Page 71 of When the Silence Breaks

All she knew was that Ryder had settled deep into her marrow. Flakes caught in her lashes, bringing her thoughts back to this moment and the realization that—surprise—it had started to snow and was coming down thick and heavy. She’d expected it, sure, but had hoped and prayed it would hold off.

They crested another rise. Despite the icy wind, her back was slick with sweat. Ryder once again paused to look through his binoculars. Were they being followed? Had their pursuers caught up to them? Closing in yet?

Below them, the alpine basin yawned, presenting a much different view from the evergreens or the sleepy town of Mercy Ridge and yet, still completely stunning. Frozen-in-time jagged rocks reached for the sky, and at the base of those rocks were windblown snowfields. And a glacier. As the snowflakesthickened, the view transformed into a crisp winter wonderland. Funny to think that down below in Mercy Ridge, it might still be a golden, sunlit autumn day, while here on the mountain, winter had already arrived.

For the first time ... she hated heights. The beauty took her breath away, sure, but standing at the top of this rise, she felt out of place, like an intruder into a world that wasn’t meant for her. An abomination against this raw, untamed wilderness.

She was unprepared for all of it. Any of it. The altitude. The cold. The way the vastness pressed in around her, making her feel small and vulnerable in unexpected ways. Still, she slogged forward, letting Ryder lead her away from that viewpoint until she saw nothing but the highest elevation, and the summit of Blackspire Mountain loomed before her.

Rumbling filled her ears as the ground moved beneath her feet. Fear gripping her, she dropped to her knees.

Next to her, Ryder crouched. His gloved hand pressed against the snow, and he lifted his face to the peaks above them, concern creasing around his eyes.

“What is it? What’s happening?”Please don’t tell me another small but common earthquake.

“The mountain.”

“The volcano, you mean.”

“It’s not erupting,” he said. “Don’t worry.”

“Then what’s that fear I see on your face?” Oh, why had she thought she could face off with bad guys and a mountain?

“I don’t want to get caught in an avalanche,” he said.

Oh, wait, not the mountain but an avalanche. Why hadn’t that risk been on her radar?Lord, whatam I even doing here?“Can we just get on with it so we can get the vials and save Jeremy?”

“You know what I texted Holt. Nothing has changed. We locate the plane, but we hand this off.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sarah, we’re not prepared to handle a bioweapon. You know that. I know that. We hand this off.”

“My son, Ryder. I can’t.” Had Ryder suddenly become her enemy? “He’s everything to me. Do you understand?”

Sarah scrambled to her feet and Ryder stood too.

She still had her Sig at her ankle, buried beneath the layers. She’d do this on her own if she had to ... to save Jeremy. “I thought you were in this with me.”

He stepped forward and grabbed her arms before she could even flinch. React. Good thing. She might have done something she would have regretted. She might have reached for her weapon.

“We’ll get him back, Sarah. We’ll get him. But I thought you had figured this out on your own.”

She wanted to shrink back under his intense gaze, but she stood her ground. “What are you saying?”

Ryder stared, his tight grip loosening only a little as he tugged her closer. “Sarah...”

Oh ... my...“You ... you don’t think they’re going to keep their part of the deal.”

“No. And neither do you. We can’t trust them. So we figure out how to save him.”

“I don’t know how to get him back, Ryder. How do we get him back?” She wanted to crumple again, but she stood taller. Drew in an icy cold breath. For her son.

“You’re smart. You’re strong. Together, we’ll figure this out. The first step is finding the plane.”

“Then handing that intel over to your brother? You think you can trust him?”

“Yes. You trusted yours, didn’t you?”