Chilled (A Bone Secrets Novel) (31 page)

“Giving Thomas a hand.”

“Thomas?” She sat up. Light from several headlamps filled the plane. There were more bodies in the plane than there should have been. She rubbed at her eyes.

“Brynn? Are you all right?” It was a new voice. One that shouldn’t be here.

Jesus Christ. Liam?
“Liam?”
Alex stepped back as a familiar figure kneeled beside her in the cargo area and took her head in his hands as he scanned her from hood to boots. Liam’s face was white, but the tip of his nose was bright red. His eyes looked like he’d been in a smoky bar for two nights.

“What…where?”

He pulled her close and buried his icy face in her neck. “Thank God. Brynn. I’d about given up. I was certain I’d seen you for the last time.” He pressed his lips in a cold kiss against her neck and worked his way to her mouth like a starving man. She kissed him back for few shocked seconds and then pulled away to meet his eyes.

“We’re OK, Liam. We would’ve hiked out just fine when the weather cleared.”

“Not you, Brynn. Tyrone and I crashed his chopper the day before yesterday.”

“What? You flew in this? Are you crazy?” She pulled back and ran her hands over his chest. “Are you hurt?” Her hands trembled as they touched his snowy coat. Only Tyrone would dare to fly in this weather. Although Liam probably would have tried if he’d had his own helicopter. The brothers were fearless. Sometimes in a bad way.

“I’m fine. Just a little banged up, but Tyrone…” Liam swallowed hard. “He hit his head pretty bad.”

She shoved Liam aside and moved toward the door. “Let me look at him.” She abruptly stopped as she met Alex’s gaze. His
face was blank. He’d been directly behind Liam as she kissed him. Guilt stole her breath.

Then anger gave it back.

She didn’t belong to Alex or to Liam. She glared at Alex, furious at herself for allowing the guilt. She’d kissed Alex. So what?

She’d told Alex that she and Liam were finished.

Then she was kissing Liam a few hours later.

Christ.
She couldn’t deal with this now.

Thomas dipped his head through the cargo door, holding a limp Tyrone in his arms.

“Lay him down.” Alex and Liam immediately forgotten, Brynn scooted back to make room as Thomas gently set the injured man on the floor. Tyrone stirred and opened his eyes.

“Hey, handsome. What were you thinking flying in weather like this?” Brynn teased him as she took his pulse. She pulled off Thomas’s headlamp and checked Tyrone’s pupils with flashes of the lights.

“He had to get to you. No stopping him,” Tyrone muttered. “Head hurts.”

She nodded, her stomach sinking as she pressed a palm on Tyrone’s forehead.

Damn you, Liam.

Alex picked a seat that faced away from the cargo bay. He couldn’t watch any longer. For two people who were no longer a couple, Liam hadn’t let go of Brynn since they came in. Now they sat on the floor next to Tyrone, heads bent together, talking in hushed voices, looking like a couple having a serious discussion about the state of their mortgage. Brynn had caught Alex’s eye several times and minutely shaken her head at him.

Did she mean “Don’t tell him about us” or “I made a mistake with you”?

He didn’t want to know. He rubbed at his knee. The exertion yesterday had made it hurt worse than it had in years. He could simply grab some pain meds, but he didn’t want to. Right now he wanted the pain. Wanted something to distract him from the woman in the plane. Ryan plopped in the seat across the aisle from him, his eyes glassy. The kid had overdone it again.

“Fever under control?”

Ryan grimaced. “Mom back there won’t let me miss a dose of ibuprofen. It’s like she’s got an alarm that goes off when it’s time for more.”

“You look like shit.”

A genuine grin cracked his face. “Thanks. Right back at ya. But I don’t think a fever is causing the black shadows under your eyes.”

The kid was too observant. “It’s three in the morning. And I died yesterday.”

“Almost died. But now you look ready to do a little of your own killing.”

Alex ignored him, looking at Thomas and Jim deep in conversation in the seats in front of him. Alex had related the news of the phone call with Besand to the two men, and Jim had smacked himself on the forehead. “Why didn’t I think of trying to call him?”

But the current stress on Jim’s face was new, and he was shaking his head at Thomas.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked sharply.

Both men turned toward him. Jim’s gaze went past him to take stock of the cargo area then returned. “How much walking around outside did you do after we left?”

Alex’s lungs grew numb. “We’ve all been using the trio of little trees to the right as a head. About fifteen feet out. Then a rotation to brush the snow away from the door. Haven’t done that since the sun went down though. That’s all we’ve done outside.” He questioned Ryan with the cock of a brow. Ryan nodded.

Jim and Thomas exchanged a glance.

“There are faint footprints along the edge of the tree line. And one set that comes up to the rear of the plane then heads back to the trees.”

Alex closed his eyes. Besand had been right outside the plane. Probably had his ear up against the metal, trying to listen inside. How far away had he been when Alex called? Thomas coughed, and Alex looked at him sharply. “What else?”

“Rabbit,” Thomas stated. “Partially skinned. Right beside the tail of the plane. Spread out like it should be nailed on a cross.”

“That’s fucking twisted.” Ryan gagged.

“What do you mean partially skinned?” Alex could barely speak.

“Just skinned the front legs. Must have run out of time.”

Vomit crawled up Alex’s esophagus, and he forced it back down. Two of the nurses killed by Besand had been found in the same state; Besand had only skinned their arms. He’d later told Alex it was harder work than he’d expected and that he’d only done it out of curiosity and to freak out the investigators. Alex believed him. Once his victims were dead, Besand was finished.

He wasn’t into trophies or getting off with dead bodies. It was the thrill of the kill he craved. Once his hunger was satisfied, he usually threw the remains away like garbage.

Besand was sending a message to Alex, reminding him of what he was capable of doing to a woman, payback for his smart mouth during the phone call.
I pissed him off, pushed too hard.

Alex buried his head in his hands, swallowing hard, trying to get the photos of the two dead nurses out of his mind.

“He did that to a couple of his vics, didn’t he?” Jim asked.

Alex nodded, lifting his head. It weighed two thousand pounds. “He’s gotta be staying in the cockpit.” He couldn’t let him near Brynn.

“He wouldn’t survive anywhere else,” Jim stated.

“Do we need to go down there?” Thomas made a gesture to his jacket. To his gun.

“In the pitch-black night?” Alex countered.

“We’ve got headlamps,” Jim offered.

“You mean targets on our foreheads. We can’t get close to him with those things on. For all we know he’s also got a little protected place in the woods where he watches every move we make.”

“He can’t be sitting in the woods. He’d freeze,” Ryan said flatly. “He can’t be watching us all the time.” He shook his head. “The guy can’t be dressed for this weather. He couldn’t have been prepared for this. How’s he doing it?”

“Unless he found one of our packs,” Thomas spoke up. “Could be using one of the tents.”

Ryan shut his mouth with an audible snap, and the men stared at one another.

“That has to be it,” Jim muttered. “It has to be. Now what’s he going to do? Will he hide out? Come after us? What’s the
best way to protect ourselves?” He glanced at Brynn, who was talking in the cargo area to Liam and Tyrone. The three were unaware of the other conversation. And the rabbit.

One man injured and one man sick. And Brynn. Alex leaned his head against the leather headrest. Besand probably had food, extra clothing, and a tent. Alex hoped the tent was freezing and miserable. What now?

“I need to think. I know what makes this guy tick. Just let me think for a few minutes.”

The men all sat silently.

Alex couldn’t get Brynn out of his mind. “For right now, I think we’re OK in here. The dog twitches every time she hears something outside. I don’t think Besand will attack the plane. He’s blind to what’s in here. He’s not stupid enough to come through the entrance.”

“Would he pick us off as we exit?” Ryan asked quietly.

Alex flattened his lips. “What’s the fun in that? That’s not his kind of move. He likes to look you in the face, taunt you first. I can’t tell you how many times he complained about this one old guy who died from a heart attack or something while Besand was working him over. Made him furious. He gets off on the pain. He hates it when it’s over too quick.”

“Yeah, I feel safer now,” Ryan muttered.

“So what’s he going to do next?” Jim’s voice dropped. He met Alex’s eyes with a look that showed total belief in Alex’s opinion about the game in Besand’s head. Alex appreciated Jim’s confidence. He really wanted Jim’s respect.

“He wants me,” Alex stated, meeting each of their gazes.

“And Brynn.” Jim shifted his feet, glancing to the back of the plane again.

“Maybe. He may have said that just to dig at me.” Alex lied. Brynn was just Besand’s type. Tall, athletic, natural beauty.

Jim’s face said he knew Alex lied.

“I can pull his attention away, get him following me. Then one of you following him.” This was met with silence. No one protested; no one shook his head. They all weighed his words.

“Anyone got a better idea?”

Alex felt as obvious as a bright-blue candy wrapper lying in a white field of snow. He left his hood down, wanting to hear the sounds of the forest. The wind had let up overnight and he physically felt the absence of the constant whistling and rustling. It was like his ears were clogged. He pulled on an earlobe and swallowed hard several times, but nothing changed. He wasn’t congested; there truly was a lack of sound.

There wasn’t a lack of snow. Huge, soggy flakes fell. With the absence of wind they fell perpendicular to the ground, creating a white curtain that offered Alex a false sense of security. It also made studying the area around him difficult.

He’d been out for several hours, checking the terrain farther down the southern slope, knowing Thomas was tailing him far behind, looking for signs that Alex was being followed. Alex had trudged far enough to hear the rush of a river far below the trees. Curious, he’d worked his way down to its banks. It was a different river from the one they’d crossed that first day. This one was farther south. And, of course, they were several thousand feet above the location where they’d crossed the other. Where Brynn was almost hit by a wooden missile.

His chest tightened at the image and his fingers twitched as he headed back toward the plane. He’d almost lost her before he even knew her.

He glanced at his cell and nearly cheered out loud at the two bars of service. He’d checked the phone several times that morning, looking for pockets of service but no luck. He immediately dialed Collins.

“Kinton?” Collins immediately answered.

“Guess you figured out this number doesn’t belong to Whittenhall,” Alex replied.

“Yeah, that became pretty clear once we met. What’s going on up there?”

“We’re OK. Could you understand Ryan the other day? The pilots and marshal didn’t make it. Besand is still alive here somewhere. We’re trying to find him. Also we found Tyrone and Liam Gentry. Tyrone’s got a bad head injury. There’s no way he’s hiking out.”

Collins’s reply was full of static.

“Crap. I’m gonna talk fast,” said Alex. He rattled off what Jim and Ryan had decided were accurate GPS coordinates of the plane. “I need you to look into Whittenhall. I think this flight change was set up to let Besand escape upon landing. I think Whittenhall engineered the whole thing, but I don’t know why. It’s got to be for money.”

“Whittenhall? He’s on the take?” Collins’s voice was clear.

“You got someone who can do some research? I think Whittenhall was blackmailing Besand or the other way around.”

“I know the perfect person to look into that,” Collins said. “We’re gonna get some birds up there as soon as the weather clears a bit. You guys—”

The call was dropped. All signal bars lost.

Alex groaned and watched his screen for a few moments, walking in circles, holding the phone up. He felt like a cell commercial. He gave up and stayed low, moving silently—make that
crunchily—back in the general direction of the plane. He didn’t look for Thomas. He had a hunch the man could be invisible whenever he pleased. If he didn’t want Alex to see him, then he wouldn’t. Knowing the man was watching his back felt right. Stopping behind a fir, he scanned his surroundings.

Nothing.

He could have been the only person for fifty miles.

How rapidly his priorities had changed. He’d butted in on the hasty team with the single goal of hunting Darrin Besand. Now his priority was the safety of six other people.

There had been no tracks outside the plane this morning. No one could have guessed that four men had shown up in the middle of the night with one of them dragged the whole way on a tarp.

It was utterly silent. He wondered if any wildlife was watching him. Like a bear. The thought of a bear possibly close by bothered him more than the presence of Besand. He knew Besand’s mind; he didn’t know the inner workings of a bear’s brain.

Aim for the brain.

He stepped out from the tree, took a deep breath, and pushed through the snow, wishing he was back in the plane exchanging jokes with Ryan.

Alex had spotted Thomas listening a time or two to their banter, an almost wistful expression on his face. What would it take to get that guy to loosen up?

His lips twisted.

Knowing Thomas, he probably had some fantastic repertoire of clever jokes that could knock everyone’s socks off, but he’d never share. The Alaskan often sweated inside the little plane, and Alex had realized with a shock that the guy was
claustrophobic. How in the hell was he handling so many people in so little space? It was probably a remnant of his capture. Alex had watched Thomas mentally work it off, his lips moving as if in a chant and his eyes focused in the distance.
What did he say to himself?