It was six o’clock when Sam headed for the shower, and Pappy headed for his computer. At seven o’clock, both were fully dressed and headed for the dining room.

“Damn, Pop, I thought you might have cooked something,” Pappy grumbled. “I guess it’s peanut butter and jelly again.”

“I love peanut butter and jelly,” Sam said as she tussled with Alpha.

“Like I have nothing better to do than cook. I’m retiring,” Kyros said, stomping out of the kitchen. Outside, he clapped his hands gleefully. Never, since the day his son was born, had he seen such love on his face. He would have danced a jig, but his wobbly old legs would have protested too much.

Inside, as they munched on their sandwiches, Pappy talked earnestly. “Poke Donovan will meet you at the bottom of the mountain. He’ll take you to the airport and escort you to the location in Colorado. You won’t be working with your team, they’ve all been assigned to other projects. Everything you need to know is inside that envelope. Poke has other information for you. From here on in, I’m out of it. You’re on your own, Sam.”

Sam took a deep breath. “I need to get out of here before I change my mind. Let’s go.”

Pappy’s heart lurched in his chest when he saw the woman he loved pull on her backpack. He held the door for her. Standing outside, the hair on his back bristling, Alpha blocked the way. Sam dropped to her knees and whispered in the big dog’s ears. Then she removed the backpack and laid it at the big dog’s feet. He looked up at her, then at Pappy, before he picked up the straps of the backpack and trotted off.

Pappy unlocked the gates to the cable car. Sam looked at him, her heart in her eyes. She didn’t kiss him, she didn’t have to. She touched his arm and smiled before she strapped herself into the skinny seat.

Kollar’s heartrending shout ricocheted around and down the mountain. “Come backkkkkk.”

Alpha howled, the sound crashing against Kollar’s words.

Kyros dabbed at the corners of his eyes.

Epilogue

Almost a year to the day since leaving the mountain, Sam let herself into her condo. How strange it all looked. And how quiet and lonely. She looked around as she walked about, opening the blinds and windows to get rid of the musty, closed-up-house smell. She realized she’d never really had a chance to live there, to enjoy her little nest. She felt rootless, homeless.