Page 15 of Mountain Refuge
Maybe that was safer. If she didn’t know which direction we’d gone in then she couldn’t tell anyone which way we went.
Christ, I was going to develop an ulcer if I kept this level of stress up. How did people survive this? Was this what witness protection felt like? Except those witnesses had the police to help hide you instead of hunting you.
“Fine.” Brooke stood up, clearly annoyed.
I didn’t blame her for that, because this wasn’t her problem. How could I lay this on her? Yet, if I didn’t, I didn’t know what my next steps were. How did I keep herandmy kids safe? If there was a choice between keeping her or keeping my kids safe…? Geez. In reality, I knew my choice was my kids. It would always be my kids. But to intentionally put her in danger?
I shook my head. I couldn’t do that either.
But how did I protect my kids when I didn’t know where to go from here? We’d have to leave this cabin in a few days, maybe a week. Brooke was right that I didn’t know which direction to leave in. I didn’t even know where I was.
I looked up in time to see her at the top of the stairs about to head down.
I had a sudden image of her walking out of my life. I wasn’t in love with her, that was a stupid notion, but I was attracted to her and I liked her. She was brave and it was adorable how she babbled when she was nervous. She was selfless enough to help out strangers and had opened her home to us.
This feeling of consternation went deep.
I was once more at those crossroads. Left or right. Talk orstay silent. I had this irrational fear that if I let her walk down those stairs, I would regret it. What did that even mean? Why would that even matter? I was leaving in a few days. Brooke was not coming with us and we were not staying here.
So why could I not let her walk down those stairs? It felt like my heart had dropped into my stomach and I couldn’t breathe. Irrational, possibly dangerous, but I needed to talk. I needed to choose a path. I couldn’t do this on my own. I’d trusted Jack and Corbin, and it had landed me stranded in the middle of a snowstorm on the side of a mountain.
Brooke had been the one to rescue us. I had no desire to put her in danger, but I needed her help. At the very least, a direction to point me in.
“Corbin,” I said just as her foot hit the first stair. She stopped. “My friend. His name is Corbin.”
Brooke turned back around. I couldn’t tell the expression on her face, but it wasn’t doubt. Maybe shock, curiosity.
She stepped back up onto the loft. Then walked over to her radio without saying a word to me. She flipped a switch, pressed a button, and grabbed the microphone.
“Calling Omega-Delta-Four-Six-Two-Two-Tango. Pick up the mic, I know you’re listening. You’re going to want to hear this, over.”
I came around the loveseat. I didn’t bring her desk chair with me, too preoccupied with wondering what she was doing.
Brooke put the microphone closer to her mouth as if she was going to click it again when a voice I knew well came over the speaker.“Brooke, babe, are you okay?”
Babe? I wasn’t sure why the endearment bothered me, but I had a sudden urge to hit my best friend. Were they dating?
Then it hit me: she knew Corbin! Elation filled me, and I could have flown withrelief.
Brooke keyed the microphone. “I have someone here who wants to talk to you.”
“What?”His confusion was clear, but I didn’t hear jealousy or worry in his tone.
She handed me the microphone and moved out of my way. I stepped closer so the cord didn’t pull tightly. There was only one button on the side, so it wasn’t difficult to figure out how to use it.
I pressed the button. “Corbin.”
A pause then,“Adam? Holy shit!”I went to talk again, but he kept going.“I’ve been trying to reach you. None of the burners connected through. When you missed your last check-in, I feared the worst, but Jack assured me you weren’t caught and I trust him. I kept hoping you’d call. We wanted to tell you about the storm, to wait to come. When I hadn’t heard from you, I hoped you’d bunkered down in a motel somewhere to wait it out.”
Yeah, that would have been smart. If I’d known about the storm. I hadn’t realized I’d missed a check-in, but, then again, I was pretty out of it by the end of our journey to the mountain. I’d been so focused on arriving that it was entirely possible I’d missed a check-in.
Then I remembered our stop in the park. I’d never called Jack that day. I was planning on it after we picked up theJeep, but then I’d decided to let the kids have some fresh air at the park. As a result, I’d forgotten to call.
“Shit. I never called that day. The kids were so restless so I let them play at a park in Bozeman. We made it onto the mountain just as the snowstorm hit.”
“Oh fuck! The kids! Are they okay?”
“Yeah, man. They’re fine, I’m fine. Brooke found us and rescued us.”
