What had happened to Liam?

If they hadn’t been in the middle of the forest, Alex might have thought Liam left to put space between the two of them. A small wave of guilt washed through him. Last night he’d wanted to ram his fist into the younger man’s mouth. The man had done his best to push Alex’s buttons.

Liam must have left to take a piss. There was no other reason to leave. Liam knew the choppers were due today, and he would never leave Tyrone. Even though Liam might be a colossal pain in the ass, Alex understood his devotion to his brother.

Thomas broke into an awkward half run. “There. Over there.”

Commanding his exhausted muscles to move, Alex jogged through the fluff. Ahead, at the base of a fir was a motionless red mound. Fuck! Are we too late?

Thomas darted under the branches and knelt by the still figure, uncovering Liam’s face, and placing two fingers at his neck. Alex caught up and collapsed next to Thomas.

“Is he dead?” Alex huffed. Liam’s face was white, almost a blue-white, and the man was way too still.

“He’s got a pulse, a weak one,” Thomas answered. “We’ve got to get him heated up. At least he’s dry. Give me your hand warmers.”

Alex handed over the warmers and froze at the sound of the gunshot.

“What the—” Thomas started.

And another gunshot.

Brynn. Alex’s heart jumped into his throat. Adrenaline pumping, he leaped to his feet and took a step in the direction of the plane. He stopped, whirled around, and moved a step back toward Liam. He stood immobile, his heart and mind racing. Who to help?

“Could be the other team,” Thomas said without conviction. His gaze met Alex’s and then returned to Liam as he deftly packed the warmers under Liam’s armpits.

“No.” Alex knew in his gut the shots had come from the plane.

Thomas pulled his cell from his pocket. “I’ve got a signal. I’ll try to reach Jim. Get him over here. You get back to the plane. But keep an eye out.”

Relief flooded through Alex. “You sure?”

“Yes. Now get moving,” Thomas ordered.

Alex didn’t need to be told twice.

He was going to die.

Alex’s lungs burned to the point he thought they were about to give out. He’d pushed hard through the snow, following the trail he and Thomas had broken during their search. Thirty minutes had passed since the shots. The forest had been silent since then.

Is she OK? Dear Lord, please keep her safe.

The plane came into view. All was quiet. Thirty yards away, Alex stopped at the top of a small rise and rested his hands on his knees, panting hard.

“Brynn! Ryan!” he shouted.

Still quiet.

He squinted at the snow by the plane door. Is that blood? His mouth dried up.

“Brynn!” His voice cracked and he sucked in another burning breath to yell again.

The door opened a few inches. “Alex?” Ryan yelled.

Alex fell to his knees, eyes watering. Thank God. They are OK.

“Alex? That you?” Ryan’s call wavered, and Alex heard his fear.

Sparks of panic shot through his spine as he fought for breath.

“Ryan! It’s me.” Alex pushed to his feet and started to stumble down the slope. “What happened?”

Ryan stuck his head out. “He’s got her! He’s fucking got her!”

Noooo! Alex’s heart split cleanly in half.

Darrin was a dead man.

Ryan pushed the door open as Alex staggered closer. There was blood on the snow. And it made a trail away from the plane. Brynn? His gaze followed the red-smeared path.

“Oh, God. Is that her blood?” Alex whispered. He fought down the bile in his throat.

“No.” Ryan said. “That’s Kiana’s.”

“Kiana’s?”

“He fucking shot the dog. Kiana attacked him, and he shot her.” Ryan’s voice faltered. “He walked right in…no warning or nothing. Scared the shit out of me when he grabbed Brynn…I thought he was gonna shoot her. He held a fucking gun to her head and demanded a GPS. He was shocked that we were here. He’d counted how many people left the plane and expected it to be empty. He didn’t know Tyrone, Liam, and Matt had joined us.”

“A GPS?” Alex repeated. His brain spun wildly. He stared at Ryan, who held a rag to his bloody mouth. The kid looked ready to collapse. “Where’s Tyrone?”

Ryan jerked his head toward the back of the plane. “He’s lying down. Got kicked in the head.”

“Oh, shit. With his injury…”

“I know,” Ryan said. “He’s thrown up twice since then. Not good.”

Alex stepped inside. The sharp odor of vomit hit him in the face. He swallowed hard and squatted next to Tyrone. “How you doing?”

“I’m good,” the hurt man croaked.

Like hell.

“Fucker took her.” Tyrone winced. “Walked right in the door. Ryan and I were asleep back here. He caught Brynn off guard.”

Anger flowed through Alex’s veins. “I’m going to kill him.”

“He took Ryan’s gun…Brynn had it. She got off one shot…missed.”

“Then Darrin punched her,” Ryan added. “Right in the side of the head. Took the gun from her and got her in a headlock.”

Tyrone pointed at Ryan. “This idiot tried to rush him and got nailed in the mouth with the gun…fucking lucky he didn’t shoot him…”