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  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Synopsis

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Author

  Other Books by Gerri Hill

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Bella Books

  Synopsis

  Was it an earthquake? A meteor? Or something else entirely?

  Running from a marriage proposal in Seattle, Dana Ingram returns to her parents’ farm in Western Colorado for a two-week vacation in Paradox Valley. Only a couple of days into it, however, a small earthquake leaves them without power. Cars won’t start, batteries don’t work and cell phones are useless.

  When a Black Hawk helicopter vanishes off of radar, Captain Corey Conaway is sent in to locate it and its crew—all while keeping the disappearance out of the media. When she meets Dana and her cousin, Butch, Corey solicits their help in the search. But as they travel on horseback through the rugged and remote Paradox Valley, what they stumble upon soon has them running for their lives.

  Copyright © 2016 by Gerri Hill

  Bella Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 10543

  Tallahassee, FL 32302

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  First Bella Books Edition 2016

  eBook released 2016

  Editor: Medora MacDougall

  Cover Designer: Linda Callaghan

  ISBN: 978-1-59493-496-4

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  About the Author

  Gerri Hill has twenty-nine published works, including the 2014 GCLS winner The Midnight Moon, 2011, 2012 and 2013 GCLS winners Devil’s Rock, Hell’s Highway and Snow Falls, and the 2009 GCLS winner Partners, the last book in the popular Hunter Series, as well as the 2013 Lambda finalist At Seventeen. Hill’s love of nature and of being outdoors usually makes its way into her stories as her characters often find themselves in beautiful natural settings. When she isn’t writing, Gerri and her longtime partner, Diane, keep busy at their log cabin in East Texas tending to their two vegetable gardens, orchard and five acres of piney woods. They share their lives with two Australian shepherds and an assortment of furry felines.

  Other Bella Books By Gerri Hill

  Angel Fire

  Artist’s Dream

  At Seventeen

  Behind the Pine Curtain

  The Cottage

  Chasing a Brighter Blue

  Coyote Sky

  Dawn of Change

  Devil’s Rock

  Gulf Breeze

  Hell’s Highway

  Hunter’s Way

  In the Name of the Father

  Keepers of the Cave

  The Killing Room

  Love Waits

  The Midnight Moon

  No Strings

  One Summer Night

  Partners

  Pelican’s Landing

  The Rainbow Cedar

  The Scorpion

  Sierra City

  Snow Falls

  Storms

  The Target

  Weeping Walls

  Chapter One

  “I thought you liked her.”

  “I do. But I don’t want to marry her,” Dana said. “We’ve been dating for six months and she asks me to marry her? It’s like everyone has gone crazy because they can get married now.”

  Her mother laughed as she handed Dana the plate she’d just dried. “And you said this day would never come.”

  “I know. Maybe that’s why the thought of getting married terrifies me,” she said as she put the plate away, waiting patiently as her mother dried the last one. “I do know, however, that Kendra is not the one.”

  “Then why are you dating her?”

  Dana shrugged. “I like her. We have fun together. We have mutual friends, so it’s easy.”

  “Only you’re not in love with her?”

  “No. I’m not even in lust with her,” she said, then laughed as a blush covered her mother’s face. “Sorry.”

  “Well, in fairness to her, you should probably let her know.”

  “You mean, instead of running away like I did?”

  “We love having you here, you know that,” her mother said. “And it gives your dad an excuse to have a barbeque and invite the family over.”

  “It’s been a few years since I’ve seen them,” she said. “I’m actually looking forward to the party tomorrow.”

  And she was. She’d left Seattle in such a rush—a panic, really—that she hadn’t even considered whether her parents would mind an impromptu visit. A hastily written email to her boss had gotten her a two-week vacation on a moment’s notice. She didn’t know if that was a testament to the kindness of her boss or to the fact that she wasn’t really as indispensable as she thought. She chose to think it the former rather than the latter. She’d flown into Salt Lake City and rented
a car, heading east through the mountains then hitting the high desert of the Colorado Plateau, down through Arches and Moab. She drove through the Spanish Valley as she skirted the mountains to her north, driving the scenic La Sal Mountain Loop and crossing over into Colorado. The highway followed the same path as La Sal Creek through Lion Canyon and she’d felt the anxiety she’d carried with her from Seattle evaporate with each mile. Kendra—and her unexpected proposal—faded from her mind as she became mesmerized by the beautiful scenery that surrounded her.

  She’d last been home at Christmas, two years ago. And while she loved the snowy scenes and white peaks that guarded the canyon and valley, there was something about the mountains in summertime that drew her like nothing else did. Well, late May, not quite summer but close enough. She would get reacquainted with some of her old stomping grounds, take a few hikes and hopefully talk her dad into some serious trout fishing over on the Delores River. Two weeks should be plenty of time to sort through the marriage proposal and come up with something better than the startled “Are you out of your mind?” response she’d blurted out to Kendra.

  Yes, two weeks in the sparsely populated valley, where the closest town was nearly thirty miles away—tiny Paradox—should do wonders for her.

  Chapter Two

  Squaw Valley hadn’t seen much change in the last sixty-some-odd years. That suited Jean Bulgur just fine. She and Hal had married when they were both barely seventeen and had settled in the valley, moving in with his mother. They’d made a good enough living with the small farm, raising pinto beans and corn most years. They kept chickens, hogs and a few cows too, but it was hard work, she had to admit. Hard enough work that all three of their boys moved off as soon as they were of age. Hal Jr., moved only as far as Grand Junction, yet they saw him but a handful of times each year. The other two apparently forgot where they had been raised, she thought. She couldn’t remember the last time they’d come by for a visit. Peter married a gal from Los Angeles and they had three kids. Jean had only seen them twice when Peter had bothered to bring them around. His last Christmas card said that he was now a grandpa himself. Jean figured she and Hal wouldn’t ever see their great-grandchildren unless they made a trip to Los Angeles. She was fairly sure that wouldn’t happen. Johnny, the youngest, followed the rodeo circuit and they’d gone up to Cheyenne to see him one year. That must have been eight or ten years ago now. Surely Johnny had given it up. He was getting too old to be riding bulls. Shame he didn’t keep in touch more, she thought sadly.

  “What’s got you lookin’ all dreamy?”

  She turned from the window, not realizing she’d been staring out at nothing. She smiled at Hal and motioned to the table, which she’d already set for supper.

  “Smothered some pork chops up like you like them,” she said.

  “I thought I smelled them. Fresh biscuits too?”

  She nodded. “Need something to soak up the gravy.” She moved to the oven and peeked inside, already knowing that the chops were ready. “You want a glass of milk?” She didn’t wait for an answer as she filled a glass. After more than fifty-five years of marriage, she knew him well.

  “I was thinkin’ we could take a trip into town the next day or so,” he said.

  “Paradox? You need something from the feed store?”

  “No. Up to Grand Junction. Maybe we could meet up with Hal Jr., for a meal.”

  She pulled the cast-iron skillet out of the oven and set it on the stove. The gravy had thickened nicely, she noted. “You talk to him?”

  “No. Thought maybe we could call him up, though.”

  She nodded. “It would be nice to go to a real grocery store instead of that pitiful excuse for one they have in Paradox.”

  She took the empty plate in front of him and went about the routine of fixing his supper, putting a heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes down first, then a pork chop and gravy. The green beans were from the freezer and the last of the ones from last year’s garden. She topped it all with two biscuits that she’d baked just that afternoon.

  “Looks real good, Jean,” he said as he took the plate from her.

  She stood behind him and watched him eat for a moment. Hal wasn’t much for endearments, but she couldn’t recall a time when he hadn’t said those same four words at suppertime. After this many years, she wondered if he even saw the plate before he spoke the compliment. She smiled contentedly and reached for her own plate to fill it. No, not much had changed in Squaw Valley over the years.

  Chapter Three

  Corey sat up in bed with a jolt, her eyes wide, her heart pounding. She took a steadying breath. The dream. The damn dream again. She rubbed her face, trying to scrub away the memory, but it remained—the shooting, the screams, the fire. It wasn’t really a dream, she knew. Her team. All dead. All but her.

  That was a joke, wasn’t it? She was dead. Dead inside, at least.

  She got out of bed and shuffled into the kitchen. In the dim light of morning, she could make out the remnants of last night’s dinner. The steak had looked good and for a moment, it was like old times—grilling a steak to medium rare while she watched the sun set over the mountain. Problem was, it was tasteless. Everything was tasteless lately. Well, except for the bottle of scotch. That went down like the fine whiskey that it was. It went down almost too well. But she reasoned it was better than the sleeping pills her doctor had prescribed. She hadn’t even filled the damn prescription. She’d drink to oblivion before she’d start popping pills to help her sleep.

  She took a bottle of water from her fridge, then opened a cabinet and took out the container of aspirin. That had become a morning ritual, it seemed.

  The doctor had told her it would take time. It had been four months. How much longer would she be in this state of…of nothingness? She felt empty…numb.

  Dead. Like her team.

  She blew out a weary breath. She knew she had to get past this…only she wasn’t sure how. She stood at the sink, looking out the window at the approaching day. Without thinking, she reached over and turned on the coffeepot. As it sprang to life, brewing up a strong pot that she’d set up the night before, her eyes were again drawn to the subtle pink that colored the mountain. She hadn’t taken the time to enjoy a sunrise in more years than she could recall.

  Maybe this morning would be a good one to start with.

  Chapter Four

  Anna Gail Filmore went about the chore of methodically restocking the shelf where the canned vegetables were kept. Their small grocery store wasn’t large, but it carried the essentials, enough for most people to get by with. Of course, in the summer, when most everyone in the valley had gardens, the canned vegetables would sit undisturbed until winter.

  “Hey, Mom? I couldn’t find any more tuna cans in the back,” Holly said.

  Anna Gail looked over at her daughter and nodded. “Add it to the order list for Monday.”

  Holly’s shoulders dropped. “I’m ready to go home. Can’t you do it?”

  “Are you going out with Butch tonight?”

  Holly shook her head. “No. His cousin is in from Seattle and they’re having a family party or something,” she said.

  Anna Gail stopped what she was doing and turned to her daughter. “You’ve been dating for a while now. Were you not invited?”

  “Oh, Mom…yeah, he asked,” she said with a shrug. “But you know, I don’t go out to their farm much.”

  “He’s such a nice boy. And his family too. I don’t know what you’ve got against them.”

  “He’s not a boy. He’s over thirty. And yes, his parents are very nice,” she said as she fidgeted with her watch. “I just don’t like the whole farm thing.” She waved her hands in the air. “I want to get out of here, Mom. Not marry some farmer.”

  Anna Gail had known for a while now that her youngest child was restless living here in Paradox. But after high school, she’d shown no desire to move away and go to college like her brothers had. She’d seemed content to work at the store a
nd when she began dating Butch Ingram, Anna Gail assumed they would one day marry. Lately, though, she could feel Holly’s impatience.

  “So you want to leave Paradox finally?”

  Holly nodded. “It’s time.”

  “I guess we should have encouraged you after high school, but you seemed so young,” she said. “The thought of you heading out on your own was frightening.”

  “I know. That’s why I didn’t want to leave. But I’m twenty-four now.” She again waved her hands around her. “I can’t stay here and work in the store forever, Mom. I want to get out and do something.”

  “Where are you thinking of going?”

  “Over to Grand Junction,” she said. “I can get a job there, I’m sure.”

  She seemed confident, at least. Anna Gail didn’t point out that her only skills were stocking grocery store shelves. She’d never shown an interest in learning about the ordering, the inventory, the paperwork involved in running the store. She wondered what job she could possibly get.

  “Maybe you should think about going to college,” she said. “It’s not too late, you know.”

  “I don’t know. College is expensive.”

  “We’ll help you, of course. We helped your brothers.”

  “Maybe. Right now I only want—”

  A low rumble cut off her words and Anna Gail’s eyes widened as the shelves began to shake—the cans she’d neatly stacked vibrating around her. She steadied herself as the floor seemed to move under her.

  “What’s going on?” Holly asked, her voice thick with fright. “Mom?”

  Cans rolled to the floor, and Anna Gail managed to get into the next aisle, holding her arms up to prevent the glass jars of pickles from falling. Other items crashed to the floor around her and she heard Holly scream in the background as the lights went out.

  It was over in a matter of seconds and Anna Gail peered through the darkness, imagining the mess of her normally neat store. She turned, nearly tripping on a box that had fallen from the shelf.