The plane was a mangled wreck.

The fuselage had been filleted like a fish, and the tail lay somewhere on the trail behind them. Trees, leaves, and branches had already partially-covered the exterior, the first step to nature claiming the plane as its own.

Better yet, the plane hadn’t been burned. He’d expected a fuel leakage, the remains of an explosion. If they’d only found ashes, his money would be gone. Instead, it was perfectly intact. The long trek up this fucking mountain with the guide winding this way and that had been worth it. At one point he’d been sure the man was toying with him, but true to his word Aaron had found the plane.

Every bone in Ray’s body ached. He had bruises on him from falls and sleeping barely an inch off the hard ground. His skin was raw and he’d run out of toilet paper a day ago. His fucking guide had forced him to use moss. Disgusting.

He was half-sure his feet rotted in his wet boots—he hadn’t been willing to check—and at least one of the scratches he’d got on his leg burned painfully. Not that he’d let that smug asshole of a guide know.

But now none of that mattered.

He’d made it. And soon his money would be back in his hands, and everything would go back to normal.

Satisfaction welled within Ray at the sight of the plane. Surely there was no way his bitch of a wife had survived this crash. Even if she’d managed to live past the initial impact, she would have perished out here in the wilderness without supplies. She was too stupid to do anything for herself.

Perfect.

“So you found it after all,” Ray called to Aaron. The other man closed in on the wreckage. He leapt onto a log and peered into the cabin through the gash. Howie lurked on the edge of the tree line behind him.

“Told you I would,” Aaron called back. He frowned at something inside the plane.

Ray came up beside him. “Is my wife in there?” he asked, not caring if Aaron believed he was still a grieving husband or not.

Aaron hesitated. “I need to have a closer look.”

Something in his tone caught Ray’s attention. “I’ll go,” he demanded.

Aaron’s jaw worked like he planned to protest, but then he stepped back with his arms up in surrender. Ray shoved past him. Some part of him noticed it was strange the plane’s stairs were down, since he hadn’t noticed Aaron near them. But he didn’t think about that. He was too busy staring into the cabin.

The empty cabin.

Ray growled. She had to be here somewhere. The money had to be here.

He whipped around and ran to the cockpit. The corpse of the pilot had teeth marks in what remained of the flesh. The rest had rotted in the seat, thankfully not too badly due to the cold weather. Ray checked around the dead body as best he could without actually touching it, searching for a space that could hide a person or a bag.

Nothing.

He went back in the cabin. Under a seat was Gia’s purse. This was definitely the right plane, since he’d bought her that ridiculously expensive bag. And she’d had the gall to leave it behind.

No sign of the money in there.

On another seat sat her luggage, open. He dug through it. No sign of the cash, no hint where she might have gone without even toiletries.

He checked the bathroom, the drinks cabinet, everywhere he could reach.

Not a fucking hint.

He would murder that woman.

He stomped down the stairs. “She’s not in there,” he announced.

Aaron gave a smile, but Howie’s eyes went wide with alarm. Ray knew what his right-hand man was thinking. No wife, no money. More hiking through this shithole part of the country.

Aaron clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s good news she survived the crash. Maybe the rescuers managed to get to her and they haven’t radioed the news yet,” he said, waving the radio usually clipped to his belt, which occasionally crackled with news.

“Right,” Ray managed, white-hot fury rolling over him like a wave. How dare she? How dare she steal his money and run, only to survive and take his money from him all over again? Now he’d trekked up this fucking mountain, wiped his ass with moss, and for what? Not a goddamn thing.

“Boss—” Howie warned.

Ray nearly growled at him, but managed to hold onto his temper. Just. Instead, he ignored his right-hand man and stormed off to the edge of the clearing the plane had made in its hasty descent. He paced near the trees, boots crunching over remaining snow. Fuck. Fuck. That stupid bitch. Always ruining his life.

He never should have married her in the first place. Or maybe he should have been harsher with his punishments, shown her who was boss.

But there had to be a way to fix this. There had to be. She had to have gone somewhere, and wherever that was, she most likely took the money with her. As long as she still had it, there was a chance he could get it back, even if he had to destroy this entire fucking mountain to do it.

He turned back to the other two men. Howie hovered nervously by the plane, waiting for Ray to come back. Aaron was crouched down, staring at something on the ground. He stood when Ray walked over.

“It might be a good idea for us to go back down the mountain,” Aaron told him. “As you know, we’re running low on supplies.”

“No,” Ray said.

“Excuse me?” Aaron said.

“I said no, we’re not going back. You’re going to find her for me.” He had to force the words out past his rage.

Aaron shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. I won’t take two inexperienced hikers any further. This was bad enough.”

“Boss, he’s right. It’s dangerous. Bad weather is coming in. Can’t you feel it?”

Ray didn’t even look his way. “I’ll pay you double,” he grit out, focusing on Aaron. His muscles seized in rage. Rage at his wife, at the situation. Rage at these two assholes standing in his way.

“No deal,” Aaron said firmly. “I won’t be responsible for all of our deaths.”

Ray had had enough. He whipped out a gun from the side pocket of his pack—the only one he could reach—and pointed it at Aaron. The man’s eyes widened and he took a step back.

“What the fuck?” Aaron asked. Color leeched from his face.

“Find her,” Ray barked. “Find my fucking wife and my fucking money or I will put this bullet through your head.”

“Boss—” Howie warned.

“You wouldn’t,” Aaron sneered. “You’ll die up here without me.”

“What if I put the bullet through a non-essential part, huh?” Ray said. He pointed the gun at Aaron’s arm. “This, maybe. Hard to climb mountains with one arm, but not impossible.”

Aaron paled, but Ray wasn’t done.

“A foot, maybe,” he said, pointing at Aaron’s toes. Then, he slowly moved the aim up. “Or maybe I’ll shoot your dick off. Won’t need that up here.”

Aaron stared at him. “You’re crazy.”

“Crazy enough to need to find my wife and everything she stole from me.”

Aaron’s jaw worked but he said nothing. He shifted his gaze to Howie. “You down with this?”

Howie hesitated. “I really think we should wait, boss. Until the weather is better. The investor can be patient a little longer. And I know for a fact these mountains can be dangerous when the wind is coming in like this. Snow isn’t far behind.”

“Howie, remember. I don’t pay you to think. If we don’t find Gia soon, she might disappear for good, and my money with her. She’ll have got away with her betrayal. I can’t allow that. She needs to be punished.”

“But if we die—”

“One more word out of you and you won’t be coming down off this mountain with us, got it? I have the gun, I make the rules.”

Howie swallowed heavily and nodded.

Ray turned back to Aaron, to see the man looking even more concerned. Good.

“You found the plane. I know you can find one stupid woman wandering around this God forsaken place.”

Aaron’s eyes darted down to the ground he’d been studying, then back to Ray. Ah, so the man did know something.

“Let’s get moving,” Ray said, sick of this argument already. “The sooner you find her, the sooner we can get off the mountain and back to civilization.”

“Ray,” Howie demanded, firmer this time. “Please.” The man wouldn’t give up, accept his place.

Aaron sighed. “I’m not joking when I say we don’t have enough supplies for three people. I’m worried if—”

Before he’d even finished the sentence, Ray raised his gun to Howie’s head and pulled the trigger. The man dropped like a stone and lay still on the ground, unmoving. If he wasn’t dead, he soon would be. Ray couldn’t find an ounce of compassion in him.

He turned back to Aaron, whose gaze was wide with shock. “Fuck,” Aaron breathed.

“One less mouth to feed,” Ray commented. He bent and pulled Howie’s supplies from his pack, still holding his gun on his guide. Toilet paper. Perfect.

Aaron swallowed but finally stopped arguing.

“Now, let’s get moving. We’re wasting daylight.”