Chilled (Bone Secrets, #2)(27)

Before they’d taken a single step down the steep slope to the plane, Jim had looked up the mountain behind them and waved a hand at the wide expanse of snow. “Heavy snow. A lot of wet snow has fallen up here. I want everyone to follow the edge of the woods. Stick to the trees and out of the clearing as much as possible. This place is ripe for an avalanche.”

Brynn took one look at the tall slope behind them, dotted with rocky outcroppings where the slope was nearly vertical, and agreed. She’d come across avalanches after the fact. She’d never been around one when it occurred, and she wanted to keep it that way. She knew Jim had lost a good friend to a Canadian avalanche.

Ryan waved them on. “I’ll come down once I feel a little better. Leave your cell phones. Maybe someone’s will work up here. I’ll try to get a hold of base camp since we’ve got some clear views.”

“Take a look at all the GPS units too.” Jim handed over his unit, frowning. “One of them has got to be right. We need to let Collins know where we are. At least the radios seem to work among the five of us. I’ll let you know what we find down there.”

They’d left Ryan resting with a couple of thousand dollars of technology in the snow beside him and a low-tech compass in his hand.

Brynn glanced over her shoulder. They’d descended a good distance. Ryan was becoming a red spot against the snow. At least he could keep the group in sight all the way down to the plane. She’d examine him more closely after they checked the plane, and she wouldn’t take any more flak from him. He’d insisted he was fine and brushed her off earlier. She hadn’t pushed the issue.

Her objective was to get to the plane and see if medical help was needed. Ryan could wait.

The slope was steep, and they moved slowly. It took a good forty minutes to get within fifty feet of the plane. Kiana had bounded down, leaping from side to side like a skier working his way down a steep slope of powder, and was already nosing about the wreckage.

“Hellooo!” Jim’s subdued shout was met with silence. Brynn cast back a nervous glance at the mountain of snow. It was doubtful Jim’s level of volume would dislodge the snow. But she couldn’t stop herself from checking.

Dread was quickly replacing the energizing thrill from spotting the plane.

Could someone survive that?

The wreckage was bad. As they drew closer and saw the damage, her chest felt like it’d been hollowed out with a dull spoon. The plane had been ripped into two ragged pieces, the rear two-thirds had ended up against a stand of firs, and the cockpit had landed several hundred feet down the slope. Looking at the tall firs on the far side of the clearing, she could see where the plane had blown through the forest, leaving a swath of broken treetops and shattered limbs in its wake. Brynn shuddered. How had the cockpit ended up so far away from the body of the plane?

It was a small plane. The larger body piece still had the tail and one wing attached. The wing was barely visible in the powder, its engine a gentle snow-covered bump with its propeller still in place. Orange and brown stripes ran along the side of the fuselage and colored the tail.

Both pieces appeared to have landed right side up, and several inches of snow covered them. The scene was peaceful, pieces of the plane delicately covered with white fluff. How much more snow would completely hide the plane? She glanced at the sky and doubted the plane could be easily spotted from above. Already the snow obscured too much.

They were lucky Ryan had become ill.

She bit a lip. Ryan probably didn’t see it that way. If they got some air support today she was sending him back immediately. Unless there was someone wounded on the plane. That would take first priority.

“Hellooo!” Jim called again.

All quiet.

“Thomas and I will check the cockpit. You two check the rest,” Jim ordered. He lifted a brow at Alex, held his gaze, and motioned to his side. Alex nodded. Brynn frowned.

What was that about?

She watched as Alex removed a glove and slipped a hand in his pocket as he carefully stepped down the slope in his homemade snowshoes. She’d hid her laughter at his fascination during their construction process. He’d watched every move and asked a dozen questions that Thomas had answered with an absolute minimum of words. The marshal who hated the outdoors sure seemed to like his snowshoes. But now his face was tight, his lips pressed together, and she remembered what he’d said about the marshal on board. A good friend. Brynn studied his serious face. She had a hunch this quiet marshal didn’t let many people get close to him. When Ryan had mentioned Alex was divorced, she’d blinked, more surprised that Ryan had pried the information out of Alex than by the divorce.

Ryan had a way of talking to everyone like they were his best friends. She’d never known anyone who could put people at ease as fast as Ryan. Apparently, his skills had worked on Alex. Alex was proving to be a commendable member of the group. What he lacked in outdoor skills he made up for in simple persistence. He hadn’t let Thomas get the best of him with that slide trick. He’d let Ryan talk his ear off without coming to blows. He deferred to Jim in all decisions. Well, since that first decision anyway. And he didn’t treat her as a helpless female like some of the other SAR team members she’d worked with.

Except when he’d hauled her frozen ass off that log bridge. But she had been a helpless female at that point.

And he liked her dog; that gave him lots of points.