It took them longer to get down the mountain than it had taken them to drive up it. There was just too much snow. More than once, Finn had to get out of the Jeep and shovel some aside before they could maneuver further down the road.

Lars led the way on his snowmobile, kept tracking ahead and coming back like a fly buzzing from the window to a piece of rotting meat. More than once, Finn told him to go on ahead, but he seemed to enjoy watching the Jeep laboring through the snow.

The man had been away for more than five minutes this time while Finn guided the Jeep through a series of low trenches. Here, the snow was pristine except where snowmobile tracks had sliced through it.

Cora had been silent the entire way down. Brow furrowed in deep thought, those honey-gold eyes flickering to take in the surrounding land. She kept toying with the skeletal pendant dangling around her neck.

He didn’t try and make conversation with her. What was the point? In a few hours, she’d be at her uncle’s side, and he would be on his way back to Albuquerque. Back to his empty apartment.

Lars reappeared. Instead of coming up beside the Jeep and yelling at Finn through his window, he swung the snowmobile across their path, blocking them.

Finn’s jaw clenched as he put the Jeep in gear, yanked up the safety brake, and climbed out. Leaving the vehicle to idle behind him, Finn crunched up to where Lars stood.

“We’re fucked,” Lars said casually. “Road’s blocked up ahead.”

Finn closed his eyes, and gave his head a shake. When he opened them again, Lars had taken off his goggles and was watching him. “How far to Route 15?” It was the main road that cut through to Silver City.

“A mile, give or take,” Lars said. “But even if you reach it, it’ll be miles before you see anything more a goddamn squirrel.”

“Too far to walk,” he murmured.

“For her, yeah.”

Finn gave a half shrug. It was true—both he and Lars had enough training that they could easily survive a mile-long trek through freezing conditions. But Cora wouldn’t make it. And she couldn’t stay in the Jeep, not this close to civilization. Not in case someone happened to find her before they came back.

“We could take her back to the cabin,” Finn said. “You could…” But he trailed off because Lars was still silently watching him. From experience, he knew the man behind those green eyes was calculating something. Lars was a talented sniper—one of the best Finn had seen—and whenever he had a difficult shot to pull off, his eyes would focus just as intently on his target.

Calculating.

“I could take her,” Lars said, speaking slowly, almost cautiously. “You could follow at a walk.”

“I’m taking her. You follow.”

His friend’s lips quirked in a smile. “Why’d I know you’d say that?” Lars shrugged before taking off his helmet and hanging it from the handlebar beside his goggles. “Anna’s place is a few miles down Route 15. We’ll meet up there. You call for a cab so long.”

“No cash,” Finn said.

“Just call me Daddy Starbucks then.” Lars dug in his pocket, and drew out a worn leather wallet. He tugged out a credit card, holding it up by two fingers.

“Warbucks,” Finn corrected absently as he reached for the card.

“Treat you and your girl to a fancy latte.” Lar’s voice was light, but the set of his mouth was too tight for frivolity.

“It’s a long walk,” Finn said quietly. He had no doubt in Lars’s ability to track several miles in the snow, but it would be a harsh, cold few hours.

“Nothing like a hike in the mountains to get the blood pumping,” Lars said with a grin. “Plus, I am eternally in your debt, Milo.”

This again?

“Lars—” he began in a low growl.

Lars’s eyes flickered to the right, his smile inching up.

Finn turned. Cora stood a few yards behind him, hands in her armpits and breath obscuring her face in a misty cloud. He gestured, and she came closer, eyes shifting between him and Lars. “What’s going on?”

“Road’s blocked,” Lars said as he walked past Finn and handed him the credit card. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Key’s in the ignition.”

Lars opened the Jeep and rooted around for a bit before hauling out a pair of snow shoes. He perched on the running board, glancing up at them as he began tying the shoes to his feet. “Jesus. At this rate, I’ll reach the highway before you do.”

Finn climbed onto the snowmobile. Cora hesitated a second before getting on behind him but she sat back, as if she didn’t want to touch him. He reached behind him and grabbed hold of her thighs, yanking her closer.

She let out a surprised, “Hey!” and then cut off with a laugh she immediately damped down by tightening her lips.

“Hold tight,” he said and her arms slid around his stomach.

There was only the one helmet and goggles.

“Huddle,” he said over his shoulder.

This close, Cora’s eyes filled his world, so filled with innocent obedience that it made his heart ache and his stomach tighten. She gave a small nod, her gaze moving over his face until she ducked her head and wriggled close against him, her cheek on his shoulder blade.

“Ready?”

“Ready,” came her murmured response.

He started up the snowmobile, casting a quick look at Lars as he straightened the vehicle. The man was already trudging closer, legs lifting high in his snow shoes.

Still while studying him with the eyes of a sniper.