She thought about the house her grandmother had left her. Sure, it was tiny. But the mortgage was paid and her grandmother’s meager savings had covered most of her end-of-life hospice care. The hospice’s charity fund, which Tala was helping raise funds for, had covered the rest.

  “I didn’t have any idea your family was struggling financially,” she admitted. They’d always seemed so wealthy.

  Ian blew out a long breath.

  “I only really found out when I started thinking about college,” he said. “And that’s when my dad pulled me aside and told me it would be good if I could get a scholarship. My grades weren’t the best, so I threw myself into hockey, hoping I’d get a sports one, but it didn’t happen in the end.”

  Huh. She felt something soften inside her chest. While that didn’t change how his teammates had treated her, it did help her understand why he’d reacted so badly when she’d told him she thought he should quit the team. Poppy’s words from the night before about how she and Lex had changed filled Tala’s mind again.

  She was being bullied, Ian had been worried about his family’s finances, and they’d both been just kids dealing with some pretty adult problems.

  “Also, I don’t really know how to tell you this,” Ian added, “so I’m just going to come out and say it. My parents think that we’re more than friends...or at least that we’re heading that way.”

  He stopped the car. The way his eyes darted every direction but at her made it pretty clear that “more than friends” didn’t mean colleagues. Her heart skipped a nervous beat.

  “You told your parents that we’re dating?” she heard her voice rise.

  “No! Of course not. But they jumped to that conclusion, and in all honesty, I didn’t try too hard to convince them otherwise,” he said. “You’ve got to understand that they run this event as a charity every year. This year the money’s going to support the blood drive our old high school hockey team now does every year. The party is catered, they were expecting a certain number of guests who’d already confirmed, and I only sprung it on them today that I was bringing a date when I’d promised my mom just yesterday that I was coming solo.”

  “And Lorenza wants it to look like I’m stepping back from the Golden Bandit investigation,” Tala said, trying to steer the conversation somewhere safer. “So it won’t hurt to let people think I’m here as your friend and not because we’re working together.”

  She stretched the word friend out a little longer than she’d meant to. Probably no one would even notice or care why she was there.

  But that assumption faltered the moment they reached the front door and were greeted by Ian’s parents, who immediately swept her up into a warm hug and told her how happy they were to see her. Then they moved into the front room with a large spruce tree decked out in the very same dried cranberry popcorn strings she remembered making with Ian when they were kids.

  “I’m really glad my parents still went through with hosting this party,” Ian whispered in her ear, “and that Dad’s still doing charity work. There was a time I thought he was so stressed about everything he was just going to disappear into himself.”

  “Well, it’s good he has you in his life,” Tala said softly. “Nobody ever got me out of my own head like you did.”

  He smiled. “Ditto.”

  They moved deeper into the party. People mingled throughout the main floor and clustered around the living and dining rooms, balancing plates of party food. Most were around the same age as Ian’s parents and there were many whom she recognized from work, school and the community. And while they were definitely quick to congratulate Ian on his new job with the K-9 unit and fawn over how adorable Aurora looked in antlers, definitely the warmest greetings, knowing smiles and welcomes were directed toward Tala.

  “Why does it feel like everyone is way too happy about the fact that you and I are here together tonight?” she asked Ian under her breath as they browsed the dessert table.

  Ian chuckled softly. “People are just being friendly.”

  Yeah right. There was warm Alaskan hospitality and then there was apparently outshining an incredibly cute dog in antlers.

  “Or curious,” she said. “Are people like this with every date you bring to the Christmas party?”

  “I wouldn’t know,” he murmured back. He palmed a piece of sausage and passed it to Aurora under the table. “I haven’t brought a date to anything like this in at least seven or eight years.”

  Well, that would explain why everyone was smiling at him like he’d just walked in with a unicorn.

  “Really?” she asked. “But you’re the guy who used to have a new girlfriend every few weeks.”

  “Yeah,” he said, wincing, “and how did that work out for me?”

  “Oh, wow, is that you Tala Ekho?” A deep, male and vaguely familiar voice rose above the din. “I barely recognized you!”

  SEVEN

  She turned to see Charlie Heidorn, their former history teacher and Ian’s high school hockey coach, striding toward them. While she guessed he must be in his late fifties now, only the smallest touch of gray brushed his blond hair, and he still had the build of a man who hit the gym twice a day. He was flanked by two of the guys she’d worked hard to avoid in high school, Chip Costales and Barret Lasker, who’d both lost a lot of their athletic build but none of their swagger.

  “You still friends with your former teammates?” she whispered, horrified.

  So much for thinking Ian had changed.

  “No, not really,” he said. “But Charlie’s a friend of my dad. He still coaches the team and my parents support the team’s charity work. I guess he brought a couple of the guys from the old team.”

  Then he turned to face the other three men and there were complicated fist bump–style handshakes all around. “Thanks for coming and Merry Christmas.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Charlie said. His gaze turned to Tala, with a smile that brought to mind the term charm offensive. “Did I hear that you’re a big shot scientist now? I always knew you were destined for greatness.”

  She felt Aurora’s wet nose nudge against her fingers. She scratched the dog’s chin.

  “Forensic scientist, actually,” she said stiffly.

  Charlie’s eyes widened and his head shook as if the thought was too wonderful to believe. “That explains it! Some of the kids on the team said you’d solved the Golden Bandit case.”

  Did they, now? Good to know teenage gossip was as accurate as always.

  “Not at all,” she told him. “I’m actually taking a bit of a break from the case.”

  Which was true, if she counted the fact that she’d spent most of the day asleep.

  “Well, I called your lab today and spoke to your colleague Bob,” Charlie said. “I wanted to bring some evidence by which might be relevant to the case.”

  Tala watched as Ian’s eyebrows rose, and felt hers do the same.

  “What kind of evidence?” Ian asked.

  “I don’t know if you remember my daughter, Millie,” the coach said. “She was a couple of years behind you in school. Millie runs a mining-themed tourism business. Took it over from her husband last year when he tragically drowned in a boating accident. People come from all over the world to explore abandoned mines and try their hand panning for gold. There are always a few tourists each year who hit a sizable nugget. She even sells some of the smaller gold nuggets she’s found on her website.” He glanced around the room. “I’ll make an appointment to drop by and fill investigators in more. Let’s just say I have reason to believe her late husband might’ve been involved in something dodgy.”

  Tala remembered the boating accident vaguely. Millie had called her husband in missing after he’d gone boating alone. His sailboat had eventually been found capsized, but his body had never been found. But the coast guard had also waited over a week before calling in the K-9 unit to help with the search due to some suspicion her husband had just left her. Accidents like that were all too common in Alaska and one of the reasons Lorenza had increased the number of cadaver dogs on the team.

  “You know if you want to see Millie’s place I could take you up there sometime for a hike,” Barret said. He leaned past the coach with a smile that practically oozed swagger. “Maybe take a picnic?”

  She almost choked. Was one of the same guys who’d been irritated she wouldn’t let him cheat off her in high school actually flirting with her now? She wondered if Ian noticed the weight of Barret’s gaze lingering on her. Instinctively, she stepped closer into the handsome trooper’s side. Ian’s arm slid around her shoulder and Barret’s eyes clocked it move.

  “Oh, I’m sorry!” Barret laughed, a bit too loudly, like he’d just heard a joke no one else could hear. “I didn’t realize you two were an item now. Wow, Ian, you sure have come a long way from that time back in high school when Tala tried to kiss you, you freaked out, called her a loser and ran away!”

  Sudden heat rose to Tala. She felt nauseated and dizzy, almost like she had food poisoning. That memory was back. From the shock in Ian’s eyes to how humiliated she’d felt as she’d run from the party and called her grandmother to pick her up.

  The tiniest rumble of a growl built in Aurora’s throat. Ian’s hand slid down to the small of Tala’s back and he pulled her closer to his side.

  “Well, that’s ridiculous,” Ian said. “There is absolutely no way I ever called Tala a loser. And any man in his right mind would give anything to have this incredible woman at his side.”

  Then, before his former teammates could wisecrack any more, Ian gently steered her toward the large glass double doors that led out to the side porch and closed the door behind them. Snow spread out in front of them in an endless blanket of white, dazzling like diamonds. The sun dipped below the horizon, leaving a wash of pink and gold in its wake. She gasped a breath of freezing air, thankful for the cold on her face, and her nausea faded.

  “Here, take my coat,” Ian said. He pulled it off and draped it over her shoulders.

  “No.” She raised her hands to push him away. “Thank you, but—”

  “Please, I insist,” he said. “I know where the heat vent is by the wall and I’m really used to running around in the snow in my shirtsleeves.”

  She nodded. “Okay, thanks.”

  “Also, don’t look now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if people were watching us out the window.” He draped it over her shoulders and then adjusted it. His hands lingered on the lapels. “You’re shaking. You shouldn’t let jerks like Barret get to you.”

  She stepped back just enough that the lapels tugged out of his hands.

  “You have no idea what it was like for me back then,” she said. “To be bullied by them.”

  “You’re right,” he said soberly. “I don’t.”

  “It’s like they went out of their way every day to make sure I was miserable and afraid,” she said. “It wasn’t just the times they bodychecked or tripped me in the hallway, or flicked gross things at me, or stuck horrible notes in my locker that hurt me. It was living every day on edge, never feeling safe and never knowing when they’d strike next. And, to make matters worse, even when I finally mustered the nerve to report them, I wasn’t listened to.”

  “That’s partially on me and I’m sorry,” Ian said. “I should’ve stood up for you. Just because I never saw them pull that stuff in front of me doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have believed you. I was wrong and I’m sorry.”

  Emotion pooled in the depths of his eyes.

  “Why did you tell Barret that you didn’t remember the fact that we almost kissed?” she asked. “It happened right here on this porch.”

  What? That wasn’t the way the conversation had gone at all!

  He stepped back, just slightly.

  “You kidding me?” he asked. “I never said that—”

  “You said it was ridiculous—”

  “Because the way he was talking about it was!” He felt his voice rise. Surely that’s not how she’d remembered what had happened between them back then, too? “Yes, I remember that you got up the courage to admit you liked me, we almost kissed and then I ran away like a coward. But we both leaned in for that kiss, Tala. I never rejected you or pushed you away.”

  “You did!” Her voice rose and his eyes widened. He glanced toward the sliding glass doors and then he moved even closer than he’d been before. “You might not have called me a loser or physically pushed me, but you looked horrified.”

  His face paled. He rocked back on his heels.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “Really, if that’s how it felt, I apologize. But that’s not how I remember it. I wasn’t horrified, I was terrified. You were my best friend. You were the most important person in the world to me and I was terrified that if I kissed you, I’d start second-guessing myself like I always did and hurt you. I didn’t think I could survive without you.”

  His warm breath mingled with cold air on her cheeks.

  “Well, you chose your teammates over me,” she huffed, “and seemed to have survived just fine without me.”

  His hand reached up and brushed the side of her face. And something about the simple touch sent an odd warmth coursing through her like dozens of tiny party sparkles.

  “But I didn’t mean to,” he said huskily, “and I didn’t want to survive without you. Losing you was definitely not the plan. I stupidly thought that I’d just run out the clock until I got that sports scholarship, then we’d leave high school and we’d go back to being friends like normal. I was wrong.” He released a ragged breath. “I’ve thought a million times that if I could go back and be seventeen again, I’d wrap you up in my arms and kiss you. Because, sure I might’ve lost you just the same. Or maybe we’d have even fallen in love and gotten married. I don’t know! But what I do know is that after all these years without you, that’s a risk I wish I’d been brave enough to take.”

  Oh, Ian. He had no idea how much she’d wanted that, too. Her lips parted slightly but she couldn’t think of anything to say. His hands slid around her waist and he pulled her close to him. She told herself that he was just doing it for show, that someone had to be watching and he didn’t want to blow their cover.

  But what if she was wrong?

  “Do you want me to go ask the guys to leave?” he asked.

  “No,” she said. “It’s okay. But thank you.”

  “Would it be okay if I kissed you now?” Ian asked.

  She glanced to the window. The curtains had been drawn from the inside. No one was watching them. They were alone.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  He kissed her, tentatively and tenderly, like he was afraid she was a dream and he didn’t want to wake up. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around him, and he pulled her up onto her tiptoes. The warmth of him surrounded her and filled her core with an unfamiliar happiness that somehow felt like coming home to a place she belonged after being away for far too long.

  The lights went out, plunging the world in darkness. Aurora growled loudly and they abruptly pulled apart. The K-9 was turned toward the window. Her ears were perked. Her hackles rose.

  “What is it, girl?” Ian asked.

  Then Tala heard voices screaming.

  * * *

  Ian unholstered his weapon. Aurora growled again and stood at attention, facing the glass door. He pulled the antlers from her head. Shouts of fear and trepidation grew from within his house. He slid the door open a crack, thankful that whoever had drawn the curtains had given him something to hide behind. For a moment there was pitch-black air and the sound of people panicking. Then a blindingly bright tactical light began to flash, showing staccato scenes of terrified party guests cowering on the floor.

  “I’m the Golden Bandit, and this is a robbery!” The man’s voice was as loud and rough as it was fake, as if he was intentionally trying to sound gruff. “Just do what I say, and nobody gets hurt. You’re going to take off your rings, necklaces and bracelets, and put it in this bag.”

  Ian stepped back and let the curtain fall.

  “Is that him?” he whispered to Tala.

  “Sounds exactly like him,” she said. That was good enough for Ian. “But the crime doesn’t match anything we know about the Golden Bandit. He’s never hit a party before. It’s an escalation and a change in pattern. It doesn’t make any sense that he’d do something like this.”

  No, it didn’t, and that worried him.

  Lord, please give me wisdom. My heart wants to burst in there and take him down. But if I just run in there and fire, I could be putting everyone inside in danger. He glanced through the curtain again, and this time forced himself to block out the fear and terror and resist the temptation to look for the faces of families and friends. Instead, he focused on the criminal, the crime and the facts. The first thing he noticed was there were no obvious signs of blood or injury. Thank God. Then he saw jewelry covering the floor as people practically threw it toward the criminal, and that the Golden Bandit was carrying a handgun.

  “I want you to stay hidden and call for backup,” Ian commanded. “I mean it. Promise me you won’t put yourself in danger.”

  “I promise,” she said softly. She brushed a furtive kiss over his cheek. “You and Aurora stay safe.”

 

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