Read Online Chilled (A Bone Secrets Novel) by Kendra Elliot - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kendra Elliot
Ads: Link
his coat pocket. He’d placed his Beretta in the pocket because earlier he’d fumbled away precious seconds as he’d wrestled off his gloves and thrashed under his coat for the gun. He wouldn’t be caught unprepared again. He stared hard into the trees.
“Hey! Look at that!” Ryan’s shout brought Alex out of his mental bear-encounter preparations.
The line halted as four sets of eyes followed the direction of Ryan’s hand pointing up into the trees. Something pale billowed and fluttered thirty feet above their heads. Alex’s feet froze in midstep.
A parachute?
“Is that a parachute?” Brynn voiced his thoughts.
His Beretta instantly in hand, Alex quickly scanned their surroundings for signs of life, his heart in his throat. Nothing. All was quiet as microscopic flakes fell with silent speed. He raised his gaze again. Next to the white of the snow the parachute was yellowed and dirty. Ripped.
“It’s old,” Thomas muttered. “It’s not from our plane.”
Not from our plane.
Alex slipped his handgun back in his pocket and felt his lungs contract in regret and relief. Then pity. Who’d used the parachute? How long ago?
He concentrated on watching Brynn as she searched the ground, making a roundabout pattern that circled out from the trunk of the tree.
“I can’t see anything under all this snow,” she complained.
“Who’d it belong to?” Ryan whispered.
“Lots of people have gone missing in these woods,” Thomas said quietly. “Planes too.”
Alex couldn’t speak; he was nauseous. Had someone hung up there? Waiting for days on end? Waiting for a rescue that never came? Or had they died on impact? He glanced at Brynn. What was she thinking? She was still kicking at the snow, scowling and muttering to herself.
His ex-wife would have been near tears and frantic with shock and sympathy.
Brynn was looking for answers.
“Note the coordinates, Ryan.”
“Already done.” The deputy was scowling at his GPS. “This doesn’t seem right.”
Thomas glanced at Ryan’s screen then back at the screen of the GPS he’d pulled out. “Mine’s different. Way different.”
His forehead wrinkling, Jim studied the two units the men held out. He reached in his pocket and checked his GPS. Alex felt like a useless idiot. It was a foreign feeling.
“Mine’s different too.”
“What?” Brynn stopped and looked up in surprise. “How can that be? I could understand one unit malfunctioning, but how can we get three different readings?”
Alex blinked as suspicion crept up his spine.
“Something magnetic? Maybe there’s a meteor buried nearby.” Ryan sounded as confident as if he’d suggested fairy mischief.
“Could that cause it?” Brynn murmured. Everyone looked blank.
“I have no fucking idea what would affect them,” Jim admitted. “They get their readings from a group of several satellites. Maybe the storm’s interfering. But it shouldn’t be. These things are supposed to get accurate readings in deep chasms and through bad weather.”
Alex watched Thomas. The Alaskan’s face was expressionless as he studied his GPS and then the others’. Mistrust knotted Alex’s stomach. Could someone have tampered with the units?
His gaze went to each face, studying and assessing as his jaw tightened. He was starting to like these people and it was affecting his objectivity. Not good.
In Brynn’s stooped search position, a lock of hair came loose from her ponytail and she tucked it behind her ear. The woman genuinely cared about the people for whom she went on missions. It couldn’t be her. She wouldn’t put anyone at risk for any reason. More likely it was one of the men. Or someone at base camp.
Who’d want to keep us from finding that plane?
US Marshal Paul Whittenhall pulled Stewart aside, out of hearing range of that interfering sheriff. “Who’s available? Who can do this outdoor kind of snowstorm shit?” His heartbeat was doing double time and blood was pressuring the walls
“Hey! Look at that!” Ryan’s shout brought Alex out of his mental bear-encounter preparations.
The line halted as four sets of eyes followed the direction of Ryan’s hand pointing up into the trees. Something pale billowed and fluttered thirty feet above their heads. Alex’s feet froze in midstep.
A parachute?
“Is that a parachute?” Brynn voiced his thoughts.
His Beretta instantly in hand, Alex quickly scanned their surroundings for signs of life, his heart in his throat. Nothing. All was quiet as microscopic flakes fell with silent speed. He raised his gaze again. Next to the white of the snow the parachute was yellowed and dirty. Ripped.
“It’s old,” Thomas muttered. “It’s not from our plane.”
Not from our plane.
Alex slipped his handgun back in his pocket and felt his lungs contract in regret and relief. Then pity. Who’d used the parachute? How long ago?
He concentrated on watching Brynn as she searched the ground, making a roundabout pattern that circled out from the trunk of the tree.
“I can’t see anything under all this snow,” she complained.
“Who’d it belong to?” Ryan whispered.
“Lots of people have gone missing in these woods,” Thomas said quietly. “Planes too.”
Alex couldn’t speak; he was nauseous. Had someone hung up there? Waiting for days on end? Waiting for a rescue that never came? Or had they died on impact? He glanced at Brynn. What was she thinking? She was still kicking at the snow, scowling and muttering to herself.
His ex-wife would have been near tears and frantic with shock and sympathy.
Brynn was looking for answers.
“Note the coordinates, Ryan.”
“Already done.” The deputy was scowling at his GPS. “This doesn’t seem right.”
Thomas glanced at Ryan’s screen then back at the screen of the GPS he’d pulled out. “Mine’s different. Way different.”
His forehead wrinkling, Jim studied the two units the men held out. He reached in his pocket and checked his GPS. Alex felt like a useless idiot. It was a foreign feeling.
“Mine’s different too.”
“What?” Brynn stopped and looked up in surprise. “How can that be? I could understand one unit malfunctioning, but how can we get three different readings?”
Alex blinked as suspicion crept up his spine.
“Something magnetic? Maybe there’s a meteor buried nearby.” Ryan sounded as confident as if he’d suggested fairy mischief.
“Could that cause it?” Brynn murmured. Everyone looked blank.
“I have no fucking idea what would affect them,” Jim admitted. “They get their readings from a group of several satellites. Maybe the storm’s interfering. But it shouldn’t be. These things are supposed to get accurate readings in deep chasms and through bad weather.”
Alex watched Thomas. The Alaskan’s face was expressionless as he studied his GPS and then the others’. Mistrust knotted Alex’s stomach. Could someone have tampered with the units?
His gaze went to each face, studying and assessing as his jaw tightened. He was starting to like these people and it was affecting his objectivity. Not good.
In Brynn’s stooped search position, a lock of hair came loose from her ponytail and she tucked it behind her ear. The woman genuinely cared about the people for whom she went on missions. It couldn’t be her. She wouldn’t put anyone at risk for any reason. More likely it was one of the men. Or someone at base camp.
Who’d want to keep us from finding that plane?
US Marshal Paul Whittenhall pulled Stewart aside, out of hearing range of that interfering sheriff. “Who’s available? Who can do this outdoor kind of snowstorm shit?” His heartbeat was doing double time and blood was pressuring the walls
Similar Books
