“I’ll wrap this after you change out of the dry suit.” Will stood when Snake appeared and held out a couple of large flannel shirts and some jeans.
“These do?”
Will cocked a brow at Sylvie, humor flickering in his gaze.
“It’ll have to. Thank you, Snake.” Saying his name felt awkward on her lips.
Will slung the extra clothes over his shoulder. “Thanks, Snake.”
Sylvie hated to ask, hated to need help, but worse than that, she hated to limp across the floor. No, falling on her face would be worse. She had some vertigo. Not good. She hoped she only had a mild case of DCS. She’d never before gotten the bends. The dive hadn’t been that deep, and she’d descended at the appropriate rate. But her ascending straight to the surface without any stops had been all it took to throw her body chemistry into turmoil. The cold water and exertion from fighting off a killer hadn’t done her any favors.
The next few hours would be telling, especially if she didn’t get help. But first things first. Right now she simply needed to make it to that room for some privacy. “Will, can you assist me to the room so I can change?”
“Sure thing. Um... Sylvie... I need to doctor that gash across your shoulder and back, too.”
“You don’t think that can wait?”
His grin from moments ago quickly faded. “No.”
“I need to doctor your head,” she said. Fair play.
“Snake has a mirror. I can take care of it.”
But Sylvie couldn’t reach her shoulder and back, even with a mirror, so that was that. She let the compassion and concern in Will’s warm brown eyes calm her nerves. He was good in that way, even addicting if she wasn’t careful.
“While you guys take care of business,” Snake said, “I’ll dish up the stew. Got strong coffee going, too. When you’re ready, we’ll eat.”
“Sounds good.” Will assisted Sylvie into what was obviously Snake’s bedroom and set her on the bed. He frowned down at her.
All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep forever. This close to a bed, the warmth of the cabin and the aroma of the stew, she could sense the adrenaline crash coming.
Hold it together. Just a little longer.
“You okay to get out of that suit without any help?” His tone and the look in his eyes said his only concern was for her. He wasn’t going to take advantage of her. She didn’t trust easily, but he’d brought her this far. She wanted to trust him.
“Thanks, Will, but I can handle it.”
“Good. Call me when you’re ready.”
“Okay.” His words held tenderness that pricked her heart. She was definitely vulnerable. Somehow she had to get her guard back up. She’d been through too much already.
Her stepfather had been a wonderful father during her childhood. Someone she could trust, someone she had been proud to call Dad, until she’d become older and wiser. When she was a teenager, she discovered he was having an affair. The betrayal devastated Sylvie. She didn’t know where to turn. She didn’t want to hurt her mother, but finally shared his duplicity, only to learn that her mother already knew. How could her mother let him treat her like that? At first Sylvie thought her mother hadn’t left because she loved him—which just proved how dangerous love could be. Sylvie built a wall around her heart that day. She could never trust anyone again. And from that moment on, she called him Damon.
But then, behind closed doors, she heard the arguments. Raised voices. Her mother crying. And then Sylvie began to suspect that her mother hadn’t left Damon because she was afraid of him. Afraid to leave. Damon was a powerful man.
None of that mattered now, except to remind her to keep her guard up around Will. She needed to keep herself together until she was back home. Or at least in that decompression chamber.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, her ankle throbbing, every joint in her body aching badly enough to make her completely forget the open gash in her back, she drew in a breath and prepared to peel out of the dry suit and layers of clothing beneath. All she wanted was a hot shower, but she supposed the best she could get at an off-grid cabin was a sponge bath. She looked down to see the ripped, practically shredded suit. She hadn’t wanted to look too closely. Seeing it now, a replay of the last few hours flashed through her mind, reel after reel.
All the way to her soul, Sylvie was torn and ripped like the dry suit she wore.
She pressed her face into her hands and let everything she’d held back come flooding out.
* * *
Will had changed quickly so he’d be ready to dress Sylvie’s wound. Behind the door he could hear her quiet sobs. She’d been strong, held it together in front of him. He wasn’t sure why the sound rocked through him, knocking against the hidden parts of his heart. He pressed a hand on the door as though he could comfort her. He didn’t know this woman at all, but he didn’t have to know her to feel the pain with her.
He let his hand drop. He wouldn’t go rushing in. He wasn’t a knight and she didn’t want to be saved. If he knew anything at all about the woman shut away in the room, it was that she didn’t want him to see her vulnerable. Sucking in a breath, he glanced up and caught Snake watching him from where he hovered over the fire, dishing up the stew that he cooked in a cast-iron pot hanging over the flames, old school.
Will had another situation he’d been avoiding. He needed to face off with Snake about using the radio to call for help. He knew the other man wouldn’t be pleased. The harsh environment along with fifty-plus years had made the man hard and lean. He kept his long silver hair in a ponytail hanging down his back, and time spent away from civilization kept his expression harsh, especially when faced with having to make conversation. But he’d still saved them. Will would give him that. He hadn’t been anything but helpful—so far.
Snake’s bushy eyebrows creased together as he stood from the fire and held out a bowl. “You hungry?”
Will took the bowl, but set it on the table. “Thanks, but I’ll wait for Sylvie.”
“Suit yourself.” Snake remained standing and wolfed up a few spoonfuls of his stew then paused, the spoon halfway to his mouth. “Something on your mind?”
Here comes the moment of truth. “I told you we had some trouble. That trouble includes men who tried to kill her, kill us. They shot at my plane. Caused some damage and we went down. I hope I haven’t brought the trouble to your door.”
Snake’s eyes narrowed. He set his bowl on the home-crafted table and crossed his arms. “What do you need?”
“I need to use your comm to call for help.”
Snake shook his head. “You’re not bringing them here.”
“You can see she’s injured.”
“Call them and make arrangements to meet them elsewhere. I’ll help you get there.”
Will scraped a hand over his face, exhaustion creeping into his bones. “She has the bends, and with her other injuries she needs treatment right away.”
Snake’s eyes lit up, surprising Will. “Why didn’t you say something before?”
“Would it have made a difference?”
“I’m a diver. Got the equipment. Worst case, she could recompress in the water.”
Will shook his head. “That is the worst case. It’s too risky. Better to wait for a hyperbaric chamber, which is why I need to use your radio.”
“Well, you know the option is available. Why don’t you tell her and let her make the decision? She isn’t afraid of diving.”
Had Will been that readable?
Snake disappeared through a door, reappearing a minute later to set his scuba equipment out in full view. Was that because he didn’t trust Will to bring it up?
Will frowned.
“Make your call. Pick a meeting time and place. Early morning’s best. Give us time to rest up and gather the gear we’ll need.”
“I can’t ask
for more than that.”
Will hated to put it off that long, considering Sylvie needed assistance sooner rather than later, but Snake was right. If they were forced to travel to make contact, they couldn’t do it in inclement weather in the middle of the night. He had to persuade Snake to shorten the distance they needed to travel.
“Just how far do you want us to go?”
“I don’t want anyone coming within five miles of my cabin. That might sound harsh, Will, but let me remind you that if it was someone else I’d seen tromping through the woods, I wouldn’t have shown my face. I wouldn’t have offered an invitation into my home. I wouldn’t even have opened my door.”
“I know.” Will was grateful to Snake. The man had chosen this lifestyle for reasons unknown to Will. He wouldn’t pry.
“About those men who tried to kill you? You sure they didn’t follow you here?”
“I don’t see how they could have, but neither can I be sure. I don’t know who they are or why they tried to kill her.” He had his suspicions. Some things were trying to fall into place, but mostly it was still a mystery.
“What do you know about her?”
“Nothing. I just happened to be flying overhead in time to see her running for her life.” Will struggled with whether or not to share the full of it with Snake, considering he didn’t particularly seem the kind of person who would want to know the details about others’ lives, nor would he reciprocate. Best to keep things simple and not share that Will and Sylvie had both lost their mothers on the same MIA airplane. For now.
From Snake’s expression, Will knew that Sylvie was behind him.
He turned. She leaned against the doorjamb, clinging to it, more like. Will had meant to be there before she put any pressure on that ankle.
He rushed to her side. “I didn’t mean for you to have to walk on your ankle. I should have waited by the door.”
She shrugged away from him. “You don’t need to take care of me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. My ankle will be fine.”
Will sensed she needed to convince herself more than him.
“Sure it will.” He backed off. “But I still insist on doctoring your back. Why don’t you sit down at the table.” Will assisted her there, ignoring her attempt to limp on her own.
“Thanks.” She turned her back to him and adjusted her shirt over her shoulder to expose the gash that ran from her shoulder to mid-back.
He winced. This was going to hurt.
Add to that, she was shaking all over. She’d had time to warm up, so it couldn’t be from the cold. It must be a symptom of decompression sickness. She needed that hyperbaric chamber. And he was about to inflict more pain on her when he doctored this gash. He sent up a prayer, feeling helpless in all this.
Lord, when we are weak, You are strong. I need You to be strong for the both of us.
His prayer gave him a measure of peace. Sylvie could use some comfort and reassurance about now, too. But how did he give it?
Will grabbed the first-aid kit. He didn’t like the look of the cut. It needed stitches. But he would do what he could and keep her talking so she wouldn’t focus on the pain.
“I’m sorry for snapping at you,” she said. “You don’t deserve that. I’m just tired.”
And injured. “No need to apologize. This has been a hard day for you.”
“For you, too. You helped me, someone you didn’t even know. Not too many would have done the same. Snake included.”
Ah, so she’d been listening in longer than he thought. He was glad Snake had ventured outside for the moment.
“I’m nothing special so don’t make me out to be.”
“I can’t say that I agree. Nor can I thank you enough for what you did today. What you’re still doing.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I heard you talking to Snake. He sounded upset with you for bringing me here. And what was he saying about five miles?”
She’d definitely heard more than he thought. No matter. He hadn’t said anything he was ashamed of saying. “Don’t worry about that for now.” Will was glad he’d finished with her wound. “There, that should do it.”
He made to stand, hoping to escape from her rush of questions. He didn’t blame her, but he wasn’t prepared to answer them fully until he figured things out. He needed to talk Snake out of the five-mile hike. And he needed to use the radio.
Will scooted the bowl of stew toward her. Sylvie grabbed him before he could get away. Heat danced up his arm from where she touched him. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you, but I’ll find a way.”
He already knew her well enough to expect that from her. She couldn’t receive a kindness without needing to repay it. She thought she owed him. He eased his arm from her grip. “Don’t worry about that. It’s more important that you focus on staying alive.”
More important that they find out who wanted to kill her. The same person who had already killed their mothers?
SIX
With warm stew in her stomach and a mesmerizing fire, Sylvie had never been more exhausted. The sofa was comfortable and broken in, and cocooned her, inviting her to sleep. She didn’t want to close her eyes. After all, she was in an out-of-the-way cabin with two strangers. Two men she’d only known a few hours, never mind they had both been an intricate part of her survival so far.
When they figured out she was too exhausted to offer coherent conversation, they left her alone to rest—though she could still hear their hushed tones from the far side of the cabin where they practiced knife-throwing against a chunk of wood. Besides the shelf of old books against the wall, that could be Snake’s only entertainment out here, and a necessary skill. Will’s apparent expertise surprised her. She wouldn’t want to face off with him. She remembered she’d lost his knife when she’d had to cut him out of the harness and swim him to shore.
Her gaze drifted to the diving equipment sitting out. It must belong to Snake. Her equipment was still in Will’s plane. Had the doomed craft already sunk, never to be seen again—a reminder of the plane she’d come to find? At what point could they come back to retrieve her diving equipment? What did it matter? She couldn’t get it in time to do her any good and might use Snake’s gear to recompress herself. That was a seriously risky scenario that could kill her. She was counting on getting out of here at first light. Better to wait for the hyperbaric chamber in Juneau.
Will called her name out, jarring Sylvie awake. Somewhere behind his words, she heard a vibrating noise over the crackle of the fire in the otherwise quiet morning. That noise penetrated her catatonic state—and she forced herself to sit up, listen. Will stood at the open door, looking out, the gray of morning illuminating that portion of the cabin.
Whomp-whomp-whomp.
Realization dawned. A helicopter. Someone to rescue them.
Newfound energy surged through Sylvie. She eased from the sofa and limped over to where Will stood, hanging through the opening and letting the warm air out while the cold Alaska morning whipped inside and swirled around her feet.
Intent on listening, he didn’t acknowledge her. She lifted her hand to touch his arm then dropped it when he tensed, as if he’d expected the touch. As if he hadn’t wanted it.
“Why aren’t you running out there to signal them?” Panic engulfed her. Sylvie pushed by, prepared to limp outside to wave at the helicopter. Will and Snake couldn’t keep her here. “If you won’t, then I will!”
“Sylvie, no.” Will snatched her back.
Pain shot through her ankle. She screamed, hoping someone would hear her.
Will gripped her shoulders, his brown eyes imploring her to listen. “Last night I radioed Chief Winters with the Mountain Cove Police. He’s someone I know and trust. Chief Winters is sending a SAR team to meet us at ten. That’s not for another three hours. I figured it would take us that long to h
ike the terrain to the meet-up point, especially with your injured ankle. That helicopter isn’t our help.”
“How can you know that?”
“This isn’t where I told them we’d be. And it doesn’t sound like the type of chopper medevac uses. This is a single-engine. Small, maybe a two-seater.”
She froze. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I don’t know who is flying the helicopter. Chief Winters didn’t send this one.”
“It could be someone who could help us. Someone willing to fly us to Juneau.”
He pursed his lips. “Or it could be the men after you.”
Sylvie backed away from him. “No, that can’t be. How could they find us?”
“They could have spotted the plane sitting halfway out of the water if it hasn’t already sunk. Then on foot they could have tracked us. Or the helicopter might be simply looking for smoke from the nearest cabin, knowing that would be our only shelter for miles.”
“But how could they have found your plane? Covered that much ground without knowing where you were going?”
Will’s eyes penetrated, stabbing at her core. “Easy enough. They could guess we were headed to Juneau and follow our general flight path. And if it’s the men after you, you have to consider they’re tracking you somehow. Maybe they put a tracker on your boat, or they’re tracking your phone.”
“I’m no longer on my boat and don’t have my phone with me.”
“Your diving gear, then. They found you in the channel and then could have followed you here. Your diving gear is on my plane. Maybe they figured I had landed, even if they didn’t realize I crashed. But they’ve had enough time to get a helicopter and track you. So I don’t want to risk it if it’s them. Not when I know help that I trust is coming.”
A tracking device on her diving gear? That was a frightening thought. And worse, it would mean that it was her fault if their attackers tracked her here, since she was the one who’d insisted on going back for her diving gear and loading it onto Will’s plane. She didn’t have time to think through the implications, not with Will’s suspicious gaze on her. She’d told him she didn’t know who was after her or why. And she didn’t. Not really. But if they were together much longer, she’d need to share everything with him—what had driven her to search for the plane to begin with.
Alaskan Mountain Pursuit Page 5