Easton kept one eye on her as he picked up the handheld CB radio in his truck, flipping over to the channel he knew the local police monitored. There were limits on the range of his CB, but Jonah—the head officer of Moose Springs’ two-person police force—was known to drive the highway outside town to get a change of scenery. It was worth the effort to try.

“Hey, Jonah? I’ve got a lady out here on the highway just past Hunt Road who could use your help.”

A crackle, then the officer’s voice came on. “Is it an emergency? I’ve got a moose stuck in a swing set I’m dealing with.”

“Not an emergency.” Easton eyed the woman, who eyed him back. “I might need someone more official than myself for this one though.”

“Let me try to—” Jonah broke off, then he muttered, “And there goes the teeter-totter. East, I’ll call you back.”

“Who are you talking to?” She looked at him suspiciously.

“A nice man who’ll come give you a ride to Anchorage,” Easton told her. “He’ll take you somewhere with people who’ll help you better than I can.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Ma’am, I’m not the one talking to invisible people and ranting about minions.”

“I’m not talking to invisible people. I’m arguing with invisible people who should have switched phone providers like I told them before we left.” She turned toward the hill ahead of them, yelling, “Like I told you, Jessie.”

Easton shook his head, amazed at his own bad luck. “Listen, I can’t leave you out here.”

“Fine.” With a disgusted snort, she grabbed her suitcase and swung it over the side of the truck bed. It landed with a heavy, uneven thump.

“What’s in there?” he asked.

“Rocks.” Climbing into the passenger side of his truck, the woman pulled her scarf free from her mouth. At his dubious look, she frowned back. “What?”

“You’ve been walking down the side of the road carrying a suitcase full of rocks, and you think I’m the crazy one?”

A smirk was her only reply to his question. Instead, she pointed ahead of them. “You see that access road higher up the mountain? Can you give me a ride up there?”

Technically, he could. But it was a small winding mountain road, and he couldn’t think of a reason why a stranger to town would be headed that direction.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather go to Moose Springs?”

“My film crew is up there, and I can’t hear them on the ear mic anymore. Since you and the last four you’s that stopped to give me a ride have ruined this shot all morning, I need to talk to my coproducer. Is it me, or is it a thousand degrees in here?”

At which point she began to strip.