Jack, however, had climbed the summit of this mountain, and probably all ten peaks in this county, if not more. For a few moments, Jack had strolled around the memorial and given her space, but he approached now and remained by her side, silent but there all the same, as if he sensed she needed reassurance. If she needed that from someone, he wasn’t the person she would want it from.

She hadn’t expected to see him today, or frankly, ever again.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Yes. I know. It’ll be dark before we make it the rest of the way.”

She slung her pack over her shoulder. Together they found the path from the memorial that led back to the trailhead and where the incident command center had been located for today’s search for the twins. When they made it to the bottom, they would get into their vehicles and go their separate ways.

“Do you still keep in touch with them?” Jack asked.

She knew instantly who he meant. Terra, Erin, and Alex had been teenagers at the time of the shared tragedy, though Erin and Alex were older than she was. They found support and encouragement in one another and had bonds deeper than many siblings. Owen wasn’t around, so she needed Erin and Alex. Together they decided they could do no less than be willing to die for others if necessary and vowed to make the world a better place. Lofty dreams for those so young—but somehow those dreams had helped ease the pain of loss and given them a vision for the future.

“Sure.”

“I have to admit I was a little jealous of your friendship with Alex,” he said, then sighed. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to dredge up all that junk.”

She shrugged. “If you don’t mind, let’s leave the past in the past.”

“Of course.”

At least when it came to her past where Jack was concerned. However, Terra would still like to know what had happened to Jack in the FBI, but she was absolutely certain he wouldn’t be willing to share with the line she’d just drawn. Terra was still working through so much—would it take a lifetime to heal?

“Erin’s in Seattle right now, but she comes to see her mom. She’s coming up this weekend, in fact.” Terra wouldn’t bring up that one of Jack’s coworkers, Detective Nathan Campbell, and Erin had experienced a heart-wrenching breakup. Terra believed that Nathan was the reason Erin moved. That and more opportunities in the city, but he was definitely the catalyst that sent her away.

“And Alex?”

Terra stopped.

His expression softened. “By your reaction, it would seem something’s going on between you two.”

Terra realized there’d been no jealousy in his tone.