Page 52 of When the Silence Breaks

“I set the table.”

He gave the table a cursory glance. She’d dusted it off and set out a couple of vacuum-sealed packages, energy bars, and collapsible bowls with a pouch of dehydrated chili. She’d even set out Ryder’s scratched-up titanium camp mug, ready to use on the stove to heat water. Admiration ignited inside, though he wasn’t sure why, but he flicked his gaze to her beautiful eyes.

Almost bashfully—which wasn’t at all like the woman he knew so far—she shrugged. “I wasn’t sure if we’d have hot water or if you’d want the chili even if we did.”

Alongside the food, she’d set out the half-full Nalgene bottles and some purification tabs.

The hot blaze drew his attention back to the stove. He’d left the door hanging open to heat up the room faster as he waited and watched to make sure the smoke exited cleanly through the chimney.

Success. Honestly, that surprised him. Maybe the recent visitor had cleaned it out.

“I’m not sure if the shooter could have followed us here or even would have tried, but it’s a good thing he won’t see the smoke at night,” he said.

“But he’ll smell it,” she said.

“Campfire smoke can come from a lot of places. Unless he’s on our trail, I don’t expect him to find us here. I sayhe, but it could be she or even more than one person.”

Ryder yawned, but he couldn’t afford to relax. Not yet. He heated water in the mug and made chili for them both. While he hoped to be home tomorrow, who knew when the next time they’d get a hot meal might be.

“Eat up.” He served her, then took a seat across from her at the table with his own chili.

They ate quietly, listening to the fire crackling in the stove. The cabin was small enough, it heated up fast—just like he remembered. But it was old and needed work and lost heat through the cracks and crevices. Hungry after the long day, he’d eaten quickly, but she might have finished before him.

“Time for dessert.” She tore into the protein bar.

He did the same, and after he’d finished off the bar, he crumpled the wrapper and put it into a trash bag.

“Listen...” Sarah suddenly frowned, and her face twisted up.

He didn’t like the tone in her voice. “What is it?”

“Tessa, my sister-in-law, left me a message right when we started on the trail. She mentioned finding a flash drive with an audio file and that she would send me more information. I can’t get a signal here, so I don’t know what more she would have said. Plus, I need to check on them. Make sure they’re okay.”

“I hear you.”

“So, do you have any way for me to get a signal or Wi-Fi so I can read the message or download something?”

“Maybe. But there’s a risk. We connect ... someone could get a ping on it.”

“I understand. But ... I need to contact her to make sure she and Jeremy are okay.”

“So, you think it’s worth the risk.”

“For a few minutes anyway, yes. We aren’t going to stay here. We’re going to leave as soon as you say we can.”

A sharp pain ignited between his brows, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. Squeezed his eyes shut. He wanted to contact Holt, too, and could use this moment. This wasn’t a good idea, but it was ...necessary. Seemed like all the wrong moves were also necessary moves.

“I don’t like this.” He frowned. “I carry it only for emergency situations, and I don’t think I’ve ever had to use it. I almost didn’t bring it along. It’s an Iridium GO!, and I can use it to create a small Wi-Fi hotspot. You can connect your phone, but I warn you, it’s got a very low bandwidth, and in this cabin in these dense woods, I’m not sure I can even connect.” If she’d told him this up on the mountain, that might have been better. “There’s no guarantee you can download anything in a reasonable time. We cannot keep a Wi-Fi hotspot open. Understood?”

“Sure. It’s worth a try. I’ll ... just send a text to Tessa and check in. So we can save bandwidth too.”

She shoved her burner phone over. “I’ve kept it off to save the battery.”

“I have a charging bank, too, if we need to use it. Go ahead and type in your text while I get this going, and that will transmit, too, while we’re downloading.” Blowing out a heavy sigh, he knelt by his pack and pulled out the satellite device, about the size of a thick smartphone. He set the Iridium GO! on the windowsill, angling it toward the slice of night sky visible through the trees. Not ideal. With luck, it would catch a signal—just enough to connect. He flipped up the antenna and powered it on, and a faint green light flickered to life.

“Let’s hope this works,” he muttered, connecting Sarah’s burner phone to the hotspot.

The burner chimed as the connection established.