Chapter Fifty-Five
Elise
The plan should never have worked.
That thought had circled through my mind since the moment my father answered his phone. I had told him I needed him. Nothing more. He had gone silent for half a second, then asked one question. Where?
We had assigned three separate landing sites.
Gabe would come in from the south with Bella.
Cody would arrive from the east with Drew and Nora.
My father would land on the western ridge, where Tim would meet him.
I wasn’t ready to meet him on my own. If he did as I’d asked him to, he would come without Keaton.
I wasn’t proud of how uncertain I was that my father wouldn’t strongarm me into a helicopter.
He’d never acted that way before, but he also believed I might be there under duress.
I sat beside Brady as our helicopter skimmed over the ridge. My headset pressed tightly against my ears, but the steady chop of the blades still seemed to vibrate through my bones. Below us, Evie’s cabin remained hidden beneath dense pines and morning haze.
Brady’s hand rested between us, palm up. I placed mine in it. He closed his fingers around mine without looking away from the window.
The pilot’s voice sounded through my headset. “East landing is complete.”
Cody was already on the eastern trail with Drew and Nora. My grip tightened around Brady’s hand. He looked at me. “One,” he said quietly. I nodded.
The pilot banked toward the southern landing site.
Through the glass, I caught the first glimpse of Gabe standing near the edge of the trees, his coat pulled tight against the rotor wash.
He looked impatient rather than worried, which seemed optimistic under the circumstances.
We touched down and exited the helicopter.
Bella had flown in with Gabe. The moment he saw Brady his expression hardened.
“What the hell is this?” he demanded.
Brady stopped directly in front of him. “I need you to trust me.”
“Where’s Evan?”
“Safe. Recovering.”
“Then why am I standing on a mountain?”
“Because what happened to him may have started decades ago.”
Gabe’s eyes narrowed. “I’m here because you said this was important and about Evan. It had better be.”
Brady hesitated. That was enough. Gabe looked toward Bella. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“A lot,” Bella said. His jaw tightened.
Brady stepped closer. “I’m asking you as your son. Please come with us.”
The anger didn’t leave Gabe’s face. He looked at Brady for a long moment, then toward the cabin. Bella took Gabe’s arm.
“I’ll take him the rest of the way,” Bella said firmly. “Go make sure Elise isn’t needed.”
Brady climbed back into the helicopter with me. The door slid shut.
The helicopter lifted. The pilot circled toward the western ridge. My father’s helicopter had landed. I saw him before I saw Tim. He stood alone at the edge of the clearing while the rotor wash battered his dark coat. He didn’t move. He seemed to be searching for me.
The realization struck with enough force to make it difficult to breathe. He had come because I asked. No argument. No interrogation. No demand that Keaton accompany him. He had trusted that if I said I needed him, I did.
I should have met him.
“Go down,” I told the pilot.
Brady turned toward me. “Elise—”
“Set us down.”
Our helicopter dropped toward the clearing. The moment the skids touched, I released my harness and opened the door. I stepped into the cold wind before Brady could stop me.
My father’s gaze locked onto me. The relief that crossed his face lasted less than a second. Then it disappeared behind control.
“Elise.”
I walked toward him. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes searched mine. “Are you in danger?”
“No.”
His expression became colder with every answer. “Then why am I here?”
“Because I need you to hear something.”
“From whom?”
I couldn’t answer without ending the plan. His gaze shifted toward Tim, then back to me. “Who else is on this mountain?”
“Someone I need you to talk to.”
His face went still. “That is not an answer.”
“It’s the best I have.”
The hurt in his eyes was worse than anger. Brady came to stand beside me, close enough that our shoulders touched. My father noticed.
My father looked toward Brady. “Was this your idea?”
“Yes and no. My brother was recently hurt and we’re looking for answers today. We’re hoping you can help us.”
He looked again toward the trail. Tim waited without speaking. Finally, my father straightened his coat. “What can I do?”
“Just listen, I think,” I said. “And if you know anything, don’t hold back.”
We led him to a side door of Evie’s cabin and asked him to step inside. Following those instructions went against everything my father believed in, but the look in his eyes told me that he would do this—for me.
Brady and I climbed back into the helicopter.
As the pilot lifted us above the western ridge, another aircraft rose from the eastern side of the mountain.
Drew and Nora were aboard. Cody was hopefully inside the cabin.
The helicopter that had brought Bella and Gabe waited near the southern ridge. All three fathers were now with Evie.
The plan had worked. I felt no triumph. Only the weight of trust spent for a reason I desperately hoped would justify it.
“That actually worked,” I whispered.
Brady let out a slow breath. “So far.”
I turned toward him. “Did we do the right thing?”
He looked down at the mountain. “I don’t know.”
The honesty steadied me. “Something is going to happen in that cabin,” he said. “We may have made things better. We may have made them worse.”
A frightened laugh escaped me. Brady looked at me. “At least that narrows down the possibilities,” I said.
His mouth curved. I leaned against him as far as our seat belts allowed.
I’d ambushed my father. Someone like him might never forgive that.
But we needed answers.