“He’s so smart!”

“Yeah, how do you know?” Bull took the exhausted boy, pretended to drop him, and made him giggle.

“We’re not supposed to feed him people food, but he sneaks under the table when we’re eating. And if I forget to give him a bite, he puts his paw on my foot.”

Gabe grinned. “Yep, sounds pretty smart.”

“And after he chewed up Dad’s knife sheath—his favorite rawhide one—he hid in the back of my closet.”

Walking in front of them, Guzman turned. “The pup’s still alive after that?”

“Dad yelled,” Niko admitted. “Then he laughed and said I owe him a new sheath, and he’ll teach me how to make it.”

Gabe blinked. Who’d have thought Chevy would be so patient?

When Guzman took his turn carrying the boy, Gabe joined Bull to play rear guard and ensure no one got lost. The entire group was in high spirits. Just about every damn person had slapped Gabe on the back with compliments on his tracking expertise.

Jesus.

In the clear-cut, Dante slowed to examine where Gabe had picked up Niko’s tracks. “Can’t believe you spotted this, Chief. Nice job.”

Gabe shrugged. “I got lucky.”

“Bullshit.” Bull traced the faint outline of Nico’s sneaker. “You were always better than any of us. Glad to see you haven’t lost your skill, bro.”

“Bro?” Erica, one of the two female searchers, looked back. “How do you two know each other, anyway? I thought the chief was new to Alaska.”

Bull hesitated and lifted his eyebrows at Gabe. Tell or not?

Gabe rubbed his jaw. The sarge, being paranoid, had taught his boys not to share information about themselves with anyone.

But… Mako was dead. And they were part of this town.

Gabe nodded.

“We were raised as brothers,” Bull said. “Off the grid down by Seward.”

The half-dozen people within hearing all turned to stare.

“I’ll be damned,” one man muttered. “No wonder he tracks like that.”

Gabe huffed a laugh. It’d felt good to put his skills to use. And to lead a team again. He glanced at the men and women. The townsfolk had dropped everything and pulled together to find the boy. Heartwarming.

Speaking of heartwarming… When they emerged onto the road, there was Audrey.

She ran over and threw her arms around him. “I knew you could find him.”

When she went up on tiptoes to give him a lusty kiss, the men around him chuckled.

Gabe didn’t give a damn. This right here, this openhearted woman was exactly what he needed. He took himself another kiss before letting her go.

As Sarah took charge of the boy, Audrey bustled about, wrapping chilled searchers in blankets, giving them heat packs, and serving them hot drinks.

His mug of coffee came with a quick kiss and another hug, despite the fact he was soaking wet.