Lahat ng Kabanata ng Off the Ice: Kabanata 131 - Kabanata 140

The morning had started with an deceptive, fragile calm. The sky above the northern ridge was a clear, pale slate blue, and the air carried the sharp, sweet bite of melting pine resin as the late winter thaw began its slow, creeping progress down the mountain.Liam stood near the bed of their battered, mud-splattered pickup truck, hoisting a fifty-pound sack of coarse salt over his shoulder. The old forestry station sat nestled in a dense pocket of hemlock three miles below their cabin—a sprawling, weather-beaten relic from the 1970s that had long been removed from state park maps. For months, it had served as their ghost supply cache, a silent buffer between their sanctuary at ten thousand feet and the populated valley floor far below."That's the last of the salt," Liam called out, tossing the heavy burlap bag into the wooden crate fitted against the truck’s tailgate. The effort brought a healthy, bright flush to his cheeks, his blue eyes clear and alive in the crisp mountain air. H

The howling of the wind reached a violent, deafening crescendo near two in the morning, rattling the cedar logs so hard the dust shook free from the rafters. But it wasn't the gale that shattered the fragile quiet inside the cabin.It was a dull, heavy thud against the bottom of the front door, followed by the wet, rhythmic scraping of something dragging itself across the frozen porch floorboards.Jaxson was off the bed before the sound even faded, his massive frame moving with the lethal, silent instinct of a predator under threat. In one fluid motion, he snatched the heavy iron hearth poker from beside the grate, stepping into the dark entryway and shielding the main room with his broad shoulders."Stay back," Jaxson barked, his voice dropping into a low, lethal rasp.Liam threw off the blankets, his heart instantly hammering against his ribs, but he didn't stay back. He grabbed a lantern, raising it high as he stepped up behind the captain.Jaxson unlatched the heavy security bar,

The reporter, whose press badge identified him as Miller, sat bound to a heavy oak chair in the center of the cabin. His throat bore the dark, purplish shadow of Jaxson’s grip, and his hands were wrapped in thick cotton bandages, but the initial, paralyzing terror in his eyes had hardened into something far more dangerous: professional calculation.Outside, the blizzard had settled into a steady, bitter drop in temperature that froze the cabin windows into solid sheets of opaque glass. Inside, the only light came from the dying embers of the hearth, casting long, sharp shadows across the three men."Look at yourselves," Miller rasped, his ruined voice scraping against the quiet room. He winced as he shifted his shoulders, but he didn't look down. His gaze remained locked on Liam, who was standing near the edge of the rug with his arms crossed over his chest. "Two of the biggest names in professional sports, living like fugitive survivalists in a cabin that isn't even on state survey m

The high country winter closed its jaws over the ridge forty-eight hours after Miller’s vehicle disappeared into the mist. It wasn't just a storm; it was an absolute, systemic freeze that dropped the mountain pass into forty below zero, burying the access road under six feet of impenetrable blue ice and drift-snow. The world down below—Marcus Vance, the private security firms, and the threat of exposure—was entirely cut off by a wall of white granite and screaming wind.Inside the cabin, the isolation was complete. The world had shrunk down to the heavy cedar walls, the iron woodstove, and the stone hearth that glowed red from dawn to dusk.Jaxson stood near the kitchen alcove, stripped down to his dark thermal trousers, his bare chest slick with a light sheen of heat despite the sub-zero gale rattling the heavy window shutters outside. He was hauling thick oak logs from the wood-box, dropping them onto the hearth rug with heavy, reverberating thuds.Liam watched him from the wide bed

The static from the radio down in the cellar seemed to echo through the floorboards, bleeding into every corner of the cabin.Liam sat on the edge of the heavy cedar bed, his head buried in his hands. His breathing was rapid, shallow, and ragged. For months, he had believed that walking away meant the nightmare was over. He had thrown away his gold medal, severed his corporate ties, and vanished into the high country to protect his sanity. But hearing Marcus’s voice on that broadcast—smooth, grieving, and effortlessly monstrous—had shattered the illusion.His name wasn't just his own anymore. It was a weapon. The "Liam Vance" the world knew was being used to paint Jaxson as a monster, a criminal, a violent kidnapper marked for open season by federal law enforcement."It’s because of me," Liam choked out, his fingers digging frantically into his blond hair, his knuckles turning white. "It’s my name. My legacy. My fucking family. Marcus is going to put a bullet in your head and call it