Chapter 19
Nineteen
Sarah tripped and fumbled as Ryder’s one-word command propelled her forward and into action.
The cave’s mouth loomed ahead—a slit in the rock and impossibly small.
How had they so easily slipped through before?
If the cave came crashing down on them now, it was entirely too far away.
Pulse racing, she couldn’t get enough air.
A sharp crack overhead echoed through the cave and her bones. For no reason she could fathom, she froze. Stood her ground and looked up as pebbles rained down from the ceiling.
How to survive a collapsing cave hadn’t been part of her training. Ryder’s hand clamped around her wrist. “Get moving!”
Another loud, painful snap, and a bowling ball–sized rock crashed to the ground beside her, sending dust into the air.
Fear sparked and raced through her veins, spreading like wildfire until her limbs shook with it.
Behind them, the back of the cave groaned, sounding like a wounded animal had been left behind.
Ryder pushed her forward, and they hurried toward the opening.
A boulder slammed to the ground a few feet to the right, and the earth shuddered beneath her feet.
The fissure behind them was collapsing in slow motion.
Sarah ran over uneven ground now covered in more pebbles and rocks, jarring her knees, slowing her efforts.
Grit and dust thickened the air, making her lungs burn.
The roar of falling rocks followed them like a freight train barreling toward them, chasing after them from behind.
“Faster!” Ryder shouted behind her.
She burst toward the opening, slipped through, scraping her coat sleeves as she stumbled out. A blast of air and the cacophony of crashing rock followed.
Ryder tackled her from behind. They slammed into the ground so hard, the breath was knocked from her.
He shielded her with his body, protecting her from the roaring protest of crashing rock and shaking earth.
Somehow, they’d offended the thunderous mountain with their trespass into the cave.
Beneath her, the hard ground shook, rattling through to her bones.
She tried not to whimper, but death felt so close, so near.
She was no match for nature’s fury, and for a few heartbeats, she couldn’t breathe. Maybe it was the dust. The sheer terror. Or Ryder’s crushing form.
He hadn’t moved, and another fear snaked through her. Oh no.
“Ryder?” Her voice croaked. For too many breaths he didn’t move. If something happened to him . . .
Shifting slightly, he coughed. “I’m still breathing.”
Relief rushed to her eyes and a few tears might have leaked out. She never cried. She’d been through too much in the past. But Ryder was alive and okay. That was reason enough for a few tears of joy.
As for him protecting her with his body? This was déjà vu from the mudslide. “I’m struggling to . . .”
“What? Oh.” He moved his protective form from her.
It took her a few seconds to catch her breath before she could finally sit up. She dreaded what she might see but took in the crumbled opening of the cave. Only moments before, they’d been inside. Sarah couldn’t comprehend how close they’d come to being crushed to death.
“Ryder?”
“Yes?”
“Can we get off this mountain now?” She’d wanted to find the crash site. Get her brother justice. Find whatever was hidden. Was that even possible? And at what cost?
Ryder stood and offered his hand, his intense eyes seeming to probe her very soul. Dust and grime smudged his face and whiskers, covered his hair. Though he said nothing, she took that as his agreement as she dusted off her pants. Pulled her coat tighter against the brutal wind gusts.
Sarah hung her head, stared at the earth that had grown calm and quiet beneath her feet. What was happening when a person couldn’t even trust the ground they stood on?
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She glanced at him. Concern and tenderness filled his eyes. Why did she feel so close to this wilderness guide, as if they’d known each other a hundred years?
She smiled. “Sure.”
His grin was priceless. “Then let’s get off this mountain.”
Now, back into the wild.
As he led her forward, his demeanor shifted.
The grin she couldn’t get out of her mind turned into an expression entirely too disturbed and preoccupied.
And that left her unsettled. Beyond the cave collapse, something was definitely bothering him—it had started before they saw the first dust and pebbles drop from above, warning them of imminent danger.
At the thought, her legs trembled, and in fact, her whole body shook, but it wasn’t from the cold or violent wind or the mountain that somehow seemed angry at the intrusion. Lifting her face to what had turned into a heavy, cloudy sky, she drew in a calming breath.
Oh, Lord, please don’t let it snow.
Still. If it snowed, she was with Ryder and he would get her out of this.
He would get them both back to safety, wherever that was.
Lost in her thoughts, she trudged behind him to the edge where they’d hiked up an ascent so steep, it felt like she was rock climbing. Below, they’d left their base camp.
I get it now, Ryder. I get the whole base-camp thing.
Even though it was nothing more than one flimsy tent she shared with her guide, she couldn’t wait to get back.
Weird to think such a shelter could offer her even the smallest sense of security, since it provided only a thin line between survival and exposure.
But maybe it was much more than that. A base camp was a place to return to again and again to rest after exploration, or whatever reason someone would come up here.
Returning to base camp was bringing her home in a deeper sense and maybe reminded her a little bit about who she was.
Ryder had called it base camp, but inside, her heart whispered it was a refuge.
A stronghold, and maybe . . . maybe that’s what Sarah had been missing all along.
Not just a shelter from the cold but from everything else—all the things she’d carried alone for so long.
And it reminded her of Scripture that Grandpa Walt had taught her.
He was a believer and made sure that she and Aaron knew the Bible and trusted in God.
Sure, she sent up a small prayer when she was in need, but maybe somewhere along the way, she’d lost her trust, because she was busy and didn’t think about God much at all throughout her day.
And maybe for far too long. But that had to change.
Lord, please forgive me. I need you.
That Scripture from the book of Psalms floated through her heart. God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
She sucked in the cold, sharp air. Yeah, she got it now, maybe in a different way than anyone who set up base camps intended, but this is what it meant to her.
In the past, she hadn’t been one to shy away from the threat of danger or the associated risks—and that had been part of her job. That had seemed simple compared to what she faced now—a growing threat and a mountain terrain from which she couldn’t simply coerce the secret she needed.
But tonight at base camp, they could look at what they’d found, and maybe he’d share what that half of the military challenge coin meant, because he’d definitely reacted.
This evening would be a good time to talk to him about getting connected to check her email and download the audio file so she could find out what more Tessa wanted her to know, what she’d learned.
Ryder held up his fist, indicating they should stop, like they were on some kind of military op.
He lifted his field glasses and peered at the area below where the thicker tree line started up again.
Here, the summit of Blackspire Mountain was near and directly behind them, though near was a relative term.
Probably another two thousand feet to the actual summit.
A glacier or two clung to multiple peaks, jagged points around an ancient caldera that erupted maybe six hundred years ago.
Ryder’s breathing ticked up, concerning her. That wasn’t something he did often—or at least that she could tell.
“What is it?” She could barely be heard above the wind.
He held the binoculars out, and she peered through them. “What am I looking for?”
“Base camp.”
She swung the binoculars around for long enough, then finally had to admit it. “I can’t find it.”
“Exactly.”
Fear gripped her. No. Hadn’t she just put her hope for the next few hours in the security of that flimsy tent?
She dropped the binoculars to her side. “It’s gone? What does that even mean? Is that normal?”
“Not at all.”
“Oh no, but my stuff.”
“Is in this pack.” He moved away from the edge.
“You . . . that’s the real reason you built a base camp, isn’t it?”
“Not exactly. I would have settled us there regardless, but considering the chances it might get ransacked, I put everything needed for survival in my pack. Remember, I left some of the bulkier items behind.”
“Along with our extra clothes.” She really wished she hadn’t said that. “Is it the followers who did this? Or an animal?”
“The most likely culprit is whoever is following. Are you sure it isn’t your friend that met you at the outfitter’s?”
Her throat grew tight and uncomfortable. Her pulse might have kicked up. “I’m not sure of anything. But now that we have no tent, no base camp, can we survive?”
“Absolutely.” His gaze drifted over to her, where it remained until she was uncomfortable, but she didn’t look away.
“I’m not doubting your abilities,” she said. “I hired you, remember?” Though now that she thought about it, they’d never discussed money, and she’d never signed anything. Everything had happened so fast.
“I’m not here simply because you wanted to hire me, remember that.” He turned and walked the opposite direction from their ascent.
“Then why?” Sarah had to almost jog to keep up, and that wasn’t easy on this terrain or her shaky legs.
“It’s necessary.” He walked forward and fast.