Chilled (A Bone Secrets Novel) (35 page)

Whittenhall was scum. The worst kind. Someone who’d abused his position and power for his personal gain. And possibly tried to help a murderer walk.

Patrick wanted to be there when the arrogant man toppled.

Paul Whittenhall slammed the RV door as he stepped down the metal stairs.

Goddamn it.

He couldn’t stand the pretentious look that’d been in the sheriff’s eyes. Collins knew something but wasn’t sharing. Paul’s stomach clenched, and he reached in his pocket for his antacid roll. His third roll of the day.

What does Collins know? What the fuck is going on in that forest?

He hadn’t heard from his team. Gary had sworn not to tell Boyles the secondary mission objective, but now it didn’t matter.

That morning one of his marshals had casually mentioned that Matt Boyles had been in Kinton’s wedding years before.

Shit. He’d stupidly sent Kinton’s best friend in to kill him.

That would never work. Boyles was going to balk when it came to taking out Kinton, no matter how Gary spun the situation. He’d told Gary to play up Kinton’s nervous breakdown to Boyles. That was the rumor Paul had fed into the marshals’ gossip train. In the right ears in the office, he’d planted the story that Kinton was suicidal, seeing a psychiatrist, and heavily medicated.

Every agent remembered Kinton’s meltdown in his office. Jumping to the assumption that he was mentally unbalanced shouldn’t take too much effort.

Kinton
was
unbalanced.

Paul knew the man had become an isolated loner. Kinton had always been a private man, but after he was fired he’d turned into a hermit. The part about the psychiatrist was true. Paul had stayed updated on the former agent’s movements. Undoubtedly he’d been placed on some sort of medication. All those psychiatrists throw drugs at their mental patients.

Paul had been rattled to the core when he realized Kinton was on the rescue team.

How did Kinton find out the plane had gone down?

Paul had been waiting at home, expecting a call from Linus. Waiting to hear that Besand was on his way to Mexico. They’d worked out a perfect plan. Linus was going to take the fall as the agent who let him get away, but he’d felt it was worth it to have Paul bail him out financially. The agent had been so over his head in debt, he’d been willing to do whatever Paul had needed. What Paul hadn’t foreseen was a plane crash.

His gut churned painfully again. He went through antacids like they were M&M’s. And that was in conjunction with prescription meds for his ulcer.

He was going to need a vacation when this was over. He ran a hand across his sweating forehead. Twenty degrees out and he was sweating like he was in the south during a heat wave.

Gary had to succeed. Besand and Kinton couldn’t both walk out of the woods.

Paul couldn’t face the alternative.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow those helicopters would go in, and then he’d know his future.

Brynn blew out a breath and let her eyes drift closed again, listening to the medley of male snores. Did any of them not snore? This should be the last night. Today they should be evacuated by helicopter. Thank God. She didn’t want to face the long, icy hike out to civilization. When she got out, she was going to spend a day at a spa. Doing girlie things. A facial, a massage, salt scrub. Anything to counterbalance the testosterone she’d been living with for days.

Last night she’d nearly choked on the air in the plane, it was so thick with alpha male hormones. When it had come time to sleep, Liam had stretched out next to his brother and glared at her, waiting for her to join him. She’d ignored him, talking in
hushed tones with Jim in the seats, putting off the decision of where she wanted to sleep. The chairs weren’t a possibility. As comfortable as they were, she couldn’t sleep sitting up.

Alex had laid down in the cargo area, putting a little distance between himself and Liam. On the plane there was no place that was truly distant from anyone else. When Brynn was tired of men all she could do was close her eyes.

She’d continued talking to Jim, but suddenly grew aware of an angry whispered conversation in the cargo bay. Her head had swung in that direction, picking up hissed tones, but the only words she caught were “too old” in Liam’s voice. He and Alex had each risen up on one elbow, glowering at each other. Even Jim had stopped speaking at the heavy tension that suddenly filled the plane. She’d stared between the two men. What were they arguing about? Her? Was that it? Liam had been throwing dark looks at Alex since the ex-marshal had stepped foot on the plane. When she’d nearly cried in relief at the sight of Alex after hearing those gunshots, Liam had known. And he couldn’t let it go.

They’d looked ready to start swinging fists. She’d grabbed a thin blanket and stepped into the space between the two angry men. Alex’s face had immediately gone blank, hiding behind that mask she’d seen too many times. Liam’s eyes had burned as he watched her, but his mouth had stayed shut. She’d split a glance between the two men. “Are you going to keep me awake? Because I’m exhausted, and right now all I want to do is sleep so it gets closer to the time of those helicopters.” Both men had shaken their heads. She’d laid down between them, touching neither, and immediately fallen asleep.

Now she realized she’d moved into Alex’s heat during the night. She pressed her cheek against his sleeve. The man was a
furnace and it felt heavenly, but if she wanted to keep the peace on the plane, she couldn’t let Liam wake to find her snuggled against Alex. She reluctantly rolled over, instantly missing his heat.

Liam wasn’t on her other side.

She sat up, blinking at Tyrone, and then scanned the plane, counting heads. Four seats had bodies. She quietly stood and stepped in the aisle. No Liam. Panic dried her mouth. Where’d he go?

Her spine instantly relaxed. He must have stepped out to go to the bathroom. That was it. She rolled her eyes at herself.
Idiot.

“What’s wrong?”

Thomas’s eyes met hers in the dark. She startled at his whisper.

“Nothing. Liam went outside, I guess. I was surprised to wake up and find him gone. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Thomas nodded, but his sharp eyes didn’t leave her face. “How long has he been gone?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure he’ll be right back.”

She perched on an empty seat and squinted at her watch. Almost 5:00 a.m. She sat in silence with Thomas as she watched six minutes tick by. She rubbed at her face, her stomach tightening as each minute went by.

“It’s been too long.” Thomas stood and stepped resolutely toward the door He pushed it open and stared motionless at the snow. Brynn moved to peer around him.

No footprints. The snow was a perfect white icing.

“Oh, God.” Her hands clenched into fists. “Where is he?” She backed up to a chair and sat, feeling her sense of balance vanish.

“Fuck.” Thomas slammed the door shut. Jim and Matt Boyles jumped in their seats at the sound, both leaping to their
feet nearly before their eyes opened. Both men had their hands on their weapons as they blinked at Brynn and Thomas.

Jim spoke first, his eyes narrowing on Brynn’s face. “What is it? What’s happened?”

“Liam’s missing,” Brynn whispered. Jim’s gaze flew to Thomas, his eyes questioning. The big man nodded.

“No tracks.”

“How can there be no tracks?”

All four turned in the direction of Alex’s voice. He was on his feet, crouched in the cargo bay, his SIG in his hand. Brynn hadn’t heard him stir. His eyes were penetrating shots of steel in the dim light.

No one answered. His question was rhetorical.

“Fuck.” Tyrone’s quiet curse rattled from the cargo area, and Brynn’s heart cracked for him.

Jim leaned over a seat and shook Ryan awake. He stirred, waking slowly, pushing Jim’s hand off his shoulder with a mumbled complaint. Brynn wanted to check his forehead but forced herself not to move. Ryan wouldn’t appreciate the mothering in front of the other men. Her fingertips dug into the edge of her seat.

“What do we do?” Her words were barely audible. Was he lost? Had he gotten turned around in the forest? Had a bear found him?
Had Besand found him?

“We go look for him,” Alex stated calmly.

Brynn met his silver eyes, letting his confidence flow over her. Hope started to form in her heart.

“We’ll break up into teams and search. There’s got to be a sign of him somewhere.” Alex’s gaze lingered on Ryan’s flushed face. “Ryan stays here with Tyrone.” Ryan didn’t protest, silently telling Brynn how horrid he felt.

Jim spoke first. “Matt and I together. Alex, you go with Thomas.” He paused, meeting Brynn’s eyes.

She looked down at Tyrone, ignoring the wet trails from his eyes. “I’ll stay.”

“Can you use the gun?” Jim asked.

Brynn swallowed and nodded. Ryan’s blurry gaze met hers, and she knew he couldn’t shoot if they had a surprise visitor. Someone needed to stay.

“I’ll do whatever needs to be done.”
Please, God, let nothing happen.

“Get dressed,” Jim ordered. “Matt and I’ll head west, and you guys head east.”

Alex and Thomas nodded, pulling on their jackets.

“Fire twice if you find him.”

“When we find him,” Alex muttered as he checked both his guns. Fear clenched Brynn’s gut. The last time Alex had left he’d nearly been shot.

A hand slipped into hers and squeezed. Tyrone looked up at her in sympathy. “He’ll be all right. They’ll all be back.”

Brynn gave an automatic smile and glanced back just in time to meet Alex’s gaze before he stepped out of the plane. Silver eyes bore through her and touched her heart, warming it. Then he was gone, and she was empty.

“One, two, three, four. Yes! All of them.” Using his binoculars, Darrin counted as he watched the searchers leave the plane. Alex in his bright-blue coat stuck out from the little group. So did the big dude who never wore a hood. The other two bodies looked and moved the same; he couldn’t even tell which one was the woman.

Darrin needed a GPS to get out of this cursed forest.

And now the plane was empty.

It’d been a stroke of luck last night when the young guy had snuck out to piss. His pants had literally been down when Darrin slammed him in the head with a rock.

His luck was holding. Now all of them were going out to search for their fifth companion.

He tucked away the binoculars and moved toward the plane.

“One hour.”

Alex nodded at Thomas’s third reminder. Jim had ordered that they meet back at the plane after two hours of searching. Alex followed in the big man’s footsteps, eyes constantly scanning for anything unusual in the snow. Any color, any movement. Anything. Every few minutes they’d stop and yell Liam’s name only to be answered with silence. At least the weather was breaking. Blue sky was trying to peek between the clouds. The choppers could come soon, but they couldn’t leave a man short. Pessimism was starting to make his feet drag.

What had happened to Liam?

If they hadn’t been in the middle of the forest, Alex might have thought Liam left to put space between the two of them. A small wave of guilt washed through him. Last night he’d wanted to ram his fist into the younger man’s mouth. The man had done his best to push Alex’s buttons.

Liam must have left to take a piss. There was no other reason to leave. Liam knew the choppers were due today, and he would never leave Tyrone. Even though Liam might be a colossal pain in the ass, Alex understood his devotion to his brother.

Thomas broke into an awkward half run. “There. Over there.”

Commanding his exhausted muscles to move, Alex jogged through the fluff. Ahead, at the base of a fir was a motionless red mound.
Fuck! Are we too late?

Thomas darted under the branches and knelt by the still figure, uncovering Liam’s face, and placing two fingers at his neck. Alex caught up and collapsed next to Thomas.

“Is he dead?” Alex huffed. Liam’s face was white, almost a blue-white, and the man was way too still.

“He’s got a pulse, a weak one,” Thomas answered. “We’ve got to get him heated up. At least he’s dry. Give me your hand warmers.”

Alex handed over the warmers and froze at the sound of the gunshot.

“What the—” Thomas started.

And another gunshot.

Brynn.
Alex’s heart jumped into his throat. Adrenaline pumping, he leaped to his feet and took a step in the direction of the plane. He stopped, whirled around, and moved a step back toward Liam. He stood immobile, his heart and mind racing.
Who to help?

“Could be the other team,” Thomas said without conviction. His gaze met Alex’s and then returned to Liam as he deftly packed the warmers under Liam’s armpits.

“No.” Alex knew in his gut the shots had come from the plane.

Thomas pulled his cell from his pocket. “I’ve got a signal. I’ll try to reach Jim. Get him over here. You get back to the plane. But keep an eye out.”

Relief flooded through Alex. “You sure?”

“Yes. Now get moving,” Thomas ordered.

Alex didn’t need to be told twice.