Mr. Mountain

“A celebrity? What?” I walked towards him as he pointed at the television.

“It has been on the news all day. The girl that got lost in the snowstorm.” He looked over at Shane. “And the man who saved her from it. It’ll probably be good for business.”

“Fuck me…” Shane muttered angrily.

I stared at the television screen as a picture of me was shown. There was an aerial view of Wolf Creek covered in snow, and a circle around the spot where my car was. My friends were interviewed from their cabin, the destination I never arrived at, talking about how I was supposed to be joining them.

After they got their words in about how worried they were, the news anchor cut to my parents. My mother was crying and my father was as stoic as ever. They talked about being afraid something had happened to me—afraid I was dead. My mother started to gush her thanks to the mysterious Shane Black who saved me.

I bet neither of you would be thanking him if you knew what we did.

The reporter then started talking about Shane, showing an image of him that I didn’t recognize. He didn’t have a beard and he looked ten years younger. Several locals were interviewed and they talked about how nice he was and how he treated everyone with respect, even if he was a bit of a loner.

I wanted to be in Shane’s arms. I wanted to run away from it all. When I looked at him, I saw a different man staring back at me. He had a gaze on the screen that was filled with terror—it was almost like he had seen a ghost.

“I should go.” He gritted his teeth and looked at the door.

“Go?” I shook my head. “Not yet…”

“Heather.” He sighed. “Things are about to change. I want you to get in your car and I want you to drive. Don’t listen to the news. Don’t watch television. Just drive.”

I reached out for him, but he was already leaving me. He moved through the sea of reporters and got into his truck, driving away without even saying goodbye. I looked towards the man at the counter who just shrugged.

What the heck was that about? What was he afraid of?

“Can you take a credit card?” I dug into my purse and pulled out my wallet.

“Yes ma’am. Nobody seems to have cash anymore.” He chuckled.

“Thank you so much.” I slid my card across the counter to him.

“You got lucky. Your car didn’t get messed up too bad. I had to replace the radiator, but I had one in stock, so that was an easy fix. I filled it up with gas as well. You’ll need a window at some point, but the plastic will do for now.” He picked up my credit card and swiped it.

His words bounced around in my head, but they didn’t stick. I couldn’t focus on anything but Shane. Once my bill was paid, I battled my way through the reporters and got into my car, leaving them all behind as I started driving through the slush. I had no idea what Shane meant or why he had abandoned me like that, but I knew it had to be serious. Even though he warned me against it, I couldn’t help but turn on the radio.

I have to know. I can’t ignore it.

I fumbled with the stations until I found one broadcasting our story. It started off simple enough, a tale of a girl lost in the storm, and the man who saved her.

Then I got the shock of my life.

“Breaking news… We’ve learned that the hero of our last story, Shane Black, is a wanted man. Despite being young Heather Westbrook’s savior, he’s been taken into custody in Wolf Creek awaiting extradition. Six years ago, he was arrested for assault, attacking his ex-wife’s new boyfriend. Before he could face criminal charges, he fled. Authorities have been looking for him ever since. Wolf Creek Sheriff, James Anderson, apprehended him at his cabin without incident …”

I turned off the radio and burst into tears.

NO! Fuck. This is all my fault.

Chapter 10: Shane

Fucking shit.

I swore I would never wear handcuffs again. As much as I wanted to run and as much as I wanted to fight for my freedom, I just couldn’t do it. There was a time when I would have loaded up every single one of my guns and fought to the death to avoid going back to jail, but I no longer craved death over incarceration.

Time to face the fucking music.

Incarceration would be temporary, but there was life on the other side, even if it wasn’t the one I truly wanted. I never dreamed when I went to save Heather that it would turn into a national news story. Even with that realization staring at me behind the iron bars of my cell, there wasn’t a damn thing I would have changed. I would have spent the rest of my life behind bars to keep her from dying in that storm.

I had one final pitch to throw at her before she drove way—one proposal that I hoped would change everything. All hope of making her mine for eternity faded when I saw that news story. I doubted she would even speak to me again when she saw the news story. Even if she made it home without turning on the radio,