Turbulence. Dana Mentink

saw the desperate hope shining on her face. He looked at Jaden, closed, guarded, and knew that the man was lying. “Maddie…”

      “Please, Paul.” She put a hand on his chest and its gentle pressure made him dizzy. Maddie…he thought. Maddie, this man is not on our side. But the emotion in her body, that seemed to radiate from her trembling fingertips straight into his soul, stopped him.

      He stared at Jaden. “All right. What we’ve got to do now is focus on staying alive until help arrives and we can get the heart to Maddie’s father.” The rest of it—intended for Jaden—remained unspoken. And I will be watching you every moment until that happens.

      Jaden turned his attention to the approaching storm. “Weather’s worsening. Here.” He handed Paul a pair of boots. “Found these in the plane. Must have been the pilot’s.”

      Paul reluctantly pulled them on before he turned to Wrigley. “Stay here with Maddie—” he lowered his voice “—and watch that heart.” He zipped his jacket. “Jaden and I will see if we can find something to shovel the snow away from the entrance. Can you two organize whatever supplies we’ve got? Set aside any food items or first-aid materials you can find.”

      Wrigley bristled. “You don’t mean we should go through luggage, do you? That’s an invasion of privacy.”

      Paul checked his temper. “It’s between survival and privacy, Dr. Wrigley. Take your pick. Mine is the blue duffel. Feel free to tear it apart.”

      Wrigley didn’t answer, but his cheeks flushed.

      Without a word, Jaden put on a cap and followed Paul into the snow.

      The afternoon sunlight shone through the clouds, illuminating the ground in a dazzle of white, even as the snow continued to fall. Trying to keep Jaden in his line of sight, Paul approached the still-burning wreckage, looking for pieces of metal that had ripped loose and could be used as a makeshift shovel. Facts whirled through his mind, as snowflakes danced around his face.

      If Jaden stole the heart for blackmail purposes, then who drugged the pilot? As much as he didn’t want to believe it, Maddie’s accusations were beginning to sound more logical. The hospital director asked Wrigley to go in his place. Did he arrange to have the copilot disable the pilot and take them off course? Or perhaps Wrigley had been instructed to disrupt the delivery, unaware that Director Stevens intended to take care of the problem another way?

      With a start, he realized he didn’t trust any of them. But for the moment, they needed each other. It would take all of them to survive until help arrived. He looked at the sky, thick with snow.

      If it arrived.

      The transponder in the plane had probably broadcast their position, if it hadn’t been completely destroyed in the crash. Or maybe the pilot had managed a Mayday before he became incapacitated. In either event, they’d be on their own for a while.

      He thought of Maddie’s face again, the hope that shone there as it had before the car accident. The mask of grief had slipped away for a moment, and it took his breath away. He stopped the stream of memories and continued his search.

      Jaden yanked at a piece of metal, pulling it from underneath the snow.

      Paul retrieved a plastic door, torn loose from some compartment on the plane, and they carried their finds to the cave.