Unsafe Haven Read Free Page A

forklift to move me around.”
    “Gad. By then, you’re damned well going to be home, on bed rest.”
    “But you know my mom—”
    Denn cut off her protest. “Yeah, I’ve heard all the stories of how your mother dropped quadruplets and went right back out on the ice with your dad. Caught the day’s record dolly varden and then went home to cook them.” He had to snicker at her shout of laughter. “You’re not as tough as you think you are, Cream Puff.” His silly nickname for her caught Jo’s cheeks in a blush.
    She rubbed at them, making the pink glow bright red. “Don’t change the subject, and quit calling me Cream Puff, you goon. Besides, it was twins, not quads.” Jo chugged more soda, emitted an unapologetic burp, and wiped her mouth. “Tell me about our new resident.”
    “I know nothing. Only that she’s staying at Four Hills.” Denn jingled the keys in his hand.
    “Is she pretty? Young?” Jo’s expression went sly.
    “How the hell would I know? Or care?” He tossed the rebuttal over his shoulder then stomped to the door, leaving her chuckling behind him as he stepped out onto the slatted sidewalk in front of the compact police station.
    Woodsmoke permeated the air, a familiar scent this time of year. Most folks around here would use their stoves for at least another month. And yet, the hardiest of wildflowers struggled to pop up, even though in many places the ground was still frozen. A few of the tough little plants already poked their heads through the strip of grass in front of the station Jo religiously watered and fertilized.
    Denn adjusted the collar of his jacket and tucked his hair under his shirt to better protect his neck against the sudden late-April wind that whipped up around him. Tinged with the feel of snow, temperatures would drop again tonight. He’d have to chop wood when he got home from dealing with Luna, and she could damned well help him. The kid had become lazy along with her contrariness.
    Darker thoughts, better left alone, assailed him as he drove to Four Hills Primary School. The day he flew back to Staamat and took over guardianship of his kid sister he’d—stupidly—assumed he could handle one young girl. Of course, she’d only been eight, and at first the grief of their mother’s death made them cling to each other. Luna, frightened and worried Denn would leave her as well, was all too anxious to do whatever he asked of her. That first year had been one of trial and error as well as forming important bonds.
    Luna had barely been in grade school when he’d moved to Anchorage. Full of dreams and ideas, determined to make his mark on the world, Denn left high school behind and had enrolled at UAA. He’d majored in criminal law, thinking he’d open a practice in Anchorage, or maybe even Seattle. A move back to Staamat, except for short visits, was never in his plans.
    But the phone call he’d received from Eloise Kag had changed everything. In her soft, singsong voice, she tearfully informed him of his mother’s passing. It had been sudden, a massive heart attack that took her instantly. A counselor who worked both Staamat Elementary and Four Hills Primary, Eloise had been the one to bring his hysterical sister home and watch her until Denn could get there. In fact, Thom Banks flew him over, coming in from Eagle River to pick him up.
    Denn was less than a year from graduating from UAA when he acquired a little girl, a house full of bittersweet memories, and serious worries as to how in hell he’d make enough money to support them all. But in the three and a half years he’d been gone, he’d forgotten the close-knit caring of Staamat, and how they took care of their own. The entire town gave to them. Money for groceries, gas for the truck, even the truck he’d put the damned gas into.
    Most importantly, a mere two months after his mother’s funeral, a job: working for Stan Hughey, then the Chief of Police for Staamat’s tiny but effective local force.