Melting the Ice by Loreth Anne White Read Free Book Online

This time he would have to stay close to keep her from harm.
    She was sticking her nose into the business of people who played for keeps. She had no idea what she was up against. She would need his help. She would need his protection. And he needed to make sure she didn’t blow his cover by going to the cops.
    He watched her turn and stride down the dimly lit street. He watched the sway of her hips.
    It was that same purposeful stride that had caught his attention in Marumba. The same sway that had sparked fire in his groin.
    Yes, she needed his protection, but who would protect him from her?
    He’d made a mistake falling for her once. He wasn’t doing much better the second time around. The woman was a drug. He’d already let himself slip.
    This must be his retribution.
    Then his pulse quickened.
    Rex saw a hooded figure step out from under the cover of the dark portico across the walkway. Whoever it was began following Hannah toward the festive heart of White River village.

Chapter 4
    T he early-morning air was crisp, the clear sky pale and colorless, yet to be kissed by the sun. Within the hour it would burst over the mountain in a crashing symphony of gold chasing the chill into valley shadows until evening.
    Hannah knew it would be a glorious August Saturday. It made the bizarre and sinister events of last night all the more incongruous. Was it really possible Amy had been murdered? What did Rex Logan have to do with it? What did he find in Amy’s apartment that they’d all missed? What was he really doing in White River?
    She couldn’t go and talk to Staff Sgt. Fred LeFevre. Not yet. He’d laugh her out of the office. She needed to learn more from Rex.
    But right now, this time was hers. She crouched down to tighten the laces of her runners. She would do hills today. She needed a good workout to clear the scuzz from her sleep-deprived brain and ease the kinks from her body.
    Hannah broke into a slow run, rhythmically sucking the cool air down into her lungs and blowing it out into crisp clouds of vapor. She followed the trail from her condo down around the lakeshore to the point where White River flowed under the Callaghan Road bridge.
    She jogged under the bridge, picking up one of the gravel trails that snaked through the park and up into the Moonstone foothills.
    Her breathing was hard, deep and rhythmic now. She felt strong, in control. She found her pace as the sun peeked over the ridge and spilled suddenly into the valley, its warmth immediately noticeable on her back.
    She had the trails to herself this morning. She could feel her body working, smooth, like an engine, warmth pulsing with each heartbeat through her limbs. The cold air was rough against the back of her throat. It felt good.
    She slowed slightly, her body switching gears as the trail climbed into the trees. Her feet were cushioned as gravel gave way to spongy pine needles and fallen leaves. As she entered the woods, the trees strangled the morning sunshine off into cool dank shadows.
    All Hannah could hear now was the sound of her own hard, steady breathing and White River, swollen and raging in the distance.
    A crash in the undergrowth stopped her dead.
    The noise was just ahead. Brush cracking.
    Her brain identified the sound as her body screamed to flee.
    But she held her ground. Hannah had been in these mountains long enough to learn not to run from a bear.
    She started, one foot behind the other, backing down the trail, very slowly, just as the large ursine beast crashed through the undergrowth ahead.
    It lumbered onto the trail. Hannah caught her breath. It was massive, well on its way of achieving its hibernation weight. She was used to seeing bears in White River but the primal awe at the sight of such a beast never left her.
    The bear caught wind of Hannah and surged up onto its hind legs, opening and closing its mouth and swaying its head.
    It was trying to get a better scent. Hannah kept backing away slowly.
    Stay calm, give it