“Sure,” she said, a shiver to her words. “Keep moving.”
Of course she understood the danger they’d face if they didn’t find what they were looking for. They hiked on for a few more minutes, darkness finally closing in on them.
“How much farther, Rick?” Her teeth chattered a little. “You sure we’re headed the right way?”
“It has to be around here somewhere. I know this is the place.”
Rick gazed up where the moon shone above them, illuminating a familiar cliff, but he hadn’t exactly seen this side of it from the top, making it hard to gauge their position. “Recognize that?”
“You mean the ledge of death?”
“Is that what we’re calling it?” He almost chuckled at the name she’d given it.
“No. That’s what we’re going to call it if we end up dying because we can’t find the Jeep.”
“We’re not going to die. We’ll build a fire and stay warm tonight, then look for the Jeep tomorrow if we have to. But for now, stay close. Let’s work our way over and hope to find the Jeep. If Providence is on our side, we might even be able to turn on the lights.”
Shay huffed. “I know my stuff, but that doesn’t mean I could get that thing running again.”
Forcing his way through the brush in the light of the moon with Shay remaining near, Rick smiled to himself. “I bet you could get it to start even if it sank in the river.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Savage.”
Mr. Savage. He liked the sound of her voice when she said it. What an idiot. Now he was a jerk for thinking along those lines. Shay didn’t deserve damaged goods.
When Rick took another step forward, he kicked something that had a metallic ring to it. They both froze.
Clouds had momentarily slipped over the moon, leaving them in darkness. He leaned over and pressed his hand against the cold metal, sliding it until he came to the end. “The bumper. Or one of them. It must have come off.”
“We’re close, then.” Shay’s voice rang with hope.
“Yeah, close.” Faced with the prospect of finding everything they needed with only intermittent moonlight to guide them and the cold grip of an Alaskan night threatening them, Rick started to think maybe they’d made a mistake. This wasn’t going to work. “Wait here.”
“No. I’m coming with you.”
He slipped his hand into hers and squeezed. She didn’t try to pull away as he led her in search of the body of the vehicle. He hoped everything they needed remained intact inside what was left of the vehicle.
As they pushed through a thick stand of bushes, Shay’s gasp reflected his own morbid thoughts. The Jeep rested overturned and on its side, the front end and right side collapsed. Shay had been sitting on the passenger’s side. Now that seat no longer existed, having been crushed by the toppling two-ton vehicle.
They should have been ecstatic to find it—at least in the face of their circumstances—but instead, Rick and Shay both stared in shock. The next thing Rick knew, Shay was in his arms, trembling. When had he tugged her to him? Or had she simply stepped against him and wrapped her arms around him?
He shook his thoughts free. “This time I need you to stay here. I’m going to shove it over so it won’t be unstable, and then we can search inside, okay?”
She nodded her agreement, taking a few steps back. “Be careful.”
Rick marched around the Jeep, watching where he stepped so he wouldn’t twist his ankle or stumble. He wasn’t exactly sure he could right the thing, but it appeared to rest at an awkward angle, looking as though even the slightest nudge would push it completely over. The sound of pebbles trickling down the cliff face drew his attention up, though he couldn’t see much. He hoped any rocks loosened by the Jeep’s tumble didn’t decide to slide while he stood here.
“Shay? You out of the way?” he called.
“I’m good. Go ahead.”
Rick pressed his foot against the crumpled roof and shoved. Hard.
The Jeep rocked back and forth, the sound of twisting metal resounding through the gorge. Okay. This would take a little more than a mere shove on his part. He pressed his back against the roof and heaved with all his strength. While the Jeep teetered, Rick stepped back and kicked it hard.
It toppled onto the tires, and the driver’s-side door, already dented from the first collision, fell off, clanking through the night. Dust rose while steam spewed from the radiator. Rick’s shoulders rocked with an incredulous laugh that the radiator was only just now ejecting its contents.
Shay jogged up to him, her cloudy breath visible in the moon’s illumination. “The door light went on a little. You see that?”
She grinned. Funny how such a small thing in the worst of circumstances could bring a smile to her lips.
He’d always liked her smile. “Yeah, I see it,” he said, but he wasn’t talking about the light that had come on when the door had fallen off.
Then her attention shifted away from him, a look of alarm spreading over her face as she angled her head, listening.
Somewhere in the distance, an ominous sound echoed.
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