Free Untraceable by Elizabeth Goddard Page B

not Zach’s misconstrued interest in Heidi. At least she hoped Zach had no real interest in her. She ignored any warning thoughts to the contrary, burying them deep.
    “Mine, too. But we won’t have to climb at night during a storm if Zach doesn’t force us to.”
    She hoped Zach wouldn’t push them, if it came to that.
    At her comment, he scowled at Rhea. “Get back up there, you’re slowing us down.” Once again he urged Rhea ahead.
    By the time the sun had crawled to late morning, almost lunch, Heidi’s stomach had been rumbling for over an hour. They only had a few energy bars left and would need to save them, or else start on the MREs. David would be expecting them to show up where Isaiah had said they would be hiking down, but he’d been forced to misdirect the rest of the team who presumably waited back at the command center. How long before David sent helicopters out to search for them? Would they look for them in this region, and could they even spot them if they did?
    She felt Zach’s eyes on her. She had no doubt he would force them to hide. But maybe a helicopter would spot their tracks before the next storm came through.
    Please, God...
    Ahead of them, Cade stopped, his rigid form reminding her of their traumatic scale down the ridge two nights ago, only this morning they wouldn’t have to use their night vision goggles. The group crowded together near the edge of a jagged escarpment.
    No one said a word, but their shared dread was palpable.
    “Why did you lead us this way?” Zach shoved Cade.
    “It doesn’t matter which way we go, we’re descending from the mountain summit. That will involve a combination of hiking and rappelling. No way around it. You wanted to make the ice field, this is the only way. It was your decision to put fast over safe.”
    Venom filled Zach’s laugh.
    “Look at it this way.” Isaiah dropped his backpack. “It will be a breeze compared to the last time we did this.”
    Exactly the way Heidi saw it. The only difference was these guys could now see what they were facing and they might panic or cause problems.
    Whimpering, Rhea covered her mouth. “I can’t do that! Not again. Please, don’t make us do this, Zach.”
    Heidi’s heart went out to the woman. She had panicked the first time she’d been assisted down a ridge, and she hadn’t been able to see into the dark abyss beneath her. Now she had to be a hundred times more terrified.
    “Shut up. We don’t have a choice.”
    “The burden is on us,” Heidi said. “We’re the experienced climbers, so you don’t have to do anything but trust us. Just like last time.”
    In a way, the power now shifted back to the search and rescue team. A tenuous smile crept onto Heidi’s lips. She hadn’t meant for the words to give her any sense of power, but they had all the same. She dropped her backpack and gear and moved to stand next to Cade and Isaiah. Unfortunately, Zach didn’t let her stray too far from him.
    “So what are we doing? Same as last time?” Isaiah asked.
    “No other choice.” Cade searched for an anchor point. “Anything else and people die.”
    That odd sense that things were not right with the world dinged her thoughts. They were working hard to assist this group safely down a mountain—a group that had every intention of killing them when it was over. Insanity ruled the day.
    Heidi sighed and gazed down the gash in the valley of the mountain fold they’d been following. They were tiny, insignificant creatures in this wild topography. “It’s going to be close. That’s a long drop. Our rope needs to be twice that length.”
    Isaiah flicked his gaze to Zach. The look in his eyes chilled her more than the icy landscape. “Doesn’t matter. We’re going down.”
    Dropping his backpack and gear, Zach shifted uncomfortably. Had it occurred to him that the SAR team might attempt to deliver him down the escarpment in a risky fashion, ensuring their own safety?
    “I’m heading down and will