Turbulence

FIVE

Paul found himself speechless, mesmerized by the sight of the pristinely packaged Berlin Heart, the same heart he’d believed buried under a sheaf of burning metal not an hour before. He ripped his eyes away to look at Maddie. Her expression was as incredulous as he felt.

“How…?” she started, taking a faltering step toward Jaden.

Wrigley stared, eyes round and mouth open.

Paul reached out a hand to both steady and stop her. She clung to his arm. “Jaden, you’ve got some explaining to do. Right here, right now.”

Jaden shot a glance at the entrance to the cave. “I’ll tell you all about it, but right now we’ve got other priorities.” He bobbed his chin at the piling snow. “We need to keep this clear or we’ll be trapped inside here.”

Paul stepped closer. “We’ll take care of it right after you come clean.”

Jaden sighed. “Later.”

Paul cut him off. “No. Now. You and I went into a burning plane and clawed through that rubble. You were with me the whole time, and I never saw you remove that heart. I think you had it with you since we left San Francisco.”

He looked from Paul to Maddie and back again. After a beat he said, “Yes, I’ve had it the whole time. Mr. Lambert contacted Heartline and expressed his concern that someone from the hospital might try to tamper with the heart.”

Wrigley gasped. “Unbelievable. We broke our backs getting this device for Lambert. We are doctors, not two-bit thugs.”

Paul held up a hand. “Let him finish.”

“Heartline assigned me to carry the heart and see that it reached its destination safely.”

Maddie’s face was pale. “So the box on the plane…?”

He shrugged. “Contains a prototype model, not the real thing.”

For a moment, the only sound was the wind blowing against the snowbank outside.

Paul tried to keep his voice level. “I don’t believe you. I think you found a moment to switch the hearts before the flight took off, for some reason of your own.”

Jaden raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

Wrigley found his voice. “To extort money from Mr. Lambert, perhaps?”

“Good theory, but what about the crash? That would derail any plans to profit from stealing the heart, wouldn’t it?”

Paul’s mind raced. “The crash surprised all of us, but I still think you’re a liar.”

Jaden put the pack down on the floor and stood, feet apart, arms at his sides. “It doesn’t matter what you think.”

Paul didn’t miss the body language. If the guy was ready for a fight, he’d give it to him. “I’m not going to let you get away with stealing that heart.”

Jaden brought his fists up when Maddie stepped between them. “Stop. Whatever the reason Jaden switched the packages doesn’t matter. Don’t you see?” She turned burning eyes on Paul. “The important thing is the Berlin Heart is intact. If we can get help, my father doesn’t have to die.”

Paul saw the desperate hope shining on her face. He looked at Jaden, closed, guarded, and knew that the man was lying. “Maddie…”

“Please, Paul.” She put a hand on his chest and its gentle pressure made him dizzy. Maddie…he thought. Maddie, this man is not on our side. But the emotion in her body, that seemed to radiate from her trembling fingertips straight into his soul, stopped him.

He stared at Jaden. “All right. What we’ve got to do now is focus on staying alive until help arrives and we can get the heart to Maddie’s father.” The rest of it—intended for Jaden—remained unspoken. And I will be watching you every moment until that happens.

Jaden turned his attention to the approaching storm. “Weather’s worsening. Here.” He handed Paul a pair of boots. “Found these in the plane. Must have been the pilot’s.”

Paul reluctantly pulled them on before he turned to Wrigley. “Stay here with Maddie—” he lowered his voice “—and watch that heart.” He zipped his jacket. “Jaden and I will see if we can find something to shovel the snow away from the entrance. Can you two organize whatever supplies we’ve got? Set aside any food items or first-aid materials you can find.”

Wrigley bristled. “You don’t mean we should go through luggage, do you? That’s an invasion of privacy.”

Paul checked his temper. “It’s between survival and privacy, Dr. Wrigley. Take your pick. Mine is the blue duffel. Feel free to tear it apart.”

Wrigley didn’t answer, but his cheeks flushed.

Without a word, Jaden put on a cap and followed Paul into the snow.

The afternoon sunlight shone through the clouds, illuminating the ground in a dazzle of white, even as the snow continued to fall. Trying to keep Jaden in his line of sight, Paul approached the still-burning wreckage, looking for pieces of metal that had ripped loose and could be used as a makeshift shovel. Facts whirled through his mind, as snowflakes danced around his face.

If Jaden stole the heart for blackmail purposes, then who drugged the pilot? As much as he didn’t want to believe it, Maddie’s accusations were beginning to sound more logical. The hospital director asked Wrigley to go in his place. Did he arrange to have the copilot disable the pilot and take them off course? Or perhaps Wrigley had been instructed to disrupt the delivery, unaware that Director Stevens intended to take care of the problem another way?

With a start, he realized he didn’t trust any of them. But for the moment, they needed each other. It would take all of them to survive until help arrived. He looked at the sky, thick with snow.

If it arrived.

The transponder in the plane had probably broadcast their position, if it hadn’t been completely destroyed in the crash. Or maybe the pilot had managed a Mayday before he became incapacitated. In either event, they’d be on their own for a while.

He thought of Maddie’s face again, the hope that shone there as it had before the car accident. The mask of grief had slipped away for a moment, and it took his breath away. He stopped the stream of memories and continued his search.

Jaden yanked at a piece of metal, pulling it from underneath the snow.

Paul retrieved a plastic door, torn loose from some compartment on the plane, and they carried their finds to the cave.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

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