Page 71 of Mountain Impact

Breathe, Isolde.

In and out.

In and out.

If Drake thinks there’s no danger―

And then she realized what was wrong. If Drake hadn’t been worried, if he’d seen no danger, he wouldn’t have asked her to drive off and call Damien at the fifteen minute mark.

Making up her mind, Isolde picked up her phone again, scrolling down to Damien’s contact. Before she could second-guess herself, she pressed the call button. Damien picked up on the second ring.

“Hello, Isolde? Is everything okay?”

She didn’t bother with any pleasantries. “I need your help, Damien.”

She proceeded to explain what had happened. As she got to the end of the story she faltered. “Drake asked me to wait before calling you, but I have a bad feeling―”

“Stay put, Isolde. Stay inside the car and lock the doors,” Damien ordered, sounding a lot like Drake. “We’re on our way.”

“But Drake―”

“―can handle himself, Isolde. Wait for us inside the car. Please.”

She hung up the phone, her eyes fixed on the doorway to the cable car hut. As the seconds passed and there was no word from Drake, Isolde’s anxiety levels spiked. Her hand hesitated on the door handle.

I promised Drake I’d stay in the car.

He doesn’t need your help, he needs his team’s help.

But his team’s not here―you are.

The feeling crystallized in her mind―if Drake was in trouble, she was the only one who could help. She opened the door handle and got out of the car cautiously, closing the door behind her as quietly as possible. She shivered in the cool, evening air, glad she’d changed into jeans and a long-sleeve top but wishing she’d thought of bringing a sweatshirt as well.

Isolde stood behind the front door, listening for any sounds. If everything was okay, she’d head back to the car and―

The first voice she heard wasn’t Drake’s, and it wasn’t one she immediately recognized. Though she couldn’t understand the words, the tone sounded hostile.

I’ve heard that voice before …

Isolde took a small step into the cavernous building―and saw Drake and a tall, round-faced bald man standing towards the far side of the room, where the cable car was waiting. The wind blew in from the mountain side, the noise making it impossible to understand the words the men were speaking.

But she didn’t need to hear the words to notice how still Drake was holding himself. She looked to where he was staring―and saw the gun, pointed straight at Drake’s chest.

Isolde’s throat suddenly went dry. Her lungs seized, and her heart thundered inside her chest, loud enough to her own ears that she was surprised the men couldn’t hear it.

She knew what was happening, of course―had studied the body’s reaction to fear in order to be able to better explain it to her patients. But knowingit and feelingit were two different things.

As the wind suddenly quieted down outside, Isolde heard Drake’s voice, ringing out loud and clear. “You were willing to kill your brothers?”

The bald man shrugged. “It’s not that difficult to understand. When our parents died, they left us a ruin of a company. In the last ten years, I’ve given everything to that company. I’ve made it into something great. And now my brothers, who’ve done nothing except spend the money I made, want to force me to sell.”

Blanchard.

The brother of the two men injured in the cable car crash.

Isolde realized if Blanchard turned his head, he’d be able to see her clear as day. She ducked back behind the door. Falling to her knees was easy, they were shaking so hard―forcing air into her lung was harder. But she couldn’t afford to lose her shit now.

She forced herself to take a deep, steadying breath, and cocked her head to better listen to what the two men were saying. Now that she couldn’t see them, it was harder to make out what they were saying.