Chilled (Bone Secrets, #2)(24)

“I think she was eight or nine years old when it happened.” “It?”

Ryan rubbed at his reddened nose.

“Her best friend died after slipping off a makeshift log bridge. A lot like what we crossed today. Nothing to hang on to for balance though. And it was summertime.”

“Shit. Brynn was there?”

“Yeah. Right behind her friend on the bridge. Brynn fell too, but managed to hang on somehow.” He sniffed, casting a quick glance at Brynn, who was in deep conversation with Jim. “A search team found her clinging to the log, nearly unconscious. They figured she’d been in the water for hours. Luckily the water wasn’t cold that time of year. Her friend was found several miles down the river.”

Alex was silent.

“Brynn swears that’s when she knew she wanted to do search and rescue. She wanted to save people like she’d been saved. I guess that’s why she became a nurse too.” Ryan studied the compass in his hands, his mouth tight.

How does she stomach working with more death?

Alex’s heart was pounding, and he wiped at his forehead. Why’d he feel like he’d been running for ten minutes instead of resting? He took a series of deep breaths. Ryan noticed.

“Hey. You OK?” Ryan frowned. “You look kinda rattled.”

Alex felt rattled. His heart rate wouldn’t slow, and his shakes were getting more frequent. “Bad story.”

“Yeah. It is.” Ryan looked unconvinced. “You feeling all right? Want me to grab Brynn?”

“No!” Alex snapped and felt instant guilt. “I’m fine, just need to relax.”

Suddenly he knew what it was. Withdrawal. He’d been without his anxiety medication for twenty-four hours, and his body was protesting. He took the stuff only at night to help him sleep, but apparently, his body was really missing the habit. He’d had no idea those tiny pills could affect him this way. Hopefully, he’d be through the worst of it soon. And he was done taking the damn things. If he still had problems sleeping, he’d invest in some boring books. He floundered for a question to distract Ryan.

“So Brynn shares Jim’s tent, huh?” The words tumbled out of Alex’s mouth, and he mentally kicked himself in the head. Not the way to find out more about Brynn. Without thinking, he’d rudely stuck his foot in his mouth. Real smooth.

Ryan’s eyes narrowed a bit. “It’s not like that. Jim’s wife and Brynn are really close. And she’s as good as married.”

“As good as married?” What’d that mean?

“She and Liam have been together for nearly two years.”

“Then why aren’t they married?”

Ryan paused, and Alex watched a flash of confusion cross his face. “Brynn’s not really the marrying kind,” he said slowly.

Alex raised a brow and waited. It’s none of my business.

But he wanted to know more.

The other man coughed and frowned. “That didn’t come out right. Her parents…well, her dad anyway…”

He was putting Ryan on the spot. Alex cut him off with a sharp hand gesture. “You don’t need to give some big explanation. That kind of complex commitment isn’t the right path for some people.”

Relief relaxed Ryan’s face. “That’s kinda what I meant. How about you? Are you married?” His eagerness to change the subject was obvious.

Alex shook his head and wryly twisted his lips. “Divorced. Commitment wasn’t the right path for her either.” “Sorry, man. That sucks.”

Alex nodded, deliberately dropping his gaze, and Ryan turned back to his own pack.

Their conversation over, Alex took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and concentrated on slowing his pounding heart. How long was he going to have withdrawal symptoms? They weren’t going to get worse, were they?





“I’ve got to get out there.” Liam’s honest face contorted as he ran a hand through his tightly cropped hair and paced in circles.

“You’re not flying in this weather.” Patrick placed a restraining hand on the pilot’s shoulder.

“You don’t even know where they are. They haven’t been able to check in. He might have done something…”

Patrick grabbed both Liam’s shoulders and turned him to stare eye to eye. “Done what? If Whittenhall is right and Kinton wants to get his hands on Besand, his best bet is going to be sticking with an experienced crew. He doesn’t know squat about getting around out there. He needs those guys to survive.”

“What about Brynn? Maybe he sees her as expendable?”

Patrick mentally rolled his eyes.

“Kinton’s not stupid.” Patrick thought back to their first meeting. He hadn’t met an unbalanced man. He’d met a determined one. A man with his wits about him. He was having a hard time reconciling the unstable image Whittenhall painted of Kinton with the resolute soldier he’d met that morning. Something in Patrick’s gut didn’t like Whittenhall. The marshal was shifty, pompous, and condescending. Maybe that was optimistically skewing Patrick’s view of Kinton.

But his gut was usually right. Usually.

“They need air support. They’re not going to stumble across a wreck in that forest. It’s the old needle in a haystack comparison,” Liam said.