Page 32 of A Very Titan Christmas (Titan #14)

The lobby had become Titan Group’s central waiting room after investigators kicked everyone out of the conference center. Bryce sat on the couch in front of the fireplace and waited for news.

The resort was quiet. The general public had been cleared from the resort. His teammates’ families were all at their cabins, and he hadn’t seen the Porters.

“Everything is too quiet,” he said to no one and rechecked his watch. It had been forty-five minutes since their last update. The sky was dark, and his hopes were fading again.

Jared approached with the look of a man bearing bad news.

“Shit.” Bryce jumped to his feet. “What’s wrong?”

“Come with me,” Jared barked then answered his cell phone. “Get back to our meeting room.”

One by one, they fell in line with Jared. He led them to the conference center and ducked under the yellow police tape. They did the same. The space that had been crawling with investigators hours ago was eerily quiet.

They walked into the same meeting room they had used earlier. Parker sat with Rhonda. Jared went straight to her. Seeing Parker on the grounds gave Bryce a flicker of hope.

Parker glanced around the room as the team settled in. “We might have good news.”

Bryce eyed Jared and Rhonda, who were having a hushed conversation. Jared always looked pissed off, but at the moment, he was scary. To the woman’s credit, she held her own.

Everyone quieted.

Jared cracked his knuckles. “There were two agents on Porter’s detail who were unaccounted for at various times.”

How the hell had that happened? Why had it happened? Fury pulsed in his chest.

Jared flashed Bryce a look that said to keep his mouth shut or be booted out of the conversation faster than Santa could go down a chimney.

“Apprehension of those fuckers is not on our to-do list. The Feds have jurisdiction, and we’re all doing this by the book.

But…” Jared gestured to Parker, who tapped on the tablet in front of him.

The television screen on the wall came to life with video footage from the helicopter search.

“A helo searching for thermal hits saw something we are going to check out.”

The video froze. There was something on the narrow trail between the trees. The camera zoomed in, but the image on the screen was distorted and pixelated. “What is that?”

“We don’t have a thermal hit.” Jared gave Bryce a warning glance. “But we do have whatever the fuck this is on a trail near a ranger outpost that is used for some kind of conservancy work.”

Another flicker of hope surged deep in Bryce’s chest. “An outpost could be a shelter.”

Jared nodded.

Cash leaned forward. “What is that in the trees? A torn tent?”

“Maybe. Fabric of some type.” Jared rubbed the back of his neck. “If it had blown away recently, it would be buried under a few feet of snow. At least, according to Parker and the Feds.”

“We’ve arranged for you to explore the site,” Rhonda said. “With one clear condition: We handle the investigation and arrest.”

“We’ll get her.” Anticipation vibrated in his chest. “That’s all I need.”

“If she’s there, then yes,” Rhonda confirmed.

Bryce could live with that. Perched on the edge of his seat, he wanted the go-ahead to roll out. All he wanted was his woman.

Jared pounded a fist on the table twice. “Then let’s move.”

*

Whatever was caught in the trees was still there. Bryce squinted through the night-vision binoculars and tried to see what it might be. He couldn’t figure it out as it swayed in the wind.

“Hold. Eyes on the target.” The helicopter hovered in place. Bryce motioned across the belly of the helo to Cash. “You see it?”

Cash dialed in the focus on his binoculars. “Yeah, I see it. Don’t know what the fuck it is though.”

“Let me get closer,” the pilot said over the radio.

There were five of them inside the helicopter, including the pilot. Roman and Jax were inspecting the gear a final time before Bryce and Cash would descend into the woods to get a closer look.

Bryce squinted. “It’s attached to something and caught on a ladder.”

“Can confirm,” Cash agreed. “Let’s sweep thermals again and make sure no one is out there.”

The chopper tilted in a low, sweeping arc. The teammates searched for signs of life and signs of their enemy, and came up with nothing.

“If she’s not there,” Roman said, “it’s one more step closer to learning where they took her.”

That was one way to spin a lack of thermals. Better than suggesting Rachel was dead. Bryce swallowed over the knot in his throat. “Yup.”

They circled back to the location, and the pilot lowered the helicopter.

The blades cut through the air, kicking the snow into wild spirals and spins.

Bryce checked his harness and snapped himself onto the line.

Cash did the same thing. Roman and Jax readied their weapons to provide coverage from the helicopter in case they came under fire.

“You ready?” Jax called.

Bryce couldn’t get out of this helicopter fast enough. “Affirmative.”

“Ready?” Jax asked Cash.

“Ready,” he confirmed.

Roman opened the door. The vicious cold whooshed over them. Bryce gripped his rope. His fingers relaxed and tightened on the rope. Adrenaline tasted bitter in his mouth. Then out he went into the wicked chill of the blustery night. The line dropped.

“See you down there.” He lowered himself. Overhead, the helo held against the wind shear, but Bryce would not call his descent smooth.

His gaze locked onto what was below him. His optimism surged. “It’s a makeshift flagpole.”

Down, down, down he went until he could drop from the line. His boots hit the snow. The helo churned up millions of snowflakes from the trees. The ground was more packed with snow than he’d expected.

Cash landed. “Damn whiteout. Can’t see shit anymore.”

The chopper pulled up.

The swarm of snowflakes slowed, and his line of sight cleared. Bryce and Cash moved toward the ladder. “She made something to catch our attention. Where’s the—” Bryce spotted the conservancy outpost and pointed. “Over there.”

They ran toward a small rustic building but didn’t see any signs of life. No light. No movement. No nothing. The deep snow cut his speed. “Rachel!”

They reached the outpost. If she’d walked in or out recently, the snow had erased her footsteps and piled up against the door. He yanked it open. “Rachel?”

Bryce’s eyes swept over the small space. Nothing stirred in his night vision until his gaze dropped to the floor. The tarp moved. He fell to his knees. “Rach.”

As Cash dropped to her other side, Bryce pulled away the tarp and layers of burlap sacks.

“Bryce?” Her hoarse voice cracked.

“Here, Rach. You’re okay. It’s gonna be okay.”

They moved into action. Bryce opened the package that contained the self-activated heating blanket. The thin layer would slowly warm when exposed to air. Cash checked her pulse and pulled a beanie over her head.

Bryce wrapped himself around her and secured the heating blanket. He didn’t want to shock her system. She wasn’t shivering. Hell, she wasn’t talking. But she’d survived. “You did good.” He kissed her cold cheek and ran his hands up and down her arms while Cash communicated with Roman and Jax.

She turned to him and trembled. Shaking and shivering were good. Her body was kick-starting again. “You did so good, Rach. Led us right to you.”

“I didn’t know”—her teeth chattered—“if it would work.”

“The flag. I saw it. It worked.”

“I tried to stay awake. Thought if I fell asleep out here—”

“Hey.” He tipped up her chin so he could see her eyes. “You didn’t. You made it. That’s what matters.”

She nodded, but her lower lip trembled. “I want to go home.”

“We’re getting you out of here.” He realized he’d zoned out of the back-and-forth conversation in his earpiece. They had contingencies based on what they’d found. “What’s the plan?”

Cash leaned closer. “Faster and safer to get her out by snowmobile.”

With teeth chattering, she barely shook her head. “I can’t ride one of those right now.”

“You’ll ride behind one of them,” Bryce said. “Think ski patrol medical transport.”

“Rescue toboggan,” Cash confirmed.

She groaned. “Made it my whole life up here without getting on one of those.”

Bryce quietly laughed. If she was complaining, she was stronger than he realized. He kissed her cheek again and kept rubbing her arms.

Time crawled by. Cash waited for the rescue group by the door.

She sat up a little. “Are my parents okay?”

“Everyone’s safe.” He gripped her hand in the oversized gardening gloves. “They’re worried. Scared. But okay.”

“They said—” She licked her lips. Her eyelashes fluttered. She looked panicked, as though the warmer she became, the more her mind kicked into gear. “The men who took me… They work for my dad. They’re on his detail.”

Cash crouched by her side. “You’re sure?”

She nodded.

Bryce stroked the side of her head. “That lines up with the direction the FBI is leaning.”

She swallowed hard. “So they’re—my parents—okay?”

“Yeah, you worry about you. They’re okay.”

“The guy who took me… Two of them. They work for someone who doesn’t want the summit to happen.”

Cash stepped away from them to relay what she had said over his comm.

Bryce held her close. “I promise you, Rach. You don’t have to worry about them.

I just want to get you home safe.” Safe with him.

Safe in his arms. In his bed. In his world.

He didn’t know how that would happen. That he’d almost lost her was too much.

How could he change their lives to ensure something like that wouldn’t happen again?

Her body shook as if she were trying to stop a sob. The more awake and aware she became, the more the trauma would hit.

He tried to soothe her. “Not much longer.”

Rachel sniffed. “I went with the guy. I didn’t think—”

“Not your fault.” Bryce repositioned himself to look her straight in the eyes. “You had no reason not to trust him.” He cupped her face. “I”—love you, he thought—“need you to know that.” His breath shook. “You did nothing wrong. You believe me?”

She bit her lip.

He tried a different question. “Do you trust me?”

Rachel nodded.

Good. Trust, he could work with. Trust would keep them together. He almost laughed. Since when had he trusted the future? Apparently, since now. There was a lot more to talk about, to think about, but now wasn’t the time.

“They’re here,” Cash announced.

Bryce helped Rachel to her feet. Cash kicked away the pile of burlap sacks and the tarp she’d covered herself with. Bryce tucked the warming blanket around her back. Slowly, they moved outside.

She groaned at the toboggan.

“Safest way to get you out of here.” But he was smiling. Every one of her complaints and concerns solidified her recovery.

Emergency medical responders surrounded them. Bryce reluctantly handed her off and stepped back to stand next to Cash.

“She’s alive because she used her brain,” Cash said.

Bryce nodded. “It could have gone badly. The shed could have been empty of everything she used to insulate herself.”

Cash slapped him on the back. “A damn Christmas miracle, if you think about it.”