Chapter 18
Eighteen
Ryder hated seeing the sheer disappointment crawl across her features and settle in those golden-brown eyes.
She kept her chin up as if trying to hide her frustration.
She had a lot riding on whatever she hoped to find hidden in this treacherous mountain terrain.
He’d been impressed with her ability to keep up and gave her all the brownie points for effort, but she wasn’t a mountaineer.
“I mean, X marks the spot, doesn’t it?” she asked.
Ryder studied the terrain, considered the possibilities.
“Think about it. You got a map and a letter with a vague explanation. If your grandfather survived the crash, he would have looked for shelter—something better than the remnants of a crash. The plane went down in May, and it would still feel like winter up here. If he found shelter—a cave, maybe—he might have stashed something there we can use. Maybe it’s exactly what you’re looking for. ”
“You’re saying he wasn’t marking the spot where it crashed?”
“Doesn’t look like it, unless it’s buried beneath our feet, maybe covered in a landslide we can’t detect.” Or possibly completely removed by the military without anyone knowing. “My guess is there’s a cave up here. We just can’t see it. Not yet. Let’s look around.”
“A cave?”
“For shelter, like I said.” She’d expected to find plane parts or the bulk of the fuselage remaining in place after decades with no one discovering it. “Look, if he hid in a cave and the mark is pointing us here for that reason, then you could find what you need inside. This is a good thing.”
“I hear you.” She still sounded distressed. Like she’d put all her hopes on finding this spot marked by the map—after decades. Eighty years. Almost a century.
“How far are we from where you found that piece?”
“This is a higher elevation than where I found it, about two miles away.” Too many possible reasons existed for why the metal remnant landed where it had, so he wouldn’t dwell on it.
The ground trembled beneath his boots. The wind was cold and brutal, even for the start of autumn, but he’d experienced worse.
He’d want to make it back to base camp before dark.
He also needed to make sure their followers were not still tracking them, and if they were, then it was time for a new game plan.
Keeping close, they trekked along the bottom of a rocky ledge that rose hundreds of feet above. A dark space caught his attention.
He tugged on Sarah’s sleeve and pointed. “See? There’s an opening just there.”
Her eyes bright, she glanced his way. “I see it.”
Putting that look in her eyes made him feel good, something he hated to admit. She started off toward the cave, and he pulled her back. “Let’s be cautious in case a bear made a home there.”
“Or a mountain lion.”
“Or someone is in there, which I doubt,” he said. “But wildlife is a strong possibility.”
“Come on, Ryder. What’s your real take? Do you think it’s the spot indicated on the map?”
He heard in her tone what she didn’t say. She was second-guessing this entire mission. Not like he hadn’t done that. Not like he didn’t have regrets. He didn’t like caves because they came with too many unknowns. But if they were going to find the truth, they had to walk straight into the dark.
“We won’t know until we get inside.” And that’s what worried him most.
At least it wasn’t snowing. Yet.
Approaching the narrow mouth of the cave, he withdrew his sidearm.
He didn’t look forward to squeezing through that small opening.
Small and yet large enough to hide something dangerous.
He crouched at the mouth of the cave. Scanned the ground and snowmelt-slick stones.
No fresh tracks and no prints or claw marks.
He didn’t smell the usually musky odor of a den.
Gun in one hand and flashlight beaming in the other, he spoke over his shoulder. “Wait here. Let me make sure it’s safe.” He expected her to push back.
“I have no issue waiting here while you disenfranchise a bear of his home. But what if he makes a run for it? I’m standing right in his path.” She actually grinned.
He liked this woman. “You make a good point.”
At the cave entrance, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted into the space. “Coming in! Last chance to clear out!”
He waited. No sound. Nothing shifting around. He only heard the slight echo of his own voice. Ryder gestured for her to join him.
Stepping slowly and deliberately, he entered the cave and shined his flashlight across the rock wall. He cleared his throat and stomped loudly to be doubly sure he didn’t surprise a sleeping bear. Sorry, bear. Once inside, Ryder took in the dark, cold, and dank empty space.
He was relieved and, yeah, actually surprised. “Looks clear for now.”
The cave wasn’t deep—more like a rock shelter carved by time and gravity. Massive slabs leaned into each other, forming a ceiling low enough to force them to crouch. “This looks like a fissure cave.”
“A what?”
“Stress cracks in the bedrock. You know, tectonic or glacial activity.”
“That doesn’t sound comforting.”
Wind had swept grit and pine needles across the uneven floor. Old scat and claw marks told him animals had holed up here in winters past.
Sarah moved around and shined her light on the walls and ground. She blew out a big sigh. “Nothing. I don’t understand.”
Wrong again. “You were hoping for a big box filled with gold trinkets?”
“Of course not.”
“Then I wouldn’t say nothing. There’s evidence someone was here, but we’re talking decades ago.
” Ryder moved to a pile of rocks—likely created by a human—near the north wall and knelt on one knee, shining his light.
“My guess is animals have lived here since then, bears have hibernated here too.” He moved a few stones.
The glint of metal caught his eye. He found the edge of a rusted tin.
Bingo. Something had been here. His pulse jumped. “Look at this.”
She stepped closer and crouched. “So someone was here and left stuff behind. Doesn’t mean it was my grandfather.”
“I think it could, honestly.” He brushed away the debris with the corner of his sleeve. “I’m not an archaeologist, so it’s not like I have the right tools to excavate. I think we could find a few things buried here, though maybe I shouldn’t mess with it.”
“I didn’t come up here for nothing.”
He tugged out his collapsible camping trowel and started shoveling the top layer of windblown debris, expecting to hit rock sooner than later.
The thin layer of dirt and debris removed, he lifted a flattened military-issue ration tin. Dented and rusted but intact. He gently cracked it open and found desiccated crackers all turned to dust.
“And what’s this?” She tugged out a canvas-wrapped bundle cinched with twine.
He could hear the hope in her question. She unfolded the canvas to find several items—a miniature broken compass and a worn dog-tag chain—but no tag. Beneath the canvas was a small notebook.
“Oh . . .” Sarah carefully lifted it. “It looks like it was water damaged.” The brittle pages fell to pieces. “I wish you were an archaeologist. Then we could have done this the right way.” She stared at him, unshed tears in her eyes.
He hadn’t seen tears from her before.
He noticed something else in the canvas. It looked familiar, and he tugged it out. After he wiped off the grime, his breath caught.
“What is that?” Sarah asked.
Disturbing. That’s what.
He rocked back and sat on his haunches.
“Ryder? Clearly, you think that means something. Let me see.” She reached for it, and he wanted to keep it to himself while he studied it.
Unfair. Ridiculous. “Here.” He handed it over. If this had at one time been her grandfather’s camp, this belonged to her.
“Are you sure?” She smirked and slowly took the half of the military challenge coin he offered.
Ryder stood and paced the cave. What did it mean? He couldn’t wrap his mind around it.
“Is that it?” she asked. “Could there be more if we keep searching?”
“Could be more. But I doubt anything is deliberately buried deep. This cave is mostly rock.”
“We could just stay here,” she said. “You’ve got your pack. We can camp here and keep digging.”
“Is that what you want to do?”
“I mean, why do we need to rush?”
Sarah wanted to take her time here, and he couldn’t blame her. “If we’re leaving, we need to do it now to get back to base camp.”
“Because of the weather?” she asked.
“That, and it’s going to get dark soon.”
Sarah stood and dusted the dirt from her hands. She approached. Pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “What’s really bothering you?”
The earth trembled enough this time he took notice. Looked at the thousands of tons of rocks above them.
“Was that an earthquake?” Sarah’s eyes grew wide.
“Just a mild tremor.”
“Should we be concerned the cave will collapse?”
“This cave has been around for a long time. Let’s gather everything and take it back to base camp. We’ll figure it out there.” Yeah, now he was trying to reassure himself.
Sarah wrapped what they’d found back into the cloth and stuck it into Ryder’s pack.
Sometimes instincts were all a guy had, and Ryder had a bad feeling about everything. The atmosphere had shifted from bad to worse, metaphorically and literally. Pebbles trickled from above, dust landed in his eyes, as if to emphasize his instincts weren’t wrong.
He grabbed Sarah by the waist and nudged her ahead of him toward their only escape. “Run!”