Chapter 54

fifty-four

DYLAN

I crouched beside some trees, ignoring the cold wind and the full, round moon still hovering in the sky from last night. All I knew was someone fired a gun, and I needed to find Alex. Fast.

When I arrived at Alex’s house, I swapped my truck for a set of cross-country skis. The only other vehicles in the garage were the four-wheelers. Taking one of them into the forest would have been like signing my own death warrant. The engine was too loud, and I could have gotten stuck in the snow.

I checked my watch. It had taken longer than I thought to ski here, but Alex could still be at the ranger’s house. Where were the terrorists, and who had fired the gun?

I moved farther into the forest. There was so much about this situation that didn’t make sense. The terrorist cell seemed to know what was happening almost as quickly as Alex and his boss did. Someone must have been working for them in the Department of Defense or in the project team .

Taking a deep breath, I pushed forward. The skis swished through the snow. I found a rhythm, bowed my head, and kept going.

When I was a few hundred feet from the house, I unclipped the skis and hid behind some trees.

Was that someone’s voice? The sound was muffled, almost incoherent as it bounced around the mountains.

Pulling out my gun, I peered around the trees.

Alex stood in the clearing, watching three men mount their snowmobiles. Why wasn’t he moving?

The men revved their engines and quickly drove away, spewing a trail of snow high into the air.

As I rushed forward, Alex dropped to his knees, untying something that was lying in the snow.

I stumbled, falling head-first onto the icy ground. Pulling myself upright, I looked around the clearing. If the terrorists came back, we’d both be dead.

“Alex! What are you doing?”

He spun around, his gun pointed straight at me. Shock replaced the anger on his face. “What are you doing here?”

“It doesn’t matter. We need to leave. If the terrorists come back, they could?—”

“They won’t come back.”

I frowned. “You can’t know that.”

He turned his back on me and leaned down, cradling something in the snow.

I ran forward, skidding to a stop beside him. The bloody body lying in the snow could only be one person. Anthony Sorenson.

I buried the fear rising inside me and swung the backpack off my shoulders. We had to keep Anthony warm until a rescue team arrived. I handed Alex a survival blanket. “ Wrap this around him. I’ll get the trauma kit from inside the house and call 9-1-1.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “How did you know?—”

“I’ll be back soon.” There’d be time later for explanations. Right now, we needed to keep Anthony alive.