But all was silent.
Hunter lay beside Scott, panting softly. After a long while, Scott raised one ski pole into the air. Then the other. Nothing happened. He raised a hand. Nothing.
Finally, he sat up. “I think whoever was out there left.”
“Why did they leave?” She wanted to stay down, safe, but feared freezing to death almost as much as she feared the person with the gun. Stiffly, she pushed into a sitting position. Shelby jumped up and shook.
“Maybe they realized we weren’t who they were after,” Scott said.
It took a moment before her fear-and-frost-numbed brain realized what he meant. “Do you think he’s looking for Jackson?”
“Maybe you aren’t the only one who didn’t believe he died in that avalanche.”
“Oh.” The single syllable came out like a moan. “Jackson’s dad said he thinks people from another country might be behind all this.”
“If that’s true, they could be really dangerous,” Scott said. “But why does he think that?”
“They’ve contacted him before. Two people beat him up the night I was babysitting. That’s how he got the black eye. They told him if he didn’t hand over the information they wanted they would kill him. But when he didn’t back down, they kidnapped Jackson.”
“What do they want?”
“I can’t tell you—I promised. He said it was top secret.”
“Why didn’t he tell the sheriff this?” Scott asked.
“He doesn’t trust the sheriff’s department. But he doesn’t want to involve the FBI, either.”
“Why not?”
She rubbed her hands together, trying to get circulation into her numb fingers. “He wouldn’t say, but I wonder if itisn’t because he’s thinking he’ll have to cooperate with the kidnappers to get his son back. He doesn’t want to, but he would do anything to save Jackson. What parent wouldn’t?”
“Does Endicott know who is behind this?” Scott asked. “Specific people, I mean.”
“No. But this morning when I picked up the satellite phone he told me he’s afraid it might be someone in his household. Or someone who works for him. Otherwise, how did they know Jackson would be skiing the day he was taken?”
“They could have had someone watching the house,” Scott said. “It’s easy enough to see people loading up and driving away with skis on top of the vehicle.”
“That’s true. He’s being careful, all the same.”
“I don’t blame him for that.” He stood, then held out his hand. “Come on. We need to get moving and warm up. We should think about where we’re going to spend the night.”
She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. Exhaustion had rolled in as the fear receded. She was shivering with cold and clumsy with stiffness.
“Here.” Scott shoved something into her hands. “Eat this.”
“I’m okay,” she said, and tried to push him away.
“When was the last time you ate?” he asked.
“I had a protein bar a few hours ago,” she said.
“Your blood sugar is probably dropping. Eat.”
She looked at the item in your hand. “A candy bar? Really?”
“It has nuts in it and chocolate. Quick sugar. Eat it.”
“Sheesh. You are so bossy!” But she peeled off the wrapper and took a bite, and had to suppress a groan. When had anything tasted so good?
