Page 76 of York
And I couldn’t imagine it was my job, if she was comfortable with me being around Denali. Especially when she wasn’t around.
But I could see her not being sure of me as a partner. I didn’t exactly have any serious relationships to point to and say, “Hey, I can do commitment.” That hadn’t been my reality. But it hadn’t been hers either. Who was to say we couldn’t find that together?
There were too many variables at the moment.
I needed to solve the danger problem so she could focus on the future. On us. On becoming a possible family unit.
And to do that, I needed Arty to lock in.
“Arty,” I snapped.
He glanced over, his gaze still far away for a second. “What?”
“The shrink.”
“I didn’t get to her yet.”
“What do you mean you didn’t get to her yet?”
“I was still working on Runa.”
“Why? Did you find something?”
“Not about any criminal organizations or anything. But I found several ads taken out in newspapers. And posts on social media.”
“Runa swears she’s not on social media, that there is no digital footprint for her.”
“No, she’s right. It’s impressive, actually. No one is that offline.”
“Then what are you talking about? What ads and posts?”
“From a law firm.”
“A law firm?”
“One in Wyoming.”
“Wyoming,” I repeated, a memory surfacing.
“That’s where she’s from, isn’t it?”
She told these stories to Denali about the bison there. About the bighorns and wolverines.
“Yep.”
“Where her family still is.”
“Sort of.”
“Arty, for fuck’s sake. Sentences, please.”
“The ads and posts are from a really big estate planning law firm.”
“What do they say?”
“There’s a reward for information on how to contact her. Got a name and an old picture of her.”
He turned the screen, and there she was. A younger version of the woman I knew. Maybe eighteen, right before she left. It was a candid shot—her gaze focused outward, something hard and tense in her face. Behind her, expansive plains, and further off, jagged snow-capped mountains. Growing up there, it was no wonder she became obsessed with nature.
