flipped some switches, adjusted some knobs and the thwacking sound of the blades slowed to a hiss.
Jenna peered out the window at trees on all sides and marveled at Cade’s skill in landing this contraption. How had he known precisely where to put it?
Then another question crowded out her admiration for Cade. Where the heck were they?
Before she could give voice to her concerns, Cade hopped out of the helicopter and circled to her side. He pulled open the door. “Everyone doing okay?”
“That was fun!” Gavin bounced up and down in his seat.
An ear-to-ear grin split Cade’s face. “Glad you enjoyed the ride. Now we’re going to get some sleep.”
Jenna jabbed a finger toward the trees. “In there?”
“There’s a cabin nearby.” He snapped open her seat belt. “It’s about half a mile. I’ll carry Gavin and my bag if you get the backpack.”
Tugging her jacket around her body, Jenna scooted toward the door. Cade held out his hand and she took it as he helped her to the ground. Then he reached into the back of the chopper and freed Gavin from his seat belt.
Cade hoisted his black bag over his head, strapping it diagonally across his body. He slipped the straps of the backpack over Jenna’s shoulders. She staggered back under its weight.
Cade steadied her. “Sorry. I’ve got my life in there right now.” Then he lifted Gavin from his seat and clasped him to his body once outside.
“Are you ready for a short hike?”
“What’s a short hike after what we’ve been through tonight?”
“Can we take the helicopter?” Gavin wriggled in Cade’s
arms.
Too much excitement had flooded his little body with adrenaline. Welcome to life with Dad, kiddo.
“Too many trees, Gavin. Choppers need wide, open spaces.” Cade pulled a flashlight from his pocket and aimed it at the ground. “I’ll lead the way. Stick close.”
Stick close? Three years of abandonment, and now she was supposed to stick close?
She grunted a response and lined up behind Cade as he made his way through the trees, following some obscure trail only he could see. She stumbled a few times and bumped her forehead against his back once, but they didn’t stop.
After about fifteen minutes of heavy breathing and scuffing through pine needles, the trees abruptly ended. Jenna glanced up from the ground to catch sight of a small log cabin nestled against a boulder of about the same size. Despite its darkened windows and cold chimney, the cabin exuded a cozy vibe.
“What is this place?”
“It’s a Prospero safe house.”
“Prospero and safe house in the same breath is an oxymoron.”
Cade hoisted Gavin in his arms and lifted one brow in her direction. “Then you don’t know much about Prospero.”
“I know more than I want to know.”
Cade blew out a breath, which puffed away in the cold air.
“Are we still in Utah?”
“Yeah, but farther south than Salt Lake.”
“Do you have a key to this place, too, or do you just mumble the secret Prospero code?”
“You’re funny, Jenna, always were...in a sarcastic kind of way.”
“Yeah, I’ve been a barrel of laughs the past three years.”
He chucked her under the chin. “You couldn’t have been jumping at your shadow all that time or you never could’ve raised a confident boy like this one.”
Pleasure crept across her skin at the compliment, but she shook it off. He always did know how to butter her up.
Cade swung Gavin to the ground. “You and your mom wait at the front door, okay?”
Gavin scampered toward the cabin and hopped up the two steps.
“Where are you going?” Jenna grabbed the slick sleeve of his down jacket.
“No secret Prospero code. I have to break a window in the back. I’ll open the door for you and Gavin.”
“Sh-should I have a gun or something?” She rubbed the arms of her own jacket, as her gaze darted around the perimeter of the cabin.
“Nobody knows where this place is...yet.”
He’d used that word again. She guessed he didn’t want to inspire a false sense of security.
She joined Gavin on the wooden porch and leaned against the post that ran to the roof. Someone had been maintaining this place, which meant someone else knew of its location.
The dead bolt on the inside of the door snapped, and Jenna jumped.
Cade poked his head outside. “Welcome to my humble abode.”
“Any abode is better than sleeping in a car in a cold warehouse.”
“Exactly.” He swung open the door. “So thoughtful of our pursuers to loan us their helicopter.”
Jenna scooped up Gavin beneath his arms and swung him over the threshold.
Cade