Page 55 of When the Silence Breaks

He stopped pacing, then glanced around the space. “I’ll tell you when I can form a clear, rational thought.”

Okay. She shouldn’t push. Yeah, she was going to push. “With such a dangerous payload, why hasn’t the plane already been found?” She had her ideas but wanted to hear from Ryder.

He turned his back to her and moved close to the woodstove to close the grate. The fire snapped from behind it.

Finally, he said, “A mountain like this, a person—even a team of trained searchers and scientists—would struggle to cover every ridge, every avalanche chute, every crevasse. You’d need years. Maybe even decades. You saw for yourself.”

“Sure, but even with today’s technology? Satellites, lidar scans? Drones to fly around? Come on. I mean, researchers found the lost Mayan cities in the jungle. How can a plane simply vanish in the Cascades?” Maybe her brother had been killed because he had the skills to find something no one wanted found, or maybe he’d been killed because he refused to search. She might never know the truth—but if anyone could have found the plane, it was her brother.

And now ... Sarah, because she had the map and she had Ryder.

Ryder appeared deflated, which wasn’t a reassuring look on him, as he eased into the wooden chair at the table, causing it to creak. The act made it look like his whole body carried the weight of the world. Sarah moved to sit in the chair at the table across from him.

He braced his arms on the plank surface, his gaze landing on hers, but this time it didn’t reassure her. Still, she couldn’t look away and braced herself for his next words.

“Because...” He released a heavy sigh. “According to the official records, the plane went down in the Pacific. So that’s where they focused the search. And the teams looking? Probably didn’t even know what the plane was really carrying. Just another wartime transport lost at sea. With no confirmed crash site and no distress call, theSentinel Onewas written off—missing in action. Like so many others.”

Really? She could hardly believe it. “Eventually someone would have checked here, wouldn’t they?”

“The North Cascades? I don’t think this area was in the original flight path. It wouldn’t make sense.”

“But for the rumors to start that a plane crashed here carrying Nazi gold, someone had to have seen it. There’s truth in myth, right? So with that, it seems someone would have looked.”

“If they looked, my guess is that someone didn’t want them looking for it or finding it. For instance, take the lidar data you mentioned—there’s a massive backlog of unprocessed data. Not enough analysts. It wouldn’t take much to make the plane disappear. Mountains like these, along with the thick, tree-covered canopy, snowpack, snow slopes that shift every spring. That plane buried under a rockslide or a hidden ravine—it could be hidden forever.”

Sarah crossed her arms, taking in his knowledge—he would know about mapping what was on the mountain, wouldn’t he? “You sound like you don’t think it was just lost.”

“It was buried and forgotten on purpose.” His eyes grew even more intense.

The look scared her. “What is it?”

“This is bigger than either of us. Whatever bioweapon was being transported could have been released with the crash. Or it could have remained intact. I don’t know what you expect us to do now. In case you forgot, we neglected to pack our hazmat suits.”

She almost laughed at his sarcasm, but he wasn’t wrong. “You wish we hadn’t listened to this? Yesterday, before we got this far, part of me was afraid to hear what Tessa had found. Maybe I wanted us to get this far before because, deep down, maybe I feared it would be something like this. We’re here now.”So ... we keep going.The security of the cabin and the warmth of the stove revived her and ramped up her determination.

“Deep down, huh?”

“Look, I swear to you,” she said. “I didn’t know what we were looking for. I didn’t know about your grandfather’s involvement.”

He suddenly jumped up. “I need to search this place. I wouldn’t put it past my grandfather to have hidden something here.”

“Are you saying you stayed here—camped up here, hunting and fishing—and you never found anything related to the crashed plane? Do you think he would risk it?”

“No. He did this after. Maybe the last decade of his life, after nobody came back here.”

“How can I help?”

“This old place isn’t the safest. You’re good, so stay there and review what we know. Look at what we found. Examine the map. Think on our next steps. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

And with his exit, Sarah found herself cold and alone, as if Ryder had sucked the warmth out with him and fear and shadows had taken his place.

Twenty-Two

He stepped out into the cool night and let the crisp air slap his cheeks. He could have looked for some sort of hidden spot inside first, but he needed the air to clear his head. He pressed the heels of his palms on his eyes, then slid his hands up to his forehead.

What ... is going on?This was beyond dangerous.

Lord, what doI do? Help me keep her safe. Help me keep the whole town safe. Please don’t let whatever ison this mountain ruin the region and destroy more lives.