Assisting with the capture of a military doctor who kept a dead woman in his house is a thorn in Colonel Amelia Matheson’s side compared to the devastating news of her daughter Hope’s disappearance.

     On the hunt for the perpetrators who kidnapped her deaf daughter from the groomed trails during a solo biathlon training session, Amelia enlists the help of Morgan Anchor, a local sheriff who once sold her out. To find Hope, Amelia and Morgan must untangle a web of secrets, including their own, and trust each other again.

     Held captive in a remote cabin in the mountains, Hope fights the storm of her life using her wits and her skills. Scared but unafraid, she sets out to escape and save the man that her mother sent to rescue her – a man who is not who he appears to be.

Excerpt:

The early morning briefing with his deputies went as smoothly as Morgan had expected. Bringing Amelia onboard the investigation didn’t elicit any objections, and neither Eve nor Gil flinched when Morgan explained the possible connection between the two cases.

He was proud of his team. “Gil, you check Serpent’s address. Take the colonel with you. I’m going back to Snowy Tip.”

From the corner of the room where she had retreated upon entering, Amelia nodded.

During breakfast, Morgan had reasoned with her that it might be safer for his pregnant deputy to stay behind a desk than to pay a visit to a potential kidnapper, and Amelia had conceded that she might be more objective in looking into the senator’s side of the case.

From behind her desk, Eve leapt to her feet. “What about me?”

Pleased with his deputy’s reaction, Morgan ushered her into the interrogation room and closed the door behind them.

Palms over her belly, Eve glared. “It better be your way of keeping the colonel away from Snowy Tip, because if you sent her with Gil as an excuse to keep me here digging into phone records, searching for O’Connor’s indiscretions, or waiting for that elusive list of employees and volunteers, I may just quit.”

Battling two stubborn women was worse than dismantling a terrorist cell. And twice as dangerous. “You can’t quit, Eve. You’ll lose your maternity benefits. Besides, I need you to access the Canadian military database while the colonel is gone.”

The glow in her eyes subsided. “You want me to do what? Do you know how risky that is? Or illegal? Or insane? Why don’t you just ask her? You seem to be on friendly terms.”

“It’s complicated.” Last night had blurred the distinction between colleagues and lovers. More than one, not quite the other.

While he made breakfast, Morgan had cut the tip of his finger while fantasizing about the naked woman in the shower. At the sight of the blood coating the blade of the knife, he inwardly chided himself for being a lunatic, only to recall her forceful indignation. Only a lunatic would think Connor Graham is your senator, Graeme O’Connor. Those had been Amelia’s exact words. “On one occasion last night, the colonel used present tense when talking about her daughter’s father.”

Eve’s dubious look resembled Amelia’s. “On one occasion? You do realize it may have been a simple slip of the tongue.”

“Amelia doesn’t slip, Eve. I want you to find out everything you can about Hope, when and where she was born, and her father.” Strangely, Morgan hadn’t come across Hope’s birth date anywhere. “If Capt. Connor Graham died during a training exercise, it should have made the news somewhere.”

“You’re thinking he might still be alive?” Eve served him an extra-long and extra-suspicious look. “And that the colonel lied to you?”

“Right now, I’m not sure what to think.” He patted Eve’s shoulder. “I’m counting on you and Nathan. I’ll be in the mountains reminding Wayne River that you need that elusive list.”

While Morgan didn’t think that Hope was lost in the wilderness, he couldn’t rule out that she might still be held somewhere in that mountain range.

As he grabbed his winter coat, his cell phone rang. “Sheriff Anchor speaking.”

“Good morning, Sheriff. This is Verna.” The secretary’s voice sounded friendlier on the phone than in person. “The senator would like to see you in one hour. It’s important. Please don’t be late.”

An hour at the speed limit wasn’t enough time to drive to O’Connor’s office. The politician’s definition of important had better match Morgan’s.

Editorial Review:

Teenage biathlete Hope Matheson, known as Quest, does not return from her solo training run. Her mother, Colonel Amelia Matheson, joins forces with Sheriff Morgan Anchor in a frantic search for her. As clues emerge, more questions arise, particularly about how a dangerous kidnapper and an unsavoury senator are linked to Hope.

Throw into that mix a pregnant deputy, a coach with his own agenda, old wounds and new revelations. This fast-paced story unfolds against the backdrop of magnificent mountains, blizzard-blown snow, and killing cold. The characters are engaging, the descriptions vivid, and the narrative cannot fail to catch the reader’s attention from start to finish. Victoria Chatham