Page 59 of When the Silence Breaks

He asked a good question. Her grandfather’s words came back to her.“I died on that mountain.”

She understood now that her grandfather had changed his name and become Walt Ellison, leaving his old self for dead.

But unlike Grandpa Walt, she had no intention of dying on this mountain.

Twenty-Four

He waited for Sarah to finally snap out of it. After his question, she’d gone still, her breath caught somewhere between inhale and exhale.

He was doing his best to contain his frustration and hide the truth thatSentinel Onehad gone down not far from where the SAR team had rescued someone two years ago—where his father had died. He wasn’t sure he could go there, but they had much more to worry about than his emotional baggage. And he would hear what this woman had planned for them.

Finally, her shoulders dropped, and she breathed but didn’t answer his question. Had she even thought this through? Did she have an answer for him?

He’d have to press her, then. “I told you from the beginning—I’m not here for a treasure hunt. But neither am I here to play a deadly game of cat and mouse. Bottom line, I didn’t sign up for this, and I’m going to go out on a limb here...” He held her gaze. “You didn’t either.”

Cold air pressed in on him, adding to the chill he already felt growing around them with this discovery. She had to be feeling it too. Frowning, he turned his attention to stoking thefire again and adding more logs—a feeble attempt to chase the cold closing in around his heart.

Opening the grate, he stuck logs in. Pushed them around with a fire iron until they settled and the fire blazed again. He spotted the window at the side of the cabin near the back and realized it wasn’t completely closed. Why hadn’t he seen that earlier? Ryder pushed to close it, but it wouldn’t shut all the way, so he grabbed the old wool blankets and stuffed them into the space.

“We need to think this through,” he finally said.

“What do you think I’m doing?” she snapped. “Sorry. Okay, so if that vial is the bioweapon, or one of many vials of the bioweapon, we can’t just go back to town waving it around.”

“I wouldn’t dream of that, but you can’t think we need to find that plane. Knowing what we know now, that’s probably the exact wrong thing to do.”

She folded her arms across her chest and lifted her chin. “And what’s your plan? Hike down the mountain and pretend none of this happened? That your grandfather wasn’t complicit in this cover-up?”

Now, wait a minute.“My grandfather wasn’t complicit in anything. Your grandfather was on the plane, was part of the mission. Neither of us can point fingers, and it’s just a waste of time. Doesn’t matter anymore. But we’re in a situation here and now.”

I’m not trained for this.

“What would a Navy SEAL do?” she asked.

Her question startled him. Was that information on the website? He hadn’t told her about his past. He’d circle back to how she knew that later. Explosives, weapons caches, enemy intel—those he could handle. But a biological agent locked in a glass vial? That was above his pay grade, especially nowthat he was no longer a SEAL. “SEALs aren’t typically trained to handle biological agents. They aren’t trained to identify a pathogen or transport a bioweapon for storage.”

“But you’re trained to recognize a weapon of mass destruction, right? You know about containment procedures.”

Oh, so she actually knew he’d been a SEAL, and she knew what they were trained to do. He’d unpack that later as well. “And communication protocols,” he added. Howdidshe know so much about this? “I think the issue here, and you might agree, is that reporting this to the appropriate authority is our priority.”

“When”—she stepped closer—“those same authorities killed my brother?”

He wasn’t entirely sure that she knew this, and if she did, then how? That meant she wasn’t telling him everything. Regardless... “You make a good point.” She made the only point that mattered—if they wanted to survive and somehow save the world from this disaster waiting to happen. He moved to peer out the window. Nothing but black stared back.

Was someone watching from the shadows? Waiting on them to make a move?

Lord, what do we do next?Where do we go from here?He’d sent his brother, Holt, a message, so at least someone would know, but he hadn’t told Mom the details. He hadn’t wanted her caught up in this, hadn’t wanted her worried, or worse, in danger. Now, though, regret gnawed at him. Now he wished he hadn’t involved the sheriff or the town in this either. A cold weight settled in his chest. He could die on this mountain. They could both die. His grandfather had died here. He’d suffered a heart attack while hiking. And his father had died here too.

How do you stop that kind of legacy?How did Ryder standin the path of what felt like the natural trajectory for his own life—and now possibly Sarah’s?

“Ryder.” Sarah stepped forward, her voice softer now. “What are you thinking we should do?”

Honestly? Contain, report, disappear were always great strategies.

But did she really want to hear his plan? Because he had a feeling that she had her own.

Finally he turned to face her. “Our mission has changed.” He wasn’t completely sure about that. “We need to find out who is after us—you, specifically.” She must have some idea, since she believed authorities murdered her brother. She might even know. None of that she had shared with him.

“And how do you propose we do that?” The softness had fled her tone again. Exhaustion obviously pressed in on her. Exhaustion and fear.