Page 6 of Nothing But Air

Tim looked up through tears cutting tracks in the dust on his face. “Deal. Thank you.”

Teague pushed to his feet and walked to where Liam was coiling rope.

“That was close,” Liam said quietly.

“Too close.” Teague grabbed a water bottle and drank deeply. “We can’t keep doing this. Someone’s going to die.”

“Or get us killed trying to save them.” Liam secured the rope. “Maybe Noah’s right. Maybe we need to close the whole park until this treasure madness dies down.”

“Don’t even say that.”

The radio crackled. Eden’s voice had gone professional again. “All units, recall to headquarters immediately. Superintendent Virgil Jones has called an emergency meeting. All North Rim personnel required.”

Teague and Liam exchanged glances.

Emergency meetings were never good.

“Copy,” Teague said. “We’ll head back, but it’s a few hours’ hike.”

“Chopper is back in range. Meg wants to check the climber, and Noah’s planning to gift him with a citation.” A pause. “Pickup coordinates incoming—hundred yards from your position. Fifteen minutes.”

“We’ll be there.”

“Good.” Her voice dropped, just for him. “And Hamilton? Xander’s video just came through.”

“How do I look? Am I ready for the big screen?”

The pause said it all. And when her voice came over the radio again, all warmth was gone. “Prepare to debrief when you get back.”

Liam raised an eyebrow with I told you so written on his face.

Teague ignored him.

Liam shouldered the gear bag. “You two should just get dinner already.”

“You don’t think I’ve asked her out?”

“She said no?”

“So fast it nearly gave me whiplash.”

They hiked to the pickup point, Tim trailing behind them on wobbly legs. Xander was already there, climbing onto the chopper. And lucky Teague—the man wasn’t bald. Not even close. With that grin, he clearly had all thirty-two bright white teeth, and he looked like a young Chris-freaking-Hemsworth.

Perfect.

Xander reached out, offering a hand to pull him into the chopper. Then held up his phone. “You’ve got to see the video.” All smiles.

Teague couldn’t hear the words over the rotors, but he could read the guy’s lips. He offered a quick nod and strapped in.

Why did Xander have to be so nice? It made it so much harder to hate him.

The canyon dropped away beneath the helicopter, and Teague let himself breathe—just once—before the knot in his chest tightened again.

He’d saved a life. But it had come with a cost.

The rules he’d bent. The risks he’d taken. The worry in Eden’s voice. All of it tangled together with the trouble waiting at headquarters.

He couldn’t shake the sense that he’d dodged one fall only to find himself teetering on the edge of the next.