But Brette hadn’t even blinked at Jess’s name, hadn’t given her a second look, hadn’t in the least suggested she might know her from somewhere.
Didn’t realize that she was standing in front of a juicy story—“Missing Heiress Finally Located.”
Not that Jess was in hiding, but she certainly wasn’t alerting the media to her change of address. Or name. Or overall identity.
So maybe she was in hiding. Ty hadn’t really thought about it in that way before. But people like Brette could blow Jess’s world to pieces with a headline. And Jess, despite her mistakes, didn’t deserve that.
He glanced at Jess, who was heading into the patrol shack, then back to Brette. She was still watching the chopper disappear over the mountains.
So maybe he was overreacting; maybe Jess’s paranoia was starting to affect his common sense. “If you leave your car here,” he said to Brette, who turned to him, shading her eyes against the sun, “Ella will have something to drive when she and Gage get back.” Sooner than later, he hoped.
He’d checked the radio reception and thrown extra batteries into Gage’s bag. He shouldn’t worry—if anyone knew how to get down the mountain safely, it was Gage. For all Ty’s years on the slopes, he’d never managed to acquire the brazen, powder-hound skills of Gage “Watts” Watson.
Frankly, watching Gage fly off a cliff or flip in the air took the breath out of Ty’s chest. Just thinking about sticking the landing made his leg ache.
He just wasn’t the hero that Gage was—his one skill had been flying. And with that off the radar, he was relegated to . . . well, currently, babysitting.
Although, as Brette looked up at him, her pretty eyes betraying worry, maybe he could be a friend. “Gage knows what he’s doing,” he said. “He knows these mountains, and how to survive. He’s probably part mountain goat. If anyone can bring Oliver and his friend—and Ella—back safely, it’s Gage Watson.”
She nodded. “I know—I read up on him. Two freeriding world championships and a couple dozen epic descents that have over a million views on YouTube. A real hero.”
“What makes him a hero is the fact that he spends every day keeping kids like Oliver safe, rescuing the hurt or lost.” He took out Gage’s key, clicked the Mustang open.
“Aren’t you on the team too?” Brette went around and climbed in.
“Mmmhmm.” Ty got in, adjusted the seat back, and in the rearview mirror spied Jess climbing into her Jeep.
“How many people are on the PEAK team?” Brette asked.
“There’s nine of us—three EMTs, including Gage. We have a couple brothers on the team—Pete is our rock-climbing and swift water rescue specialist. Sam, his brother, is a deputy sheriff and liaison to the sheriff’s department. Then there’s Kacey, our chopper pilot, and Miles, our incident commander, and Ben King—”
“The country singer?”
Ty looked over, nodded. “He actually moved here last summer. Was involved in the rescue of flood victims. His fiancé was in a house that collapsed.”
“You’re kidding. And he rescued her?”
“Him and our team. PEAK was started by Ian Shaw, who owns a ranch—”
“Ian Shaw, the billionaire?”
“You know who he is?”
“Of course. He’s on the board of a big charity in New York City I wrote a feature on a couple years ago. It’s a charity that helps children with autism and Asperger’s. His son that he lost in Katrina was autistic.”
Ty didn’t know that part. “He’s been single as long as I’ve known him. He did have a niece who went missing a few years ago in the park, but they found out she’s alive—”
“She went missing in the park? Wow, that sounds like quite the story.”
“Maybe. I wasn’t involved back then.”
“And what do you do?”
“I’m the backup chopper pilot.” Not a lie. Just not current.
“You fly helicopters?”
The way she said it, a little breathlessness in her voice, stirred something inside him. A long-dormant feeling he couldn’t quite place.
“Yeah. I was the main pilot before Kacey got here. She used to be a search and rescue chopper pilot for the military, in Afghanistan.”
“A war hero.”
“Yes. She has a bronze star.”
Brette looked out the window. They were passing through main street Whitefish, past the quaint shops, the cafes. She glanced at her watch. “Think they’re on the mountain yet?”
“Soon, probably. We’ll get an update when we get back to the ranch.”