The Stranger by Anna del Mar Page A

had the potential to blister me on contact. The promise he made, right there at the end, before we got on the snow machine repeated in my head. What was I supposed to think about that?
    It was as if he knew something I didn’t, as if ending up in his bed again was a foregone conclusion. The gall of the man, thinking I was going to ask him to sleep with me. I wasn’t that desperate...was I? I wasn’t reckless either. It made me crazy that he’d think I’d simply fall into his lap like some stupid broad without an ounce of self-respect. But it drove me even crazier that a part of me wanted to do just that, not fall but rather land on his lap with perfect accuracy to rediscover the pleasures he’d hinted at.
    This was not like me at all. I had to get out of Alaska now. I had to get away from him, before I fell into the same trap that had almost destroyed my life before.
    The snow machine slowed down from a roar to a purr. A cabin appeared at the turn, a weathered, rambling, A-frame log construction, bigger than I’d imagined but consistent with my reality show-shaped expectations, including a pair of enormous moose antlers hanging above the door.
    Seth yelled over the noise. “The Golov homestead.”
    He brought the snow machine to a stop, dismounted, and, taking off his helmet, climbed the stairs and pounded on the door. I took off my helmet and looked around. A collection of sheds, an old truck raised on blocks, and piles of rusting scrap surrounded the cabin, all covered in a fine layer of snow.
    “Nobody’s home.” Seth studied the tracks on the snow, which headed toward a narrow trail through the woods. “Maybe the Golovs are down by the lake. I’ll go check. Wait here.”
    With brisk, purposeful strides, he disappeared into the forest. I sat on the stairs, listening to the eerie silence around me, interrupted only by the cry of an eagle, flying high above. At least I thought it was an eagle.
    Cack. Cack. Cack . The noise got my attention. It came from the back, so I circled around the house. I spotted a rickety awning by the lake, but the clothesline caught my attention. My heartbeat tripped. A familiar blanket printed with colorful trucks rippled in the breeze. I marched up to the line and snatched the blanket off the line. The fabric was soft between my fingers. It was Tammy’s blankie all right. Tammy was here! She may be twenty-seven and she’d kill me if I told anyone, but she never went anywhere without her blankie.
    The crack of a shot rang in the air. A bullet whizzed by me and plinked against the nearest rust pile. I dove to the ground and elbowed myself behind the pile in time to see a rotund little woman wearing rubber boots and a bloody apron, wielding a gun almost as tall as she was wide.
    “You thief!” The wild woman fired again. “Drop it!”
    Seth came galloping out of the woods. “Anya, stop!”
    The woman’s weapon shifted in Seth’s direction.
    “She’s got a gun,” I yelled.
    The gun jerked back toward me and loosened another shot.
    “Wait, Anya!” Seth shouted, waving his hands in the air. “It’s me, Seth Erickson!”
    “Is that you, Seth?” The woman kept the gun on me but squinted in Seth’s direction, motioning for him to step closer. “Why, speak up! Why didn’t you say so?”
    “I did say so.” Seth approached the woman, arms up, palms bared in the air.
    “Yeah, it’s you all right,” she blared. “Your timing’s good. I’ve got a thief pinned over there—one I’m gonna shoot full of holes.”
    “You’re not shooting anybody.” Seth wrapped his fingers around the rifle and gently wrestled it off her hands.
    “What?” the woman yelled. “Do you want to do the shooting?”
    “That’s my friend over there,” Seth said.
    “Who?”
    “The thief,” Seth shouted.
    “Speak up.” The woman cupped her ear. “There’s no use in you chirping like a squirrel.”
    “Where’s your hearing aid?” Seth yelled at the top of his