Page 63 of When the Silence Breaks

“The recording said that someone wanted to keep it hidden, and someone else wants to find it. Maybe they haven’t yet because they were prevented. And now here I am, leading them right to it.”

“And you’re in the crosshairs, the same ones as your brother. This is exactly why we aren’t going to that plane. We burn everything that could lead someone else there.” Ryder started forward, heading back to the cabin.

She followed and grabbed his arm, surprised when he actually stopped. “You can’t be serious. You aren’t going to burn that map. Someone needs to know about this, Ryder, like you said—the truth comes out when it’s time. What if in the future someone stumbles upon this and unleashes hell on earth?”

“This isn’t about your brother anymore, Sarah.”

“Or even about getting answers or grief or even justice. I get it. This is about everyone else.”

“The town at the base of the mountain. The state. The whole world, maybe,” he said. “We need to plan our next steps very carefully. What are you thinking we should do, then?”

I don’t know.She wasn’t so sure anymore. “We get the one vial out of here and find that plane and destroy it along withwhatever else we find,” she said. “And we make sure no one uses this bioweapon, ever. No one stumbles on it either. Ever.”

Because now, her mission wasn’t about exposing the past. It was about preventing the future.

“I’m going back inside,” she said.

A hand clamped over her mouth as Ryder pushed her down into the needles and ferns, once again crushing her. “They’re here,” he whispered.

Twenty-Six

Flat on the ground in the unforgiving underbrush, Ryder peered around it. He gently released her but continued to press into the ground while lifting his gaze to watch what happened next. Sarah looked too. Moving in tight formation, three men stormed into the cabin, ready for trouble.

Not good.

They must have expected to find Ryder and Sarah inside because of the late hour and the cold night. Talk about impeccable timing. Ryder and Sarah were fortunate to be here by the lake.

“What do we do now?” she whispered. “We can’t leave and make a run for it. We left the map and vial inside. Nowtheyknow what we know.”

“What about your burner?”

“It’s in my pocket.”

“So they don’t know everything. The map won’t mean anything to them if they don’t know the mountain, and the vial ... let’s hope they aren’t stupid enough to open it.” But if they were after Sarah to stop her from finding the payload or to follow her and secure it for themselves, they already knew what they were after and what was at stake.

He released a slow breath. He always had his pistol on him, but he wasn’t sure about her. “You still packing?”

“You’re not suggesting that we try to take them, are you?”

“It’s a good way to find out who’s after you. Now that I know your past, these trained hunters make a whole lot more sense.”

“They wouldn’t know about my role with the CIA unless they’re connected to the agency somehow, and even then, very few know. And evenifthey knew, the CIA doesn’t do ops in this country.”

“And yet here you are,” Ryder said.

“Not working.”

“Was that man in the store—was he CIA?”

“Former boss. Retiring.”

“You telling me these men in the cabin aren’t CIA?”

Sarah shook her head. “It’s not likely.”

“Why is that?”

“The CIA’s focus is foreign intelligence. They can’t legally conduct domestic law enforcementor routine ops against US citizens. Domestic ops are handled by the FBI, unless there’s an international threat or some kind of joint task force in which the CIA is involved.” She hesitated. “And these guys don’t feel like that.”