Chapter 7
Seven
She didn’t know how, but from the start, Ryder had picked up on her ulterior motives—outside of someone hiring a guide for a regular, everyday tromp up the mountain.
She’d have to be careful around him, but sure, she had to give him something if she wanted something in return.
Giving him what she’d just shared had pained her.
Only she and Tessa knew this, believed it, and now one more person had been added to the list. Well, once she spilled the rest.
Being on the list of those in the know wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
And now, maybe he would be completely out.
“You’re not some rogue agent, are you?”
“Puh-lease.” Although, he wasn’t that far off.
She could give him something, at least. “Since Aaron’s death, his wife has been followed and their home searched.
She’s afraid for her life. I tucked her and three-year-old Jeremy away in a safe house for now while I get justice for Aaron.
Find the answers to keep them safe. I have more questions than answers for what this is about, but the truth lies on the mountain. ”
He narrowed his eyes. “You can’t just call the police?”
“Who said I didn’t?”
“Did you?”
“My sister-in-law did about the break-in and the followers. Nothing came of that. But we both know she’s in danger, they’re in danger. And, sure, I’m in danger too. As for me, I have no proof that Aaron was murdered or that it’s connected to what he was digging into.”
“And you think that proof is on the mountain.” His statement was rhetorical and sounded skeptical.
“Yeah, I knew you’d find it hard to believe. Help or don’t, but whatever you do, do it fast. I think someone else wants to stop me or is also after the same answers. I don’t have much time.”
He rubbed his jaw. “So you want me to take you up Blackspire Mountain because your brother was murdered—so you believe—and the reason why is on the mountain. Let me just add, you don’t have a lot of time, considering the weather is turning.”
He hadn’t told her if her answer was enough reason for him to help. He was thinking it through. She couldn’t blame him. This was dangerous business.
He flipped the lights on and steered the vehicle deeper into the woods. Sarah searched for her Explorer. Then Ryder stopped. “Let’s get out. We need to walk the rest of the way.”
Whatever you say. Sarah hopped down and instantly felt the slight tremble underfoot. Her palms slicked. “We’re not going down in another mudslide, are we?”
“I hope not. This area is pretty stable, otherwise the road would be closed.”
“Well, that’s reassuring.” Not really.
He’d said the words, but he looked unsettled. Or maybe that had more to do with the murder she mentioned. She would move heaven and earth to end this threat on her family and to bring Aaron justice. He’d been betrayed . . . by whom, she didn’t know.
Tears brimmed and she quickly blinked them away. She hadn’t wanted to talk about any of this with Ryder, but hiring him had been a challenge, and she still wasn’t sure she’d convinced him to help. At least, so far, she hadn’t had to tell him everything. Still . . .
Lord, why couldn’t I just hire this guy to take me up the mountain? No questions asked.
Maybe she should, in fact, just hire someone else. All kinds of possible negative developments ran through her mind. Consequences of telling him—and it would only make him complicit.
“There. I see it. The Explorer is just there . . .” She stepped forward into muck.
“Don’t move. Stay where you are.”
“Why?” She stood still, waiting for his explanation, but an uncomfortable sensation crawled over her.
He shined a flashlight toward her vehicle.
“Wait. What’s . . . ?”
The back end of the Explorer sat at an angle.
“The ground must have shifted. We need to leave. Now.” Ryder got back into his truck, and Sarah didn’t have to be told twice.
Except . . . “I need to get into that vehicle tonight. I need to get my stuff out.”
“That’s not happening. Now I’m concerned about the entire road.
I need to make a call or two.” He backed out and sped toward town.
Ryder got on his cell and contacted the sheriff’s department to warn them of the potential danger.
He ended the call. “They’ll let the local ranger district know, along with Washington State Patrol.
I’ll email my contact at University of Washington, who might already be in town. ”
“If they close the road, then how do people get in and out of town?”
“They’d just have to take the long way around,” he said.
“Has this happened before?”
Ryder accelerated. “Once. When I was a kid. Too young to know or remember anything.”
Unbelievable. “Why build a town in a place where the road can just fall off the mountain?”
“Where did you grow up again, Sarah?”
“Oklahoma.” At least that was one of the places they’d lived.
“Why build a house in a place where a tornado could blow it away?”
Whatever. “Now what am I supposed to do? I had gear that I need.”
“Like what?”
“I mean . . .” Not that she was going to tell him. “Just stuff.”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll come back and look in the morning. Maybe your Explorer will still be sitting there just fine. But to get to it safely, I need daylight. Worst case, maybe you can replace what you left behind. But we’ll figure it out tomorrow.”
“We?”
“I thought you wanted my help.”
I thought I wanted it too. “So, are you agreeing to help me after swearing off taking anyone up? After learning this about murder?”
“I’m leaning that way.”
This guy. He had commitment issues.
Ryder turned off onto another road that took them above the town.
“Where are we going now?” she asked.
“I want to show you something.”
Well, this was awkward. She was stuck with him.
She’d wanted his help, and now it felt like the rug was literally being pulled out from under her—or rather, the earth.
He steered up a road, and in the distance, she could see the town lights below.
The vehicle bumped along an unpaved road, and then he steered up to a house with a view of the town on one side and on the other, the mountain.
The mountain.
He got out and stretched and came around to open her door. She hadn’t wanted to get out, but she did. And looked up at the sky that had thankfully cleared to reveal the brightest stars she’d ever seen. And that view!
Oh. Even under the night sky, she could see the mountain.
“It’s incredible,” she said.
“I think so too.”
“Is this your place?” Sarah couldn’t imagine living in such a place—the majestic view would take her breath away every morning. She might do nothing but sit here and look at it all day.
“It is.”
“Why don’t you live with your mother?” Closer to his business. Closer to town. Closer to his widowed mother so he could help. Made sense to her.
“Seriously?”
“I mean, it’s a small town. She seems nice. You could help each other. How’s she doing? Any more trouble with the intruder on her property?”
“She’s good. I talked to her earlier. She has Dad’s old shotgun, but mainly Timber is there to protect her. Harlan texted he would drive by later and check things out and let her know, too, so she wouldn’t shoot him. Then there’s the sheriff. See, Mom and the sheriff have a thing for each other.”
“And you’re not a fan, are you?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Your tone. It’s easy to hear the disdain in your voice.”
“Dad died”—his voice sounded strained—“a couple of years ago. It hasn’t been that long.”
“Look, she’s lonely. She still loves your father, I’m sure, but cut her a break. It’s time.” As if it was her business. Just stop talking.
He cleared his throat. “Anyway, she called the sheriff. He’ll make sure she’s okay. I’m going to stay out of his way.”
“You and the sheriff are not on good terms?”
“Didn’t say that. And as far as me helping my mother? Believe me, we are helping each other. We need our space, okay?”
He was getting personal. Sarah didn’t really want that, but it looked like it was necessary. “So . . . why’d you bring me here?”
“Come on. It’s inside.”
Sarah remained where she stood. What was the guy up to? What did she really know about him beyond the words in the file? She’d been willing to hire him and trust him to guide her up the mountain, which could take several long, hard days of backpacking. What was she afraid of now?
At his porch, he turned to see that she remained standing by his vehicle. “You’ll want to see this, I promise.”
“Can you tell me what it is now?”
He didn’t answer but instead opened the door. Turned on the porch lights. She got a better glimpse of the beautiful log cabin—real logs and not those fake ones. The well-kept property. Flowers—fall flowers—lots and lots of mums.
“I’m coming.” Sarah made her way to the porch and then entered the house. The lights were on in the comfy living room. Total bachelor pad, with the dark leather furniture.
He stood in the kitchen drinking from a soda can. “You want one?”
“Sure.”
“That’s your word, isn’t it?”
“What word?”
“‘Sure.’ Everything is ‘sure’ with you.”
Sure. “I guess.” She closed the distance, and he offered her a Dr Pepper or a Sprite. She took the Dr Pepper for the caffeine.
Exhaustion weighed on her. This had been a long day.
She drank the soda and, not for the first time, took in just how broad his shoulders were.
His biceps. Not like a bodybuilder. No. Like a rock climber.
His intense eyes were striking, and she struggled to look away when he glanced at her—held her gaze.
It was as if she hadn’t stared at his picture far too many times, wondering about the man, Ryder Goodwin.
Maybe she didn’t really need him in particular to guide her, did she?
Except, deep inside, she had already trusted him.
Already depended on and counted on him to be the guy to get her where she needed to go.
She had already made up her mind. Then he’d shown up—twice now—and presented himself as the hero.
But he didn’t need to know any of her thoughts on the matter.
After she took another swig of Dr Pepper, she said, “What did you want to show me?”
And please let it not be his collection of MREs rated by flavor, or vintage pocketknives. She’d seen enough of those with names and even backstories. Or worse still, homemade jerky. If he offered her venison-cheddar-turmeric bites, she might get hives.
Still, she was curious and followed him out the back door to a shop. She shoved the apprehension away. Her trusty Sig was at her ankle. She’d been trained to operate in any number of dangerous situations. Facing off with a former Navy SEAL wasn’t exactly something she wanted to unpack tonight.
Lord, please help me. Can I trust this guy? Had she lost her mind? Her ability to read dangerous situations?
Sure. His history told of his heroics. Now she was answering her own questions.
In the shop, Ryder turned on the light and slid a wooden crate out from under a tool bench. He lifted the lid and tossed it aside.
Inside the box . . .
“What is it?” Sarah held her breath.
“Proof, maybe—I don’t know—that at least part of that plane in question crashed on the mountain.”
Eyes wide—because she was stunned, really—she looked up at him. “But you said it didn’t crash on the mountain. You lied to me?”
“I didn’t know you. And I can’t be sure of anything. I found this . . . three weeks ago.”
She stared at the piece of metal. Read the lettering. Could it be? Then she lifted her gaze. He held hers as if willing her to understand.
Was this confirmation? Did she even need confirmation? Maybe she didn’t have to search. He’d found something already. “Can you take me to the place where you found this?”
Ryder gave her a look she couldn’t quite read. “I told one person,” he said. “One person, and then you show up. So now would be a good time for you to tell me what’s really going on.”
As if murder wasn’t enough.