She pointed toward what they could see of it. “We get from here to there, and then there’s only one option coming from that direction. The shelf looks narrow. Maybe there’s a place to wait on the other side? They come through, and...” She shrugged. “It’d be like when we thought he might come through the culvert.”
“That’s where we want him,” Jack said.
“Yes.” She looked at the loose rock line. “If they see us in these rocks, they’ll know they have limited options. You said shooting up had challenges. They’ll know that, right?”
“No doubt,” he agreed. Though he suspected they were decent shots, they’d proven earlier they took risks. Either Rick or Todd shot at them from a moving snowmobile in the dark. That wasn’t what a pro would do, yet they did.
If Todd was that shooter, he was now out of the situation thanks to Steph and her tree branch. But if it was Rick, it’d be hard to say what he might do now. He might start shooting as soon as he caught a glimpse of Jack or Steph, no matter the angle.
He also suspected Rick wouldn’t climb. He’d send Graham and he’d stay on the machine, waiting for his shot, acting as a sniper. Jack and Steph needed to get past the bottleneck and into a position with a view of it so, if Graham did approach, they could stop him.
But they needed to be out of Rick’s sight. If the rocks were the way Steph suggested, they’d be protected while they awaited Graham’s approach. Graham out of the fight would even the odds and force Rick’s hand.
“Let’s do it,” he said. “Same plan. You go ahead, and when you get in position, signal me and I’ll follow. We’d better hurry. They’re going to break through the trees in less than a minute.”
She touched his arm, a quick grasp with just enough pressure, and then she was gone.
He watched her as she moved, calm and collected, even with the pressure they were under. She knew enough about the area and the way the rocks came out of the earth to know what to expect, even if she’d never climbed in this section. Her knowledge was impressive.
Steph was impressive.
The fear was still there. He wasn’t going to pretend it wasn’t. He could feel it in his chest, the low, steadypressure of it, the particular dread that came from caring about someone and watching them move toward something dangerous.
They were setting a trap. A trap that might work, and if it did, the danger would increase. Graham would come after them. He might not want to, but he’d do it anyway because he took orders from Rick.
Graham would come, and Jack would stop him. Then Rick would decide what he needed to do. He’d either turn tail and run or come after them himself. Jack believed he knew enough about the man to know he wouldn’t run. He’d come in guns-a-blazing.
Which meant Jack would do what he needed to do to make sure Steph wasn’t hurt. Jack almost laughed out loud. Steph had proven she could take care of herself with only a can of bear spray and a branch. He’d do what he needed to do, but she’d be there right alongside him.
They were a team.
Chapter 37
Steph
The shelf approach was steeper than it looked. Steeper and narrower.
Steph pressed herself against the face and took a careful step. The sound of the machines increased in the last few seconds. She needed to get into position and call for Jack, warn him about the steep grade before the poachers came out of the trees and saw them.
She let out a breath. No. That wasn’t the right way to think.
They wanted to be seen. They needed them to know they were up in the rocks and that the only way to get them was to climb. Jack seemed certain they both wouldn’t come.
Steph hadn’t interacted with the men the way Jack had, but she tended to agree. From watching them at the camp, the younger one was set to follow orders. To do the work. Even if the work involved hunting down and killing innocent people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Steph stepped carefully across a narrow part with a sheer cliff on the other side. The crossing was only about six feet, but still concerning. As she made it to a wider area, she began to breathe easier. This section was not only easier to maneuver across, but because of the way the rock shifted, she was completely out of view until someone was right on the ledge. Exactly what she’d hoped to find.
She controlled her breathing and kept moving, searching for the perfect place to wait.
Everything she’d learned across years of wilderness training and self-sufficiency certifications and leading people through conditions that required clear thinking had been building toward something; she’d always believed that.
She’d told her students the same thing in different words with each class. You don’t know which moment will require everything you have. You build the skills before you need them, because when you need them, there’s no time to build.
She needed them now. Jack would need those same skills.
No. Not the same skills. Skills that were uniquely his. Skills and knowledge he learned through years of training. The way he could ski at top speed and then somehow control his breathing and heart rate to shoot a rifle. That was a necessary skill for their situation.
Combine that with his ability to handle the brutal cold and the snow they’d been facing over the past fifteen or so hours, almost half of that time running for their lives, and his tolerance for pain—it was all necessary.
