Chilled (Bone Secrets, #2)(57)

He silently swore and pulled his hand away.

I have no right. He squeezed his eyes shut.

She was living with someone. But she hadn’t pulled away last night, and behind the initial confusion in her eyes when he reached for her he’d seen…something. And it wasn’t rejection. It was warm.

He wanted her. In a bad way.

Maybe he was just overreacting after nearly dying. Seeking the ultimate affirmation of life, wanting to mark it with a female, show that he was alive. And Brynn was simply the closest woman. Showing up in his death dream didn’t mean squat. Simply because he’d felt something in his dreams didn’t mean it existed in real life.

He gazed back at her face and felt his heart speed up.

Who am I trying to fool?

In forty-eight hours he’d fallen head over frozen heels for Brynn. She was smart and strong and feisty. Life radiated from her and had touched the part of him that had felt dead for so long, slowly bringing him back to life. It was like that allergy drug commercial where the scene is fuzzy until the person pops a pill and suddenly everything is crystal clear. She’d shaken something awake inside him. No wonder he’d fallen hard.

Shit. The first woman to catch his eye and his heart, and she was already taken.

Or was she? She hadn’t uttered a single word about her boyfriend. Don’t most women mention them every other sentence? She hadn’t said she couldn’t wait until she got back home, or talked about what the two of them would do, or said she hoped her boyfriend wasn’t worrying about her. If Alex’s girlfriend was out in this hell, he’d be worried. The only mention he’d heard of her boyfriend was from Ryan. And there’d been an odd tone when Ryan talked about—what was his name?—Liam.

Liam. Alex mouthed the name. He didn’t like the feel of it.

Felt foreign on his tongue.

His jaw tightened. There could be an age issue in Brynn’s mind.

Well, maybe for her. He doubted she’d hit thirty yet and he’d passed forty a few years ago. It didn’t bother him, but she might see him in a more…fatherly light. He cringed, his chest tightening. Ugh. She looked at Jim like that. There was true friendship and caring there, but there was also a respect from Brynn that one gave to their elders.

Did she see Alex like that?

Ryan coughed, paused, and resumed snoring. Startled out of his thoughts of Brynn, Alex studied the sleeping man. Would Ryan be strong enough to hike out? He’d looked like hell the night before. At least Alex felt nearly fully recovered. He’d be able to hike out fine.

His body jerked as he remembered the purpose of his mission. Every muscle tensed. How could he have gone for hours without thinking of the killer?

Darrin Besand. After the avalanche, he had nearly been wiped out of Alex’s mind. Alex had been distracted by Brynn and his newfound interest in doing something with his life. Besand couldn’t wait. He had to find the * now. He had to know.

Alex closed his eyes and thought. If he’d been a convicted murderer hurt in a plane crash who didn’t want to go back to prison and saw a rescue crew come in, what would he do?

Hide.

But then what?

Wait and follow them out.

He knew Besand would choose death over going back to prison. That was one fact he’d learned about him. Even if he were bleeding to death, Besand wouldn’t make himself known to the group. So was he close by? Or had he already tried to hike out before they arrived? That was the theory he and Jim had arrived at yesterday, but now Alex wasn’t so sure.

The only place Besand could have survived the nights would have been in the other piece of the plane. Alex shifted on the floor, forcing himself to not dash out and check the cockpit. His mind raced. There were no other possibilities. This little plane wouldn’t have carried a tent, so Besand was either dead in the woods or taking cover from the elements in the cockpit while they slept.

The bloodstains on the plane seat across from Linus’s weren’t that big. Besand probably hadn’t been hurt too badly. Internal injuries were a possibility. Alex felt a hot rage stir in his belly.

I hope you died in the snow, you f*cker, with icy pellets hammering your face as your body shut down. And I hope you were awake for every minute of it.

Next to Brynn, Jim sat up abruptly, scanning his surroundings, his eyes clearing as he remembered where he was. He took in Brynn with her head still on Alex’s shoulder. His eyes narrowed as he met Alex’s stare.

Go ahead, Jim. Say something. Anything.

Jim quietly cleared his throat as his gaze slid away and he peered toward the window. Light was dim. Alex estimated the time to be around six o’clock.

“What’s your plan?” Alex whispered.

Jim turned back to him, deliberately not looking at Brynn. “We need to talk.”

Alex nodded. “Not now.”

“Later. Alone.” Jim’s voice was hard.

“I want to go take another look at the cockpit,” Alex said. He also needed to take a piss, but couldn’t bear to move Brynn’s head just yet.

“The cockpit? Why—” Jim stopped speaking, and understanding crossed his face. “You think Besand is still here?”

Alex shrugged his unoccupied shoulder. “Either he’s dead under a layer of snow or he decided to hike out, and I doubt he would have survived the night without a tent or tarp. He’s dead or he slept in that cockpit last night.” He took a breath. “Until I see his dead body I have to believe he’s alive.”