Chilled (A Bone Secrets Novel) (22 page)

Liam’s commander would ground him for six months if he knew he’d convinced his brother to take him out in such

high-risk weather. Liam wouldn’t survive the grounding; he had to fly.

He had the job of his dreams, flying million-dollar equipment bought on someone else’s dime, and he had the perfect woman.

Now he just had to convince Brynn to marry him and have some kids. He wanted the rest of his dream. The 2.3 kids, the picket fence, the smiling wife at the door as he came home from work. But Brynn didn’t see it that way.

Would being married to him be so awful? Liam grabbed at the handle above his door as the copter jumped in the wind.

When she’d been in that rockfall, he’d been certain she’d see the danger of her SAR missions and cut back. But it was like she flung herself at them with more enthusiasm, determined to prove him wrong. He was terrified of the day he got the phone call that she’d been killed in a stupid accident. Yesterday morning had been bad enough when he’d read her note. Her very brief note.

Plane down in the Cascades. Gonna be a long one.

B

That was all she wrote.

He’d checked the location and checked the weather and nearly punched his computer screen in frustration. Could the plane have crashed anywhere worse? Brynn knew he’d be pissed about the danger of this particular job. That’s why she’d slipped out of the house without waking him. If he hadn’t crashed on her couch after their three-hour discussion the previous night, he wouldn’t have known for days that she’d gone on a mission.

And top it off with a serial killer on the damned plane.

No one could have survived the crash. The odds were against that. But, shit, why was there a killer on this particular plane? Did Brynn know? And go anyway?

She would go. It wouldn’t make any difference to her who was on the plane.

Liam cursed colorfully. Tyrone glanced at him but stayed silent, his mouth tight.

The little copter bounced, dipped, and jerked roughly in the wind. Liam ignored it. The sensations were so different between this baby bird and the mammoths he flew. Sort of like a Winnebago and a Miata.

“Fuck! Hang on!”

Liam’s gaze flew to his brother’s tense face, and then he read the controls. His heart skipped several beats; sweat instantly covered his forehead. Grabbing his seat, he looked out the window and estimated the distance before they smashed into the trees.

Daylight was fading as Brynn and Kiana entered the plane. Jim had hollered that he and Thomas would be in soon. They weren’t ready to quit searching for the packs yet. Brynn figured the missing packs weren’t going to go anywhere overnight, so she’d search again in the morning. In the light. The three of them hadn’t found a thing and she was ready to drop.

What a day.

Alex opened his eyes from where he’d stretched out on the cargo area floor, his arms tucked under his head. Ryan snored quietly on one of the thickly padded leather seats that looked like they belonged in a CEO’s office. She kept her gaze on Ryan, assessing. He looked comfortable but exhausted. The temperature inside the plane felt heavenly, and Brynn threw back her
hood, running a hand over her low ponytail. To be inside an enclosure with hard walls and out of the wind and constant snow felt like she was at the Hilton. It just needed a hot bath. The men had closed in the ripped plane’s front end with packed snow. It looked like the inside of a kid’s snow fort. With luxury seating.

She felt Alex study her closely, his gaze heavy on her back. She finally turned his way and met his eyes. The lines of his face were taut and drawn, but she’d never seen him so relaxed and at peace. Amazing for a man who’d faced death hours ago. She felt her lips curve and her own worries lifted from her shoulders. They’d been very lucky today.

Kiana sniffed at Ryan’s boot and trotted over to Alex. He sat up and rubbed her head, a genuine smile crossing his face. Brynn swore the dog smiled in return. She also noticed Alex’s hand shaking slightly as he petted her dog.

“How do you feel?”

Amusement entered his eyes. “Alive.”

She cocked a brow at him, waiting. “Cold?”

“My toes are cold. That’s good. It means I can feel them. I feel bruised up and down my body like a tanker hit me. I think I reinjured my knee. And I’m hungry.” He smiled again, and she felt her skin heat under her coat.

He didn’t look like he minded the pain or hunger. “What did you do to your knee?”

“Now or originally?”

“I think I know what happened to it today. How about originally?” She kneeled beside him, pushing her dog out of the way and laying her hands on the leg he rubbed.

He froze.

Brynn jerked her hands back, eyes widening. “Did I hurt you?” She squinted in the bad light, checking his leg for blood. It looked OK.

“Ah, no. I think you shocked me.” He shifted on the floor and frowned at his leg. “Old hole from a bullet.”

“You were shot? How long ago?”

“A few years. Nearly destroyed my knee joint.”

“Work related?” she asked.

“Yes. It happens sometimes in my line of work.”

She waited for an explanation but none came.
Who’d shot him?

“Do you want me to look at it?”

He met her eyes and grinned as her cheeks painfully flushed.
Wrong thing to say.

“There’s no blood. I think I just overstrained a weak area. It’s gonna ache like hell for several days.” His smile stayed strong.

“Everything else OK?” Relief flooded her. Getting Alex out of those pants wasn’t something she could handle at the moment. “Are you cold?”

He raised a brow and shook his head. “Just my toes.”

“That’s right. You said that,” she mumbled, embarrassed she was repeating questions. She retrieved her pack from one of the seats and unzipped a side pocket. “Protein bar?”

“Please.”

“More ibuprofen?”

“Pretty please.”

She snorted but kept her gaze inside her pack. “Charming, aren’t you?”

“When I want to be.”

“And when is that?” Their light banter relaxed her as she continued to dig through her pack, looking for her little bag of drugs.

He didn’t answer.

She glanced at him, her hands buried. He was looking at her, his gaze serious…and something else. She looked closer at his eyes.
Had he hit his head?
In the plane the light was dim, and his pupils were dilated, nearly filled his irises, making his gaze dark and heavy. Warm.

His eyes weren’t dilated from a head injury.

She drew a fast breath, unable to pull away. It felt like he’d buried her in warm honey.

“Brynn. I really owe you for today.” His voice was low, those eyes locked with hers.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Bullshit.”

“It was a team effort.” Her heart thudded in her chest.

He waved that aside. “I know. Always the team, but Ryan told me how upset you were when you dug up your pack.”

She nodded.

“You kept going.”

“Everyone did. Ryan pushed himself beyond healthy limits digging for you. Thomas was like a backhoe with the shovel. None of these guys were going to stop until we’d found you. Neither was I.” Her tone was fierce as she felt the terrified determination flow through her bones again. Just like when she was digging.

“Ryan said he nearly gave up a dozen times, but seeing you attack the snow inspired him.”

She glanced at the sleeping man. “I felt the same way watching him. All three of those guys. We’d still be out there digging
if we hadn’t found you.” She pressed her lips and felt her eyes sting. Alex would be dead, long dead.

“Still. I’d like to think…” He reached out a hand as if to touch her cheek. She couldn’t move away; she wanted to feel his touch. Her lips opened slightly, and she inhaled softly. He’d touched her before on the trail, helping each other along, but they’d both worn gloves. Now his fingers hesitated an inch from her jawline, and he held her eyes with his as she kneeled beside him. Her hands tried to strangle the protein bar. He was so close she could feel the heat from his fingertips on her skin. His gaze dropped to her mouth as his hand touched her. The energy from his palm made her lips open, and he shifted closer.

“When I was buried I thought I saw…”

Pounding rattled the door before it flew open. Jim and Thomas tromped in, brushing the snow off their jackets. In a single fluid movement, Alex pulled back, his hands at his sides, and the sudden cold stung her face.

“Ahhh.” Jim breathed out in pleasure, throwing back his hood. “It’s got to be twenty degrees warmer in here. Nearly a sauna.” His grin was contagious.

Thomas pulled off his gloves and sat heavily in a seat to work off the snowshoes. “No packs.”

“That’s all right. I think we’ll be just fine,” Brynn stated quietly. She stood, feeling her legs tremble slightly as she handed Alex his squished protein bar and his hand brushed her fingers. His gaze met hers again, something stirring in the depths, promising her they weren’t done. The intense look on his face had vanished at the sight of the two men. But its aftereffects lingered in her blood, tingling, warming.

“I owe you my life,” Alex said to the men.

“That’s right,” Jim quipped. “I expect five years of free car washes and I like my lawn mowed twice a week.” His grin didn’t fade as he stepped forward and slapped Alex’s shoulder.

“Done,” Alex said.

Jim’s grin faded. “I was joking.”

“I’m not.” Alex’s lips twitched. “But I’m not doing any manual labor for you. Would you settle for car wash tickets and a yard service?”

Jim’s hand lay still on Alex’s shoulder as he blinked. Brynn had never seen Jim speechless before.

“If Jim doesn’t want ‘em, I’ll take ’em.” Ryan stretched and yawned. Brynn jerked her head in his direction. How long had Ryan been awake?

“Except I don’t need a yard service. How about a subscription to a Beer of the Month Club?”

Alex nodded. “Thomas?” He turned toward the quiet man who’d been closely following the conversation.

Thomas shook his head. “Don’t need anything. Didn’t do it for a reward.”

“I know that, but it’ll make me feel rotten if…”

Thomas grinned. “Perfect. If it bothers you then I’m happy.”

Alex stared then laughed. “There’s a sick sense of logic there.”

“What about Brynn? What are you gonna give her?” Ryan smiled and turned innocent eyes on Brynn. She felt her cheeks flush.

“I don’t…”

“Don’t tell me you want me to be miserable like Thomas does,” Alex prodded.

“No, of course not, but…”

“Aw, come on, Brynn. Give the guy some slack. Tell him you’ll settle for a big ol’ diamond and he’ll be happy.” Pure devilry shone out of Ryan’s eyes.

Now she knew he’d been awake as she kneeled near Alex.

“No diamonds. No car washes.” She threw a protein bar at Ryan’s head, which he handily snatched just before it nailed him in the mouth.

“Come on, you can think of something. He’s not going to give up until you name something. You don’t want him stalking you, do ya?” Ryan caught his breath as his face fell. “Shit.”

Brynn’s mouth dried up.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

Silence filled the broken plane.

Alex looked at each teammate, but the men were all looking at the ground and Brynn was trying to get her lungs to work properly.

“Did I miss something?” Alex asked.

Brynn’s heart felt as heavy as the plane as she turned to Alex. Curious concern shone from his eyes.

Jim spoke first. “Brynn had a stalker last year. This dipshit let his mouth flap without thinking.” He whacked Ryan’s head with a glove.

“A stalker?” Unease replaced the concern in Alex’s eyes, and he frowned at her.

Brynn wanted to tell him, but didn’t know why. She hadn’t spoken of the incident in months because it’d seriously freaked her at the time.

“Awhile back…”

“You don’t have to say anything.” Alex popped three ibuprofen in his mouth and swallowed them dry. “Forget it.”

“No. I don’t mind talking about it. Really.” And she didn’t. She forced her stomach to relax as she sat back in one of the cushy chairs and tried to figure out where to start.

“Last year I was called to a suspicious death of a teenager. It was plainly suicide. The boy had locked himself in his room, left a long, rambling good-bye note, and shot himself in the mouth. He’d attempted suicide twice before, he’d been treated for depression, and there wasn’t a shred of evidence that anyone else could’ve been in the room.”

“Window?” Alex was following her story closely, his eyes intense.

“No window. And the door was locked with a bolt from the inside. His mother heard the shot and was at that door within seconds. No one else could have gone in or out of that room.”

“So what was the problem?” Alex raised a brow.

“The problem was the dad. He lived in Tennessee and believed his son had been murdered,” Brynn explained.

“Stupid asshole,” Thomas swore. He chomped into a protein bar.

“The father stalked you?” Lines creased Alex’s forehead. “From Tennessee?”

Brynn nodded. Her lungs were working normally now, and she breathed steadily. The father had been a big man—a big, determined man. And he’d scared the crap out of her.

“He harassed me by phone for a week. Swearing, cursing, calling me every name in the book, and threatening to get my license taken away. He threatened to shoot me and see if some idiot death investigator thought it looked like a suicide. The medical examiner and I had determined an autopsy wasn’t needed in this case, and the father was livid. He wouldn’t accept
that his son had committed suicide. He had my cell number and wouldn’t stop calling.”

Alex’s brows shot together; he looked furious. “How’d he get your cell number?”

“I don’t know.” She suspected someone at the ME’s office had given it out, but no one had ever admitted it. “Then he showed up at the office. He’d flown across the damned country to yell at me in person. I’m not at the office that much because I’m usually out in the field. The secretary told him that and he left. My boss called me at home to warn me, and I got Jim to park his squad car in my driveway and sleep on my couch.”