Page 80 of Mountain Target

Beau shook his head. There was a vise, squeezing at his chest, making it hard for him to speak, or even breathe.

“Valentina and Ren …” he began, then had to stop.

“What about them?”

A sob ripped out of Beau’s chest, but he pushed it back down. Losing control now would only get him benched, and he had to get to them. He had to find Valentina and Ren and bring them back safe. There was no other choice.

And yet, he couldn’t keep this from Alex, or from the rest of the team.

“They were going to Megève.”

“Hell,” Alex said. “We’ll send someone over to their place to check. Maybe they changed their mind. Maybe they’re home and—“ he stopped himself. “We’ll send a gendarme to check.”

Beau nodded gratefully as, together, he and Alex ran outside.

Tristan was already inside the helicopter.

“Running through the flight check, Commandant. We’ll be ready to depart in three minutes,” the pilot said.

Beau sat down, willing his phone to ring.

Please call me back.

Please call me back.

The rest of his team bundled into the aircraft, each one taking their usual seat. And then they were off in the air.

Beau took a deep breath.

“There’s something I need to tell you.” Four pairs of eyes turned to look at him, though he knew Tristan was listening as well through the headset.

“Valentina and Ren are most likely in Megève right now. I haven’t—“ his voice broke, but he forced himself to keep going. “I haven’t been able to get hold of her.”

For a long instant, there was complete silence.

“Hell,” Lorenz said, running his hand along his hair.

“If they’re there, we’ll find them, Beau,” Ry said in a low voice.

“I can’t ask you to—“

“You don’t have to ask anything of us. We’ll do our jobs, but we’ll find your girls as well,” Tristan said.

“They’re right, Beau. If they’re there, we’ll find them and bring them back,” Alex said.

Beau swallowed past the ball that had made its home in his throat.

“Thank you,” he croaked. “Thank you.”

He looked out the window at the mountains outside.

“The colonel is calling, Commandant. I’m going to patch you in,” Tristan said.

“Are they evacuating the town, Colonel?”

“Cretins, the lot of them. The mayor of Megève thinks we’re being too rash. He refuses to evacuate until we have proof that something’s wrong. I’m trying to get through to the Savoy prefecture. I’ll keep you updated. Just get there as fast as you can.”

“I take it they’re not evacuating, Commandant?” Alex asked.