“Thanks!” She took note of the photographs pinned to the dash. Rae leaned closer, hoping to identify the people. Ivan and Sam. Wayne and Ivan and two other men she didn’t recognize standing in front of . . . of . . . a Hummer.
A Hummer?
Her pulse jumped and her hands shook.
How many people around here drove Hummers that looked exactly like the one that had forced them off the road? Good thing she’d already finished the protein bar, because she lost her appetite.
She was with a group. She wouldn’t panic. Nor could she let anyone see fear in her eyes. It was a coincidence. Nothing more. She would tell herself that until she got off this helicopter and was back with Liam. They could share the information with the sheriff and find out if the driver who tried to kill them was someone related to the heli-skiing group.
Exhaustion crept in, and the beating rhythm of the blades lulled her. She could hardly keep her eyes open. Ivan glanced over his shoulders to look at her, his sunglasses removed.
The helicopter landed. By rote she climbed from the helicopter along with everyone else and gathered all the equipment. Rae headed for the facility while the honeymooners hung back, talking to Wayne and Ivan. She wanted to ask Ivan more questions, but panic had taken hold. He couldn’t be the one who’d tried to kill her. He couldn’t be the one behind Zoey’s disappearance. But Sam had conveniently missed their flight today. Rae’s thoughts jumbled together.
What about the books? What did they mean?
What about the Hummer?
Where was Liam? Why wasn’t he with her? She couldn’t remember.
Inside the facility, Rae found the sofa in the waiting area and plopped down. She rested her head, hoping to dodge a full-blown headache.
She would have grabbed some ibuprofen from her bag, but she couldn’t lift her arms. For that matter, her legs.
Rae couldn’t move. Her lids closed on her.
I have to move.
I have to get out of here.
Someone sat next to her on the sofa.
“Are you okay?”
Ivan.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
5:02 p.m.
Emerald M Ranch
Stone-cold fear drove him up the rocky mountain trail.
Rae wasn’t answering her cell. Nor could he get a signal to track her with the app he’d installed on her phone. She hadn’t returned to the ranch. Had Fox taken her for good measure, despite his reassurance that Liam’s family and friends would be safe as long as Liam did as he was told? Liam wanted to find the man and make him talk. Make him pay. Make him call off his people. But he couldn’t risk the lives of those most dear to him.
He feared using his cell or any of the house phones to warn them. He didn’t know where the bugs were, but looking for them would tip Fox off. He needed time to think.
Liam had to initiate his own plan first.
He’d saddled his gelding, Duke, to save time on the trail, but at some point, he’d have to dismount and make his way along the snowy, icy trail to the old cabin. It would probably be dark by the time he headed back to Emerald M. Heath had stocked some supplies in the cabin. Just in case, he’d said. If a lost hiker stumbled on the cabin stocked with food, wood for a fire, a bed, and a solar-charged satellite phone, it could save their life. It made sense, and ranger stations throughout the national forests served the same purpose.
Liam had thought Heath had kept the cabin intact because it reminded him of Charlie, and Heath could be sentimental that way. Liam had wanted to tease him about it, but he’d stopped himself.
As he shined the light along the trail and urged Duke farther, he felt like he was that lost hiker. Someone who’d gotten caught in the wilderness without a way out.
Yep. That was Liam—and he was caught in the worst possible way. Nothing worse than being stuck and lost with a blizzard bearing down on you. A few hours remained before the storm was expected to blow in, but meteorologists were known to miss the mark.
Regardless, Liam had to save his people before it was too late.
Fox would be contacting him with his “assignment” to seal the deal. He was expecting Liam to perform to keep his loved ones alive. Maybe there’d been a reason all those years ago that he’d left home and not looked back for months that had turned into years. If no