Page 43 of When the Silence Breaks

“Are you ... are you lost?” Her knees shook, even though she was sitting down.

“No. I took us on a different route, winding around.”

“You took the long way around? Ryder, what’s going on? Is someone still behind us?”

He didn’t answer, but his expression told her enough.

“I knew it. I knew you were trying to lose them. Why didn’t you tell me?” She’d hoped no one would follow. But she’d been hoping for the impossible. Fooling herself in the meantime. “Still ... how do you know it’s not other hikers?”

“I thought I made that clear yesterday. Other hikers use the well-trodden paths. Guides use the well-trodden paths. I’m creating my own.”

Her shoulders dropped. Yeah, she’d known but held on to the hope he could be wrong. She could be wrong. “So wearebeing followed.”

“Wewerebeing followed. I hope I lost them.”

Up here, someone could kill them, and no one would ever find their bodies—at least until next summer, if then.

“I mean, couldn’t they just zip around in a helicopter until they spot us? Land close and take whatever we find? Come tothink of it, maybe we should have done that.” She knew better after seeing this spread of mountain wilderness. But she pressed on with her questions, covering every angle and every base.

“That sounds easier than it is.” Ryder lifted binoculars and peered through them. “Hiking boots on the ground is the best way.”

“I think I can guess why, but maybe you can explain it since you’re a guide and all. Helicopters dumping people where they want to go on the mountain could interfere with your business.”

“And helicopters do dump people on the mountain, over on the other side with the ski resort—it’s called heli-skiing. But to your point, first, the canopy’s too thick—old growth, dense firs and pines. You’d never spot anything through all that from the air.”

“I imagine landing could be hard too,” she said.

“Now you’re getting it. Flat ridges are best, but they’re hard to find from above in a range of peaks, and there’s just no safe place to land this high. Heli-skiing—the choppers set down on established pads to drop skiers off. But this terrain?” He lowered the binoculars a fraction. “Too steep, too tight, too much timber. You try it and you’re flirting with disaster.”

“As for someone following me and chasing me down with a helicopter, I guess we could hear the bird from miles away. We could just disappear and hide.”

“Yep.” He lowered the binoculars and gave her a look. “Obviously, Blackspire Mountain has protected this secret for decades. You want answers? You hike.”

“All right, already. You convinced me. So where is base camp? How long until we’re there?” She wished she hadn’t asked because she sounded as exhausted as she was. She didn’t want to give him a reason to turn them back before she finished.

“Not far.”

“You said that about two hours ago.”

“And I explained about that.”

I get it.“I knew I picked the right guide but doesn’t mean I have to like the new plan.”

He gave her a look but said nothing more to her complaint. He did that a lot lately, and she’d gotten used to it, so she didn’t press him to answer. Thatwashis answer. Without words. She knew the answer was simply a look. He was training her to read his mind.

Yeah, she wouldn’t say that out loud.

“You ready?” He lifted her pack and assisted her into it.

Can I say no?She shrugged it on. They pushed on, Ryder setting a steady pace while Sarah matched him step for step, forcing her tired legs to cooperate. She hoped and prayed by the end of this she wouldn’t be crushed by her own determination to find answers that maybe weren’t meant to be found. Her own determination to get justice that might be better left to God.

After all, hadn’t he said that vengeance was his? Vengeance, yes, and he was the final judge, sure. But Sarah could at least start the wheels of justice for her brother.

Finally ... Ryder dropped his pack. “Base camp.”

Sarah released a heavy sigh. She couldn’t have been more relieved.I just want this to be over.

“You rest,” he said. “I’ll set up the camp.”