Or maybe it had to do with the secret Cassie was keeping from Reed.

A secret they were both keeping.

Damn! Her life had gone from simple—work, eat, sleep, repeat—to conflicted, chaotic and confusing in a matter of days. Getting emotionally involved meant getting hurt. She had hardened herself against that possibility with her career, then she’d taken a break from her life and had opened herself up to all kinds of potential pain.

The roaring of the Ski-Doos racing through the trails drowned out the beating in her chest, but she was certain Reed could feel it pressed against his back. She held him tighter, hoping to reassure him that things would be okay. Or was it to reassure herself?

A moment later, they stopped the Ski-Doos at the site where Cassie’s group had been camping. She got off the Ski-Doo and stood silently, scanning the area with the rest of the crew. Tent marks on the ground, partially covered by snow already... Footprints practically buried and an old campfire that had been put out hours ago. Several logs still sat around it, gathering their own light dusting of powder. The clearing was surrounded by trees and in the distance she could hear a water source. Nothing appeared to be out of order and there were no clues to any trouble the group may have run into.

“They were scheduled to leave here today at 10:00 a.m. and walk out through the south backwoods trail...along the mountain peaks,” Reed said, reading the file. “But in this weather, Cassie would have checked the updated avalanche advisory system and seen it go from caution to danger.”

“Not if the weather impacted her signal,” Tank said. The guy looked as white as the snow and, while they were all worried about their friend and her group, Erika suspected Tank was feeling the anxiety more than some of the others. The man obviously had strong feelings for her friend. Would this be the catalyst needed to make him finally act on those feelings once they found Cassie? Erika refused to believe there’d be any other outcome that day. She was staying positive, despite the dark clouds looming overhead and the heavy snowfall.

“Even if she couldn’t get confirmation, I think she’d be aware of the danger of hiking south out along the mountain ridge as planned. I know Cass and I think she’d take the alternate route listed in the file,” Reed said.

Tank nodded. “I hope so.”

So did Erika. Big blankets of snow on the mountains looked treacherous, seemingly dangling from the peaks like marshmallows melting over a campfire. If they decided to give way, things would get so much worse—fast.

“The call came into the station at 11:56...almost two hours ago, so they might be as far as Canyon Ridge by now if they did take the mountain ridge trails,” Tyler said.