Page 72 of When the Silence Breaks

No need to be so harsh.“But ... can you be sure he won’t be taken out? He could already be dead. Anyone who knows about it is threatened.”

“I agree there’s a risk, but this is in his wheelhouse. And we have no choice.”

Sarah couldn’t argue with him. She had no answers.God, pleasesave my son!She focused her attention on the path ahead. “Let’s locate the plane and get out of here before they find us. Maybe the snow will cover our tracks. We’ll tell them where the plane is after Jeremy is safe. They have to know we can’t exactly extract the vials, retrieving them from a crashed plane. Who knows whether the vials are intact or shattered, and the bioweapon would be unleashed if someone opens the plane up. They’ll have to do that themselves. Can your brother help with finding Jeremy and make sure he’s safe?”

“He has connections. He’ll make sure it’s a priority to find Jeremy.”

“If he even gets your message.”

Ryder was putting a lot of trust in his brother, but she wasn’t so sure she could. She might die on this mountain before she even had the chance to make sure her son was safe.

God ... I’ve never needed you more. My boy,he’s just a baby. Please keep him safe. And keep Tessasafe.

She glanced up at the peaks above—a couple thousand more feet of snow-covered, glacier-packed peaks. A growing dread built up in her chest—where was the danger likely to come from first? The mountain they climbed, the snow above, or the armed men behind?

Ryder lifted his field glasses. “Look, Sarah.”

She peered through as he held them.

“Where am I looking?”

“Just beyond that boulder. Can you see that slice of twisted metal?”

“Partially buried under the snow?” Her breath caught. “Is that what I think it is?”

“A wing. It could be theSentinel One.”

“But it looks more like it landed and not necessarily crashed. I thought it would have exploded. Something.” And somehow left the vial intact. Right.

“Not everything explodes like in the movies. Your grandfather might have died in that case.”

“Got it.”

“If he had any control, a good pilot would’ve tried to glide and clear that ridge or maybe even make it to the next valley. But if he was losing altitude too fast or the engines were out, he might’ve aimed for the first semi-flat stretch he could find.”

“Whatever. We found it, Ryder. Can you believe we found it.” It wasn’t a question. But with the words, her precious son’s face came to mind. “Even so ... honestly, I never would have come to Mercy Ridge had I known the true cost.”

Heart pounding, she leaned against him before she realized what she was doing. But she counted on him. Needed him. And at the thought of him—all he’d done for her, all he’d risked—her throat thickened with emotion. Ryder Goodwin was so much more to her than just the man for this job.

Pulling herself together, she leaned away from him, steadying her breaths. She followed him as he began descending carefully into the snow-laced dip in the summit—a narrow basin sheltered by the ridge and wind-polished rocks—toward the plane-shaped mound under the snow ... now partially exposed.

Whatever had hidden it for decades ... had finally let go.

Ryder moved too slowly for comfort.

“What are we doing, exactly?” she asked.

“I’m checking for signs of recent movement. Boot prints.”

“You mean you’re checking for a booby trap?”

“Maybe.”

Was he being overcautious? Sarah didn’t like what this meant. What if someone else had gotten the vials? How could she save Jeremy? How could she expose the truth to the world—or, at the very least, to some responsible authority, whomever that might be?

“Let’s make sure this is the right plane,” she said, “and once we know that, we can move on to the next part of our plan.” Though they were making it up as they went. “I don’t care about justice anymore so much as getting my son back, safe and sound.”

The snow fell thick and heavy and left them in a muted silence that was both absolute and eerie, especially on a mountain peak at this height. She could almost imagine the volcano sleeping beneath them. The thought of it—rumbling, as if to remind the residents at the base that it was still alive—sent a sliver of terror through her.