Page 32 of When the Silence Breaks

“Looks like arrows showing the plane’s intended flight path, but that’s a guess. And X marks the spot.” He pressed his finger against it. “I can’t read the writing along the sides.”

“I can’t either.”

Ryder stood back, his hands jammed in his pockets. “If I’m interpreting this correctly, I think I know where that is, but how accurate was he? How did he make it off the mountain without anyone knowing?”

“Do you recognize where this is or not?”

“Maybe.”

“I thought you knew this mountain like the back of your hand.”

“I know it, sure, but geography can change over time. Glaciers shift. Rocks slide. You name it. We’re talking about decades here.”

“Is this where you found the piece that was stolen?”

“It’s in the vicinity. But up on Blackspire,vicinityis a relative term.”

“Whatever that means.” She lifted her face again, her brown eyes searching. “Bottom line, can you get us there?”

“Do you want to see where I found the piece of metal or go to this point on the map?”

“Can’t we do both?”

“We can try, but I can’t make any promises. The weather, the terrain, how long it takes us to get to point A. Maybe if you can give me an idea of your goal, more than what you’ve told me ... What are you looking to find, specifically? Do you even know?”

She blinked and looked back at the map and then put it away in the backpack. “Whatever my brother had hoped to find.”

“Hold on. Pull the map out again.”

“Why?”

“I need to take a picture so I can refer back to it.”

“Great idea. I should have thought of it myself.”

“You could leave the original here.”

“In what, a safe? Do you have a secure place I could leave it?”

“Yes. I’ll take care of it.”

She narrowed her gaze—only slightly—then handed it over. She still didn’t fully trust him, but after what she’d been through, he understood. He would understand her better if he knew the details, but slowly ... she was letting him in, trusting him with what she held close. She might be making this up as she went too, which he understood all too well.

While he hadn’t wanted to betray her trust, he appreciated having someone thathetrusted digging into this. She wouldn’t like it, so he wouldn’t tell her that his brother was going to learn what he could about that fated flight of theSentinel One—he would text him this new information tonight. This incident had been much more than a training-exercise crash—a plane lost in the Pacific Ocean.

“You should get some rest. I’ll put this away somewhere safe. Plus, I need your gear. I’ll add yours to the pile by the door.”

She stood to look at him, and the dim lighting softened her already beautiful features as she stared at him. His heart stuttered. He turned before she could see his reaction and lugged her backpack out. Dropped it by the door, then headed to his room.

He got a text from Wade.

Viv was found dead. Foul play suspected.

He sucked in a breath and responded, asking Wade to let him know anything more he learned. But was her death connected to the information Ryder had shared?

He’d already packed firepower but added more ammo. Always had to be prepared on the mountain for four-legged creatures, but worse than that—those of the two-legged variety. Ryder sat on the edge of his bed and stared at his shaking hands. He squeezed them into fists. Opened them. Squeezed. Opened. Until he shook off the sudden tremors.

He’d gone up the mountain recently to try to face the trauma of that terrible day when he’d been useless and watched his father fall to his death. All the missions in which he’d succeeded as a SEAL, and he’d failed his own father.