Page 70 of Mountain Summons

“My grandfather never came back from that last trip.” His laugh was harsh now. “We never knew what happened. My grandmother … she always feared he’d abandoned her. It made her bitter. My mother …” His voice grew stronger. “It doesn’t matter. Now, it’s my turn to do what my grandfather couldn’t do. It’s my turn to make things right for my family.”

“André,” Lena said gently. “We don’t know what happened to your grandfather. If somebody killed him, it’s very likely that person also took the stone you’re talking about.”

Tristan threw her a warning glance. He didn’t want her antagonizing the man. He wanted André to forget she was in the car with them. The road curved sharply ahead, sloping toward a narrow turnout. He drove towards the large hangar building, stopping in front of the large utilitarian gate.

“This is it.”

“Are you sure everyone’s gone?”

Tristan made a show of looking at the clock on the dashboard. He needed André to stay calm. “It’s seven p.m. Everyone’s gone home for the day. But it’s okay, I have the code to get in. If you like, Lena can step out and?—“

“No,” André ordered. “You do it. Lena stays right here with me. And remember—I won’t hesitate to shoot her.”

“I understand,” Tristan said, not letting his disappointment show. He would have liked a minute alone in the car with André, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen. The man might bebat-shit crazy, but he wasn’t careless. “I’m getting out now,” he said, pocketing the car key surreptitiously. Just in case.

He’d told the truth when he said he had the code. He keyed in his personal code, knowing it would open the door, but also trigger an alert in thegendarmerie. He tried to remember who was on duty at the gendarmerie tonight. Probably Alex and Lorenz. Someone would—hopefully—notice that Tristan wasn’t meant to be here tonight, and tell them. They would know something was going on.

Or so he hoped.

Because he knew he was going to need a distraction, if he was to get Lena safely away from here.

He walked quickly back to the car—he didn’t want Lena alone with André any longer than necessary—and made his way inside, flicking a quick glance at her. Her face was pale, but her eyes were locked on his.

Hold on, he willed silently.I’m going to get you out of here.

27

Lena

In a matter of minutes, dusk had quickly given way to full night. The wind was a living thing, biting through Lena’s jacket. She could barely feel her hands anymore—from the cold, and from how tightly she was clenching them.

Standing next to her, André was unraveling, his voice a frayed thread, muttering the same thing again and again. “It’s there, it’s there, it has to be there … She always said … My mother always knew … we were meant formore…”

Lena barely dared to breathe. André’s hand kept jerking upward, the barrel of the pistol tracking her, even when his eyes flicked away. She could feel how close he was to the edge—one wrong twitch, one wrong breath—and it could all be over.

A few meters away, Tristan worked around the helicopter, his hands moving with that quiet, controlled precision she’d come to trust. Pre-flight checks, he’d told André. But Lena saw more than that. She saw the tension in his shoulders, the way, everyso often, his eyes would flicker over to André — sharp, assessing, calculating.

Her heart squeezed painfully. Was he stalling? Waiting? For what? For someone to show up? For André to slip up?

Please, Tristan, she willed silently.Please have a plan for us.

Then his voice cut through the night air, steady as a wire pulled taut.

“We’re ready to go.” His eyes fixed on André. “Remember our deal. We leave Lena here, safe.”

Lena shook her head.No. Together, the two of them stood a better chance of overpowering André. If Tristan went up that mountain alone with Andre … if he found that damned stone … she might never see Tristan again. She tried to communicate this with her eyes, but Tristan wasn’t looking at her. His gaze was on André.

André, who suddenly let out a sharp, humorless laugh.

“I’ve changed my mind.” His grin stretched wide, like he was about to share a good joke. “She comes with us.”

Lena’s breath caught. She turned to Tristan, whose expression remained stoic, expressing no surprise, no disappointment. If she hadn’t known him as well as she did, she might not even have noticed the slight tightening of the jaw. But shedidknow him. She knew him, and she wasn’t going to let him do anything stupid.

“Come on, André,” Tristan cajoled. “We had a deal. We can both get what we want. You get the diamond, I get to know Lena’s safe.”

“I won’t hurt her, but she needs to come with us. For my safety,” André said. Clearly, he thought he could convince Tristan.

“I’m not flying you anywhere unless she’s safe.”

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