Tailspin

Will hated where this was going. Hated it for Sylvie. “Was she pregnant with you?”

“Yes.” She hesitated then added, “My mother’s name was Regina Hemphill. My father was Scott Warren. I have half brothers and one half sister. Maybe you know them.”

“I do.” He released a heavy sigh. “That is one surprise package. But you’re an even bigger surprise.”

“Yeah, a surprise nobody wants to hear about. Or at least, that’s what my mother told me as gently as she could when she explained why I shouldn’t try to contact my father or half siblings. I guess she didn’t want to see me get my expectations up and get hurt. I can’t be sure she even told him about me. When I finally worked up the nerve to face him on my own, I couldn’t because he had died.” She shivered, either from the memory or from the chill in the air.

Will was reminded that he needed to find shelter. They could search for a cave, but what if they didn’t find one in time? He needed to build at least a rudimentary cover. A debris hut would be quick and easy and keep them warm. He’d prefer a bough structure to reflect the warmth of a fire. The problem was a rainforest was much too wet, and the chances he could start a fire were close to zero.

God, please, we need Snake’s cabin.

“It’s not fair,” she whispered. “And I have half siblings who may not even know I’m alive. I can’t tell you how often I’ve thought of them, wanted to meet them.”

Strange to think her mother, given the circumstances of her having to leave Mountain Cove, would have told Sylvie about her half siblings. Or had she done her own research? But she wasn’t finished talking and he wouldn’t interrupt. Instead, he began creating a mound from the forest floor.

“On the other side of that, they could resent me for the reminder that their father betrayed his marriage vows with my mother. They could hate me. So it’s almost better if I never meet them. Then I can stick with believing they’d want to meet me, but don’t know if I exist or how to find me if I did.” Sylvie groaned. “I can’t believe I’m telling you all this. You didn’t exactly ask for the whole shebang.”

“I know the Warren siblings would love to meet you.” He knew the siblings were aware of their father’s affair, and knew they’d tried to find out if they had a brother or sister out there. These were conversations he couldn’t help but overhear when piloting the Warrens to Juneau or sometimes even delivering them to a SAR—search and rescue—command center. They trusted Will. But in all of this, what he’d really like to know was if his mother had known where Regina had gone all along, but said nothing. “I’ll help you make that happen.”

“No, please, no. I’m not sure I’m ready to face them. I’m torn about it. I need time to think it through. I want it to be on my terms. Please don’t ever tell them. I’ll be the one if it happens.”

“Okay, then.” If Will’s mother had kept Regina’s secret, he thought he could feel some of what she might have felt when someone extracted a promise like that.

Still, it would be a hard promise to keep, depending on how all of this unfolded. From what had happened so far, this seemed to be shaping up into quite an adventure that Will could tell his grandchildren about one day. But he couldn’t think of it as an adventure until it was over and they survived. Grandchildren? He’d never get married so children were out of the question.

Will needed to excavate a hole in the debris, and then he and Sylvie would have to crawl into the pile, supported by loose branches, and hope to keep warm. Tomorrow he could build something better, if it came to that.

She tilted her head. “I thought you were making a fire.”

“A fire? It’s too wet.”

“Oh, I guess you’re right. I should be helping you.” Sylvie stood then fell back to the log.

“You’re injured. No need to help.” Will took a short break and sat next to Sylvie on the log, hoping his body heat would warm her, wishing his headache would subside.

“I know it’s hard to understand how I can ask you to keep my secret. Mom made it sound like the whole town of Mountain Cove gossiped about her. Practically ran her out of town. That’s why I need to work up my nerve before approaching the Warrens.”

“You? You’ve got nerves of steel.” Will inserted some humor into this too-serious conversation to cover his own growing anxiety about their chances of survival.

“Nerves of steel don’t matter. Under the right circumstances even something as benign as salt can turn corrosive and erode steel.” Sylvie shifted next to him. “Despite her feelings about the town, she was on her way back to Mountain Cove. I guess I’ll never understand why, but I wanted to find her plane. I want to know what happened.”

“You and me both, Sylvie. You and me both.” Will waited for Sylvie to go on, one question burning in his mind. When she didn’t continue, he asked, “Did you find what you were looking for? Did you find the plane?”

Sylvie opened her mouth to speak.

A twig snapped from the shadows. Will sprang from the log to face the threat. He stood in front of Sylvie to protect her and reached for his weapon, but came up empty-handed. He’d forgotten that he didn’t have it. It was submerged with his plane.

Wearing a hood, a man emerged from the trees. Friend or foe?

“Snake?” Will squinted, studying the intruder.

The man stepped forward and tugged back his hood. “What are you doing here?”

FIVE (#ulink_04d294e3-1419-54c0-a488-77c44249d8f4)

What kind of name is that?

Will glanced over his shoulder at Sylvie. She stood from the log, easing onto her good foot and using Will’s back for support. She wanted to be standing in case they needed to make a run for it.

“Sorry for the unannounced visit, Snake. You know I’d never intrude if it wasn’t an emergency. But I had some plane trouble. A hard landing and Sylvie and I...we’ve had a brush with death or two today.”

The man’s expression darkened as he studied both Sylvie and Will. It seemed that he had issues with trust. Clearly he lived a reclusive life away from civilization. Away from the prying eyes of the law. She wouldn’t second-guess his reasons. This wasn’t her world.

“Come on, then.” He turned and disappeared into the trees.

Will lifted her back in his arms and followed. “Only a little longer, Sylvie. You hanging in there? Doing okay?”

“I’m good, thanks to you.”

“You’ll be thanking Snake before too long. He’s the one with the cabin and a warm fire. I bet he’ll have a big pot of game stewing, too. That’s what I’d do in this weather if I were him.”

Sylvie’s mouth watered at the mention of food. She could already imagine the warm fire and wanted nothing more than to sleep in a soft bed, covers piled high. Safe, sound and secure. She sighed at the thought. Was that asking too much?

But she had to remain vigilant. This wasn’t over yet. She couldn’t rest until it was. And Will deserved an answer to his question. “No. I didn’t find the plane. I thought I saw something, though. The glint of what could have been part of a plane. That’s when I was attacked.”

Lines pressed between his brows.

“There’s something else,” she whispered. “I’m grateful for your help and for Snake’s, but you know I need to get out of here. I need a decompression chamber. And I don’t want to put anyone else in danger.”

There, she’d said the words that had been crawling over her ever since Will had made an appearance today and put himself between her and the men trying to kill her.

“One thing at a time,” he said. “Snake has a radio. While I was in the air trying to figure out how to rescue you, I tried to radio for help a few times, but no one connected on the other end.” He glanced at her, his strong, scruffy jaw and warm brows much too close. “I’ll make the call for help first thing. Only Snake isn’t going to like it.”

“Why not?” But she thought she already knew.

“He lives off-grid. Doesn’t want anyone to know he’s here. Doesn’t want to draw attention to his castle in the glen. Once people know about his castle, he might be overrun with marauders.”

“Out here? Nah, I doubt it.” Sylvie couldn’t help but grin at his medieval references. He was definitely chivalrous, a real knight in shining armor, now that she thought about it. With his strong arms holding her, carrying her over and through the terrain—not an easy task in places—and keeping her pressed against his warm, muscular form, she couldn’t think straight.

She had to get her mind on something else. She was strong and independent, and didn’t like that being near him turned her soft and compliant. Made her needy. She couldn’t afford to be like her mother when it came to men, and get hurt in the worst of ways. With all that had happened today, she feared her suspicions that her mother had been murdered were confirmed, and she’d almost blurted it all out to Will. She wasn’t ready to tell him her darkest of secrets yet. Not until she was absolutely certain of it. She didn’t want to think about it now, didn’t want to face the truth of what that would mean. So she turned her thoughts back to Will and Snake.

“But you know where he lives.”

“That, I do. He needs someone he can trust to bring him supplies and keep his existence a secret.”

“Are you telling me the Alaska State Troopers or the Coast Guard or some other entity doesn’t know he’s here?”

“Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. The point is that he is off the grid and off the radar. Or at least, he was.”