Chương 5
Mara felt cold despite the damp air.
“They approved it.”
Grant nodded.
“Someone approved it.”
The distinction mattered.
Because he did not say Northline.
He said someone.
“You’re not after Northline,” Mara said.
Grant looked at her.
“No.”
“Then what are you after?”
He did not answer.
That told her enough.
The ranger station appeared through the trees twenty minutes later.
It was smaller than she expected.
An old wooden building with peeling paint and a roof that looked like it had survived several storms by stubbornness alone.
Grant unlocked the door with a key from his backpack.
Mara stopped.
“You had a key.”
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
“It belongs to me.”
“How?”
Grant hesitated.
Another hesitation.
Another missing piece.
Mara almost laughed.
“Everyone in this story owns half an answer.”
Grant opened the door.
Inside, the station smelled like dust, old wood, and damp paper.
There was a small table.
A radio.
A damaged couch.
A metal cabinet.
Nothing about it looked useful.
Nothing about it looked safe.
Which probably meant it was both.
Grant motioned toward a chair.
“Sit.”
Mara ignored him and checked the room first.
Windows.
Doors.
Possible exits.
Only after she finished did she sit.
Grant watched.
“You always do that?”
“Do what?”
“Check where you can leave.”
Mara looked at him.
“Don’t you?”
He did not respond.
That answer was enough.
He poured water into a small metal cup and handed it to her.
She accepted it.
Not because she trusted him.
Because dehydration was a stupid way to lose.
“Tell me about the helicopter,” she said.
Grant leaned against the table.
“I wasn’t there when it went down.”
“You said you heard it.”
“I heard the engine change.”
“From where?”
“Near the ridge.”
“Why?”
Grant looked at the floor.
“I was following Daniel.”
Mara froze.
“You were following my husband.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he contacted me three days ago.”
That was not what she expected.
“What did he want?”
Grant took a breath.
“He wanted me to help move you.”
“Move me where?”
“Somewhere away from Northline.”
Mara stared at him.
“So Daniel was telling the truth.”
“Partly.”
She hated that word.
“Explain.”
Grant looked at her.
“Daniel found out someone inside Northline knew you had the files.”
“Who?”
“That’s what he was trying to find out.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
Grant stayed silent.
“No, because if he knew I was in danger, he could have told me.”
“Yes.”
“He could have gone to the police.”
“Yes.”
“He could have done a hundred things.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t he?”
Grant looked tired.
“Because Daniel believes he caused this.”
Mara stopped.
“What?”
“He was involved before he understood what it was.”
The room became very quiet.
Mara looked at the badge on the table.
Evan Calder.
Dead man.
Missing evidence.
A husband who lied.
A pilot who knew too much.
A stranger who had followed them into the mountains.
“How?” she asked.
Grant rubbed his face.
“Daniel’s company provided risk assessments to firms that worked with Northline.”
“I know.”
“No, you know the public version.”
Mara looked at him.
Grant continued.
“Daniel thought he was helping companies prevent losses.”
“And then?”
“He realized some losses were being allowed to happen.”
Mara looked down.
The image of Daniel at the helicopter door returned.
His fear.
His confusion.
The way he kept saying he was trying to keep her alive.
It did not erase what happened.
It did not forgive him.
But it complicated everything.
“What did he do?”
Grant was quiet.
Finally, he said, “He copied something.”
“The files.”
“No.”
That answer changed the room.
“Then what?”
Grant looked toward the window.
“Something that made people decide you could not be left alone.”
Mara felt the old instinct return.
The one that had made her survive investigations others abandoned.
Ask the next question.
Find the missing piece.
“What did he copy?”
Before Grant could answer, the radio on the desk crackled.
Both of them turned.
Static filled the room.
Then a voice came through.
Weak.
Distorted.
But familiar.
“Mara.”
Her body went still.
Daniel.
Grant moved toward the radio.
The signal broke.
Then returned.
“Mara, if you’re hearing this, don’t trust—”
The transmission cut out.
The room went silent.
Mara stared at the radio.
Not breathing.
Not moving.
Then the speaker crackled again.
A different voice came through.
Calm.
Controlled.
Close.
“Grant.”
The color left his face.
The voice continued.
“You were told to stay away from her.”
Grant reached for the radio.
Too late.
The signal ended.
Outside the station, a branch snapped.
Mara looked toward the window.
Someone was in the forest.
And whoever it was had known exactly where they would be.
And whoever it was had known exactly where they would be.
Mara moved before she fully understood why.
The chair scraped across the wooden floor as she stood, the pain in her shoulder arriving a second later.
Grant reached for the radio.
“Don’t.”
The word stopped him.
Not because she sounded louder.
Because she sounded certain.
He looked at her.
“What?”
“Turn it off.”
His eyes moved toward the device.
“It could be Daniel.”
“It could.”
“That’s why we need to hear it.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
The room felt smaller.
The voice on the radio had not sounded surprised.
It had sounded like someone checking whether a package had arrived.
That was the part she could not ignore.
Whoever was outside already knew they were here.
The radio had not been a warning.
It had been confirmation.
Grant slowly lowered his hand.
“You think they’re using the signal.”
“I think someone wanted us to know they found us.”
The branch outside snapped again.
Closer.
Grant moved toward the window.
Mara caught his arm.
Not hard.
Just enough.
He looked down at her hand.
Then at her face.
“Don’t.”
“I need to see.”
“No.”
The firmness in his voice surprised her.
Not because he was aggressive.
Because it sounded like fear.
May you like
“You said you wanted answers,” he whispered.
“I do.”
