The canyon was so narrow where they’d parked that he had to drive in reverse for a mile. Upon turning, they made it six miles closer to the mouth before running out of fuel.
By then, it was two a.m. and Eden could hardly keep her eyes open.
Dane had long since fallen asleep in the back.
Jasper, on the other hand, looked pensive, tapping his index fingers against the steering wheel while staring at the remaining path. She strained to hear when he whispered, “Let’s ditch him.”
“What? Why?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t trust him.”
“You should. No way am I leaving him out here to die. He doesn’t even have a sleeping bag.”
“We’ll leave one. And food. He’ll be fine until we send the authorities back from McMurdo to fetch him.”
“I’m going to pretend we didn’t have this conversation. Dane is a second father to me. When I lost my mother, he was a rock when my own father couldn’t be. I love him.”
Jasper clenched his whisker-stubbled jaw.
“Trust me.” She cupped her hand to his forearm. “He’s a wonderful man.”
He snorted, refusing to meet her gaze.
How could they be so close on some levels, yet miles apart on others? An infinitesimal voice wondered if Jasper could be right, but then sanity stepped in. This was one more reason why they shouldn’t be together. What they’d shared hadn’t been real. More like a brief, intense fantasy that dulled when brought out of her bedroom and into the glaring sun.
She scowled at Jasper, then reached over the seat to jostle Dane’s knee. “Wake up. Time to walk again.”
He was slow to open his eyes, but then jolted upright from a slouch. “Everything all right?”
“Fine.” Eden cast Jasper another dirty look before slipping on her coat. “We ran out of fuel, so we’ll have to hoof it the rest of the way.”
“Ugh,” Dane said with a good-natured smile. “Not the best news, but even this temporary reprieve helped.”
“With three of us,” Jasper said, “I want to take more gear.”
“Why?” Eden slipped on her hat and gloves. “We already have more than we could ever need for a fast trip to McMurdo to find help. Our station is on the way, if it looks clear, let’s stop to search for my father. Leo’s cats were way faster than ours. They probably have longer-range fuel tanks, as well, but just to be safe, we can refuel.”
“Good call,” Dane said.
“You would know this how?” Jasper asked. “Thought you never left the chopper?”
“How do you think I got to the chopper? There are plenty more cats where these came from. Did you miss the part where I told you Leo is very well-funded?” Dane cocked his brow. “Please don’t think me overly forward, but have I done something to offend you? I don’t feel comfortable with your level of animosity.”
“Take it or leave it.” Jasper left the cat, closing the driver’s side door behind him.
“Sorry,” Eden said. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”
“It’s okay. I’m actually glad he’s on our side.” He winked. “I wouldn’t want him as an enemy.”
The trek to Leo’s cats thankfully proved uneventful, although the climb over Jasper’s newly made snow and ice mountain had her sweating.
Once there, Jasper insisted on driving. Eden protested, but was too exhausted for much of a fight.
Dane didn’t even try staying awake, preferring to settle onto one of the rear seats, using his heavy parka for a pillow. It made her smile when he was comfy enough to start snoring.
“Won’t you at least stop long enough for a nap?” she asked Jasper.
“Not a chance. If you want to stop off at your father’s station to check if he’s there and Leo’s not, we’ll try it. But I’m driving.”
“Why do you have to be so stubborn?”
His sideways glance was still steal-her-breath gorgeous, but since adding Dane to their group, Jasper’s personality had taken on a hard edge. She didn’t like it. But given their circumstances, Jasper’s mood swing was the least of her worries. They had to find her dad before Leo did. After that, she’d have time to mourn her lost friends while letting authorities figure out what to do with the criminal elements who had descended upon their formerly enchanted corner of the world.
As for what happened after that? Once she returned to Denver?
She hadn’t thought it through. The last thing she wanted was for Jasper to bring this level of steely-eyed intensity to finding her a cure. Her mother hadn’t had the blessing of dying gracefully, but Eden was determined that she would.
They’d driven for hours when the familiar sight of her father’s station grew steadily larger on the horizon.
“What do you think?” Jasper braked when they were still a mile out. “See anything out of the ordinary that makes you believe Leo and his pals may be here?”
“Looks good to me.” The four prefab pods looked eerily vacant. No vehicles were parked in the open-doored garages. Even the six snowmobiles were gone. “Our sat phone and internet were down when all of this started, but we could try fixing it. Leo’s men destroyed the radio room, but Dad has back-ups for every system.
Far from Jasper looking encouraged by this news, he looked even deeper in thought. “Let’s look for your dad. Get rest. Refuel. After that, you and I are following through with the plan to get to McMurdo.”
“What about Dane?” she whispered, glancing over the seat at his sleeping form. “We’re not leaving him. What if Leo’s men come back?”
“Not my problem.” The cat lurched forward, then settled into a smooth forward progress. Eden wished she could say the same for her and Jasper’s relationship. If anything, she felt less connected. When had he grown callous enough to believe someone she trusted completely could be as guilty as Leo?
Wasn’t Leo a trusted family friend? her conscience nagged. What if Jasper is right, and Dane is no longer the man you believe him to be?
She refused to believe Dane was anything other than the sweetheart she’d always known him to be.
They arrived at the station without further incident.
She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but normalcy wasn’t it.
Warmth that was the comfort equivalent of stepping into a heated blanket.
Everything looked much as it had when they’d left. White walls and blue carpet. Rec room tables and chairs were all in place. Pinball machines beckoned with flashing lights. The pool table was set up for a game. All that was missing were the scientists, students, and support crew who made the otherwise sterile environment a home. Posters featuring sandy beaches and aqua water had poorly Photoshopped headshots of the six crew members who’d wintered-over taped to the bodies of the people lounging in the sun.
All six were now dead.
Eden looked away.
How had Leo snapped to such a degree? Had there been signs he’d been headed for a mental break?
“Home sweet home,” Dane quipped, touching the photos of their fallen friends. “If you two want to look for Carl, then work on solving our communications problem, I’ll cook everyone a nice, hot meal.” He crossed into the small, but well-stocked industrial kitchen. “I make a mean cheeseburger and fries.”
“Sounds like heaven,” Eden said. “Thanks.”
“You’re not touching our food.”
“Really?” Dane released a put-upon sigh. “Suit yourself. Eden, my love, would you like one of my world-famous burgers?”
“Only if you’re adding pickles, mayo and extra cheese.”
“Will do.” After a quick smile, he got to work.
Jasper said under his breath, “Come with me.”
“Actually . . .” Shoulders squared and chin raised, she said, “I’d rather stay with Dane. At least he’s turning lemons into lemonade.”
“Oh—that’s rich, coming from the woman who gets one rough diagnosis, then closes up shop and settles in to die.”
; “Did I hear something about pie?” Dane called.
“Screw you,” she said for only Jasper to hear. “You don’t know a thing about me or what I’ve been through, so save your judgement for someone who cares.”
Jasper gave her a long, hard stare, shook his head, then walked away.
She hugged herself. Why, without him, did she feel colder than if she’d still been outside in the snow? How was it that they were here together, right back where they’d started, but emotionally felt thousands of miles apart?
8
JASPER HAD NEVER been much of a ladies man.
He wasn’t the wine and roses type—more like the kind of guy who showed his affection through changing a girl’s oil or mowing her lawn. In this instance, he would die before letting harm come to Eden. In what seemed like another lifetime, he’d placed his trust in the wrong friend, and because of that mistake, his sister-in-law had died. If protecting Eden meant coming across like a jackass, then so be it.
Something about this Dane character rubbed him the wrong way.
All three of them searched for Eden’s father, but the station was deserted save for poor Doug. They’d found him dead in a lab. His neck had been broken.
Jasper carried him outside, where he covered his body in snow behind the station.
Eden and Dane said a few words about what a great guy he’d been.
All Jasper could think was that he was sorry for dragging Doug into this mess. In a roundabout way, he felt responsible for his death. The realization darkened his already sober mood.
Back inside, intent on repairing the down comms, Jasper marched halfway down the hall leading to the equipment room when he turned back to get Eden. He should never have left her alone.
Seconds later, he’d returned to the combined rec room and kitchen only to find she wasn’t there.
Dane whistled while forming ground beef patties.
“Where is she?” Jasper asked.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, relax.” Dane didn’t look up from his work. “Eden’s fine. She seemed exhausted, so I told her to take a shower and nap—not necessarily in that order.”
“Why aren’t you more concerned about Leo popping in?” Jasper hefted himself onto the nearest stainless steel counter. He snatched an apple from a fruit bowl and took a bite. After chewing and swallowing the less-than-ideal, mealy fruit, he noted, “It’s almost like you know we’re safe.”
“What I know is that I’m hungry, and so is Eden. Regardless of whether or not my former associate chooses now or later to stop by for a visit, we all need to eat—even you.”
Jasper set the apple on the counter. Was he judging this guy too harshly?
“How long have you known Eden?”
“Just under a year.”
“She and I first met on her fifth birthday. She was a beautiful girl with long dark hair and haunting green eyes.” He lit a burner on the gas stove, set a cast iron skillet atop it, then added three hamburger patties. “Even at that age, I always thought her too serious. While I suppose most girls her age might have wanted a ballerina or fairy-themed party, she wanted a science party. Her father asked me to perform a few scientific magic tricks for her and her pint-sized guests. Of course, I agreed. We did silly things—showing off supersaturation by making ice pillars. Crushing cans with air pressure. Creating a cloud in a bottle. I’d earlier made a Rubin’s tube that I set up on the lawn. After dark, the children and their parents were mesmerized by the fire dancing in time to Ace of Base.”
“Thanks for the slide show, pops, but how does any of that prove you’re not just as slimy as the nutball scum who’s been trying to kill my ass ever since I set foot on this godforsaken iceberg?”
“It doesn’t.” Dane hummed while flipping the burgers. “Eden told me you’re a former SEAL. I would imagine in that line of work, you were faced with all manner of unholy chaos on a daily basis. It must have been hard—determining the black and white of any given situation. Say you were given orders to clear a village of a suspected terrorist cell. But once you got there, you found those men were not only terrorists, but loving husbands and fathers. Sons of moms and dads who loved them every bit as much as any family would. On the one hand, those men were a danger to the very core of all Western society holds dear. On the other, they were the beating hearts at their own family core. Who were you to judge which family was more important?”
“Save the theological and ethical mind games. I get where you’re coming from, but what about sacrificing one for the good of others? There’s not much gray area to consider when it comes to taking out some bastard who has a hobby of strapping bombs to nursery school kids.”
“Agreed. My apologies.” He bowed his head. “I failed to make my point. All I’m getting at is that there are always two ways of looking at things. You and I are virtual strangers. As such, considering what you and Eden have been through, I don’t blame you for your distrust. But please understand I love her as much as you.”
Jasper lowered his gaze. He’d never said anything about loving her. But hell, maybe he did. Why else would he have been crazy enough to come all the way down here to save her?
His empty stomach launched a growling bitch-fest. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten, and the burgers smelled damned good. Did he risk them being poisoned?
He hopped down from his seat on the counter.
“Ah, there you are,” Dane glanced up from flipping the burgers to smile at Eden. “That didn’t take long.”
“No hot water.” While holding a towel to her wet hair, she winced. “I should’ve stayed dirty.”
“I’ll love you either way.” Dane winked before adding cheese to the patties.
“How can I help?” Eden asked.
Jasper barely held back a snarl when she hugged the guy from behind. In most cases, Jasper liked to think he was a great judge of character, but when it came to Dane, he was having a tough time taking a read. Honestly? The man had done nothing overt to indicate he played for the other team. In fact, his show of shooting that copter team should have been convincing.
Except for the fact that it wasn’t.
When the chopper pilot never heard from his team, why hadn’t he returned to check on them? Or, if needed, bring more men? For that matter, it would have been just as easy to follow their trail here. Why hadn’t they? What was keeping Leo away? Or should Jasper be asking who was keeping him away?
While Eden chummed it up with Dane, Jasper paced.
He reached a general notice bulletin board where a note written in red Sharpie caught his eye. It had been dated today.
Marabella Station—
Douglas Anderson failed to return to McMurdo by his estimated arrival time, though his vehicle is absent from your station. Since your comms are down, we’ve left a sat phone. Please contact immediately to confirm station status.
—Roger Howard
Roger left his number scrawled on the legal pad on the table.
There was no phone.
Jasper looked under the table, next to it, on all nearby chairs, but sure enough—no phone.
“What’d you do with the phone, Dane?” Jasper strode back to the kitchen.
“Pardon?”
“Don’t play dumb.” Jasper wanted to charge him. He wanted to punch his stupid, smiley lights out. Out of respect for Eden, he didn’t. But it was hardly a secret that she was pissed by his continued distrust of Daddy Dane. “See this?” He waved the note in Dane’s now expressionless face. “Roger says he left a sat phone on the table. Have you seen a phone?”
“No. And I resent the fact that you’re blaming me for an act I had no part in. You’ve been with me since we all set foot in the station. When would I have even had time to take it?”
“I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation.” Of course, Eden jumped to Dane’s defense. Maybe that was Dane’s game, to turn her against the one man she could actually trust. But was that entirely true? She’d asked him to respect her wish
es in the most sacred manner of allowing her to make decisions regarding her own body, and he’d not only refused, but actively plotted all the ways he’d work to find her a cure the second they returned to civilization. There was no way he’d let her die.
“Like what?” Jasper waved his hands. “Did it up and decide to spend the day hot air ballooning?”
“You’re losing it.” Tears shining in her eyes, Eden shook her head. “I used to think of you as my rock, but now you’ve become a cold, cynical man. For the last time, Dane is one of my, and my father’s, dearest friends. Respect that relationship or walk to McMurdo.
Jasper balled his hands into fists.
Stepping between him and Dane, she reached out to skim both of their arms. “Nothing would make me happier than for the two of you to be friends.”
“Is that your missing phone?” Dane pointed to the last row of tables. “On the floor next to that sweatshirt?”
Jasper hadn’t been able to spot it from his initial point of view, but from his current angle, the phone was in plain sight.
“You owe Dane an apology,” Eden said.
The hell I do. How had the phone gotten from the table to the floor? Santa and his elves hung out at the North Pole—not the south. One time too many, he’d taken a man at his word—a friend—and it had ended up bad. His sister-in-law, Mariah, hadn’t just been his brother’s wife, but Jasper’s confidant and friend. The fact that she’d died because of his asinine stupidity had driven the entire course of his adult life. After her funeral, he’d joined the Navy because his family wanted nothing to do with him. Ever since, everything he’d ever done had been with the sole hope of making them proud. Making them love him again. His fling with Eden was never supposed to have gone further. But it had. And now, in some mixed-up, impossible to understand way, she’d become a second Mariah. A woman he loved and respected and above all, needed to protect.
Because of his blind hatred for his old pal who’d long ago duped him, could he be distrusting Dane for no better reason than a ten-year-old grudge against a guy who’d long since been locked away for dealing?
Outcast (SEAL Team: Disavowed Book 2) Page 6