Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
The chopper flew low, taking a line northwest of the valley they’d hiked yesterday, on the other side of the western ridge.
The machine did a wide sweep first. Everyone who could see out of a window stared below and searched for any signs of human activity.
Tracks or smoke. Nora was wedged in the middle of the bench beside a handsome guy with dark hair and beautiful blue eyes, and a tough looking dude with wary, coolly assessing eyes.
Each operator was armed with pistols and combat knives and carried a carbine that was pointed carefully away from the other occupants in the helo—a sober reminder that this was highly dangerous, especially for little Summer.
She noticed Sebastian and Cas also had long gun cases that suggested sniper rifles.
She shuddered at the idea of sighting a man in her crosshairs and deliberately pulling the trigger. It was a part of her job that her parents disapproved of, and that she’d always struggled with morally—the willingness to take a life.
Chance sat between her legs, mouth open, saliva dripping onto the floor at the awesomeness that was his life.
The plan, she’d been told over the headphones, was for their flight to look like a wide-ranging search operation with no real focused area of interest. Then the pilot would fly low enough to the ground to be able to covertly drop them off and leave again without anyone being the wiser.
“Ready.” Sebastian’s deep voice came over the headphones, and everyone immediately removed the headsets and hung them up.
She felt his gaze on her. Checking to make sure she knew how to follow orders?
Probably. They all unclipped their seatbelts despite landing being the most dangerous time when traveling in any aircraft.
This op was forcing her to unlearn some of the basic safety rules that had become ingrained in her over the years.
It made her uneasy.
She hoped they knew what they were doing.
She held tight to Chance’s harness as they exited straight out the door, following the stern looking guy to the edge of the nearby tree line as the others retrieved the equipment.
Under ten seconds later, the people, sleds, and packs were on the ground, and the squad had raced away from the machine, taking care to avoid the dangerous tail rotors as the pilot swooped back up over the trees.
He stayed low and disappeared from view, planning to conduct a sweep further up the valley before he returned to the ranch to pick up the next squad.
The sudden silence was deafening as the pilot flew farther away. Nora sank her chin into her neck warmer. The wind had blown itself out with the storm, and the air was calm now. Good news for those who worked with their noses.
“Listen up.” Sebastian strode toward her with a Heckler & Koch HK416 strapped over his shoulder as well as the long rifle case on his back. He looked deadly serious.
Because the situation was deadly serious.
“Let me introduce everyone. You already know Cas Demarco.”
She smiled at the dark-haired, dark-eyed Cas, who she’d met yesterday.
“This is Meghan Donnelly, Grady Steel, and Ryan Sullivan—whose family owns the ranch we’re basing this op out of.”
Ah. So, the super handsome guy was Ryan. The tough looking dude was Grady Steel. Meghan was the only female she’d seen on the team.
She shook everyone’s outstretched hand one at a time.
“NPS Ranger Deacon. Nora.” She wasn’t big on ceremony.
“This is Chance, and he loves being petted, but I’m going to ask you to refrain from doing so whenever he’s wearing his vest because he’s basically on duty.
” She looked at Sebastian. “Depending on where we overnight, you should be able to get to know one another better later, when he’s off-duty.
” She braced herself for rolled eyes or criticism but received none.
“He loves his work, but he’s easily seduced by the slightest hint of attention. ”
“A bit like Ryan.” The brunette grinned.
“Hey.” Ryan pouted. “It’s going to be hard to resist those gorgeous dark eyes until later when we’re not working, but I’ll do my best. And, I’m talking to the dog, Donnelly. Don’t get excited.”
Meghan groaned.
Grady shook his head at the pair of them. “What’s the plan, Seb?”
Sebastian pointed north toward a ridge beneath a stark granite peak. “I figured we’d give Chance the opportunity to use his impressive nose to scan the immediate area before we head to the first location on the map, which is going to be our base camp for the next few days—an old Ranger station.”
He held up a waterproof map for her to see. Someone had circled a location north of their current position. She knew the cabin in question. It was going to be a long journey in these conditions, and she needed to prioritize her dog’s wellbeing.
“Don’t expect any miracles.” Nora grimaced. “Yesterday, we got lucky trailing the scent from Eastman’s vehicle.”
Sebastian glanced at her sharply. “You made the luck, Ranger Deacon. You used your brains and intuition combined with your partner’s nose. Don’t discount your contribution to this operation. We already owe you a huge debt of gratitude.”
Emotions welled, but she pushed past them.
The layers she wore made a rasping sound as she shrugged.
“I don’t want anyone disappointed. Chance works best by trailing a scent from a few feet away, rather than airscenting from a distance.
He can airscent for a specific person, but it’s something he’s best at off-leash when he can cover a wide area in a short amount of time.
We can’t risk that in this situation.” She felt the weight of expectation in all their gazes.
“He will alert if he gets any trace of a scent, but with the snowstorm, the wind last night, and the fact that Summer might not be in this area, or may be sheltering in place—well, don’t get your hopes up. ”
“We understand the scale of this operation,” Sebastian assured her. “Cas, accompany Ranger Deacon—”
“Nora,” she insisted. They were a team now.
“Nora,” he conceded, “on a walk around the perimeter of this area on the off-chance we get another lucky break.” He sketched the zone with his hand. “Don’t go too far. We have a six-mile journey to the cabin and need to stay alert along the way.”
The idea of using the cabin was a good one.
Nora took off her snow camo layer and then removed her jacket and replaced the snow camo.
She’d be warm enough in her fleece and the windproof camo jacket.
The others adjusted their layers too because once they were moving in this fresh snow, they were gonna burn calories and warm up fast.
She stuffed her jacket in the top of her backpack, then bent to remove her skis from the sled and put them on. Demarco did the same.
She stood and removed the plastic bag containing Summer Eastman’s small white sneaker.
Everyone fell quiet.
Memories bombarded her in a rush. She wanted to close her eyes and flinch away, but she couldn’t.
Not here. Not now. Chance whined and brought her back to the moment.
She let him stick his nose into the shoe and then gave him the command as she handed the bag to Sebastian who took it gently in his strong, capable hands.
“Chance, Find.”
“Papa, I’m cold.” Summer’s teeth chattered audibly, amplified by the rock walls that surrounded them.
Glenn glanced at her. She was huddled against the carved-out rock, wrapped in the blanket, lying on a foam sleeping pad.
Her hair had come loose from its braid and was a bird’s nest around her face.
He’d forgotten to bring a brush. Probably best to cut it short anyway.
Maybe pass her off as a boy until they could get to safety.
She looked pale, except her cheeks and nose, which glowed a fierce red.
He propped his rifle against the door, went over to the large thermos of coffee he’d made before daybreak. Poured her a cup. He stirred in a little sugar. Held it out.
“Coffee?” Her features twisted as she sniffed the beverage. “I don’t like coffee.”
His patience hung by a ragged thread.
“Drink it before it goes cold. It’ll warm you up.”
Her nose was running. Eyes a little glassy. He frowned. Was she getting sick?
“If you don’t, I will.” He kept his tone teasing as he brought the cup to his lips.
She pulled her scrawny arms out from under the blanket and wrapped both hands around the mug. Sipped. Grimaced.
“You get used to it.”
She sipped again. Screwed up her face and stuck out her tongue. Sipped again.
Jesus. You’d think it was gasoline.
“Good girl.” His breath formed clouds of white mist.
Last night, he’d lit a fire in this old, abandoned mineshaft, which had a small vent in the ceiling, but he wouldn’t risk it during the day. Smoke could lead a search party straight to their front door.
It was cold, but not that cold, not when they were out of the wind and protected from the elements.
The narrow entrance led to a cavern that had been dug out of the mountain, seven feet high by about ten feet deep.
There was an old wood stove in one corner that he might try to get going at some point, depending on how long they stayed here.
The chimney was rusted out, but maybe he could improvise.
He’d heard a couple of helicopters in the distance, obviously conducting searches.
It concerned him a little. It’d probably be more strange if nothing were moving anywhere.
Search might not even be about him. Idiots got lost in these mountains all the time.
But he’d play it safe and stay put for now. Keep his eyes sharp.
He scrubbed a hand over his unshaven cheek. Had they discovered the bodies yet?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Michelle didn’t have a lot of friends. That Doug guy though… Glenn tugged his ear. Doug’s buddies might come looking for him—which they’d regret if they found him.
A smile pulled the corner of his lips.
Doug wasn’t a pretty boy no more.
Nope.
Wouldn’t be fucking anyone else’s wife, either. That was for damn sure.