“She rambles when she’s nervous,” Alex said.
“Yeah. I know.” Sawyer nodded.
“Anyhoo . . .”
“Kill me now,” Alex mumbled and Sergei actually cocked the gun, so Sawyer pushed his arm down just as iPad Zoe’s voice wobbled and went darker.
“Let’s just say, I’ve learned a lot in the last few days, and the big takeaway is that you never really know who to trust. And you’re probably better off if you don’t trust anyone. Ever.”
It was like someone had shoved a knife through Sawyer’s heart—that’s how it felt to know that he’d hurt her, that he’d deceived her. That the one person in this world who really knew him was someone who still didn’t trust him and maybe never would.
“Sooooo,” Zoe drew out the word. “I can’t exactly trust y’all not to kill us if you get your drive first.”
“Did she just become spontaneously southern?” Alex asked.
“Yeah,” Sawyer whispered, “she does that.”
“And, Mr. Kozlov, you can’t trust me to actually deliver your flash drive once you hand over my sister. So, as far as I can tell, the only way for everyone to get what they want is for us to do this exchange at the exact same time.”
“How will we do that?” Kozlov actually sounded intrigued—maybe even mildly impressed.
“Oh, I’m so glad you asked.” Zoe might have clapped. She definitely beamed. She was riding the rush that happens when a plan comes together—right before everything falls apart. “Do you see that big pulley system to your left? They use it to send supplies from one side to the other. I’ll attach the flash drive on my side and you’ll attach Alex on yours. We both have emergency stop buttons, so if either of us tries to pull a fast one . . . we hit stop and no one gets what they want.”
Then she leaned closer to the camera, eyes narrowing, gaze burning. No one could accuse her of being a ditzy blonde—an imposter Alex—when she said, “I don’t care about your business or your crimes, Mr. Kozlov, so I don’t give one flying flip about your precious drive. I just want my sister back. Now do we have a deal?”
The wind blew and the snow swirled and there was no place on earth colder than that mountain when Kozlov said, “We do.”
“Awesome.” Zoe clapped again. “Alex, you’ll need to hook into one of those harnesses and backpack thingies.”
“Backpack thingies?” Alex sounded indignant. “Backpack thingies? Those are parachutes, Zoe.”
“Oh, I don’t know what they are. I just know they’re a part of the mandated safety equipment, and safety equipment is very important. So . . .” Zoe shifted the iPad so they could watch her drop the flash drive into a bucket and hook the bucket onto the cable on her side of the border.
Sawyer didn’t want to look at the screen, though. He wanted to look at Zoe—the real Zoe—but she was too far away, in another country, separated by an ocean of ice and snow and frosty air. She was gone. She was gone and he was never going to see her again, so he looked at Alex instead.
Alex who was staring back at him with eyes that weren’t quite Zoe’s eyes but might be the closest he’d ever see again. Alex whose hands were bound with zip ties. Alex who had been his partner and his friend—right up until the moment she stopped trusting him, but he couldn’t be angry about that, Sawyer decided. Because, otherwise, he never would have found her sister.
“Well?” Kozlov barked, so Sawyer reached for one of the thick nylon straps that dangled from the cable and hooked it onto Alex’s harness.
They were standing so close he could feel her shaking in a way that had nothing to do with the cold.
“Just . . . tell her . . .” That I love her. That I need her. That I want her and respect her and will never, ever deserve her and I’ll hate myself for that fact every day for the rest of my life.
“End this,” Alex whispered. “End this and tell her yourself.”
He felt the pressure of her bound hands as they slipped into the pocket of his jacket. He saw the silver flash of his favorite knife as she cupped it between her palms. And when Kozlov hit the button to set the cable in motion, Sawyer hoped no one could hear his heart stop beating as he watched Zoe’s sister drift over the edge.
“Tell her yourself,” Alex whispered again, then disappeared into the clouds.
Chapter Sixty-One
Her
Zoe watched the drive fly away and congratulated herself on a hostage exchange well done. Really. Ten out of ten. Would exchange again.