He’d been untouchable since Melissa’s betrayal. And the pain of his father’s untimely death while saving old Devon Hemphill, a man his father had quarreled with for the better part of his life... Cade had no words. Even at the thought of the loss, his heart recoiled.
He stared out his own window now, studying the terrain, looking at the cornices and the buildup of windswept snow after the storms. All death traps waiting to be sprung. The helicopter carried them away from the canyon and Mount McCann and would set them down at the Incident Command Center location.
Leah seemed happy that Cade had left her to her thoughts. She had to be exhausted. Did she have any idea how fortunate she’d been?
God had intervened on this one, Cade was sure. Something Cade rarely saw anymore, which made him wonder about God sometimes.
“We’ll land at the Incident Command Center for coordinating the avalanche rescue and recovery,” he informed her. “They’ll want to take you to the hospital to get things checked out.”
She shook her head.
Cade had expected that reaction. “Listen, when I was digging you out, you mentioned you had no family or friends for me to call. I need to make sure you get home safely. That is, after your visit to the ER. The hospital staff needs to thoroughly check you out.”
“That’s not necessary. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“You might be injured and not even know it.”
“The medic already checked me out and said I was fine. I don’t need anything else.”
Cade knew what the guy had told Leah. Too bad he was up with the pilot, wearing a headset and oblivious to their conversation. Why didn’t she want to go to the hospital? “Look, at least let me give you a ride home.”
“Thanks, but I can get myself home.”
“Really?” Dusk clamping down on them, Cade shifted in his seat to face her full on. “Because unless you parked your vehicle at the ICC, you’ll need a ride somewhere.”
Leah blew out a breath. “You’re persistent, aren’t you?”
“What kind of rescue is it if you can’t get a decent ride home?” He was only being courteous. That’s all this was, wasn’t it?
Part of him liked Leah, sure—he’d admit that. He should stay far away from her on that reason alone, except that same feeling came back to him that he’d had before. He sensed that something was terribly wrong. That he shouldn’t let her vanish into the night. He wasn’t done with this rescue.
He almost wanted to roll his eyes at his own thoughts—he thought much too highly of his ability to assist people.
“Listen, Cade...”
Anything prefaced with those words couldn’t be good. Had he given her the wrong idea? That had to be it. But he had a strange feeling that he’d given her exactly the right idea about his interest in her—and he couldn’t be interested, not in that way. How did he protect himself and protect her? Especially when she clearly didn’t want his help or protection.
“I’m listening.”
“I like you.” She paused, appearing to measure her next words. “It’s just that I’m not in a place in my life right now to have friends, especially someone...”
She left the sentence hanging and Cade wondering what she had planned to say about him. She obviously had thoughts about him one way or another; she had been thinking about him. Even in the dimming light of day at only four o’clock Alaska time, Cade noticed the rush of color to her beautiful, nature-girl face. He’d be a jerk if he told her now that he wasn’t interested.
Cade held up his hands in mock surrender. “Point taken. But I’m only trying to wrap up your rescue and leave you safe and sound at home. If not me, then let someone else deliver you there.”
Passing her off to someone else to help her was for the best.
“I’m in a cabin up by Dover Creek. Not far from—”
“Dead Falls.” Where the avalanche happened today. “I know the place.”
All too well.
After her insistence that he stay out of her business, he was surprised she’d told him where she was staying. Acid burned through him. Though that explained what she was doing in the avalanche area, it didn’t explain why she was in old Devon Hemphill’s abandoned cabin. When Devon had died not long after Cade’s father had saved him, he’d taken with him the chance for Cade to get answers to his questions as to why his father had given his life to save the man he’d always seemed to hate. Could the answers be hidden somewhere in that cabin? Was he supposed to meet Leah for that very reason?
“You said there was a witness who called to let you know about the avalanche.” Her shaky voice weaved through his tumultuous thoughts and pulled him back to the present.
“Hmm?” He turned to face her again, her question sinking in. “Yeah. He pointed to where he’d seen you and the other man, and that helped me to pinpoint where to search for a beacon signal.”
Which reminded him. “You wore a beacon. Smart girl. But you weren’t wearing skies or snowshoes, unless the snow slide stripped them from you.” He was probing, now, hoping she’d tell him why she’d been out there. People didn’t usually hike or ski the backcountry in the winter alone. It was stupid and dangerous, even if she was staying in a nearby cabin. She’d told him that she didn’t know the victim, so why had she been out there alone? For that matter, why would the other victim be out there alone?
Things didn’t add up. Her story didn’t fit. Maybe it wasn’t his business, but he wanted to know what she was hiding.
“What else did he say?” She frowned.
Why would talking about the witness make her frown? Without that guy’s efforts, she wouldn’t have survived.
“His call about the avalanche and the information he gave us saved you. I guess you could say he was the real hero today, whoever he was,” Cade said. “After he pointed me in your direction, there wasn’t time for much small talk. I asked him to help find the other victim, but by the time my partner got there, the man had bailed.”
“What did he look like?”
Cade stared, wondering why it mattered, if she’d been there alone as she’d claimed. Hadn’t seen anyone else, as she’d said. What was she digging for? Her questions spiked Cade’s curiosity even more.
“The witness,” she said again. “What did he look like? What was he wearing?”
He scratched his head. “Black. Everything black, including his ski mask. I could only see his eyes.”
Fear rippled across her face in a quiet shudder.
He survived.
Everything tilted. Leah gripped the seat, unsure if Cade’s unwitting confirmation that Snyder had been the “witness” had sent her world spinning or if the helicopter had simply angled sharply.
Or did he have a coconspirator? She doubted that, whatever he was up to, he was working alone. It seemed too hard to pull off a cover-up as a detective without someone else watching your back. But that remained for her to investigate. Before today, she had seen no one else at the cabin. No one other than Snyder had pursued her. Unless there’d been someone else dressed exactly the same that happened to be in a position to witness the avalanche and make the call. That would be far too coincidental.
Pulse throbbing in her neck, Leah looked out the window and away from Cade. He was too perceptive and would see her distress. She’d