away.
CHAPTER ONE
Two Days Earlier
Tuesday, 8:43 a.m.
Denver, Colorado
Dread warred with hope as Rae Burke shivered in the cold outside on the porch. The curtains remained drawn at the quaint home that her brother, Alan, shared with his wife, Zoey, and their adorable four-year-old daughter, Callie.
Rae knocked again, and a moment later the door cracked open enough for her to slip inside the dark house. Her brother remained in the shadows. She flipped on lights without asking permission. Better. Now the home had become warm and cozy. Nothing seemed amiss except for her brother, the consummate professional. She’d rarely seen him in sweats.
Rae dropped her purse on the foyer table and shrugged out of her coat. She paused to take a long look at him. Bloodshot eyes stared at her from an unshaven face.
“You couldn’t sleep.”
Pursing his lips, he shook his head. “Of course not. How could I?”
“Oh, Alan.” She hugged him like only a sister could.
Keeping a hold on his arms, she took a step back. “I’m assuming you called the police.”
He shook her off and rubbed his neck. “Yes, I called them. Of course, they wanted to know if we’d had an argument or if this was unusual behavior for her.” He gave Rae a knowing look. Zoey had disappeared in the past, but that was before she had married Alan.
“How long has she been gone?” Maybe Zoey had needed respite. Caring for a child with special needs could be draining.
He glanced at his watch. “Long enough. Callie is Zoey’s world. Callie is our world.”
Rae nodded. “Zoey never would have left her. She never would have left you, Alan. Tell me what happened.”
“Zoey dropped Callie off at behavioral therapy at nine in the morning. Her therapist called me at one. I brought Callie home, thinking I would find Zoey had fallen asleep. That she’d been taking a nap and slept through her alarm. I called her cell and texted, but she didn’t respond.” Alan paced the open living area. Shelves filled with early readers and books on raising children with autism lined the walls. “Her car wasn’t here.”
Deep frown lines carved into his ragged face. “Her last known cell location was here at home. But clearly, she’s not here. So her battery died or she turned her cell off. I don’t know. But I waited for her to come home or contact me. I hoped that she would return with a reasonable explanation. I called her friends. I called you. Finally, I called the police. I explained everything to them so they would understand that Zoey would never leave her daughter, but I had still given her time to get home.”
Why hadn’t Alan called Rae sooner? Hurt skated across her heart, but she shook it off. She could easily guess. Alan had hoped Zoey would return and Rae would never need to know—she’d warned him, after all. Zoey’s disappearance could elicit an “I told you so.”
“The only good news is that the police are taking me seriously now since she didn’t come home last night. I wanted to call you before you saw something on the news.”
“And you asked the neighbors what they saw?”
“Of course! What do you think?”
She hadn’t meant to upset him. He was on edge, so she wouldn’t react. Rae moved to the kitchen to make coffee. She doubted Alan