Ryan snorted. “My thoughts exactly. He hates every minute of it out here. Something is driving him to put up with this.”

“It’s his job. Besand’s a murderer. He wants to make sure Besand’s either dead or put back in prison.” Brynn shuddered as she glanced at their surroundings. “Alex thinks Besand is trying to hike out of the woods. Armed. I guess a gun is missing from the dead marshal.”

“Jesus! And they let you hike back up that hill alone?” Ryan’s gaze swirled in all directions, and he threw an arm around her shoulder to press her down. “We shouldn’t be sitting out here in the open.”

“Stop it!” She shoved off his arm. “He’s not here. Don’t you think he would have waited with the plane if he wanted to be rescued? I think he started walking out. Alex says this guy hated prison, and he believes Besand’s taking this chance to get away. Besand knows if a rescue crew found him, he’d be back in prison within hours. So he’s gonna do everything to avoid us. I already had this argument with the other guys below. We don’t need to go through it again.”

Ryan sat still. “What did Alex want to do?”

“He wants us to get out of here. But I knew you weren’t up to hiking out right now and vetoed that. Alex wants to go after Besand after we leave. Like we would even consider leaving him alone out here.” She frowned. “He seems to think Besand has some big plan for getting out of the country. How could he have a plan? He didn’t know his plane was going down or that he’d live through it.”

“Maybe he’s always had a backup plan. Just in case the opportunity arose to escape from prison. I know I would.”

She smiled. “You’d be a lousy criminal. You’re too damned honest.”

Ryan rubbed at his nose. “Collins said something that I didn’t understand. Something about Alex.”

Brynn’s stomach tightened. “What’d he say?”

“It sounded like ‘Kinton’s not a marshal.’”

They both were silent for five full seconds.

Brynn slowly shook her head back and forth. “That’s not right. I’ve worked around you law enforcement types for years. Alex has ‘cop’ tattooed on his forehead.”

“I’m with you. There’s law enforcement in there somewhere.”

“Maybe you misunderstood. Maybe Collins was saying…” She scrambled for words. “Kinton isn’t…I don’t know.” Her hands went up in exasperation. “You said the connection sucked. Maybe he didn’t say ‘Kinton’ maybe he said ‘kitchen’ or…or ‘kitten.’”

Ryan laughed, but sobered rapidly. “You’re right. But it’s bugging me. Collins said it twice, but neither time was clear.

I want to talk to Jim about it, see what he thinks.” He grimaced. “But I guess it doesn’t make much difference. Let’s say Alex isn’t a marshal. That’s fine. He’s pulled his weight on this mission, and we’ve done our job. He seems to be a decent person, and I kinda like him. After this we can all go home and laugh about the guy who was dumb enough to fake being a marshal to go along on the rescue from hell.”

“But Alex isn’t going home. He’s going to hunt down and kill Besand. I saw it in his eyes.” Brynn’s voice broke as she shuddered, remembering Alex’s cold gaze and wondering what had knocked him down to such a low point.

Alex leaned his back against the plane as he watched Brynn climb the hill. He ran a freezing glove over his eyes. It was partially Monica’s fault he was here. If she had only agreed seven years ago to accept Samuel, Alex wouldn’t be in this position. And Samuel wouldn’t be dead.

Stop it. He should have known he could never change Monica. Rule one of marriage: don’t go into it assuming the other person will change for you.

Monica had been five and half feet of black-haired, browneyed spitfire. A corporate attorney, his wife could argue any opinion until she had Alex agreeing that blue was red. When he’d ask her to come with him to visit Samuel, she’d refuse. Every time.

Alex would leave the house convinced Monica didn’t need to see his brother. But by the time he’d parked in front of the care home he’d realize she’d bowled him over again. She always managed to finagle her way out of visiting Samuel.

So it wasn’t a surprise that she’d also refused his requests to let his brother come live with them.

Alex had understood, but he didn’t want to. Her arguments had made sense. How could their marriage grow with his brother in the house? How could they have any privacy or intimacy living with a mentally handicapped man who didn’t know what those words meant?

His brother was a twelve-year-old in a man’s body, and Alex had known he was asking too much of Monica by suggesting Samuel live with them. Samuel had been pretty independent, but he’d been known to get lost on the bus system or wander out of the house at two in the morning.

Alex had loved his brother fiercely. The age difference of seven years didn’t matter. All his life he’d been his little brother’s protector. First against the teasing kids of the neighborhood; then the kids at school; and then, after their parents died, Alex protected Samuel from the system. Samuel was one of those kids who kept falling through the cracks. Too advanced for full-time care, but needing more than part-time supervision. Alex had resorted to private care for his brother, looking for homes that would treat him like a family member. It wasn’t easy. Care for the mentally handicapped didn’t pay well and often attracted some of the dregs of society without skills. He was between a rock and a hard place. Samuel didn’t need people with advanced degrees taking care of him. He just needed a helping hand, some love and affection. Something Alex could have done if his wife hadn’t given him an ultimatum.