Stranded by Alice Sharpe

Author:Alice Sharpe [Sharpe, Alice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary romantic suspense, Fiction, Harlequin Intrigue
ISBN: 9781460335222
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-05-31T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

They were up before dawn the next day because John Miter’s place was twenty miles out of town. It was a quiet, somber drive fueled by nerves, coffee and the inevitable Vita-Drink.

As Alex yawned into his hand, it brought back memories of the day he’d flown off into the blue and not come home for a while. He’d been yawning that day, too. But today the yawns were just yawns. There was no accompanying thirst and lethargy, no mental sluggishness.

If there had been, he would have grounded himself. One crash into that lake was enough for a lifetime.

They took off into a beautiful sunrise and it felt great to soar above the clouds. This was something he hadn’t been sure he’d ever do again, but now that he was flying, he knew he wouldn’t let fear stop him. He twisted the lid off one of his enhanced waters and encouraged everyone else to join him. “Here’s to life,” he said, and they clapped the plastic bottles together.

Nate acted as navigator as they flew through the clear blue skies, keeping track of their route on the charts Alex had brought along. Thanks to the FAA, he knew exactly where “his” lake was and sure enough, ninety minutes later, he caught the first glimpse of the river he’d followed to the Bookers’ house. From up here, it looked like an easy walk, the gullies and crevices mitigated by height. The truth had been that a two-day walk turned into several times more than that. He’d had to avoid all sorts of hazards including melting snow and the small avalanches that could still be deadly.

And then he caught sight of the lake, a blue gem set in dark green trees, a diamond brooch on an emerald gown. Patches of snow glistened on the peaks of neighboring mountains.

“Is that your lake?” Jessica asked, leaning forward.

He nodded. Then he glanced back at her over his shoulder. “It looked a lot bigger last February.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

They circled until Nate pointed. “I see the Cessna, over there, not far from the shore.”

He was right. The vague but unmistakable shape of the plane was visible beneath the pristine lake water. It had sunk within fifty yards of the shoreline. To Alex, dragging himself across it with a busted leg and during a snowstorm, it had seemed more like fifty miles. And beyond it on the shore, barely visible, he glimpsed the arrow made of rocks that pointed inland toward his camp.

As he’d lugged those rocks into place a few weeks before, he’d imagined it would appear like a beacon to anyone flying over, but in truth, you had to know to look for it—his rocks tended to blend in with all the others. He wished now he’d scattered them before he left. Fact was he’d completely forgotten about them.

He landed into the wind, then steered the plane toward the downed Cessna. Peering into the water and seeing the ghostly white wingspan of his plane down below felt eerily disquieting.

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