AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her throat tightened at the thought.
“She was determined to explore the park, and she was experienced. She felt confident she would be okay. That she’d use one of the local guides stationed up in Coldfoot to catch a ride down here when she was finished.”
“Celeste was supposed to meet me here at the trading post on May twenty-first.” His voice sounded throaty with emotion. “I was going to pick her up. But when I got here, she was a no-show. I waited twenty-four hours, thinking that maybe I’d gotten my dates mixed up, even though I knew I hadn’t. But Celeste never came.”
Andi resisted the urge to reach across the table and squeeze his hand. Duke didn’t seem like the touchy-feely type of guy who’d welcome sympathy. But his story sounded horrific—and the grief in his voice only drove home those points.
“I can’t imagine,” she murmured.
“It was like she disappeared off the face of the earth,” Duke continued, a far-off look in his gaze. “I quit my job. I spent three months in the Gates of the Arctic looking for her, hiking the trails she hiked. I couldn’t find her. Then I discovered that six other women had disappeared from this area over the past five years.”
Andi’s heart pounded harder. “Wait . . . Celeste is one of the Missing Women of Dalton Highway, isn’t she? I saw the note about Craig’s next series on his desk.”
Duke nodded somberly. “Nothing about any of their disappearances has ever been discovered. No sightings of them. No remains. No . . . anything.”
“So these women could still be alive . . .” The words escaped before Andi could stop them.
“They could be. I just don’t know. But I started this tour company knowing it would put me up in the same area where Celeste disappeared. I just keep hoping for a sighting. A witness. Forsomething.”
In other words, he’d dedicated his whole life to finding his fiancée.
It was the stuff books were written about. The picture of true love.
Andi’s heart filled with a moment of longing.
Celeste was one very lucky woman . . . if she was alive and okay.
The irony of the thought hit Andi, and she frowned.
“I’m sorry to hear about Celeste—and the other women.” Andi licked her lips as she tried to shift her thoughts. “But if a possible psycho is haunting this highway, why haven’t I heard about it? A crime like that seems as if it should be all over the news—especially local headlines.”
Duke shrugged stiffly, his gaze suddenly appearing glazed and hard. “Because much of law enforcement is in denial. Agencies aren’t talking to each other. They have other priorities.”
“That feels wrong on so many levels.”
“Most of the crimes here in Alaska don’t get reported. It’s just the nature of living in a state with such a large land mass yet so few resources offered by the government.”
Andi tried not to show her disgust at his words.
Every victim was important and deserved a thorough investigation—even those without money and social stature.
“I hope you find her.” Andi shifted, trying to subdue the fire that had been lit inside her. These kinds of cases . . . they stirred a passion inside her—the need for answers and justice. They were the reason she got out of bed in the morning. “But why in the world would her bracelet be at Craig’s?”
Duke’s gaze met hers. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
Just as he said those words, the lights above them flickered.
Then the room went dark.
Andi stiffened as fear tried to crash over her.
chapterthirty
Duke rose,the only light in the room that from the dying fire.
Had someone cut the power to this place? Or had the weather caused this outage?
Either way, this building was going to get cold quickly—even with the fire. They’d need to get the backup generator working ASAP.
