Dax’s chest burned as it filled with the frigid Salt Lake City air. At forty degrees and windy, it was typical northern Utah weather, but for a guy coming from balmy, tropical Brazil, it may as well have been glacial Antarctica.

He stretched his back as he stepped onto the crosswalk in front of the airport. At three o’clock in the afternoon, the heavy traffic moved at a snail’s pace; good thing, because, after the last twenty-four hours of sitting on his butt, his body was stiffer than a medical stretcher. He needed extra time to walk to the pick-up zone.

Dax scanned the street for Blue’s car. Julia had offered to pick him up, but he didn’t want her to waste an hour of her birthday driving. He could also use a shower before meeting her parents and asking her the most important question he would ever ask in his life. No pressure. For the majority to the flight—when he wasn’t knocked out from his sleeping pills—he mulled over how he should ask her; as if the act of flying itself didn’t stress him out enough. He had nearly wet his pants when they hit turbulence over the Rockies.

Blue’s deep laugh split the cold air. “Dude, you tired or what?” Blue’s tricked-up, black diesel truck sat a foot in front of Dax. “Couldn’t see or hear this thing?”

“Sorry. Yeah.” Dax threw his bag in the back seat and jumped up front. “I guess I’m out of it.”

“We work tomorrow morning. I’d say go get some rest, but something tells me resting isn’t on the agenda this evening.” He punched Dax in the arm. “Julia’s been missing you. But don’t worry, Nikola has been keeping her busy.”

“Not funny.” Dax gave him a look of caution.

“Just joshing. That girl is crazy about you. You know how girls talk. She’s started hanging with Lucy. Thanks, by the way. She said you talked to her grandmother and now her parents are actually communicating with her grandparents.”

Dax shrugged as he blew on his fingernails. “Some of us just have it.” He gave a sideways glance at Blue, who unsuccessfully stifled a laugh.

“The guys found you on Facebook last night. What’s up with not accepting their friend requests?”

“What are you talking about?” Dax gave him a look of disbelief. “I hate social media. You know that.”

Blue handed Dax his phone. “Open up Facebook and search Lucius Domitius.”

“Lucius Domitius? Descended from Julia, Cesar Augustus’ only biological child? AKA Nero—the Roman who burned Christians alive? Who would be sick enough to use that name?”

Blue wrinkled his face. “What are you, a Roman history junkie?”

Dax shrugged. “So, I like history.” Dax scrolled through the profile photos from his search. “People actually want to associate with that name?”

Most of the profile pics were of Nero’s bust but a few were normal photos of your average Joe. Dax’s blood ran cold when his calendar photo appeared next to the name. He clicked on it. “Eight hundred friends?” He scrolled through the friends, hoping he wouldn’t find her. “Julia,” he whispered as he brought up her profile. His chest threatened to explode. “Blue, how fast can this truck go?”

Dax pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Julia. It clicked straight to voicemail. He feverishly dialed Abi.

It picked up. “Hey, Dax. You back?”

“Yeah.” He tried to sound relaxed, but his voice shook. “Are you with Julia? She’s not answering her phone.”

“She may not have reception. She left about an hour ago.”

Dax’s respirations grew rapid and shallow. “Do you know where she went?”

“I’ll drop you a pin. We had a sick snowstorm the other day and I think she’s back country skiing in our normal place.”

“Thanks. If she calls, could you please have her call me right away?”

“Sure thing. Glad you’re back.”

There was no reason to frighten Abi, not yet.

“I’m an idiot.” Dax pressed his forehead into the cold window as he pulled at his ear. “I shouldn’t have left her.”

Blue leaned forward in his seat, concentrating on the curves in the road. “Stone has spent the good part of the week with Julia and Abi after you gave him that heads up about the guy in the woods behind their house, but they haven’t seen anything since.” He glanced over at Dax. “If a call doesn’t make it through, sometimes a text will.”

“You’re right.” Dax shook his head. “I’m not thinking straight.”

He sent Julia a quick text message. I’m back. Need to talk to you ASAP. Please text or call.

Familiar sirens blared behind them. Blue whacked his steering wheel in frustration as he slowed and pulled to the side of the road. By how the officer strutted up to the truck, it wasn’t a friendly pull-over.

Dax had the window rolled down with Blue’s license and registration in hand before the officer reached the passenger door.

“Where’s the fire?” The officer took the cards and raised an eyebrow at Blue. “You were going twenty miles over the speed limit. I don’t normally pull over fellow first responders, but your driving was bordering on reckless.”

“I understand officer,” Blue responded. “We haven’t been able to reach a good friend of ours who’s being stalked by someone we feel is dangerous.”

The officer’s brows knit together as he sighed out. “Has she filed a police report or a restraining order?”

“No,” Dax answered. “But she knows the system. Her name is Julia Newel. She’s a public defender.”

“Julia!” The officer’s face flushed. “I had no idea she had a stalker.” He gave them a nod. “Where are you headed? I’ll make you a path.”

Dax handed him his phone. “Put your number in and I’ll drop you the pin.”

The officer rapped at the bottom of Dax’s window with a nervous pulse after he handed Dax back his phone. “When this is all over, will you put a good word in for me with Julia? She doesn’t date cops.”

“She doesn’t date firemen either,” Dax said, dropping the pin. “But that won’t stop me from asking her to marry me.” Dax took the ring out of his pocket and waved it between them. “If she says no, then I’ll set the two of you up myself.”

The officer shook his head. “You’re a brave man.” He let out a low whistle as he ran back to his car. Within a few seconds, the officer had pulled out and raced in front of them with his lights flashing.

Blue kicked his truck into gear and they sped up Parley’s Canyon to Julia in silence, their speech limited by the intensity of the moment. They pulled off the road a few miles from the summit at a designated overlook that doubled as a local sledding hill. The hill sloped down, met a ravine, then rose sharply up the side of the mountain, the perfect skiing terrain.

A few other cars dotted the parking lot, most likely belonging to the twenty or so sledders on the hill. Dax jumped from the truck the moment Blue hit his breaks. He scanned the mountainside for any sign of Julia.

A dot of red traversed down the steep slope, leaving perfect figure eight ski tracks. Dax tensed, praying it was her. A lone skier, it had to be her. He lifted his phone to utilize the zoom feature of his camera and began filming to verify her identity.

A loud whumph sound, followed by slow rumblings similar to a thunderstorm, sent a shot of adrenaline through Dax’s veins. He knew that sound. The hillside behind Julia suddenly collapsed. She’d triggered an avalanche. Her speed increased as she veered to the left.

“Blue, grab your shovels and PIEPS beacon!” Dax yelled as he trudged his way down the sledding hill. He kept his camera focused on Julia. Hopefully the film footage would capture her slide and, worst case scenario, burial. An accurate last known location was vital to an effective rescue.

Julia hit a jump and flew into the air, executing a flawless 360, then landed into the avalanche which continued to cascade down the hill for a few seconds, burying her under an unknown depth of snow. Dax ran over to where a ski pole stuck out of the snow, praying she was within reach. He struggled to her as his strides became heavy and labored, his jeans absorbing the wet snow that froze to his skin like ice blocks. Cotton kills ran through his mind.

“Julia, can you hear me? I’ll have you out of there in a minute.”

Blue came to Dax’s side with his two shovels and they began their furious dig. They had to be quick. Her chest wouldn’t have space to expand, and if by some miracle it did, she’d asphyxiate on her own CO2 in a matter of minutes. Dax dug in harder. The stats running through his head tormented him.

At last they reached a white helmet.

“Julia!”

“Ethan,” a young male voice responded. “Thanks for digging me out.”

Dax’s heart sank, but—in a way—he was relieved; Julia hadn’t been buried in an avalanche.

“Ethan, how’re you feeling?”

“Amazing!” He was breathing in short, shallow breaths. The packed snow still held his chest like concrete. “Did you see that sick jump?”

“See it?” Dax laughed out. “I filmed it.” He continued to uncover the boy who held firm to the pole sticking out of the snow. “Are you in any pain?”

“I think I jacked up my elbow. And it hurts when I breathe in.”

He could have sustained a collapsed lung. “Ethan, how tall are you?”

“Almost six feet.”

It didn’t take much trauma for someone with Ethan’s tall, thin build to sustain pneumothorax.

The police officer made his way to their side. “A medical helicopter is on its way to transport him to Primary’s.” He stared down at the young man. “Hey Ethan, I thought we talked about you not back country skiing anymore. How are you going to make it into the Olympics if you’re dead?”

Dax raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t the first time you’ve outrun an avalanche?”

Ethan shrugged. “My mom’s gonna freak.”

“Tori Terrence,” the officer sighed out with a shake of his head. “She’s another one I let get away. Hey, I thought Julia would be here.”

Dax pulled his phone from his pocket to send her another text. “Where is she?”