Page 16 of Mountain Target

The peacemaker.

Beau imagined the man must do a lot of groveling on behalf of his boss.

“Messieurs? Nous sommes prêts.”

We are ready.

Beau sighed.

Fuck it.

This was the job today.

He made his way to the helicopter. “Tristan?”

“Ready, Commandant. Visibility is good. We should be able to drop off the equipment without any trouble.”

It was testament to Bristow’s connections that he’d gotten permission to use an entire room of the Refuge du Goûter to store his equipment.

Beau looked at the scientists to make sure they were at least dressed properly—hanging out at 3800 meters was no joke, even if they weren’t planning on spending the night out there.

Thankfully, Bristow didn’t say much during the flight. His full focus was on an enormous stack of printouts in front of him. Every so often, he asked Gilles or Liam for something, but other than that, it was as if he wasn’t there. Beau had to admire the man’s concentration.

Beau stretched his knee surreptitiously, glad for the silence—a short reprieve in what he could already tell was going to be a long day.

Long didn’t begin to cover it.

Today had been the longest, most uneventful day of Beau’s career. They’d helped the scientists unload the equipment at the refuge and spent all day walking around with them, watching as they stopped every few steps to take some measurements.

He was exhausted, and he knew Tristan and Ry were feeling the same. Only Alex had had a bit of fun, and that was because he couldn’t help being interested in anything that beeped or buzzed.

After a day spent shadowing the man, Beau had to admit Bristow’s dedication was staggering. The older man hadn’t stopped for a second, even as lunchtime had come and gone. It was only when the light had started to fade that he’d looked up at the sky accusingly, before seeming to accept that it was time to come back to town.

“Did you get what you needed?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know yet.” The man looked confused for an instant, as if he wasn’t used to uttering those words. “I need more time.”

Beau sighed, knowing what that meant.

Time to do it all over again tomorrow.

They’d dropped the scientists off at their hotel in the center of town, where Bristow had a suite and the rest of them each had a single room, agreeing to pick them up again at eight the next morning.

“We’re going out for a drink, boss,” Ry said. “Are you up for it?”

Even as he shook his head, Beau had the feeling he’d been saying no too often lately. But his knee and his head were competing for who could pound the hardest, and he just wanted to go home and ice one, if not both.

“Not today, thanks, guys. Rain check?”

Alex smiled. “Next week, for sure. When we’ve moved into our new place.”

Beau shook his head. He knew Alex, Ry and Hugo had been looking for a place together, though why they would want to live together was hard for Beau to conceive. He couldn’t imagine sharing his personal space with anybody else.

“Relax, boss. We’re not going to ask you to come live with us,” Alex said.

“You’re too old,” Ry added.

Beau growled something in response, not wanting Ry to know just how right he was.