Part 2The Debt of the Blizzard

At nine o'clock that night, the satellite phone rang.

Cole stood in the doorway, his expression complicated.

"The client is demanding to speak directly to the team captain. If you don't want to talk, I'll block it."

I looked at the number flashing on the screen, stayed silent for a few seconds, and finally reached out.

"I'll take it."

The second the call connected, a man's voice came through, heavily suppressing his anger.

"Are you Captain Ziskie?"

Hearing that voice, my fingers unconsciously tightened around the receiver.

Seven years had passed, but Arthur's voice hadn't changed at all.

It was the same deep baritone he used to whisper in my ear when he coaxed Josephine to sleep.

It was the same cold, rational tone he used when he ordered the rescue team to pack up and leave us in the snow.

"I am."

"You should have read the brief. Money is not an issue. I just want him brought out alive."

"I can't take this job."

The line went completely dead for a second.

Then, he let out a short, cynical laugh.

"Can't take it? Captain Ziskie, I am not asking for your willingness. I am giving you the floor to set your price. If thirty million isn't enough, make it fifty."

"It's not about the money."

"One hundred million."

He answered instantly, tossing the number out like it was pocket change.

"Captain Ziskie, I have run a background check on your base. Your equipment is outdated, your funding is bleeding out, and your team's insurance premiums are about to default. A hundred million is enough to keep your operation alive for decades."

"Mr. Rauch, I said no."

His breathing grew heavy over the static.

"Do you even know what you are saying? There is a human life on that mountain. The Black Wind Gap has a window open until tonight. If we miss it, he freezes to death."

"I know."

"You know, and you are still refusing?" His voice plummeted to absolute zero. "Don't you professional rescue climbers preach about saving lives all day long? I have offered you enough money, the boy is still breathing, on what grounds are you refusing to save him?"

I looked out the window.

The ice pellets were violently lashing against the glass, dense and deafening, just like the sound that battered my heart seven years ago.

"On the grounds that I am a human being, not a dog you can buy with a checkbook."

Arthur paused.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what I said," I replied. "Find someone better."

"There is no one better." He gritted his words. "I already checked with the Association. You are the only person who can cross the gap tonight. Captain Ziskie, I don't care what personal issues you have. If you aren't wheels up in two hours, your team will never see another commercial rescue permit again."

Cole's face changed drastically. He opened his mouth to speak, but I raised my hand to stop him.

"Mr. Rauch, you are welcome to try."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I am just warning you." My voice was ragged, ground down by years of wind and snow. "Instead of wasting your time on me, you better start looking for someone else. If you wait any longer, forget about bringing Oliver back alive, you won't even be able to find his beacon."

A suppressed, heavy exhale came through the line.

"Do you know Oliver?"

"I don't know him."

"Then why do you sound so full of hate?"

I lowered my eyes, looking at the brutal, jagged scar across my palm. It was left from when I dug through the avalanche with my bare hands until my fingernails ripped off.

"Because there is a path I have walked once, and once was enough."

I hung up the phone.

Cole stared at me, his lips moving before he finally spoke.

"Boss, who is Arthur Rauch?"

I placed the satellite phone back on the desk.

"My ex-husband."

Cole froze entirely.

I turned back to sort my carabiners, letting a long silence stretch before I added one final sentence.

"He is also Josephine's father."