Chilled (Bone Secrets, #2)(25)

“There might be a good window of weather tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Liam kicked at a rock, sending a splatter of mud over Patrick’s boots. Patrick bit his lip and ignored it because Liam was a good pilot who’d frequently helped Madison County with SAR, and he belonged to Brynn. But that didn’t mean Patrick had to hold Liam’s hand because he was rattled about his girlfriend’s safety.

“You need to stop stressing over Brynn and give her a little more credit. She’s tough and smart.”

Liam scowled, looking away.

“When she broke her collarbone in that rockslide last year she toughed it out. Finished the search even though she couldn’t move her arm. She’s pretty good at taking care of herself.”

Patrick decided not to mention the obnoxious fit of temper Liam had thrown when he’d found her in the hospital with her arm in a sling. Judging by Liam’s tight lips, he remembered clearly.

“No one’s going to let your unit fly today. You know that. Don’t try to make me out to be the bad guy. Your own CO won’t let you up today. Besides, it’s almost dark.”

Liam was silent, his head pointed in the direction of the trailhead as if he expected to see the team come traipsing back out. He muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Patrick leaned toward Liam, his neck stiffening at the rebellious look on the pilot’s face.

“I won’t be taking an Air Force bird out today.”

“That’s right.” He watched the young man closely. “Don’t get any ideas.”

“I gotta go.” Liam abruptly turned and jogged in the direction of his truck before Patrick could say another word.

Fuck. What was Liam going to do? Patrick silently repeated Liam’s words, No Air Force bird. Surely Liam didn’t know of a civilian crazy enough to try to fly in this weather. It’d be a death mission. Patrick mentally rattled through a list of local pilots with their own copters and caught his breath.

“Oh, shit.” He did know of one pilot crazy enough to try a stunt like that. Liam’s older brother, Tyrone, had his own helicopter.

He turned to shout after Liam, but his truck was already gone.

Patrick glanced at the dark sky, reassured that Liam wouldn’t be going anywhere tonight. He’d worry about the pilot tomorrow. Patrick’s watch beeped softly, and he cursed as he saw the time. The evening press conference was in ten minutes. He put Brynn’s boyfriend out of his mind and concentrated on what useless facts he could toss to the vultures with the microphones.

He winced at the analogy. Vultures circled the dying.

Alex’s first twenty-degree night in a tent was over.

Thank God.

He lowered his head and trudged on. They’d gotten a good six inches of snow overnight, and eventually he’d slept like a log. Around midnight, he’d raided Ryan’s backpack and swallowed a hefty dose of Benadryl to get to sleep. Maybe a little too much. Thomas had had to roughly shake Alex awake that morning.

He’d had to resort to the sneaky Benadryl measure after realizing his two tent mates snored like trains. Ryan especially. This morning Ryan had been coughing heavily and had a pallor that caused Brynn to question his health. He’d brushed her off, saying he believed he was catching a cold but felt good enough to push on. Alex thought he looked like shit, but he kept his mouth shut.

He followed Thomas’s footsteps automatically, but kept a careful watch for any more slides, stepping carefully with the homemade snowshoes Thomas had rigged for him with branches, rope, wire, and tiny bungee cords. Everyone else had lightweight aluminum snowshoes in their packs. Thomas had whipped together the makeshift snowshoes in under a half hour while Alex had watched every move with fascination.

“Don’t know why Collins didn’t have snowshoes in there.” Jim had shaken his head, watching Thomas’s hands wrap cording around the pliable tree branches.

“When’s the last time the sheriff actually went out on search? He’s always stuck coordinating,” Brynn had said as she ran a brush over Kiana’s thick fur while they waited. Alex could have sworn he saw the dog smile.

Thomas had hooked the bungee cords around Alex’s boots and secured the rough frames to his feet. Intrigued, Alex had immediately tried them out. He’d stepped one shoe on the heel of the other and then fallen. Thomas had grinned. Smiling ruefully, Alex had tried again; he was too absorbed in the results of Thomas’s talent to get embarrassed. He’d shuffled in circles until he’d caught a rhythm.

The snowfall stopped after the first break and gave them several hours without precipitation. The noon sky was dark and dismal and thick clouds hung low, but the wind seemed to have let up slightly. Contact with base camp had been impossible since early yesterday.

“I don’t think this is the window of good weather they were talking about,” Jim said. “I don’t think they’d risk any flights just yet. Besides, it’s not snowing here right now but might be back at camp. We’ll try calling again once we get a little higher, but I knew coming in there was a chance we wouldn’t be able to talk to base camp at all this mission.”

They settled into the protection of a small rocky ridge, out of the wind, and stopped for lunch. Ryan immediately plopped down in the snow after slinging his pack off. He looked miserable. His breathing was labored and sweat dripped from his forehead. Brynn tried to get him to eat, but he shook his head.