Alaska Twilight by Colleen Coble

along.” Augusta looked blank at the word. “Greenhorns,” he said. “We have some pretty challenging terrain to travel.” But not nearly as challenging as working with this group. Tank realized he was taking a perverse pleasure in waiting for their reaction. It was hardly Christian, and he should be ashamed. The guy riled him, big-time. “We’ll camp out a day or two at a time, then come back to our cabins for a day or two and go back.”
    Augusta grimaced and looked down at her mudcovered boots. “My feet already hurt.”
    “We saw a couple of bears earlier,” Kipp said.
    Tank saw the suspicion in Kipp’s narrowed gaze. “You can find bears just about anywhere in Alaska. But if you want large numbers, we need to go deeper into the bush. I’ll be over at six.”

Four
    J anine Walker’s office was a no-frills cubicle lined with books that made it smell like a library. The window behind the desk looked out on the Chugach Mountains. Tenacious had been used to describe the thirty-five-year-old female attorney, but Marley would have called Janine Walker tough . She was tough in high school, but college and experience had honed that quality to a barbed edge. Just what she needed. Her brother-in-law would be a formidable foe.
    Marley Gillespie eyed her lawyer. “So the papers have been served?”
    Janine nodded. “Your father took them out himself. Tank wasn’t happy. He wants to talk to you. Can you handle him?”
    “Of course.” Marley wished she could get her hands on Janine to do something with that freckled, blotchy skin. And that black suit did nothing for her. She should be wearing khaki or army green. Marley folded her hands in her lap and studied her nails. It was time for a manicure. She would have one before she went back to the wilds of Stalwart. And a facial too. She’d need all her strength to withstand Tank Lassiter. “What’s our next step?”
    “The judge has ordered a home study. We can hope it will show Tank is gone too much to be a good father.”
    “How long before I can get Brooke and get out of there?”
    Janine frowned. “I’ve told you this is a long shot, Marley. Most judges are reluctant to strip custody from a biological father.”
    Marley’s temperature spiked, and she jerked her head up to stare at her attorney. “He killed my sister,” she said fiercely. “I won’t let him destroy Brooke’s life too. Leigh wants me to do this.”
    Janine’s long face softened. “Leigh is dead, Marley. You have to accept it.”
    This woman understands nothing about love and commitment, Marley thought. Janine was an only child. What did she know of sharing soft giggles in the night with a twin sister, of pacts to support one another forever? Leigh still came in the night, her soft voice begging Marley to save Brooke from Tank. And Marley intended to do just that—even if she had to break the law.
    She rose and drew out her car keys. “Just take care of it, Janine. There’ll be a bonus if you can get it done quickly.”
    “I may not be able to get it done at all,” Janine said quietly.
    Marley didn’t answer. She stalked to the door and let herself out into a day overcast with dark clouds that matched her mood. If the law failed her, she’d take it into her own hands.

    Haley followed the path beyond the charred cabin to the present dig. Out in the open field, she felt safer. In fact, some of her most pleasant memories were of digging in the dirt with her parents. She stopped and snapped a few pictures of the meadow where she and Chloe used to build snow forts. She found the fishing spot she and Chloe loved and took photos of that as well. The memorial scrapbook she planned was shaping up nicely. And so far, there had been no nightmares. Maybe her shrink was right.
    A small cabin stood at the edge of the site. It hadn’t been there when she was here last. A man shoveled dirt into a handmade sieve of wired screen in a wood frame, her father’s favorite tool for finding small