Page 76 of When the Silence Breaks

She’d come on this venture thinking she would get justice for her brother and make sure Tessa and Jeremy were safe and that they would never have to look over their shoulder.

Now ... look at her. And no longer was it simply her—multiple innocent people had been pulled into it. Then again,with such volatile weapons hidden on the mountain, had it ever been just about her and her justice? No. Many lives had been at stake—and the danger only escalated if Reid got his hands on this payload.

Sarah took a step forward. “Please, Reid.Pleasereconsider. Opening up that wreck, you have no idea what you’re going to find inside, despite what your GPR says. We don’t know the conditions inside. You could contaminate yourself. Even if you send me in alone, I could end up contaminating everyone and everything. Or worse, release something none of us can contain.”

“You’re wasting time,” Reid said.

“Do you know what this bioweapon does? Do you have any clue? Any idea? It needs to stay exactly where it is, buried forever.”

If only the mountain would rumble now, like it had been doing all along, and bring down that avalanche to bury them all. She hated the thought of it, but if it meant saving her son and Tessa, saving many more lives, Sarah would take it.

Please, God,help us!

But the mountain remained eerily silent as if to keep its secrets.

Thirty-Two

Ryder wanted to argue, to fight Maddox, prevent him from separating Ryder and Sarah, but then again, he didn’t want her at the plane, where Maddox had forced him to return with Smith. And each moment—every movement—he was conscious of the snow-laden cornice hanging above and the avalanche waiting to happen.

At the right moment, maybe.

But he should let it go and focus on what he could control, and right now it felt like exactly nothing. So next to the faint curve of the fuselage jutting from the mountainside—reminding him of a half-buried skeleton—he planted his boots wide in the crusted snow. His breath clouded the thin, frosty air. The wind gusted over the rim and pulled at his coat, nipping at his face.

Smith at his side messing with his equipment, Ryder turned and squinted through the heavy snow that could bury them all—avalanche or no—if they didn’t get this over with soon. White tents had quickly gone up and were anchored with weighted ropes.

This wasn’t just a base-camp shelter—not with the black biohazard emblem stenciled on the sides. Queasiness roiled through his insides. Gear crates were stacked near the entranceof one of the tents. Someone ducked through the flap, a coil of hoses slung over one arm—part of the mobile decontamination setup? The tension in his shoulders grew painful, and the graze at his shoulder ached even more.

Hazmat suits. So ... they’d truly thought this through, never for one minute doubting that Sarah and Ryder would find the downed plane. His gut tightened. With what waited inside that aircraft, one thing was clear—they weren’t walking into just another mountain plane crash.

And where was Sarah? He scanned the men moving between those tents and searched for her dark hair covered in that gray beanie and her flat-brown parka. The line of her shoulders, anything that he would recognize as the one person he needed to get out of this—no matter the cost.

Pressure coiled through his spine. He was accustomed to danger and facing the risk head-on, choosing to step forward, but this was different. Then he saw her ... she was being herded into one of the white tents. She glanced over at the plane, and for a moment—one split second—he imagined her gaze held his, searching for hope or reassurance. Whatever it took to get them through this.

Please, hold onto hope, Sarah.And with that thought, he knew he had to as well. Ryder wished he could find a way to use the avalanche risk to his advantage in this impossible situation, but nature held power over them all.

In the meantime, he needed to turn his focus on the best chance of getting them inside without bringing a mountain of snow down on them. Crouching at the edge of the mound of snow, Ryder pressed a gloved hand against the ice-crusted fuselage. He suspected the metal remained intact, buried beneath decades of compacted snow. Over time, the plane had becomepart of the mountain itself, and any disturbance on their part could be catastrophic in ways none of them could imagine.

Blackspire Mountain wasn’t just any mountain.

For the last several days, the rumblings had seemed to increase, but now the mountain was silent. Considering the avalanche threat, he should be grateful for peace and quiet. Snow clouds veiled the summit as the flakes grew thicker and heavier, spiraling down and covering the ground, muting every sound and movement. The wind had suddenly calmed again.

All of it set his nerves on edge.

He stepped back from the fuselage to watch Smith use the compact GPR unit. While Reid hovered, watching too, Smith swept the antenna over the snow-covered shape. Ryder watched the radar screen blink, depicting the grainy cross section.

“There it is,” Smith said.

Smith tilted the device so Ryder could get a better look, as if asking for his opinion, which he gave. “The fuselage looks intact, but again, we can’t measure the structural integrity. It’s tilted at a sharp angle. Not sure if that means anything to you, but this thing could slide right off the rim if whatever you do here today disturbs the ice and snow that cements it in place.”

“The large hollow chamber in center mass is right there. The cargo hold.” Smith pointed. “That’s probably where the payload is stored.”

“Get in,” Maddox said, “and head for the sealed cargo hold, then.”

“You can’t know it’s sealed,” Ryder said. “Nothing on this screen says it is.”

“It’s not collapsed,” Smith said. “If anything’s inside, it’s still intact.”

These guys assumed too much, but then again it wasn’t their skin they were risking. Maddox wanted Ryder and Sarah toenter the plane and retrieve the vials. What if they simply refused? Then what? But with her son’s life on the line, she would do whatever these men asked. Ryder would be right by her side until they could figure out how to get out of this.